Put that mic down,
admire the technique and tight tight sounds
Of a Renagade, never been afraid,
the time is right now
Before I take my bow and finally allow
My love affair with rap to fade,
I'll sink into the page
Pleasure and the pain that came
from rulin' the game
And the half Dominican that
gave me brains in the fast lane
A seventeen-year reign,
reign, simple and plain
When I ruled the rap game and all
my peers sold cocaine
One-three-two Uptown, Uptown,
Uptown, when Rich Porter told me
"See you can push a new car,
it's different for a rap star"
And AZ was givin' 50s to the homeless
They never bragged about it ? "L,
we don't condone this"
On the back of the bike with Alpo
Doin' a buck down one-two-five,
hopin' to to to stay alive
Favorite spot rooftop
Me and Big chuckle up when he was
hittin' up "Juicy" and whatnot
Damn, when Dapper
Dan got shot up
Before they made drops when we
had to cut the top up
Some cats neglected the
fact that L was hot
Cause they warm and electin' me hot
when I stepped in the spot
Lyrically reppin' the block
on Farmers to rock
But my sex symbol status made me,
corny to cop
The microphone strategist ripped
the apparatus
Left competition embarrassed
but I never held malice
Kinda saw street literature
Used to lose battles on purpose
so these cats can dream more
I want to see y'all shine
without the use of a nine
You might see a nigga,
I see a black Einstein
A diamond in the rough,
he's remidin' me as tough
Young girls takin' X,
she's blinded by the stuff
Oh my God, where did we go wrong?
Are you doin' what you're doin
'cause I ruined you with songs?
God forgive me,
I never knew my power to devour the demons
Y'all know the Devil be schemin'
It's a manifestation of the
pain of a nation
That makes materialism the only
thing we're chasin'
The real gangstas never
talked to me tough
Never told me they was hard,
or claimed to be my God
When I first found the courage
to bounce up outta Queens
And saw Big Dave comin' up out
the store with money machines
My only dream was to
rock mics in the spotlight
Joint bumpin' on Marley
Show all night
Whoever thought that I would
be a movie star?
A rap icon, chokin' the
game like a python
Russell turned the hype on,
exploded like a pipe bomb
Just because a young boy,
turned the mic on
Still admire skills and cats that are ill
With lyri-kills, nowadays the chorus
is payin' the bill
The black man found
a way outta the hood
Now it's slaves to mayor's
not all good
Don't let 'em take our music
and plagiarize the game
Then you call up and request it and
pretend it's really flames?
The tip of the iceberg, I'll hold my piece
In the meantime, live smart,
watch out for the beast
Lyrical Picasso flow masterpiece
Like Michaelangelo or
Rembrant, you know?
Si palare poco Italiano
LL bravisimo, grazie, prego!
Más mejor siempre mi amigo
Pero, music is muy muy duro
Tú sabe, que tú quieres es
no problema
Te quiero mucho,
yo comprendo your dilemma
Sumer's comin', it won't
always be winter
I pray to God He forgives me,
I'm a sinner
Ll Cool J 
