[Hook 1] - 2X - w/ ad libs
I just heard somebody say that hip hop died, a long time agoooo
But that ain't sooo, that ain't sooo

[Skillz - talking behind Hook the second time]
Uh, uh, aiyyo
I just heard, somebody say, that hip hop died, a long time ago
Uh, uh

[Verse 1]
Fuck hip hop! That music never mattered
Who cares about it anyway? Let the niggas have it
I'm the type to extort it
I give a fuck about the culture, I just like makin money off it
That phrase should open your eyes
It was said yesterday in a New York high-rise
By a CEO, 4080
Man these record company people are shady
They want me and my raps on the back of the bus
Man these corporate motherfuckers don't care about us
So for every B-boy and every B-girl
Our music, our culture, but it's changin their world
Huh, we make it and they come and steal it
How you gon' deal with hip hop and never feel it?
They say that it's dyin, but I don't believe it
Or maybe I'm just too damn blind to see it, uh

[Hook 1]

[Verse 2]
Hip hop dead? Say it ain't so
But I'm sure plenty people heard that phrase before
Can you imagine Chuck Berry bein told
That nobody will understand rock and roll?
Or Billie Holiday, with a pen and a pad
And somebody sayin, your music is just too sad
Or the cat who gave James Brown his first advance
Sayin stick to singin nigga, you don't need to dance
Sometimes you got to buck back, take a stance
A dream ain't a dream, if it ain't givin a chance
After 20 years, yeah it's losin steam
Cause I do see zombies on my TV screens
Some do it for the love and some do it for the green
And some know the meanin of microphone fiend
It ain't the same thing Ra came in the door with
If hip hop died, then you responsible for it

[Hook 1]

[Verse 3]
See I heard a man say he liked hip hop and rappin
But he already knew what was goin to happen
When you start, what you do will be so pure and true
The only ones that get it, will be your people and you
And after five years, you'll be doin well
'Til someone says that it's good enough to market and sell
And that person's goin to tell you that what you do for fun
They can promote it and sell it to everyone
And after ten years, he said I'd be on tour
I'd make money, but my manager, he'd make more
And after 15 years, they gon' say you through
The music's changin, so you got to change up too
He said after 20, I'd be poor
The peeps I made the music for, they won't come to your shows no more
Then he told me who he was, he said I'm (*beep*)
And the same people destroyed the music I love

[Hook 2] - 2X
I just heard somebody say that hip hop died, a long time agoooo
But that ain't sooo