I Ain’t No Joke Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I ain't no joke, I used to let the mic smoke
Now I slam it when I'm done and make sure it's broke
When I'm gone no one gets on 'cause I won't let
Nobody press up and mess up the scene I set
I like to stand in a crowd and watch the people wonder, damn
But think about it then you'll understand
I'm just an addict, addicted to music
Maybe it's a habit, I gotta use it

Even if it's jazz or the quiet storm
I hook a beat up, convert it into hip-hop form

Write a rhyme in graffiti in every show you see me in
Deep concentration 'cause I'm no comedian
Jokers are wild if you wanna be tame
I treat you like a child then you're gonna be named
Another enemy, not even a friend of me
'Cause you'll get fried in the end when you pretend to be
Competing 'cause I just put your mind on pause
And I can beat you when you compare my rhyme with yours
I wake you up, and as I stare in your face, you seem stunned
Remember me? The one you got your idea from?

But soon you start to suffer, the tune'll get rougher
When you start to stutter, that's when you had enough of
Biting it'll make you choke, you can't provoke
You can't cope, you should've broke because I ain't no joke

[Verse 2]
I got a question as serious as cancer
Who can keep the average dancer
Hyper as a heart attack? Nobody smiling
'Cause you're expressing the rhyme that I'm styling

This is what we all sit down to write
You can't make it, so you take it home, break it and bite
Use pieces and bits of all my hip-hop hits
Get the style down pat, then it's time to switch
Put my tape on pause and add some more to yours
Then you figure you're ready for the neighborhood tours
The E-M-C-E-E, don't even try to be
When you come up to speak, don't even lie to me
You like to exaggerate, dream and imaginate
Then change the rhyme around, that can aggravate me
So when you see me come up, freeze
Or you'll be one of those seven emcees
They think that I'm a new jack but only if they knew that
They who think wrong are they who can't do that

Style that I'm doing, they might ruin
Patterns of paragraphs based on you and
Your off-beat DJ, if anything he play sound familiar
I'll wait 'til E say, "Play 'em"

So I'ma have to diss and broke
You could get a smack for this, I ain't no joke
[Verse 3]
I hold the microphone like a grudge
B'll hold the record so the needle don't budge
I hold a conversation 'cause what I invent
I nominated my DJ for president
When I emcee, I'll keep a freestyle going steadily
So pucker up and whistle my melody
But whatever you do, don't miss one
There'll be another rough rhyme after this one
Before you know it, you're following and fiending
Waiting for the punchline to get the meaning

Like before the moral of my story I'm telling
Nobody beats the R, so stop yelling

Save it, put it in your pocket for later
'Cause I'm moving the crowd, and B'll wreck the fader
No interruptions, and the mic is broke
When I'm gone, then you can joke
'Cause everything is real, on a serious tip
Keep playing and I get furious quick
And I'll take you for a walk through hell
Freeze your dome, then watch your eyeballs swell

Guide you out of triple-stage darkness
When it get dark again, then I'ma spark this microphone
'Cause the heat is on, you see smoke
And I'm finished when the beat is gone, I'm no joke

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About

Genius Annotation

Following the 1986 release of their “Eric B. is President”/“My Melody” debut single, Eric B. & Rakim returned with Paid in Full’s official lead single “I Ain’t No Joke” the following year. One of the duo’s signature songs, “I Ain’t No Joke” reached into the James Brown catalog and sampled the melody from the 1972 track “Pass the Peas” by The J.B.’s. The single peaked at #38 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.

In Brian Coleman’s book Check the Technique, Rakim talked about “I Ain’t No Joke”:

That sample was just another James Brown record that I used to rhyme off. […] I used that song a long time before I met Eric, so that’s another Rakim banger right there. […] I titled the song that way because that’s how I wanted people to perceive me on the mic. Back then I tried to think of slogans that somebody would want to put on the side of their car, or say all day. So that was like the ultimate thing you could say.

Credits
Produced By
Written By
Primary Artists
Mixing Engineer
Executive Producer
Recorded At
Power Play Studios, N.Y.
Release Date
July 7, 1987
Songs That Sample I Ain’t No Joke
Wild Style (Scratch Routine) by DJ Cutbrawl, New Generation by Dialectrix, Long Time by Galactic Hole, Crystelle Clear: The Remix Edition Tracklist by Crystelle Clear, I Ain't No Joke by Bez19 (Ft. Lil Yee), Interlude by Das EFX, Just a Reminder by Eyedea, We Rock the Mic by KJ-52, #1 Soul Brother by Pete Rock, Mcee by J-Live, Ruff Rhyme (Back Again) by King T, Like To Get Away by Killa Klan Kaze (Ft. Lord Infamous), Hardcore Rap Act by Das EFX, Casualties of War (Radical Radio Edit) by Eric B. & Rakim, DJ Babu in Deep Concentration by Dilated Peoples, Back to Back Rhyming by Lord Finesse & DJ Mike Smooth (Ft. Andre the Giant), Triple Stage Darkness by 3rd Bass, Back Again by Nitro, Einstein's Takin' Off by Ugly Duckling, Corazones, lagrimas y sonrisas by Rapsusklei & Hazhe, Cornbread by Freestyle Fellowship (Ft. T. Spoon (of Iodine)), Make Me Wanna Holla by Esham, Rap Addiction by Blaq Poet (Ft. Lil' Fame & Shabeeno), Take Care of Business by Danger Mouse & Jemini (Ft. J-Zone), Don't Scandalize Mine (Instrumental Mix) by Sugar Bear, Who Killed It? by Nas, Dream And Imaginate by The Wascals (Ft. Fatlip), In the Ghetto by Eric B. & Rakim, I Ain't No Joke by RBL Posse, What a Way to Go Out by Souls of Mischief, DJ Premier In Deep Concentration by Gang Starr, Tres Leches (Triboro Trilogy) by Big Pun (Ft. Inspectah Deck & Prodigy of Mobb Deep), Better Off by Johnny J (Ft. Mellow), Got the Fever by Meyhem Lauren & 1987 by The Hood Internet
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