alsoknownas
some bloke
Grand Puba (Brand Nubian) - Get a Knot
KRS-One Outta Here
Jay-Z - 99 Problems
RZA - Grits
Eminem - My Name Is
Which rapper had it the worst before they made the big time? (lyrics only please)
- Thread starter alsoknownas
- Start date
ska invita
back on the other side
Dancehall but still
Baby Cham
I remember those days when hell was my home
When Me and Mama bed was a big piece a foam
An mi never like bathe and my hair never comb
When Mama gone a work me go street go roam
I remember when Danny dem take me snow cone
An make him likkle bredda dem kick up Jerome
I remember when we visit dem wid pure big stone
An the boy Danny pop out something weh full chrome
Baby Cham
I remember those days when hell was my home
When Me and Mama bed was a big piece a foam
An mi never like bathe and my hair never comb
When Mama gone a work me go street go roam
I remember when Danny dem take me snow cone
An make him likkle bredda dem kick up Jerome
I remember when we visit dem wid pure big stone
An the boy Danny pop out something weh full chrome
ska invita
back on the other side
Another KRS (though this is archetype-fiction really)
I sit down on my bed to watch some tv,
(machine gun fire) do my ears deceive me,
Nope, that's the fourth time this week,
Another fast brother shot dead in the street,
The very next day while I'm off to class,
My moms goes to work cold busting her ass,
My sisters cute but she got no gear,
I got three pairs of pants and with my brother I share,
See there in school see I'm made a fool,
With one and a half pair of pants you ain't cool,
But there's no dollars for nothing else,
I got beans, rice, and bread on my shelf,
Every day I see my mother struggling,
Now its time I've got to do something,
I look for work I get dissed like a jerk,
I do odd jobs and come home like a slob,
So here comes Rob he's cold and shivery,
He gives me two hundred for a quick delivery,
I do it once, I do it twice,
Now there's steak with the beans and rice,
My mother's nervous but she knows the deal,
My sister's gear now has sex appeal,
My brothers my partner and we're getting paper,
Three months later we run our own caper,
My family's happy everything is new,
Now tell me what the fuck am I supposed to do,
I sit down on my bed to watch some tv,
(machine gun fire) do my ears deceive me,
Nope, that's the fourth time this week,
Another fast brother shot dead in the street,
The very next day while I'm off to class,
My moms goes to work cold busting her ass,
My sisters cute but she got no gear,
I got three pairs of pants and with my brother I share,
See there in school see I'm made a fool,
With one and a half pair of pants you ain't cool,
But there's no dollars for nothing else,
I got beans, rice, and bread on my shelf,
Every day I see my mother struggling,
Now its time I've got to do something,
I look for work I get dissed like a jerk,
I do odd jobs and come home like a slob,
So here comes Rob he's cold and shivery,
He gives me two hundred for a quick delivery,
I do it once, I do it twice,
Now there's steak with the beans and rice,
My mother's nervous but she knows the deal,
My sister's gear now has sex appeal,
My brothers my partner and we're getting paper,
Three months later we run our own caper,
My family's happy everything is new,
Now tell me what the fuck am I supposed to do,
ska invita
back on the other side
wracking my brain all day, only other one i can think of is a reggae one - one Horace Smart at the Black Ark - only tune he ever recorded, lyrics sound true to me
I was born in a hut - down by the gully bank
Me mother was a sufferer
I don't know my father
My only family - nine brothers of us
I was the eldest one - I was only eightteen
I had to help my mother, support my brothers
Sometimes no food and sometimes no clothes
Sometimes no school, it's the ruffer ruff
Me sell the little star an' me wash the little car
An' me hustle with bottles but it never nuff
One day me call to all me brethers
Said bwoy you know it ruffer ruff
We a go look little hustling
We a go get a big money
We a go rob John Town
He had a shop round the corner
But we were so bad lucky
The police was a watching
Him never hesitate to kill Harry
Him never make fun to kill Barry
But me jump a couple fence
An' me take a couple corner
Me nearly dead when they gone
When me brother hear
Him couldn't stop crying
When me mother hear
She said she feel like dying
Ruffer Ruff
I was born in a hut - down by the gully bank
Me mother was a sufferer
I don't know my father
My only family - nine brothers of us
I was the eldest one - I was only eightteen
I had to help my mother, support my brothers
Sometimes no food and sometimes no clothes
Sometimes no school, it's the ruffer ruff
Me sell the little star an' me wash the little car
An' me hustle with bottles but it never nuff
One day me call to all me brethers
Said bwoy you know it ruffer ruff
We a go look little hustling
We a go get a big money
We a go rob John Town
He had a shop round the corner
But we were so bad lucky
The police was a watching
Him never hesitate to kill Harry
Him never make fun to kill Barry
But me jump a couple fence
An' me take a couple corner
Me nearly dead when they gone
When me brother hear
Him couldn't stop crying
When me mother hear
She said she feel like dying
Ruffer Ruff
alsoknownas
some bloke
Last edited:
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
Danny Brown
isvicthere?
