Grandmaster Flash, KRS-One - What If lyrics

What if Hip Hop was never born, yo?
No Herc, No Flash, No Band, No Change, yo
No DJ's, No grab, No breakers, No MC
What would the state of dope world truly be?

No throw your hands, no screaming
No noise no DJ's cutting
No B-Boys, no B-Girls, No Grafitti
No nothing if Hip Hop was never born?
Let me make this clear
Just the thought of it
Definitely brings me tears

It's not about a salery
It's all about reality
And Hip Hop is the reality
That creates all these saleries
Hip hop, hip hop, hip hop
It's in the academies
Hauled from the streets of
The hood every family


But what if Hip Hop didn't exist?
There wouldn't be this
There wouldn't be Chris
Or a Public Enemy with a black power fist
No Queen Latifa, no Will Smith either
There would only be tight jeans
Tight suit's and black sneakers
No Tango hats either, no bandana headdress
No TV's in the headrest
Who would be a big mess, trust me drew it
Without rap I'd be saying this
Here in country music we be no stars
Imagine B-Boying over acoustic guitars
Not the sixteen bars fEEL ME!
The art of sampling as well
As cutting and scratching it's all ours
But really think about it fEEL ME!
What if Hip Hop was never born, yo?
No Herc, No Flash, No Band, No Change, yo
No DJ's, No grab, No breakers, No MC
What would the state of dope world truly be?

No throw your hands, no screaming
No noise no DJ's cutting
No B-Boys, no B-Girls, No Grafitti
No nothing what if Hip Hop was never born?
Let me make this clear
Just the thought if it
Definitely brings me tears

So what if Hip Hop was never born?
Never known? Never forever wrong
Never criticing our songs?
What if Hip Hop was never here?
Never that flavour in your ear
Never that thing that make you
Want to say OH YEAH!
No street millionaires, no billionaires
No Russell, No Diddy, No Wayne
No Chamillionaire let me get this clear
Today you have a real choice
Because of Hip Hops existance you
Have a real voice
But what if Hip Hop never came
Around to the boogie down
Never touched Herc and it
Touched another sound

You wouldn't know about James Brown
Pull in the Funkdelic
The radio and still have a play in the sound
It's like wearing the same gown as a model
Stepping off the runway and go
Eat out at McDonalds
We was the models, and society was McDonalds
Comnplete with a presidential clown, McRonald
But really
What if Hip Hop was never born, yo?
No Herc, No Flash, No Band, No Change, yo
No DJ's, No grab, No breakers, No MC
What would the state of dope world truly be?

No throw your hands, no screaming
No noise no DJ's cutting
No B-Boys, no B-Girls, No Grafitti
No nothing what if Hip Hop was never born?
Let me make this clear
Just the thought of it
Definitely brings me tears

Now that would be something
No scratching, no cutting now Listen
No cars driving by with the boomin' systems
No prison coz non of us would be in 'em
No one would be advertisng that
Rap to our children
Sure there be murder, and thugs and drugs
But they be on the low, and hardly heard of
Except if you watch the news see
If there was no Hip Hop in society
Then there would be fewer alternative views
See we not about to lose
Real Hip Hop, is like real estate
It's never going to move
I'd be singing the Blues literally
If I didn't acknowledge and cultivate the
Hip Hop living in ME!
So what's It going to be I ask!
Hip Hop wasn't even supposed to last
So I gotta laugh when I look at Flash!
Yeah Grandmaster Flash is on the tracks
But where would we be without
The cut and the scratch? SO I ask!

What if Hip Hop was never born, yo?
No Herc, No Flash, No Band, No Change, yo
No DJ's, No grab, No breakers, No MC
What would the state of dope world truly be?

No throw your hands, no screaming
No noise no DJ's cutting
No B-Boys, no B-Girls, No Grafitti
No nothing what if Hip Hop was never born?
Let me make this clear
Just the thought of it
Definitely brings me tears