THE 88 ERA

While most who read this
might be too young to remember
but allow me to take you back to my favorite time in hip-hop
kick off ya shoes and relax ya feet
and I'll bless ya with a hip-hop treat...

Im talkin about a time when Red Alert went Berzerk
and Mr Magic and his Juice Crew had a rap attack every friday and saturday nite
when the debate of da day was-
who was the dopest between Big Daddy Kane & Rakim
Yeah Kane was Raw, But the God Rakim was Paid In Full
cant forget about Boogie Down Productions they always stayed paid
takin the wackest songs and makin them better
Criminal Minded, you been blinded,
they were from da South Bronx, Da south south Bronx

Biz was busy pickin boogers and makin music with his mouth
while Dougie Fresh was talking about Nuthin, nuthin,
but he kept risng to the top
give it all you got, give it all you got
La Di Da Di, we like to party
we dont cause trouble we dont bother nobody

Kane, Kool G, Ace & Craig G gave us a symphony
MC Lyte was crammin to understand Sam and
Large Pro was looking at the front door
at the cops playing a friendly game of baseball
in 88 emcees dropped science
or were stupid fresh, fresh to def or doo doo dope
that's word to herb
stetsasonic was talkin all that jazz about the way Sally walked
A few years later someone stole chill Rob G's rhymes and Court was In session

remember when all LL cared about was his radio
which no one would touch cause he was BAD
yeah peter piper picked peppers, but Run rocked rhymes
JVC Force was doin damage and EPMD was chasing Jane
that was back in da daisy age,
remember when De La had potholes in their lawn
and ran with the brothers from the jungle
speakin in native tongues about their love for buddy

La let em all know it was Ladies First
while Salt n Pepa pushed it to another level
remember when herbie drove a love bug and dante was a scrub
and 3rd base gave everyone the gas face
the chubster kicked em in da grill again
and heavy d was the over weight lover
and pete rock was his soul brother

before then spoonie gee and the treacherous three
rhymed at a very fast pace
but in 92 brand nubian made everyone slow down
even after puba left punks still jumped up to get beat down

i cant forget how ultra magnetic kool keith was
and on the other side of thing was a kid named cube
who hung with the boyz in da hood
even after leavin da n*ggaz with attitudes
Ice T showed the true meanin of the word hustler
and tone loc was just a wild thing

grandmaster caz showed he could still throw down
and told us bout a girl named yvette
while true studied mathematics, krs became a philosopher
public enemy fought the power, brought the noise
and in strong island
chuck had em wildin

beastie boys fought paul revere for their right to party
and even if you was on dope or dog food
no one could deny slick rick was the ruler
he went from a teenager in love to treatin em like a prostitute
stop lying, but im talkin about ricky d
oh you can dig it

nice and smooth were the hip hop junkies
and sometimes the rhymed fast and sometimes they rhymes slow
play was a tramp way before the video
and tone was a red hot lover before he got down with poke

tip left his wallet in el segundo
cause he had it bad for bonita applebaum who never put him on
for those that werent around let me set the mood

ah yeah im with this,
im just gonna sit here laid back to this nice mellow beat
and drop some smooth lyrics
its 88 time to set it straight
and most off all there was never ever, never ever? never ever...
no half steppin
that's my time when I used to rhyme....
back in da '88 era


© AJ (AJ ROK) WOODSON
HIP HOP JUNKIE 4 LIFE
FEB 1, 2005