a.k.a. floppybollocks
This thread is the hip hop equivalent of this...
Lil Dickie
alsoknownas
some bloke
.
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
Hip hop is the hip hop equivalent of that 
Saul Goodman
It's all good, man
I was only two years old.
And lying in my bed.
When momma she came home.
And chopped off my fucking head.
And lying in my bed.
When momma she came home.
And chopped off my fucking head.
alsoknownas
some bloke
alsoknownas
some bloke
In all seriousness, I'm only gonna laugh at this so much - hip hop is actually often the sound of communities that grew up in pain and under heartbreaking poverty. It's funny and parody-like at times, but I'm going to simultaneously highlight the shit side of it (if that doesn't seem too hypocritical).
alsoknownas
some bloke
I have spawned a monster 
trabuquera
Modesty Bag
Notorious (ha!) fantasy of poverty past: (his mum's version of events was a bit different...)
Juicy
The Notorious B.I.G.
Yeah, this album is dedicated
To all the teachers that told me I'd never amount to nothin'
To all the people that lived above the buildings that I was hustlin' in front of
Called the police on me when I was just tryin' to make some money to feed my daughter (it's all good) [...]
Born sinner, the opposite of a winner
Remember when I used to eat sardines for dinner [...]
Considered a fool 'cause I dropped out of high school
Stereotypes of a black male misunderstood [...]
Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis
When I was dead broke, man, I couldn't picture this [...]
Celebratin' every day, no more public housin'
Thinkin' back on my one-room shack
Now my mom pimps a Ac' with minks on her back
And she loves to show me off of course
Smiles every time my face is up in The Source
We used to fuss when the landlord dissed us
No heat, wonder why Christmas missed us
Birthdays was the worst days ....
Juicy
The Notorious B.I.G.
Yeah, this album is dedicated
To all the teachers that told me I'd never amount to nothin'
To all the people that lived above the buildings that I was hustlin' in front of
Called the police on me when I was just tryin' to make some money to feed my daughter (it's all good) [...]
Born sinner, the opposite of a winner
Remember when I used to eat sardines for dinner [...]
Considered a fool 'cause I dropped out of high school
Stereotypes of a black male misunderstood [...]
Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis
When I was dead broke, man, I couldn't picture this [...]
Celebratin' every day, no more public housin'
Thinkin' back on my one-room shack
Now my mom pimps a Ac' with minks on her back
And she loves to show me off of course
Smiles every time my face is up in The Source
We used to fuss when the landlord dissed us
No heat, wonder why Christmas missed us
Birthdays was the worst days ....
keybored
Well done. You remember cat good.
Jedi Mind Tricks/R.A. the Rugged Man - Uncommon Valor
R.A.'s verse tells of his father's experience in Vietman, it was R.A.'s siblings who suffered birth defects following their father's exposure to Agent Orange. His brother died aged 10 and his sister died a year after this song was released, aged 26.
R.A.'s verse tells of his father's experience in Vietman, it was R.A.'s siblings who suffered birth defects following their father's exposure to Agent Orange. His brother died aged 10 and his sister died a year after this song was released, aged 26.
