Macklemore - I Said Hey lyrics

Yo, the first time I heard Digital Underground I was in the first grade My homie Lace brought it over and he dubbed it on a mixtape I would do the Humpty Hump and perform to his verses Twelve years later I learned that Shock-G and him were the same person I loved Hammer, I can't front he taught me how to dance Along with Bel Biv Devoe I had Jay Ohs and a pair of zebra pants But this was the foundation of what would come to be A life long pa**ion journey and drive; an emcee Some people ask me what it means, I don't know where to start It's the deepest connection between my soul and my heart When I first stepped into a cipher and a jam in the park I got served, no for real I got served But see I learned something Observed others and watched An urged hunger burst, earned a turn at that park. I don't care who you are, where you're from or what you believe in But if you love hip hop I bet it's more or less for the same reason This is it when you spit you exist in that moment And if you're sick with that gift then you rip it when you perform it Then all the sh** that you live begins to lift up your shoulders And the audience well they get to experience where your soul is The most amazing feeling, rocking the crowd to your anthem From the front to the back with their motha f**in' hands up 'Cause I'm an emcee, won't be the first won't be the last Just another b-boy and I'm a die in my stance If you got a pen and a pad put your heart down If you got a record and can crab lay a scratch down If you got a marker and a can bomb your art now If you got a floor and you're fast kick that I'll style If you got a pen and a pad put your heart down If you got a record and can crab lay a scratch down If you got a marker and a can bomb the whole damn town But if you live for hip hop don't ever put your hands down Don't put your hands down, keep that sh** up We're goin' to rock it like this, do this with me It goes front, back Front, back Front, back Front, come on It goes front, back Front, back I said front, back To my people you know it Now I don't know if it's the clothes, the hoes, or the cars That makes people rap like they're trapped inside of these bars This sh** ain't complicated man just be who you are To busy searching for the light and missing the fact that you're a star Now who's got pa**ion now stand the hell up 'Cause I want to hear somebody rapping who's got it inside their cuts Or you can get intricate displaying your fancy cadences But if you're not speaking the truth you might as well not be saying sh** I said who's going to teach the kids? You'd rather blow up and get famous so you can get some new rims All the money in the world can help you look like a star But money can't buy you the heart to go and put inside your bars And I like nice sh** too Believe me, I got a closet full of Nikes and a whole bunch of Lenore suits They'll give you the white tees and the icy earring like the whole youth, Population of hip hop but look beyond it when I record through, These beats 'cause if I don't speak me What's the difference between my lyrics and what you hearin' on MTV People fear that if they're steering away from the mainstream Then their album won't sell Well I could give a f** I'm just goin' to freestyle and spit what's in my gut And if you want to you can go and label me conscious But remember there's a kid at a bus stop beat boxin' Who's life will be effected by what's inside of his Walkman If you got a pen and a pad put your heart down If you got a record and can crab lay a scratch down If you got a marker and a can bomb your art now If you got a floor and you're fast kick that I'll style If you got a pen and a pad put your heart down If you got a record and can crab lay a scratch down If you got a marker and a can bomb the whole damn town But if you live for hip hop don't ever put your hands down