Ludacris, Nas, JAY-Z - I Do It for Hip Hop lyrics

I do it for hip-hop i do it for hip-hop
I do it for hip-hop

Now this is what they call poetry in motion
My soul bleeds on the paper
Heart screams with emotion
It's my daily devotion
The verses stay deeper than the ocean
So hip-hop you owe me a promotion!
Yeah I do a little boastin and braggin
What's all the commotion and
Naggin about? Cause
I'm still the champ in the South?
Cause rappers get in the booth and
I keep draggin em out?
Well they're fired, and these pink slips
I'm handin em out
Cause this is "Theater of the Mind
" consider it a sign
Of what's to come next, my money's just fine
Bank filled with dumb checks
Terrorist threat flow
Proceed to drop bombs like Mr funk Flex
But I don't do it for the money
I do it from the heart
I do it with the beat box
I did it from the start
I do it for the dee jays
I do it for the charts
The Van Gogh flow, Luda do it cause it's art
I do it for the fans, I do it on command
I do it for the front row
I do it for the stands
I spit it for the hood, I do it for the block
And since nine years old I
Did it for hip-hop, so

I don't do it for them
Cars and the fancy drops i do it for hip-hop
I do it for hip-hop i do it for hip-hop
And I don't it for the
Chains and the flashin rocks
I do it for hip-hop i do it for hip-hop
I do it for hip-hop

Uhh, uhh, uh
They say I'm so low key, I'm socially awkward
Only niggas who really know me
Who I talk with
They smile in the light, hate in the dark
You call it beef, to me
It's just a fuckin walk in the park
Cause you are who you
Are when nobody's lookin that's who you are
So when the cash and the cars is gone
The day after tomorrow
Don't be askin to borrow ski mask it hard
Like the way you rap in your bars
I can ride on you and whoever
Devise new endeavors
I'm as live as a hive full of predators
Twenty thousand different species of bees
Some have poisonous stings
Some just pollinate leaves
It's like rap, some just buzz
Some will attack
Compromise their own life in fact
Sixteen years since my first sixteen
Pardon the rest of my niggas but I'm
The best who's ever did it!

I don’t do for the cars and the fancy drops
Uh, I do it for hip-hop
Yeah, I do it for hip-hop
Uh, I do it for hip-hop
And I don’t do for the
Chains and the flashin’ rocks
Why we do it kid? I do it for hip-hop
Yeah, I do it for hip-hop
Uh, I do it for hip-hop

Hip-hop, started out in the park
We used to do it to avoid the Narcs
I used to do it so the homeboy Clark
Can get the fuck off my back
While I knocked off these packs
I used to rap to impress my friends
To pass the time while I was gettin' it in
Just so happens, I'm so illegal with the pen
They ain't want me doin'
Anything illegal again
I lost a lot of dogs to these streets
I got Grammy Awards on these beats
Thank God for Kool Herc
Without your shit I probably
Would've got murked
Shout out to Grandmaster Flash and to Caz
And even Jaz bum-ass
Hip-hop helped me wash my rocks
These other rappers couldn't wash my socks
That's why I took the number one slot
The realest shit in rap comes
From my voice box
Lord knows when I was on my clock
I prolly never woulda stopped
Thank God for hip-hop

I don’t do for the cars and the fancy drops
Uh, I do it for hip-hop i do it for hip-hop
I do it for hip-hop and I don’t do for the
Chains and the flashin’ rocks
Come on, I do it for hip-hop
I do it for hip-hop i do it for hip-hop

DJ scratches and Ludacris ad-libs until 4: 56

I don't do it for them
Cars and the fancy drops i do it for hip-hop
I do it for hip-hop i do it for hip-hop
And I don't it for the
Chains and the flashin rocks
I do it for hip-hop i do it for hip-hop
I do it for hip-hop