Last edited:
ShiftyBagLady
Thinks she is a flower to be looked at
ShiftyBagLady
Thinks she is a flower to be looked at
I know about a ten pound draw and a giro -RodneyP
ShiftyBagLady
Thinks she is a flower to be looked at
Yo, dwellin in the past, flashbacks when I was young
Whoever thought that I'd have a baby girl and three sons
I'm goin through this difficult stage I find it hard to believe
Why my old Earth had so many seeds
But she's an old woman, and due to me I respect that
I saw life for what it's really worth and took a step back
Family ain't family no more, we used to play ball
Eggs after school, eat grits cause we was poor
Grab the pliers for the channel, fix the hanger on the TV
Rockin each others pants to school wasn't easy
We survived winters, snotty nosed with no coats
We kept it real, but the older brother still had jokes
Sadly, daddy left me at the age of six
I didn't know nuttin but mommy neatly packed his shit
She cried, and grandma held the family down
I guess mommy wasn't strong enough, she just went down
Check it, fifteen of us in a three bedroom apartment
Roaches everywhere, cousins and aunts was there
Four in the bed, two at the foot, two at the head
I didn't like to sleep with Jon-Jon he peed the bed
Seven o'clock, pluckin roaches out the cereal box
Some shared the same spoon, watchin saturday cartoons
Sugar water was our thing, every meal was no thrill
In the summer, free lunch held us down like steel
And there was days I had to go to Tex house with a note
Stating "Gloria can I borrow some food I'm dead broke"
So embarrasin I couldn't stand to knock on they door
My friends might be laughin, I spent stamps in stores
Mommy where's the toilet paper, use the newspaper
Look Ms. Rose gave us a couch, she's the neighbor
Things was deep, my whole youth was sharper than cleats
Two brothers with muscular dystrophy, it killed me
But I remember this, mom's would lick her finger tips
To wipe the cold out my eye before school wit her spit
Case worker had her runnin back to face to face
I caught a case, housin tried to throw us out of our place
Sometimes I look up at the stars and analyze the sky
And ask myself was I meant to be here... why?
-Ghostface Killah
Whoever thought that I'd have a baby girl and three sons
I'm goin through this difficult stage I find it hard to believe
Why my old Earth had so many seeds
But she's an old woman, and due to me I respect that
I saw life for what it's really worth and took a step back
Family ain't family no more, we used to play ball
Eggs after school, eat grits cause we was poor
Grab the pliers for the channel, fix the hanger on the TV
Rockin each others pants to school wasn't easy
We survived winters, snotty nosed with no coats
We kept it real, but the older brother still had jokes
Sadly, daddy left me at the age of six
I didn't know nuttin but mommy neatly packed his shit
She cried, and grandma held the family down
I guess mommy wasn't strong enough, she just went down
Check it, fifteen of us in a three bedroom apartment
Roaches everywhere, cousins and aunts was there
Four in the bed, two at the foot, two at the head
I didn't like to sleep with Jon-Jon he peed the bed
Seven o'clock, pluckin roaches out the cereal box
Some shared the same spoon, watchin saturday cartoons
Sugar water was our thing, every meal was no thrill
In the summer, free lunch held us down like steel
And there was days I had to go to Tex house with a note
Stating "Gloria can I borrow some food I'm dead broke"
So embarrasin I couldn't stand to knock on they door
My friends might be laughin, I spent stamps in stores
Mommy where's the toilet paper, use the newspaper
Look Ms. Rose gave us a couch, she's the neighbor
Things was deep, my whole youth was sharper than cleats
Two brothers with muscular dystrophy, it killed me
But I remember this, mom's would lick her finger tips
To wipe the cold out my eye before school wit her spit
Case worker had her runnin back to face to face
I caught a case, housin tried to throw us out of our place
Sometimes I look up at the stars and analyze the sky
And ask myself was I meant to be here... why?
-Ghostface Killah
Gromit
International Man of Misery
in west Philadelphia born and raised
on the playground is where I spent most of my days
chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
and all shootin' some b ball outside of the school
when a couple of guys who were up to no good
started makin' trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mon scared
and said you're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air
Uncredited
on the playground is where I spent most of my days
chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
and all shootin' some b ball outside of the school
when a couple of guys who were up to no good
started makin' trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mon scared
and said you're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air
Uncredited
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