It's been a long time...I shouldn't have left you_x000D_ _x000D_ Without a strong rhyme to step to.
RakimRead
Timeless, so age don't count in the booth _x000D_ When your flow stay submerged in the fountain of youth
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of maintaining a youthful spirit and creativity regardless of age.
Rakim's quote reflects the idea that one can remain vibrant and relevant by nurturing their passion and creativity, likened to being submerged in a 'fountain of youth'. It suggests that age is merely a number, and the essence of youth lies in the pursuit of oneβs flow or artistic expression, which keeps the mind and spirit alive.
In practice
In a motivational speech about pursuing dreams regardless of age.
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 never guess. It is a shocking habit destructive to the logical faculty.
We learned about gratitude and humility - that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean... and we were taught to value everyone's contribution and treat everyone with respect.
The Sufis advise us to speak only after our words have managed to pass through three gates. At the first gate, we ask ourselves, 'Are these words true?' If so, we let them pass on; if not, back they go. At the second gate, we ask, 'Are the necessary?' At the last gate, we ask, 'Are they kind?'
I wanted Yoda to be the traditional kind of character you find in fairy tales and mythology. And that character is usually a frog or a wizened old man on the side of the road. The hero is going down the road and meets this poor and insignificant person. The goal or lesson is for the hero to learn to respect everybody and to pay attention to the poorest person because that's where the key to his success will be.
You cannot rise about your words. A lot of people use foul, pornographic, filthy, language and you SEE, all of those words paint pictures and they reveal the internal thinking of the person on the inside. YOU cannot RISE (forward, onward upward) above your words.
Rise above oneself and grasp the world.
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