De La Soul
Cipher Complete
Diaz Brothers & Matrix (Pyramindz) & A-Butta
Sarah Jones
Yasiin Bey & Tash (Tha Alkaholiks) & Q-Tip
Rawkus Records & I.G. Off & Kwest Tha Madd Lad & J-Treds & Thirstin Howl III
Punchline & Wordsworth
Word A’ Mouth
Prime (Middle Ground and Molemen)
O.C. & Ras Kass
Rawkus Records & Black Thought & Absolute (House of Repz) & Pharoahe Monch & Common
Saul Williams
Natural Elements
Reflection Eternal
Bahamadia & Rah Digga
A.L. (All Lyrics)
Talib Kweli & John Robinson & Mr. Metaphor & & & Wiseguy (Rap)
Lord Have Mercy & D.V. Alias Khrist
Jurassic 5
Zack de la Rocha & KRS-One & The Last Emperor
Indelible MC’s & J-Treds & Juggaknots & Company Flow
Wordsworth & A.L. (All Lyrics) & Rise (Emcee) & Punchline & Jedi
This song was originally featured on 1998’s Lyricist Lounge – Volume One compilation. The badass instrumental for this song is from Tom Waits’s “Singapore,” from the 1985 album Rain Dogs.
The battle rhymes in the song are heavy on wordplay and double-meanings.
Rawkus Records ft. Word A’ Mouth - “Famous Last Words”
[Emcee(s): Mr. Metaphor and Building Block (AKA Block McCloud)]
[Producer(s): Will Tell]
[Sample (Multiple Elements): Tom Waits - “Singapore” (0:02)]
[Verse 1: Mr. Metaphor]
Step right up, step right up and listen close
Fuck the beef and just let the pot roast
Some shorties try to high-post, I box ‘em out
Puff blunts and drink private scotch and stout. I gots
No doubt to let the flow out my windpipe
I make you clap, clap your hands like Twin Hype
I keep my stems ripe, puffing on a peace pipe
Quick, fast like grease light, I’ma recite
Rhymes and reignite the mic when the beat strike
It get me hype when y’all punks try to beat-bite
Tight lyrics that I write is out of sight
Like a satellite. You can’t battle right, grab the mic tight
You’re loose like cellulite. I can tell you might be the type
To bite, enormous appetite. All y’all rappers bite, unite
And form like parasites and swarm like locusts in the night
With the focus to bite. I take flight and rise the Fahrenheit
[Verse 2: Building Block (AKA Block McCloud)]
Arms locked in combat, bombs locked on target
Armed, Block’ll march while the foes are bombarded
Archrivals stifled by the likes of bayonet
Slice your face and neck, lace the set, collect—pay your debt
Place your bet. Stakes is high, jakes chase my jet
If grazing heads don’t make ‘em pets, son, wake the dead
Got butt-naked snakes in bed, afraid to take my bread
I fucked Mother Nature, made her ten acres spread
And ain’t break a sweat, flowing like period on the 28th
Of Mayhem, I’ll make sense that’s worth a pennyweight
Evacuate, this track’ll make you chickenheads ejaculate
You can’t imaginate. My fire’ll make your flow evaporate
Set the date, step to the square. I’ll scare your record straight
Defecate in your mouth and house you like Section 8
Reiterating these litigations will leave a bitter taste
In your flow, some middle-aged men obliterating
[Hook: Building Block and (Mr. Metaphor)]
I could burn you, I could learn you something vital, I could earn
Your title (Famous Last Words)
I could defeat you, beseech you to retreat
Delete you (Famous Last Words)
Son, I’ll blast you, I’ll smash you, point my gat at you
Bless you (Famous Last Words)
I’m the toughest, bragging, puffing drags with eight heads in a
Duffle bag (Famous Last Words)
[Verse 3: Building Block (AKA Block McCloud)]
Emcees scared of B-Squared, my style’s intimidating
They mimic me timidly, simulating my
Symmetry, claim they’re innovating. I sin like Satan
Breaking their fall with flames (Disintegrating!)
Winner taking it all in vain, Main Line generating
Dollars and followers at the same time. They
Call my name, hollering in the Hall of Fame. I shine
Like halogen, got it locked with ball and chain
Y’all all remain minute, I dilute your potency
No emcee could halt or alter my future
[Verse 4: Mr. Metaphor]
One, two, skip to my Lou as lyrics
Swerve through. I’ll house you like a curfew
Curse you, I hit you off with a hex. I got more
TEC than Apex that spray necks—yo, fuck safe sex. You get
Suplexed up in my two-story duplex
Your rhymes are rejects pulled down like V-necks. Yo, who next
To take a fall? I stake ‘em all in their heart. I’m way smart
I went to Kmart and stole a go-kart, went up the
Flow chart. When the show start, I cause a ruckus
With rhymes Long like Island from Nassau or to Suffolks
I stuff chicks like tough dicks caught in the mix, I depict
A dizzy flow to leave you seasick, you’ll flee quick
If I Ruled the world, my first to free would be Rick. Ayyo, my
Rhymes is mad fat, my mic’s bulemic, your style’s anemic
My scenic visions cycle like the one in prisms
My rhymes is larger than any tiny microorganisms
Metaphor has risen over the top. I kick the
Ancient bebop, Pump like a Reebok, see through more eyes
Than a peacock. I’ll leave you as the laughingstock, I’m gassing
Flocks of emcees who blasting Glocks in their rhyme. In due time
I’ll reach my true prime—def/deaf like pantomime. As I
Chant a rhyme, you can’t deny my plan to plant your mind inside
My pocket. The lyric pilot keep you in a cockpit
I rock shit or fucking box it, I’m highly toxic poison
I make more noise than a Bach orchestra, I’m stalking ya
Follow my road, I’m forking you to the path, so, yo
Tell a friend, tell a foe, tell a ho
Tell any fellow. I Do it Right like Danny Aiello
I’m coming at you like a hello-copter
Chopped ya. You couldn’t hold a mic if I spot ya
[Hook: Building Block and (Mr. Metaphor)]
I could burn you, I could learn you something vital, I could earn
Your title (Famous Last Words)
I could defeat you, beseech you to retreat
Delete you (Famous Last Words)
Son, I’ll blast you, I’ll smash you, point my gat at you
Bless you (Famous Last Words)
I’m the toughest, bragging, puffing drags, stuffing eight heads in a
Duffle bag (Famous Last Words)
Famous Last Words was written by Will Tell & Block McCloud & Mr. Metaphor.
Famous Last Words was produced by Will Tell.