KRS-One, Marley Marl - Rising to the Top lyrics

Good evening to you super listeners
How you doing tonight
All you fly guys and fly girls
Welcome once again to the world
Famous Mister Magic Rap Attack
And of course I am Sir Juice

Way way back before the Hots and the Powers
We used to listen to live mixing for hours
Roxanne Shante, UTFO
Mister Magic Rap Attack some of y'all know
But I was in the shelter in weakness
Homeless turntableless and microphoneless
Fresh gearless but still I was fearless
And focused on being the dopest MC alive
It's 85, lL's on Def Jam with the best
Jam and Whodini's on Jive
Man you know I had to survive
New York City was crazy in the
80s but damn it was alive
So here comes the Juice Crew with MC Shan
Shante's already the queen
Marley's already the man
Y'all don't really understand
When you throw on Shante or Shan
It got live in the jam
So we went to Mister Magic
If anybody had the power to put
You on he had it
We gave up the demo tape no love lost
But it seems Mister Magic just brushed us off
Somehow we heard we were wack every track
And that we shouldn't even call back
Right there my jaw dropped, no doubt
But it made me see what I was all about

And I'll keep rising to the
Top while my mind go
Give it all you got, give it all you got
I'll keep rising to the top while my mind go
Give it all you got, give it all you got
We'll keep rising to the top while my mind go
Give it all you got, give it all you got
We'll keep rising to the top while my mind go
Give it all you got, give it all you got
Give it all you got

In the spot new Hip-Hop at Latin Quarters
And the Union Square and the Rooftop
We used to hear them tools
Pop in the parking lot
Where it got dark a lot, me and Scott La Rock
But it was all for the Hip-Hoppers
Salt-N-Pepa answered Doug E Fresh
With The Show Stoppa
MC Shan was gonna challenge LL
Shante was battling 3 or 4
Groups at the same time, what the hell
Answer records were big then
After Shante did it everybody was
Trying to spit them so we spit on
To tell you the truth it was the
Only way an MC could get on
We answered MC Shan's Queensbridge
A dope jam about where he was
From and where he lived
But in the Bronx there was these kids
KRS, Scott La Rock trying to live

This is what an emcee was
We had a strong street buzz
Marley and Shan showed us some love
And love never hurt
Cause while Shan was with Marley we
Was with DJ Red Alert
Every Friday night, every Saturday night
On the airwaves the battle was right
Under New York nights, smog and lights
Jogging at night
The Roxy used to get so hype
You could put on your headset and
Get what heads ain't get yet
Live MCs going check check
Spitting rhymes over the radio set
These are the days and the
Ways I can never forget so I don't forget it
To Marley and Shan I am indebted
For the start of my career
These guys could take credit for my rapping
The whole battle they let it happen
Marley and Shan and Shante could
Have been gun strapping, cousin
But they wasn't you know why? Cause we was
On some real Hip-Hop lets keep it buzzing