Rakim

Timeless, so age don't count in the booth _x000D_ When your flow stay submerged in the fountain of youth

It's been a long time...I shouldn't have left you_x000D_ _x000D_ Without a strong rhyme to step to.

When you look at hip-hop, I want to do that: to spit fire and take our best from the ashes to build our kingdom; to recognize all the regional styles, conscious lyrics, the tracks, underground, mainstream, the way we treat each other. Lose the garbage and rebuild our scene.

I started studying in '85 and got knowledge of self and started spitting. What was going on was taking the understanding of what I was reading and applying it with my life and applying it with my rhymes.

Take 7 emcees put em in a line_x000D_ _x000D_ And add 7 more brothers who think they can rhyme_x000D_ _x000D_ It'll take 7 more before I go for mine_x000D_ _x000D_ And that's 21 emcees ate up at the same time.

Feed me hip-hop and I start tremblin'

Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years,_x000D_ _x000D_ But weak ideas irritate my ears._x000D_ _x000D_ Is this the best that you can make?_x000D_ _x000D_ Cause if not, and you got more...I'll wait.

I start to think, and then I sink_x000D_ _x000D_ Into the paper like I was ink_x000D_ _x000D_ When I'm writing, I'm trapped in between the lines_x000D_ _x000D_ I escape when I finish the rhyme.