The Punisher
Rakim Lyrics

Kill him again!
Rakim is calling out to his fans to kill the person he is rapping about once again.

Try to identify the man in front of ya
Rakim is urging his listeners to try and identify the target of his lyrics.

But it ain't the role, the gear or the money, the, swift intellectionist with plenty, ya
The person being targeted is not defined by their role, the gear they wear or the money they have, but instead by their intelligence.

Bite, if it's dark I'll spark every one of ya
Rakim will attack anyone who tries to bite his rhymes, even if it's in the dark.

I throw a mic in the crowd, it's a question
When Rakim throws his mic into the crowd, it becomes a challenge to the audience to rise to his level of skill and lyricism.

I got the answer..it includes directions: 'Go manufacture a mask, show me after, a glass of a master that has to make musical massacre...'
Rakim is revealing that he has the answer to the challenge he presented in the previous line - it involves manufacturing a mask and showing it to him while also possessing the skills of a master to create a musical massacre.

Attack your wack 'till it's handicapped, You'll never hold the mic again, try to hand it back,
Rakim will continue to attack the target until they can no longer rap and will never again hold the mic once he takes it from them.

'Cause every rapper that comes, I cut off his thumbs, Put a record to his neck, if he swallows it hums!
Rakim will cut off the thumbs of any rapper who tries to challenge him. If they try to swallow his record, it creates a humming sound that symbolizes the power of Rakim's lyrics.

Slice from ear to ear-so 'till can hear better, before he bleed to death, here, hear every letter!
Rakim is so skilled with his rhymes that he can slice a person's ears so they can hear better and listen to every letter of his lyrics before they bleed to death.

And you can see quick and thick the blood can get
Rakim's rhymes are so deadly that they can cause a person to bleed out quickly and heavily.

If you try to change the style or the subject;
Any attempt to change the direction of Rakim's lyrics will be met with dire consequences for the target of his rhymes.

As I get deep in the rhyme I'm becomin' a, Emcee murderer, before I'm done, I'm a
Rakim's skills as a rapper are so lethal that he becomes an emcee murderer with his rhymes.

Prepare the chamber, the torture's comin' up, Trip through the mind, at the end you'll find it's The punisher
Rakim is warning his target to prepare themselves for the torture that is about to come. In the end, they will realize that he is The Punisher.

I hold the mic as hostage, emcees are ransom, Rhymes'll punish 'em 'cause they don't understand 'em,
Rakim holds his mic as a hostage and will only release it once his target pays a ransom. His rhymes will punish them for not understanding the depth of his lyrics.

I heat up his brain, then explain then I hand him a red-hot microphone...that's how I planned 'em,
Rakim uses his lyrics to heat up his target's brain and then explains the message to them. He then hands them a red-hot microphone as part of his plan to demonstrate his superior skill.

Rhymes call information(?), unite midnight(?), Like a platoon putting bullet wounds in the mic,
Rakim's rhymes are like a call to arms that unite his listeners at midnight. They are like a platoon with their weapons at the ready, putting bullet wounds in the mic with their skill.

If ya curse me, it ain't no mercy, Give him an autopsy, killed by a verse of me,
Rakim shows no mercy to anyone who tries to curse him and will leave them dead with just one of his verses.

I took a kid and cut off his eyelid, Kill him slow so he could see what I did,
Rakim takes pleasure in torturing his target and even cuts off their eyelids so they can witness the brutal effects of his lyrics.

And if he don't understand what I said, I'm pushing his eyeballs way to the back of his head So he can see what he's getting into,
If his target fails to comprehend the full meaning of his lyrics, Rakim will push their eyeballs to the back of their head so they can see the seriousness of the situation.

A part of the mind that he never been through, A journey is coming 'cause ya getting sent to A place harder to find but it's all in the mental,
Rakim's rhymes take his target on a journey through a part of their mind they have never been to before. It is a place that is hard to find, but it exists within their mental state.

I ran a brainscan to locate his game plan, When I'm through with his brain he ain't the same, man!
Rakim uses his lyrics to conduct a brainscan and figure out his target's game plan. Once he is done with his target, they will no longer be the same person they were before.

Did he lose his mind or lost in his mind, But this ain't the lost and found because ya can't find Your foundation; coasting, your mind is Drifting, in slow motion..frozen,
Rakim's target has lost their mind or is lost in their own thoughts. He compares their situation to being lost in a place where it's impossible to find their foundation and they are unable to move or think quickly.

Looks like another murder at the Mardi Gras, be! Too late to send out a search party,
Rakim compares the destruction his rhymes bring to a murder at the Mardi Gras. His target is beyond saving and there is no point in trying to send out a search party.

Once ya out of ya head then ya can't get back, I give 'em a map, but he still get trapped, so Prepare the chamber, the torture's coming up, Trip through the mind, at the end you'll find it's The Punisher
Once Rakim's rhymes have taken his target out of their own mind, there is no going back. Even with a map, they will still get trapped within their own thoughts. The Punisher is waiting with torture and a trip through the mind to end it all.

Dangerous rhymes (are) performed like surgery, Cuts so deep you'll be bleeding burgundy,
Rakim's rhymes are like surgery, precise and deadly. They make cuts deep enough to cause his target to bleed burgundy out of their wounds.

My intellect wrecks and disconnects your cerebral cortex, Your cerebellum is next!
Rakim's intellect completely destroys his target's cerebral cortex and their cerebellum is next to face his wrath.

Your conscience becomes sub-conscious, Soon your response is nonsense
Rakim's rhymes cause his target's conscience to become sub-conscious and their responses become nonsense as a result.

The last words are blurred, mumbled then slurred, Then your verbs are no longer heard,
The target's last words become blurred, mumbled and slurred as they succumb to the power of Rakim's rhymes. Their verbs are silenced and no longer heard.

You get your lung fried so good you're tongue-tied, The couldn't swing or hang so he hung 'till he died,
The power of Rakim's rhymes is so strong that it fries his target's lungs and makes them tongue-tied. They are unable to swing or hang with his skill and are left hanging until they die.

Reincarnate him, and kill him again, again and again, again and again I leave him in the mausoleum so you can see him, I got a dead-MC'ing museum,
Rakim wants his target to be reincarnated so he can kill them again and again. He leaves them in his museum as a testament to the power of his rhymes.

When I create 'em, I cremate 'em and complicate 'em, You can't save 'em...there's no ultimatum,
When Rakim creates his rhymes, he also cremates his targets and makes their situation even more complicated. There is no saving them and no ultimatum to be offered.

Mic's lay around full of ashes, with the victim's name in slashes, Got a long list and I'm a get every one of ya Beware of The Punisher!
The mics are left full of ashes with the victims' names inscribed on them in slashes. Rakim has a long list of targets and plans to get every single one of them. His target should beware of him, The Punisher.

Then I'm a kill 'em again! Wake 'em up, kill 'em again!
Rakim plans to kill his target again and again, and will even wake them up just to do it all over again.