PRhyme, DJ Premier, Bun B, Royce da 5'9" - Raiders of the Lost Art: Part 1 lyrics

Car won't start unless I do that so
The lesson learned here: don't drink, kids

Royce da 5'9" is approaching a new
Chapter in his career in
The fifteen years that Royce has
Been in the rap game, he has been
Tempted by the stereotypical rapper
Lifestyle alcohol, women
And throwing money in the
Air defines success in Hip-Hop and Royce
Fell victim to it all
Especially the alcohol

Back in New York
The legendary DJ Premier is dealing
With his own addiction
While Hip-Hop's modern day commercially
Successful descendants have to
An extent lowered the bar
Preemo has remained loyal to the
Culture's underlying purpose after close to
Three decades in Hip-Hop
He still spins everyday in his studio

When I came here to, uh
Shop my demos a lot of
Doors got shut in my face
And after pushing and pushing
Every time they slammed the door
I said I'm a update my
Demo went again they slammed
The door updated my demo again by
The fourth of fifth time
I got a call from Wild Pitch and Guru
Was sifting through all the boxes of demos
The two demos he found was mine and Lord
Finesse and I been here ever since

Detroit, Michigan: a city rich in musical
History that has long been forgotten
By big businesses and social politics
But Royce's mental state is
Miles away from those struggles as he
Prepares to create the first
Full length project with
Longtime collaborator
And friend, DJ Premier
Royce is at home with his wife and
Four kids not the typical setting for
A rapper about to write one of the
Most important albums of his career

I always pull up to my house very
Very slow 'cause these kids -
These kids have no

To help sharpen his pen game, Royce hit's up
The gym almost daily with his brother
Vishis a big fan of
Boxing, the lyricist sees a striking
Resemblance between the two sports
And while he may have
Chosen Hip-Hop over boxing
His mental muscle gets stronger every day

Hip-hop was to me - was
Almost supposed to my style
Versus your style that was the way it hit
Me: throwing up that was the way it spoke to
Me just like fighters, they get in the ring
They fight it could be bad
Blood between them -
They fight but they go so hard, by
The time the end of the fight
They can't do nothing but
Shake hands nowhere else
To go you know what I'm saying? Like
And I kind of feel like that's kind of like
How Hip-Hop should be well
I - at least I wish it was

Being the creator of an
Undeniably unique sound
Preem has never stopped pushing the
Envelope in Hip-Hop but while
He has been instrumental in
Shaping the culture's glory
Days as half of the group Gang Starr
No one is expecting Preem to do it again

Do trap, do whatever - I embrace it, I
Welcome it let them have they time
But that should not should stop
Us from doing the
Sound that worked for us because our market
And our audience wants more of it but which
- chasing the youth by wanting to
Be like them and sound like them
And then we're not selling records
And we're wondering why
Because we're doing something we know is not
Supposed to be done by us let
Those young kids have that
I'm a keep on boo bavering
It kicks, snares, hi hats
Dope samples and scratching

Turned twenty-one hanging around certain
People started drinking
And it started off in a
Way where it didn't even matter you
Know what I'm saying like
We was just having fun record deal
I don't even remember when
I started abusing it it was just like a blur

So my son made a comment it's one of the
Things that prompted me to stop he said
"I love my dad i think my dad is Superman
But I don't really know
Him" The first step was to clean my shit up
Clean my self up the second step
Was to slowly ease my way
Back into his life the way
That I'm supposed to be

Over the years, the personal lives and
Professional careers of
Both Royce and DJ Premier
Have crossed paths musically
Their work together has always been met with
Critical acclaim but the timing couldn't be
Better for Hip-Hop enthusiasts to go
Back to the drawing board because in
Order to keep moving forward
You've got to remember where you came from

And that's basically what's happening now