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 basslines and 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 tike Before I kissed a girl or ever rid a bike There was nothing 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 had us thinking out of the box The time we were living in, it was a testament Far before the corporation would invest in it And now they acting brand new I'm waving a flag for the culture They looking at me like I'm a damn fool When I was up (Yeah) You would always come around (Hip Hop, Hip Hop, Hip Hop, you are my life) But when I needed a friend (huh) Oh, you could 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 selling and what is you telling me Back when we was back spinning the party was packed And it wasn't nobody to stack digits They did it 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 do 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 just trying to find a way out of 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 (Hip Hop, Hip Hop, Hip Hop, you are my life) But when I needed a friend (huh) Oh, you could 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 slanging crack Now that we got our back up against the wall we gon' bring it back We them entrepreneurs, keeping out 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 cipher, you gotta come around While pop radio was telling you to dumb it down But I've been initiated And we gon' get this shit straight And state it, that Hieroglyphics's the greatest And I'mma be your friend even when I don't got one And when I give 'em the rhythm I wrote to let 'em know we're not done Many rivers to cross, to deliver the loss It's destiny, yes we're gon' weather the cost When I was up You would always come around (Hip Hop, Hip Hop, Hip Hop, you are my life) But when I needed a friend (huh) Oh, you could never be found (Hip Hop, Hip Hop, Hip Hop) You are my friend