For me man, Hip-Hop was always the primary in my DNA You know, it was the first music that consumed me It was the first music that spoke to me So I wanted to take a trip down memory lane Shout out to all the Hip-Hop that raised me Alright, let me try to explain this I grew up on Pete Rock & Cl Smooth Public Enemy handed me power tools Kool Moe Dee and Big Daddy Kane, they were too Queen Latifah, she brought us that Flavor Unit I admit I got into some LL Cool Uncle L's "Mama Said" was a hit at school No one else I knew knew all these other dudes They thought I was a fool, guess now I'm laughin' too DMC, Eric B & Rakim, and me Was a microphone fiend, before a teen Kid Capri, Diamond D, and DITC At school I had B's, in hip-hop, I had PHD's Native tongue, jungle brothers, and black sheep Tribe Called Quest, and De La had the fat beats Heavy D, Biz Markie, on the back beat "Just a Friend" was "No Diggity", Blackstreet Kool G Rap, Doug E Fresh, man and Slick Rick Large Professor, Big L, and than Q Tip Marley Marl, DJ Red Alert, schooled it MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa, they ruled it Nasty Nas tore it up with that "Halftime" Every word, every phrase, every dope line Man, it was a moment that stopped time I thought no one could ever top "That Rhyme" And than I heard Main Source These cats were like comin' in flames for us Biggie Smallz was the king of the concourse And 'Pac, he had so many mind blowers Then Gangstarr, such an original They made songs that I'll never forget about And than came Lord's of the Underground Puff & Craig Mack, they were bringin' that thunder down EPMD hit me with "Crossroads" Always "Business as Usual" like pros Das EFX with their "iggity" like flows And Redman shook me up with my mind blown The Wu-Tang, 36 Chambers Who'd of thunk they'd come and change what the game was Method & Raekwon the Chef, so dangerous RZA made tracks, that were Deniro-like famous Hold up man, I can't forget Chubb Rock The Fatboys & Beasties with that club rock LONS, Busta Rhymes, with the real talk Jay-Z had "Godfather of Rap" locked Now Kendrick be the new king of the bus stop But wait, I'm gettin' ahead of myself, (ahh) stop Ice Cube & Ice T were the hard knocks Taught us all that we should all fear hip-hop Third Bass, MC Serch, flipped the script, hot "Back to the Grill Again" rocked blocks and brought Nas Than The Roots brought Questlove & Black Thought Who'd of thought they on the Jimmy Fallon Late slot? And Bizarre Ride to The Pharcyde Hieroglyphics shook it up until the sound died Del & Souls of Mischief had us on a hand glide OutKast, "Southernplayalistic" for the landslide Common Sense came and borrowed a dollar Poetry resurrected the scholar No ID was officially balla Mos Def was a part of creating the product Xzibit & Mobb Deep the infamous Cypress Hill & DJ Muggs, were killin' it House of Pain, and Funkdoobiest illin' it 50 Cent, Missy, Pharrell, and Timbaland Dr. Dre, Snoop, and Eminem Black Moon and Onyx were filled with that Venom and Jeru the Damaja, Ghetto Boys, Young MC Grandmaster Flash, Mase, and Showbiz, and AG Royce Da 5'9, DJ Scratch with that breakbeat RIP, Aaliyah is missed greatly There's a peak into the window that raised me Hopefully that can help and explain me