Verse 1:
Flat top rules, flat top '89
Man I used to have mine with the lines like Kane
It was high school high and the girls was fly
I was practicin' lines trying to rhyme like Kane
With a rayon shirt, do the running man, yeah, y'all, work
So c'mon, let's move it like Special Ed
Tapes was the grittiest
Grip Grand was born in the City, b**h
That's the most true sh** I ever said
Fat cap rules, '92, new school
With the Air Max lime green trim new shoes
Had a swap-meet t-shirt, Dickies, Ben Davis
Wore a web belt, matched Starter hats, ten flavors
Rocked satin-lined flannel tops
King sh** like Camelot
Cali G's, Sammy sold trees out a ammo box
Back in the day I knew rap would never die out
What the f** else you gonna listen to to ride out?
Chorus
Verse 2:
'85 rules, '85, old school
It was Slick Rick, Run DMC, and me
With the track suit pants in a B-Boy stance
Hip-hop steady blowin' up, TNT
Had skips, not kicks, man I couldn't buy sh**
Pay what? Payless, better yet pay nothin'
So I didn't look fresh in my hand-me-down vest
Or a fake Member's Only jacket straight frontin'
'88 rules, junior high, high school
Where were you? I was at the store buyin' PE
Had the gray ca**ette, used to play that sh**
‘Til it broke and eventually I bought the CD
Yeah, '91 rules, Native Tongues, so cool
New York had the jazz, LA had the violence
With a beanie pulled low, couldn't see a good show
I was too young to go ‘cuz they might have a riot
[Riot Bridge]
Chorus
Verse 3:
Back pack rules, '93 rap rules
Headphones so big bout ta' break my neck
Trying to walk with a bop, troop up to the Hip Hop Shop
Cop a Conart shirt from Hex
Got a Tommy Hill top that Grand Puba rocked
In a video before he dropped Reel to Reel, B?
Or were you more on that cold
Timberlands when it snows
And a parka like Preem on the Arena LP?
Yeah, Jumpman rules, '9-cipher, etc
In the rhyme cipher, Grip flow with a sharp tongue
Can't afford Jordans so I gotta save up
Bought the silver and black with the glow-in-the-dark tongue
Everyone wanna go back to the past
But for me, I would still hop back to the future
If, back in the day, you knew rap would never die?
You were right, ‘cuz we still got rap in the future
Chorus