K'Naan

and one more that's just as real:

if rap gets jealous

Verse 1
So good things come to those who wait
Sure
I've waited about - pop, pop, pop, pop
That's four cousins shot!
I got grudges, let's discuss this
My music needs no touch ups
I got a long record of fuck ups, trust me
You don't know a past as weird as mine
Or a life as hard as mine
I had to hustle, chop, sell drugs, grind
Whatever you want to call it is fine, but just listen
And don't prejudge
I don't want anyone dissmissing me as another thug or some shit like that
No sir, if I fall I will get right back
I got circumstances, but let me stop dancing around the issue
And tell you straight forward, I'm poor
A refugee, been in prison and survived a war
I come from the most dangerous city in this universe
You're likely to get shot at birth!

Hook
So I can rap-quench my thirst
I don't even hear verses no more
I hear jerkin' off, punks with lip glosses and purses
I don't see nobody operating shit anymore
I see nurses, fuck that!
I'm gonna stay alive! I'd rather do a stage live (dive)!

Chorus
And if rap gets jealous, 'cause I rock heavy
It don't worry me if maa'fuckers don't get it
Yo, if rap gets jealous, 'cause of where I'm headed
I used to be a public enemy, don't forget it
And if rap gets jealous, 'cause I rock heavy
It don't worry me if maa'fuckers don't get it
Yo, if rap gets jealous,'cause of where I'm headed
Aggresion, obsession, with pain never gain

Verse 2
So yeah, basically I gotta realease occasionaly
I gotta let you know what's goin' on with me
And facing me are some tough choices
I got a good side and a bad side
Inside my head, I hear screams and loud voices
And I can't lie, I ain't got shit!
I ain't got to brag, I'm hard pressed for some cash
'Cause that's where I'm at with that, you're so superficial!
Of course it's for shizzle, now my choice is to piss on you boys
'Cause my mission is the world
To know my name, my aim, is plainly success!
But I still gotta confess!

Repeat Hook

Repeat Chorus

Verse 3
Hehehe, that's what it is, it's pain, know what I'm sayin'?
I don't know man it's like...
You spend years developing your artistry
Know what I'm sayin'?, perfecting your skills
You can't do shit with it
That's gotta be fucked up!, know what I'm sayin'?
Ha! That's gotta be fucked up
You know, just imagine like, imagine you build a fuckin' castle
And you can't live in it
Ha! That's what it is
You can't live it, you know
And you got problems, you got family
I got family
Moment of truth right!
And I still gotta confess

Repeat Hook

Repeat Chorus 3x

© K'naan

some background:

At age 9, K'NAAN was doing what most American kids were doing. He was hanging out on his neighborhood street corner, MC'ing for his friends, dropping Nas and Rakim verses, dreaming of a day when he would posses the lyrical skills and the rhythmic flow of his Hip Hop hero's.
K'NAAN, however was very different from those American kids. In fact, he wasn't even an American kid at all, he was an African; and he wasn't on the streets of New York or Los Angeles or Detroit, he was on the other side of the world on the dusty streets of Mogadishu Somali. And although he was rappin' verses from Nas and Rakim and all the other great American MC's with an almost erie attention to detail and pronunciation, he could not speak English.
As hip-hop passes the quarter century mark, it has evolved in ways no one could have imagined. It has gone from under-ground to mainstream, from black to multi- racial, from American to international. It has reached the very furthest corners of the world and planted its seeds in the souls of kids from every country. K'NAAN is a child of that generation, the first generation of true hip-hop children who have grown out of a very foreign soil. With his unique voice but still truly authentic style, K'NAAN brings an enormous dose of realness and urgency to the hip-hop world in a time when people are desperate for it.
From a personal and cultural history rooted in poetry (being the grandson of one of Somalia's most famous poets ), K'NAAN widens the traditional hip hop perspective, from ghetto's to slums, from drug dealers to war lords, from 9mm and eagle 440's to AK's and rocket propelled grenades. "Where I'm from there are no police or fire fighters, we start riot's by burning car tires." from K'NAAN's song entitled "What's Hardcore". Leaving Somalia at the age of thirteen on what turned out to be the very last commercial flight to ever do so, amidst a crumbling society and the end to this day of any form of central government, K'NAAN carried with him a very strong sense of purpose. It is this sense of purpose as well as his amazing lyrical gift, which has made him a beacon for other artists as well as those dedicated to global change.
In 2001 after gaining notoriety as a skilled mc and spoken word poet, K'NAAN was invited to Geneva to perform a spoken word piece at the 2001 50th anniversary of the UN Commission for Refugee's. In front of some of the biggest suits in the world, K'NAAN brought the house down with his politically charged poem, K'NAAN explains, "I basically called out the UN for its failed relief mission in Somalia" The audience was so moved by the piece that they gave K'NAAN a standing ovation and African superstar Youssou N'Dour who was also in attendance loved the performance so much that he invited K'NAAN to Senegal to record with him.
Similarly, in Toronto in 2002 while recording a verse for a War Child benefit track entitled "Keep the Beat K'NAAN's unique flow caught the attention of artist/producer Jarvis Church, one half of the Grammy award winning production team Track and Field (Nelly Furtado). From there began a creative partnership that would lead to the creation of K'NAAN's' first full length album "The Dusty Foot Philosopher."
K'NAAN creates urgent 'music with a message' because his whole existence depends on it. 'Soobax' produced by Track n Field is percussion-fuelled protest music at its finest. It's more than a song, it's something people raise arms for,' explains K'NAAN 'The term Soobax actually means to 'come out' so when I recorded that in the studio, I imagined myself being in front of gun men, and I'm communicating directly to them'. He adds: 'Sixty-year-old women in Canada jam to that song because it's saying things they couldn't say. When my brother heard the song he said that it's the first song he'd heard of mine that could get me killed.'' "Hardcore', is a truthful reflection, a comparison track for those MC's who believe that they, their circumstances or themselves to be Hardcore. "Strugglin" is tracks for those who struggle and find themselves pushed to the brink yet at that point transform that struggle into power and the ability to overcome. The African Way' utilizes superb backing music supplied from a group of nomadic musicians K'NAAN ran into and recorded in a restaurant in Mombassa, Kenya. 'Wash It Down' is another must-hear track made entirely out of the sounds of crashing water, done by the 'forces of nature'. All and all the LP is a break out from the braggadocio world of Hip Hop

'One of those homeless kids in the video that was dancing actually hid his machete in his coat pocket when he heard my music. He then started to dance and put his machete away under the tree. That's why my long term goal is to use whatever fame I get to help change the situation in my region'not to own a clothing line like some of my rap peers'.
By most accounts, The Dusty Foot Philosopher is well on his way.