Years in the Making

Aiyyo Ev, whattup Rak?
There's a lot of cats didn't see this one comin'
Lotta cats not gon' understand
Never saw the path that we walked

You run that joint you did on the radio that night
Let people know, do this one for the interviews
Do it for the people, years in the making

Yo, my first verse, from '90 to '94
Mostly peepin' cats' styles out and hittin' the floor
A little bit, in '91 that's when we got down
Different sides of town, on the bus I made rounds

I was involved in graffiti heavily
My people were Self, Tau and Freck RIP
At night I heard beats next door by QD III
Inspiration, destiny, Ev producer MC

Now at this point, my face wasn't known and unfamiliar
And when you look how I do, most cats won't say they feel ya
So I was mostly, humbled by rejection
But in my heart, I knew my shit would always pass inspection

Correction, travel east and hit the inner section
Hip hop shop to rock, blow the spot wit Hex and Pen One
Also Iristyle, a cat who worked there
I said, "I wanna bust first" he said "It's all fair"

I went, he went, you can't beat 'em, join 'em
I said, "As a team in the game, we'll leave 'em maimed"
He agreed, so we did till '94
Till we had to change our name from the one we had before

Now at this point, we were five years in the making
Previously vain, graffiti oriented, breakin'
From cops to shop owners, rack and paint, stealin' sketch books
Mad vinyl, designs in corridors

Then it was mics, mixers, tracks, and greenbacks
Kingston, 12 gear and equipment on racks
Imagery battle hymns, whattup to Kendall, Swift, and Redman
Everyone who helped bounce checks, but not my plan

Business and friends, this was my first introduction
How foul it is when it comes to this biz
Of music, 1995 was mad confusin'
'6 it cleared up, independent geared up

Peace to Ben, 'Fari, and Alchemist
Third Degree type heat, brought on Babu to complete the list
Dis the doors, more red but on tours
The territories come, blunts burn our damn floors

Since '98, shit's been lookin' more bright
Work The Angles round the globe from main events at night
'99 approach millennium, The Platform will drop
Evidence, Iriscience, Babu, the world gets shocked!

Haha! Yeah!
We sendin' this out to every obstacle that made us stronger
That's right uh-huh
Sendin' this out to the poison that made the antidote
Dilated Wild Style, Evidence, that's all you need to know

Years in the making,
What's goin' on, ten years in the making
Years in the making, how many? Ten
Almost, ten years in the making
Shit, it's overnight right? Not really, we'll see

With your permission of course
We can keep this thing moving alright