Once Upon A Rhyme (Original Version) [AKA Nickleplate Remix]

Rakim - “Once Upon A Rhyme (Original Version) [AKA Nickleplate Remix]”

[Emcee(s): Rakim]

[Producer(s): Nick Wiz]

[Scratches: DJ Slyce]

[Verse 1: Rakim]

Once upon a rhyme

The time late 60s, dark age of history

Murders and mysteries, the future was misty

Needles were shot down and crime was risky

Yo, check this party and stick with me

Race brutality because of my nationality

And this is what they call reality.  From that

State of mind and at that date and time, I was born

Inclined and waiting to shine.  Once upon a rhyme

[Hook: Sample with Scratches by DJ Slyce]

“Once upon a time, not long ago” - Sample from Slick Rick - “Children’s Story” (x2)

[Verse 2: Rakim]

In the

Beginning, the scеnery sets in New York, whеre times

Is hard and streets ain’t easy to walk, crimes

Is underrated, neighborhoods overpopulated, competition

Gets complicated, some can’t take it

No place to rest in The City That Never Sleeps.  To compete

It gets deep, I learned to play for keeps

And hawk the sidewalk, dominate the courts

I’m nice in all sports, was taught with high thoughts

Then came in Africans that knew where it was at

Spread across the map with no time flat.  They said

This kid name Herc started spinning records back

Had to look into that then get it down pat

First, I do research.  It’s gonna take time

Me and my crew is hitting all the parties we could find

Waiting for the day where I could go for mine

But later dates await down the line.  Once upon a rhyme

[Hook: Sample with Scratches by DJ Slyce]

“Once upon a time, not long ago” - Sample from Slick Rick - “Children’s Story” (x2)

[Verse 3: Rakim]

Many shall come, but only few get the plot off the top

You gotta be hip to hop and get visual

With musical forms, lyrical pictures from city-slickers

Beats getting blast by ass-kickers.  It was

The pioneers with all kind of ideas

Trade will shift to higher gears over the years

Some get left in the dust by the thrust

Your rhymes won’t bust with a mic full of rust

DJs, get your fingers musically amputated

You can’t touch a jam if the next man slay it

Battle at the center, I’m too young to enter

We cool outside, even in the winter

We have a good time with the people on line

At party time, it seem like the neighborhood shine

But I get vexed when I can’t get mine

But later dates await down the line.  Once upon a rhyme

[Hook: Sample with Scratches by DJ Slyce]

“Once upon a time, not long ago” - Sample from Slick Rick - “Children’s Story” (x4)

[Verse 3: Rakim]

Through the times

My rhymes got longer, mind got stronger

Wondered if I’d ever be a performer.  My blood

Starts to boil, I could heat up the party for you

Girls wanna rub me and my mic down with oil

Rappers started coming out the woodwork.  A neighborhood

Expert, we ready for trouble and stay alert

Days got close ‘til my debut, got recruited to a crew

Now I could do the things I always wanted to

Code red I inherited, many ways to say the unsaid

Born with three 7’s in my head

Blessed and destined to be one of the best in anything

I find interesting—yeah, no question

A swift kid, I get lifted by the mind

Gifted skills exist to beyond my prime

Combined with all kinds of designs which is mine

And showtimes await down the line.  Once upon a rhyme