Hip Hop My Friend

(I got a hole where my heart used to be)

I'm a real true artist, put all of my heart in this

I live for the bass lines and the guitar riffs

But too modest, the music biz

Is a vast sea, and you know where the sharks is

I discovered hip-hop as a little tyke

Before I kissed a girl or ever rid a bike

There was nothin' about it the kid didn't like

So an obsession was born for written rhymes, ripping mics

My astute pursuit wasn't about loot to boot

I studied the game from root to fruit

People gathered in flocks, hip-hop had the block locked

And us thinking out of the box

The time we were living in it was a testament

For before the corporation would invest in it

And now they acting brand new, I'm waving a flag

For the culture, they lookin' at me like I'm a damn fool

(When I was up)

Yeah, (You would always come around) uh

Hip hop, hip hop, hip hop

You are my life, (And when I needed a friend) uh

(Oh, you can never be found)

Hip hop, hip hop, hip hop, you are my friend

What's really relevant? Is it good in the hood

If it ain't sellin' and what is you tellin' me?

Back when we was back spinning the party was packed

And it wasn't nobody to stack digits

They did for the kids on the block, instead of banging

They was hanging out doing that up rock, flow rock

Hip hop was there when nobody else cared

No education, no healthcare or welfare

The Bronx burning we turning into an inferno

What did we learn to know when we ain't earning dough

We got greedier when the media showed up

And got needier when the city disowned us

I guess it was tryna find a way out the projects

And that gentrification is the process to progress

God bless the child with the heavenly trust fund

The heaviest lump sum that come from the slums

(When I was up)

Yeah, (You would always come around) uh

Hip hop, hip hop, hip hop

You are my life, (And when I needed a friend) uh

(Oh, you can never be found)

Hip hop, hip hop, hip hop, you are my friend

That's the sound of the men banging on the track

Not hanging on the corner slinging crack

Now that we got our back up against the wall, we gon' bring it back

We them entrepreneurs keeping our dream intact

The way I feel I don't know if you can say the same

Look at what they became following the gravy train

And when it drips dry, them little birds fly

Flocking for better weather, while we keeping it curbside

To have a cypher you've got to come around

While pop radio is telling you to dumb it down

But I've been initiated and we gon' get this shit straight

And state it that Hieroglyphics the greatest

And I'ma be your friend even when I don't got one

And when I give 'em the Rigmarole to let 'em know we're not done

Many rivers to cross to deliver the loss it's destiny

Yes, we gon' weather the cost

(When I was up)

(You would always come around) Uh

Hip hop, hip hop, hip hop

(And when I needed a friend) Uh

(Oh, you can never be found)

Hip hop, hip hop, hip hop, you are my friend