[first minute of the song is DJ shoutouts]
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[Canibus]
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Yeah, the ghost of hip-hop's past
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Let's see how long infinity gon' last...
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Wake up, what is the date? 1988
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Hip-Hop is barely exposed to the emotion and hate
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I hibernate, rhymin from space, my first album ten years late
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I tried to take it to a positive place
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But it was like a communist state, I tried to escape
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My label shot me in the back as I was climbin the gate
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I woke up, now I'm awake, I found democracy to be fake
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Hip-Hop sucks, who made it this way?
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I was a teenager when hip-hop saved the day
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Paychecks paid the way, not radio play
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Some artists had knowledge of self, that little bit of honesty helped
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Violent lyrics promoted positive guilt
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So even when you thought the message was negative it promoted positive health
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It was about the rhymes, not wealth
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It was about our culture, not about what the culture could sell
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It was a path to enlightenment, not Hell
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We amused ourselves and this confused everybody else
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I memorized "Rock the Bells"
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I memorized "Tales for the Crack Side" I used to rock gazelles
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EPMD, "You Gots to Chill"
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Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, Pete Rock, "Mistadobalina" was Del
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Cold Crush Crew, Melle Mel
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Sugar Hill, Salt-n-Pepa, Sweet Tee pretty as hell
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Shante dimple on her face, pretty as well
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I used to wanna smell the pale Roxanne's taie
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Technics 1200, beat it like an SB-12
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Lord Finesse the punchline king, Heavy D was doing his own thing
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Dio and McGruff used to hold things
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Biz Mark's big ass gold chain
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One day I think I saw the Jungle Brothers dancing on Soul Train
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Marley Marl, Craig G, Master Ace, Big Daddy Kane
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Kool G Rap put me under his wing
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On the road to lyricism, with Rakim and them
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Some real lyricists, Eric B. was sick with the zigga-ziggas
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I know I'm trippin, it's been a minute
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So many brothers and sisters it's hard to remember who did it
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Memories disappear like Whodini
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My friends disappeared faster than my budget when my producer was greedy
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{"Fat, Boyyyyyyyyys"} feed me
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I've been eatin emcees, you still don't believe
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Brand of wool, brown teeth, red blood leak from Black Sheep
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Whenever the horns blow it gets deep
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Digging In The Crates for my niggas in the street
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Diamond D had the "Best Kept Secret" for weeks
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D-Nice said, "Bis, you a beast", Redman said, "Peace"
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Def Jam said I couldn't compete
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Killah Priest spit "Heavy Mental" before "Heavy Mental" was released
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Accapella, no instrumental beat
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My Girbauds would hang low, no crease
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Timbs on the feet, Cold Cheeks had a Lex
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Tom Leek had the MPV, J Rav had the Jeep
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Clark Kent had the Tahoe, Charles bought a 4.6 because of Jay-Z
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The program director's name from Hot 97 was Tracy
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Tragedy Khadafi, Queens' first intelligent Prodigy
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Probably the first Arab Nazi
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K-9 Posse chew you up like blue chnk chopped meat
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MC N-I-N-E
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"This is the way we walk in New York"
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"Throw Ya Gunz" in the air if you ready for war
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Throw your hands the air if you ready for more
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If I don't like the way you look, I'ma tear your face off
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The Undergod, underground lord
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When it comes to "100 Bars" you niggaz know who to ask for!
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I woke up in the mornin, on a regular day
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I knew my nigga K-Solo would be around my way
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I washed off my Thor hammer, the trigger mechanism lubricate
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It was time to destroy the place
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He kept sayin if I spit my rhymes on the mic
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in no time, I would be back in the limelight
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I said, "Solo, nowadays I don't feel rap
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Cause it ain't like it used to be, the shit is whack"
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He said, "No 'Bis, trust Wolfgang, cause I know my shit
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You already know the flows I spit"
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We love hip-hop, we gotta pay homage to the shit
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I love hip-hop... [fades out, comes back as scratching]
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[repeat 2X]
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Yeah, the ghost of hip-hop's past
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Let's see how long "Lyrical Law" gon' last
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[Canibus]
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DJ Immortal, get it kid! YEAH!
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-----------------
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The Ghost Of Hip Hop's Past
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Canibus |