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
“No Matter” was released on Lyricist Lounge Volume One on Rawkus Records in 1998. It is a song about the struggles inherent to poverty in a world where money is paramount. Andre Vasquez (aka – Prime) expresses his pain as an impoverished youth and reveals that his lyricism, drug use, and other risky...
[Verse 1: Prime]
I'm trapped in the mind state getting fly like magic rugs
Doing and selling drugs and praising the thugs
I was programmed this way so it ain't my fault
Too late to turn back I might change an assault
A whole lot to get into with little to do
Hit girls right the first time so it's deja vu
Payed the price my whole life, my attitude's a receipt
Easily learning life ills that are so hard to teach
When I was crazy young I had tons of fun
Nowadays life's a bitch or a son of one
Maybe to get this money I just really don't have the knack
Maybe I'm on borrowed time that I can't pay back
Or maybe I'm caught up in some Elm Street dream
And to get the hell out I must wake up by any means
But how can a war be won, if no one had a fort
Drinking flammable solution, returning to this thought
[Hook:]
No matter how loud I pray, God don't hear a sound
That's why I point my joint to the sky and let off a round
Cause can't no other man
Feel this black man's pain except another
With no dough, going insane
[Repeat X1]
[Verse 2: Prime]
Every man has two lives, so there's two stories
But both of mine are in between right and wrong like purgatory
I express a lot of heart when I write
About these stressful days and these nights cold like ice
It's just like bad dice, you press your luck and you roll
With efforts to make cash and now you in a deeper hole
Oh no you wake up
Cops all around and now you in some hand cuffs
You need some bail money but your fam wanna front
You think to yourself where your plan slipped up
That's when your girl says she missed the time of the month
That's when you feel funny and strange in your gut
It's just that shit that make a nigga grab a clip and just all out flip
My rap flows real
Fuck flavor, I kick real life in your ear
I'm god sent
Drinking strong Brandy, just staying bent
[Hook]
[Verse 3: Prime]
Sometimes I want it all, but I know it can't happen
So I buy pens to support this rap habit
You silly rabbit, see tricks are for kids
I'm not trying to do bids and get fish like squids
I'm on some power moves, against the powers that be
I'm in another realm, against the powers that be
Can you dig it?
If you do grab that shit, twist that shit and swig it
And taste the truth
And feel the proof
That's coming live through your speaker
My thoughts are deeper, on the last page like a beeper
Life is like an erection and some ass
It feels real good, but it don't last
So take a pull and pass, cause getting by ain't a game
In these last Babylonian days
Drinking flammable solution with a painful thought
Drinking flammable solution with this thought
[Hook]
Word, it's like it's useless nowadays
It's too stressful, damn
If you ain't got no dough, you ain't solidifying a damn thing
Word, it's like that
So get that money, get that money
No Matter was written by Derrick Trotman & Prime (Middle Ground and Molemen).
No Matter was produced by Derrick Trotman.