-^^~~~^^^~~~^^-

Here comes the spirit rising up from the ground

From the cyphers in the basements to the heartbeat of the town

I walk with the echoes of the culture in my sound

Hip Hop forever elevated - forever profound

Pen and paper - for the poets and creators

Diamond meets vinyl - for the mixers and the breakers

Voices united - rhythm in the spine

Graffiti in colors that eternally shine

Movements in circles, six-step on the floor

Turntable thunder - shaking every door

Hip Hop -

We praise your name evermore

Hip Hop is my foundation

My craft, my dedication

My history, my transformation

I speak your truth across the nation

I stand on the pillars built before my time

Every beat, every rhyme is a lifeline

No weapons needed - just rhythm and design

I strike with syllables, discipline refined

From the park jams shaking up the concrete blocks

To the subway tunnels painted like a paradox

To the boombox prophets dropping knowledge in flocks

This culture rises when the world tries to knock

My substance authentic -

the essence of days

When passion meant something

in a world full of haze

I hold the fire

through the thunder and storm

A torch for the culture

that forever stays warm

Pen and paper - for the poets and creators

Diamond meets vinyl - for the mixers and the breakers

Voices united - rhythm in the spine

Graffiti in colors that eternally shine

Movements in circles, six-step on the floor

Turntable thunder - shaking every door

Hip Hop -

We praise your name evermore

The virtuoso artist often fades in the chart noise

Fast-food hits drowning out the real voice

But I don’t bend -

I rise, I honor the craft

I move with the truth that these rhythms draft

I’ve got stories carved deep like the lines in a map

Carried through decades on the foundation of rap

Not for the glamour -

but culture, the legacy, fact

A tribute to the ones who carried crates on their back

Rap is my medicine -

tonic for the soul

Healing the wounds

that the world can’t control

Antibiotic of rhythm,

prescription of sound

A pulse in my chest

that forever beats loud

Hip Hop is my lineage -

the roots I defend

A culture of people

that build, teach, and transcend

Give me the microphone -

the moment begins

I capture the history

in verbs, nouns, spins

Like griots in the motherland

passing on flames

I honor the elders

by repeating their names

Not for the suits

or the ones who betray

But for the young

who will rise, who will stay

Pass it on -

legacy carried in the rain

Roots deep enough

to outlive every chain

Tradition handed down -

from one to another

Each One Teach One

… the code of the brother

Each One

Teach One

Hip-Hop

Each One

Teach One

Each One Teach One

Pen and paper - for the poets and creators

Diamond meets vinyl - for the mixers and the breakers

Voices united - rhythm in the spine

Graffiti in colors that eternally shine

Movements in circles, six-step on the floor

Turntable thunder - shaking every door

Hip Hop -

Forever we rise, forever we roar.