Addressable transcript

Lyrics & breakdown

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01
[Intro: Scott La Rock & D-Nice]
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Yo, what's up, Blastmaster KRS-One? This jam is kicking
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Word, yo, what up, D-Nice? (Yo, what's up Scott La Rock?)
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Yo, man, we chilling, just funky fresh jam
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I want to tell you a little something about us
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We're the Boogie Down Productions crew
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And due to the fact that no one else out there knew what time it was
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We have to tell you a little story about where we we come from
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[Chorus]
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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[Verse 1: KRS-One]
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Many people tell me this style is terrific
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It is kinda different, but let's get specific
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KRS-One specialize in music
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I'll only use this type of style when I choose it
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Party people in the place to be, KRS-One attacks
Multi-line diss block
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You got dropped off MCA 'cause the rhymes you wrote was wack
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So, you think that hip-hop had its start out in Queensbridge?
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If you pop that junk up in the Bronx you might not live, 'cause you're in
Block noteClaims geographic legitimacy
TargetMC Shan
MeaningWhat it means: In “If you pop that junk up in the Bronx you might not live, 'cause you're in,” Boogie Down Productions uses place and local affiliation to decide who can credibly represent the scene challenged in the song. Why it was said: The record belongs to the Bridge Wars, the Bronx–Queens rivalry sparked by competing claims and interpretations around MC Shan's “The Bridge.” The feud is presented as larger than two individuals, so the line asks listeners to treat MC Shan as an outsider or a poor representative of the claimed community.
ContextThe record belongs to the Bridge Wars, the Bronx–Queens rivalry sparked by competing claims and interpretations around MC Shan's “The Bridge.”
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[Chorus]
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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[Verse 2]
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I came with Scott La Rock to express one thing
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I am a teacher and others are kings
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If that's the title they earn, well it's well deserved, but
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Without a crown, see, I still burn
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You settle for a pebble, not a stone like a rebel
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KRS-One is the holder of a boulder
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Money folder
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You want a fresh style, let me show ya
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Now way back in the days when hip-hop began
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With Coke De La Rock, Kool Herc and then Bam
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B-boys ran to the latest jam
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But when it got shot up, they went home and said, "Damn
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There's got to be a better way to hear our music every day"
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B-boys getting blown away but coming outside anyway
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They tried again outside in Cedar Park
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Power from a street light made the place dark
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But, yo, they didn't care, they turned it out
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I know a few understand what I'm talking about
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Remember Bronx River rolling thick
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With Kool DJ Red Alert and Chuck Chillout on the mix
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When Afrika Islam was rocking the jams
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And on the other side of town was a kid named Flash
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Patterson and Mill Brook projects
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Casanova all over, you couldn't stop it
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The Nine Lives Crew, the Cypress Boys
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The real Rock Steady taking out these toys
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As odd as it looked, as wild as it seem
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I didn't hear a peep from a place called Queens
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It was '76 to 1980
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The dreads in Brooklyn was crazy
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You couldn't bring out your set with no hip-hop
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Because the pistols would go *gunshots*
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So why don't you wise up? Show all the people in the place that you are wack
Multi-line diss block
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Instead of tryna take out LL, you need to take your homeboys off the crack
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'Cause if you don't, well then, their nerves will become shot
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And that would leave the job up to my own Scott La Rock, and he's from
Block noteImagines the battle as physical destruction
TargetMC Shan
MeaningWhat it means: In “'Cause if you don't, well then, their nerves will become shot,” Boogie Down Productions converts lyrical defeat into death, shooting, burial, or bodily harm directed at MC Shan. Why it was said: The record belongs to the Bridge Wars, the Bronx–Queens rivalry sparked by competing claims and interpretations around MC Shan's “The Bridge.” The violent image makes the response sound final: instead of proposing an endless exchange, the artist depicts MC Shan as unable to return for another round.
ContextThe record belongs to the Bridge Wars, the Bronx–Queens rivalry sparked by competing claims and interpretations around MC Shan's “The Bridge.”
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[Chorus]
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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South Bronx, the South-South Bronx
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[Outro]
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The human TR-808, D-Nice
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The poet, the Blastmaster KRS-ONE
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The Grand Incredible DJ Scott La Rock
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Boogie Down Productions
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Fresh for '86, you suckers