No Gimmicks

Lord Finesse and Blastmaster KRS-One
Lyrical styles weigh a ton
Lord Finesse, we know you got skills
Come into the cypher and build
Chill out, all emcee I kill come down

Check it out, come on
Here’s your chance to swing
With some ill motherfuckers
We don’t dance and sing
In ‘95 we’re out jingling, serving
Poetic Justice without that
Nigga John Singleton
I do my thing while the fans be gelling ayyo
I’m so dope
You better tap your man and tell him
I don’t fake moves, I scrape crews
I make brothers break food just give me a
Beat with a bass groove
I’m mad funky ask the experts ‘cause I’ll
Make you bob your head until
Your motherfucking neck hurt
So don’t ask me to max, G, ‘cause if you
Ain’t real
I’m bringing it to your face like acne
Now rappers run scams and flimflams
On how they be getting loose when
They’re rusty like the Tin Man
They rap fast, trying to stack cash, but on
The reel-to reel, yo
They’re still sounding half-assed
Yelling and screaming like they got
Something when they don’t got nothing
So them niggas need to stop fronting
Talking how they be ragging shit when
I don’t know if them niggas are rapping or
Talking motherfucking Arabic
They act so ill ay, no frills, they should go
Chill they all mouth with no skills
When I’m around
They all feel funny ‘cause I’m
Young, making funds like Shaquille O’Neal
Money you want any drama? You
Better wear plenty armor
I’ll cut that ass like the chef at Benihana’s
The Funky Man’s in it to win
It we gotta keep it
Real, yo, no motherfucking gimmicks
Whoever make a hit they the best
(That’s a gimmick) you sell
Records based on how you’re dressed
(That’s a gimmick) ayyo
That tongue-twisting shit
That’s kind of fresh
(That’s a gimmick) what’s when
You’re soft but you’re fronting
Like you’re stressed?
(That’s a gimmick) what’s when
You’re only into rap to get paid?
(That’s a gimmick) what’s when
You’re yelling and screaming up on stage?
(That’s a gimmick) when your
Career is numbered by days?
(That’s a gimmick) what’s when
Your lyrical style is just a phase?
(That’s a gimmick)

Yeah, check it out a-yes
Yes, y’all, to the beat
Y’all, bringing the street, let me
Put my beeper on "vibrate" so we
Won’t hear it beep representing
The street, concrete what I speak, yeah
I live it let it be known KRS is not about
A gimmick i’ll grab the
Mic and rip it meanwhile
They’re stalling i’ll raise the mic
Stand because I’m tall and I
Keep the crowd crawling
I’m not like those other rappers
Talking about the caps
They peel punk, I’ll battle emcees for real
Fuck a record deal when you’re still
Into hip hopping with your country ass
Sounding like you’re still picking cotton
You’ll get thrown across the room
In that direction listen
The lyrical Teacha’s not the one you
Should be checking this is
My eara or era or eara, whatever
I’m mad clever, I’ll "Shoop, " you’ll doop
You’ll doop like Salt-N-Pepa lyrical terror
You should never ever come for mine
When I rhyme, i clean up emcees with the
Fresh smell of pine i
Got skills and it shows you
Could slow or speed up
The tempo your style is fake
Like Janet Jackson’s nose
I’m selling that real live shit
And you could get hurt
You’re selling that fake shit like
The Home Shopping Network
You got a lot of rhymes to battle in a second
But frankly
The bottom line is: where’s your hit record?
You claim I’m jocking, you claim I’m on your
Dick where’s your witness?
If I’m on your dick
My name has got to be syphilis
I come with lyrical
Physical fitness two months from now
You will have bit this watch me
Light that ass up like Christmas
Don’t let me come out on that ass
Start flipping the lyrics I’ll be kicking be
Hotter than jerk chicken
So whether from The East or from The West
Brothers know I’m KRS i got force
I came to your town to set it off
So when Finesse goes "hit it
" I’ll never mimic
KRS-One could never use a gimmick
When you’re riding the next rapper’s dick
(That’s a gimmick) when you’re
R&B and then you cold flip
(That’s a gimmick) start rhyming
Hardcore just to get a hit
(That’s a gimmick) when you get over
But your skills ain’t shit
(That’s a gimmick) when you
Rap but you don’t have soul
(That’s a gimmick) when you
Cross over just to go gold
(That’s a gimmick) when you’re not
A gangster but portraying a role
(That’s a gimmick) what’s when
You’re shaped in somebody else’s mold?
(That’s a gimmick)

Man your station ‘cause the clan
You’re facing is stepping
To you trash motherfuckers like
Sanitation i’ll shoot and throw rhymes
The whole nine when it’s showtime (What up
Kid?) Brothers know I could hold mine
On the real
I got rhymes skills when the time’s
Ill, I’m blowing up spots like a minefield
Brothers front with their chest out, but
Words from Finesse mouth’ll leave
Them niggas stressed out
They make me sick to my stomach (So put it)
(On ‘em
Kid) Them motherfuckers don’t want it
They can’t see me, believe me they’re all
Phonies like them niggas that
Be wrestling on TV
Yo, they’re nowhere near pro, and niggas
Couldn’t hang if they
Was motherfucking scarecrows
Nowadays, a lot of rappers sound fake
Talking that
Gangster shit when they’re softer
Than a pound cake
So why you fronting with the burner
Kid? When you done
Took more ass-whippings than fucking
Tina Turner did
You wanna front? So be it, but fuck
Beating around the bush i just
Speak how I see it
Me fall off? That shit’s dead, it’s not
Happening, kid
So get that shit through your thick head
I’ll never sellout (What?) you heard right
I’ll never cross over (Aight) , word life
So when I said it, peep the method if I
Never go gold but get credit
I won’t sweat it
In ‘95 we’re all in it, we gotta keep it
Real, yo, no motherfucking gimmicks
What’s when you
Rap but don’t appreciate the art?
(That’s a gimmick) what’s when you
Sell out just to get a start?
(That’s a gimmick) what’s when you
Make bullshit just for the charts?
(That’s a gimmick) what’s when you
Rap but it’s not from the heart?
(That’s a gimmick) what’s when you’re
Hardcore, then you turn pop?
(That’s a gimmick)
When you steal ideas to get props?
(That’s a gimmick)
When you sell out to be on top?
(That’s a gimmick) what’s when you
Front like you’re hard but you’re not?
(That’s a gimmick)

Now let this be a lesson
To all emcees and DJ’s
Anyone that come across the line
Will have to pay real hip hop is in effect
Real hip hop is in effect
Real hip hop is in effect
Give it respect, we catch wreck