Hip Hop My Friend - Pep Love
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 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 had 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 d**n fool
You would always come around
Hip-hop hip-hop hip-hop
But when I needed a friend
Oh you can never be found
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 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
You would always come around
Hip-hop hip-hop hip-hop
And when I needed a friend
Oh you can never be found
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 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 keepin' 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 s**t 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
You would always come around
Hip-hop hip-hop hip-hop
And when I needed a friend
Oh you can never be found
Hip-hop hip-hop
You are my friend
