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HipHopocratic Oath

from Secret Handshake by Headsnack

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lyrics

I pledge allegiance to the mic and the crowd,
Pledge allegiance to the DJs that only know to rock beats loud,
Out in the PJs they only know how to talk proud,
About all the raw spit there is about to come out,
I grew up with great music around,
When I first heard this hip hop, yo man I was hooked by the sound,
And it was like my true love was found,
As I listen my mission is now to figure out how I can be down,
With all this ill music it was hard to keep count,
But it was worth it, so much more than a dollar amount,
And with a purpose, community was what it's about,
To see a hundred fans together put their hands up and shout,
And say "Hoooooo" and any time that I was in doubt,
And want to step back, give up, and maybe throw in the towel,
I'd just throw on a break, take the verbs and pronouns,
And start to piece ‘em all together into somethin profound... and rock on...


This is how I kick it for emcees and lyricists,
I lay it brick by brick like the pyramids,
My love for hip hop culture is dead serious,
Rhyming for 30 years despite nobody hearing it,
But I don't give an ish cuz I've got love,
And even though you look at me and are tempted to judge,
Just know for me hip hop was a gateway drug,
And now all music and poetry flows through my blood,
I love graf, deejaying, breaking and emceeing,
Beatboxing, record-copping, sample-chopping,
Popping and locking, paying homage to hip hop and
I'll keep moonwalking while i'm smooth-talking,
There's no stopping this poor old soul
from copping my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,
Let's make a toast with this hiphopocratic oath,
to push the envelope and nourish each other's growth!


The state of hip hop is ridiculous like myths of saint Nicholas, Or Icarus,
But you can meet me where the vigilance is vigorous,
Got no time for ignorance or rappers spitting gibberish,
I done already spent 40 years in the wilderness,
Wandering and pondering, sacrificial offerings
at night by the light of the moon hooting and hollering,
But now we got a following, a critical mass
of emcees who resist the flash to walk a true lyricist's path,
And if we do the math and stay focused on our task
all the elements of craft will be well within our grasp,
I don’t know if it will last or if we’re headed for a crash
but I know knowledge reigns supreme even when the cash is fast,
I learned that from KRS-One back in the day,
One of many things I’ve learned from MCs along the way,
So I’d like to pay respect to all my teachers in rhyme,
That's why I pledge the HipHopocratic Oath and let it shine!

credits

from Secret Handshake, released October 5, 2018
Produced by Headsnack
Written by Headsnack, C-Doc, and Shred Lexicon
Scratches by DJ Exfyl

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Headsnack New York, New York

Hip Hop cyber-pirate from the future spraying intelligent songs that mock humanity while implanting infectious ear worms. Help spread this virus on your mobile devices & be sure to search YouTube for Headsnack! Like us @ Facebook.com/headsnack & follow @headsnack. ... more

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