Lockdown

[Chorus: Dice Raw]

Yo, they got us locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

Yo, they got us locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

Every artist locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

Every rapper locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

[Verse 1: Dice Raw]

Man, it used to feel like hip-hop had a lock on my soul

And a deal was the only way I'd get parole

I got knocked years ago when I wrote my first rhyme

Ever since then, I been locked down doin' time

Payin' dues with a lot to gain, but more to lose

I play the game, but they keep changin' the rules

The studio's a holding cell for lyrical criminals

Doing demo tapes, hold mics like shanks

Battlin', that's like a fight in the yard

Lines chase niggas down like Lieutenant Gerard

But I love it there, and some say that I'm institutionalized

Freestyling's our only form of exercise

I don't lift weights, lift my mind to a higher state

If your shit's wack, you just can't relate

I have nightmares of bein' back on the streets

But when I wake up in my cell, I feel relief

Bein' on tour is like bein' transferred to jail

And the companies reattempt to boost your sales

In my last case, they came at me with a deal

The D.A., I mean A&R, said "You can still keep shit real

But instead of Raw, be Dice Chill

Give us some hits with some commercial appeal"

I refused, then sent back to my cell

And from next time, a poet's memoirs from jail

[Chorus: Dice Raw]

Yo, they got us locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

Yo, they got us locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

Every artist locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

Every rapper locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

[Verse 2: Steve G's]

The prisoner, verbal incision

They strangle me with barbed wires of fire, fuck a mainstream vision

The label is the feds, they wanna find me and sign me

With a market and promotion behind me, but they slimy

My cellmate Dice Raw is nice, y'all

I assassinate rehearsal, if I go commercial I'll slice y'all

Studio's solitary, so I'm soliterrorizin' MCs

Steve G's, freeze, melt, refreeze

Mics get raped on my cell block, we battle for commissary

Parole boards for adversary

I lost the trial, I lost the case

What a waste, judge threw the rhyme book in my face

But my brain left and right is like the unstoppable engine

Locked down, pushin' for mainstream like syringes

Fuck a C.O., my shit's gone gold like C3PO

Ask Kelo, he know we go T-O

The top, this is cell block hip-hop

Yo, the underground keep the shank hot

Locked down with MCs doin' life bids

Beware when the pen zags and zigs

[Chorus: Dice Raw]

Yo, they got us locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

Yo, they got us locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

Every artist locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

Every rapper locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

[Verse 3: Black Thought]

Aiyyo, it was far from warm, the middle of a storm

And 5th Dynasty was on our way to perform

It was me, Steve G's, Dice and the Quick Drawn

And we got pulled over, we knew something was wrong

The law wasn't concerned with license and registration

Insurance information, or our point of destination

But peep, they got us up out the Jeep five deep

And took a look and saw the mics up under the seat

And start'd snappin', flippin' and shit like "Who's rappin'?"

Got on the radio and signaled back to the captain

Who warned them we was known for action

"Use caution, and get them contracts from when they brought us back" and

The fingerprints matched and linked identities

D.T.s was like "Shit, it's the 5th MCs"

Ain't no escapin', locked us in a lab and started tapin'

Mandatory, the judge said "Fuck jury deliberation"

Maximum incarceration

In these camps for concentration we call radio stations

A place where hip-hoppin' is against the law

Forever locked down within a lower corridor

Of sound, where they sniff out cells with bloodhounds

Pure MCs, MCs' remains is found

Pick the park when a record executive's around

Yo, we bubble to the top notch round

[Chorus: Dice Raw]

Yo, they got us locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

Yo, they got us locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

Every artist locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound

Every rapper locked down, in a cell under the ground

Tryin' to push for a mainstream sound