.
A-yo, why is it so uncool to smile?
Since when did it become hip hop’s taboo?
‘Cause I would be smiling all the time
if I made even half of the money you do.
Frowning like you just caught a face full of sun --
How I miss the days when hip hop was fun,
when DJ Quik first burst on the scene,
when Boyz N The Hood was on the big screen,
when Tupac Shakur was a dancer for Humpty,
when Nasty Nas five-mic’d in the monthly,
when MC Breed painted the White House black,
when Too Short retired and then came back,
when Wyclef Jean asked out Mona Lisa --
that’s the era this poem will feature.
I want to go to a show and not have to front.
I’ll fisticuff but I’d rather you pass the blunt.
Let’s just chill and enjoy the diversity.
Let’s get lost in the rhythm’s uncertainty.
It doesn’t make you less hardcore
if you shake your ass on the fuckin’ dance floor,
but somewhere along this road we made rules,
and smiling became the weakness of a fool,
and silence and anger became the norm,
and that’s when the party began to lose form.
I reminisce about the glory that’s gone,
when happiness wasn’t looked down upon,
when EPMD crissed over with the Crossover,
when Tim Hardaway still had his toss over.
I used to go to the store and buy classics.
Now I go to the store and shit’s plastic.
I can’t tell it. I’m thieving for skill,
‘cause y’all might be dope, but I don’t see your will.
All I see is suckers pretending they’re ill.
I can’t relate to this lack of humanity.
Music’s as invulnerable as insanity.
I remember when Fife was a sidekick,
when gangsta rap was still on the rise, kid,
when De La Soul was reincarnated,
when Freestyle Fellowship first circulated,
when Run-DMC wore Adidas sneakers --
that’s the era this poem will feature.
From ’86 to ‘95,
when hip hop was just too thick to describe.
I strived to become it in every way,
so I practiced religiously every day.
On the bus ride home folks thought I was schizo.
In eighth grade I wore more rayon than Sisqo.
Housin’ was in and Mista Barbarena
coulda caughta misdameana
if he finked on his friends.
See, we would rap until we were bored,
with no cash advance or Grammy award.
My Boys’ Club trophies cluttered my shelf.
We’d no other reason but reason itself.
So why is it so uncool to smile?
Since when did it become hip hop’s taboo?
‘Cause I would be smiling all the time
if I made even half of the money you do.
Frowning like you just caught a face full of sun --
How I miss the days when hip hop was fun,
how I miss the days when hip hop was fun,
how I miss the days when hip hop was one.
Njósnavélin
Speechless
