the meaning
High & Mighty Lyrics

High & Mighty back in this
We're back on the scene

"You think you know what I'm meaning"
Don't assume you know what I'm trying to say

I'm just a '86 witness
I was there in the hip hop scene in 1986

"You thi-think-think-think ya know"
Seriously, don't act like you have it all figured out

Take it out you suckers, you don't know how I did it
We're not going to give away our secret sauce

"Yo yo, you're now a game and don't think you're gonna win it"
If you're trying to compete with us, you've already lost

Maybe if I popped Cristal
If I bragged about luxury goods, I might get a deal

Said I had a Lexus, or a triple beam I'd get a deal
If I bragged about my material possessions, I might get a record deal

I'd rather speak upon a Maurice Cheeks steal
I'd rather talk about an impressive play in basketball

It's the outta paper, not the caps I peel
I'm focused on making money, not impressing people

I used my independent, money to pay the rent
We paid our bills and established ourselves without record label help

Remain at hell bent, and far from heaven sent
We're determined and ambitious, even if it means taking a non-religious path

Where they went? The days when mics got destroyed
Where did the days of Rap battles go?

be's just boy-ed, the soft punks got toyed
New rappers are not tough like their predecessors

Unemployed, was a happy-go-lucky MC
New rappers aren't willing to put in the work like older ones once were

And now that's all they fuckin be bringing to me
New rappers only talk about themselves and their wealth

Where they went? The summer concerts on concrete
Where did the concerts on the street go?

Elite could put twelve G's in the seat
Back in the day, the best rappers could fill the biggest venues

Now I release the masterpiece of my music
We're releasing our best work

It's '99, and no one could use it
We're too far ahead of the curve to be appreciated right now

They rather re-use it, the audience confuse it
People prefer to stick to what they know, even if it doesn't make sense

Take Chuck D's Time Bomb, try to defuse it
People just borrow from classics instead of creating their own

"I've seen your kind before, you're not original"
Don't try to copy what's already been done

"Ya-you're not ya-you're not orig-riginal"
Seriously, don't try to copy what's already been done

"I've seen your kind before, you're not original"
We've seen people like you before, and we're not impressed

"The-the-the meaning, ya think you know what I'm meaning"
Seriously, don't try to guess what we're trying to say

"Ya-you're not ya-you're not original"
Deja vu - still not impressed with your lack of originality

"Ya think you know what I'm meaning"
Seriously, stop trying to interpret the meaning behind our work

It seems that you gotta come cheap to compete
People these days will only listen to cheap, low-quality music

That's why when I chose to go deep you go sleep
Our music is deep and requires attention, so some people will overlook it

On a verse, you not gonna get at first
People won't always understand our verses on the first listen

Like O.J. would never ever get a hearse first
We're comparing our misunderstood verses to the infamous O.J. Simpson case

When he die, think about the lie over lie
When O.J. dies, we'll think about the many lies throughout his life

>From verse about the hearse of this rap universe
From a verse about the end of the rap industry

'cause radical elements remain eloquent
Our unapologetic and uncompromising style is still relevant

The reprocussions tear right through the fabric
Our impact is palpable and undeniable

So act quick, kids at the top is lackin
The new generation of rappers aren't quite cutting it

They tryin to turn hip hop to just plain rappin
The new generation of rappers are trying to simplify the genre into something generic

Let the poppers pop and the breakers break
Let the people who really care about hip hop express themselves

'Cause there's just so much of this shit that I can take
We're not going to pretend to like music we don't respect

Now I can't stand the rain, this shit's all the same
We can't stand all the generic music out there

Mr. E excommuincate your whole game
We're rejecting the current state of the rap industry

Back in '88 baby everything was gleaming
Things were more promising in the rap industry in 1988

"The meaning, you think you know what I'm meaning"
People still don't get the meaning behind our work

"You're not-you're not-you're not original"
Seriously, it's like everyone is copying each other these days

"Ya-ya-think-ya-think you know what I'm meaning"
We're not going to make it easy for you to understand

Where your skills at, where the ill raps?
We're challenging other rappers to step up their game

Where the new tracks, where your heart at?
We're challenging other rappers to create new music with heart

Where the new jacks, gettin contracts?
We're calling out the new wave of rappers who are getting record deals with mediocre music

I got a rhyme that I ain't even wrote yet
We have so many untapped ideas still waiting to be brought to life

Save the drama classes for the masses
We're looking for substance in rap, not theatrics

Hip hop, glacoma, baby I prescribe the glasses
We're trying to open people's eyes to what true hip hop is

The vision's near-sighted, and narrow-minded
People are too focused on the short term and aren't thinking outside of the box

The wack shit that you hear, is all hate and fight
A lot of the bad rap music is just full of negative energy

Take it like harder, fools act retarder
We're saying rappers need to step up their game and stop acting foolish

In '98, lyrics just disregarded
The quality of rap lyrics significantly decreased in 1998

Now how hard it be yo to really concentrate
Rappers need to put in more effort and focus on creating better music

Writin metaphors, wack shit I annihilate
We're destroying bad metaphors in rap lyrics

Now fools comin through spellin much gibberish
New rappers today are just throwing together nonsense

While Mighty Mi and I stay acknicilous
We're staying true to our roots and creating meaningful music

Raps are bed pan, and I be the nurse
We're cleaning up the rap industry with our good music

Removin shit wit lyrics that I disperse
We're removing the bad rap music from the industry with our own lyrics

Nail ya coffin, ?so you're? death's epitome
We're calling out the bad rappers and predicting their downfall

Ya fate be taken out is most likely
You're most likely going to fail in the rap industry if you're not creating good music

Not likely, we be The High & The Mighty
We're confident in our own abilities and success

Stompin out crews, the team of the '90's
We're the best rap team of the 90's and we're not afraid to show it

"Not original"
Seriously, stop copying other rappers and try to be original

"Ya not original--" "Ya not"
You really are not original

"Shoulda been number one to me"
We're giving a shoutout to all the great rappers who didn't get the credit they deserved