Gang Starr › Lyrics › Put Up or Shut Up

This mic in my hand, I'm rulin'

Stupid, you know it's time to sit an' think, before we hit the brink
Locker room, at a prize fight before he hit the ring
Like when I tell these corporate leeches they can't get a thing
Or when I tell relentless rappers they had better sing

The position that anyone holds could be up to grabs
I'm waitin' up the ave to see if anyone folds
Since I was twenty one years old an' legal
I knew the difference between gimmicky gangsters an' powerful people

I'm the reason why the game is flipped
I'm the reason why your aim is missed
I'm the reason why you're mad, I only sprained my wrist
The reason my mind frame is trained in this

You like gunfire? Better acquire the taste
'Coz youf walk aroun' with full pounds by dem waist
Deface property, they be laced properly
Rules are rules, fools are fools, I react logically
Ain't no way, so come, make my day
Like Tom Hanks, I earn long bank an' 'Cast you away'

This mic in my hand, I'm rulin'
I repeat, this is not a question

Oh, you brag about the ki's you flipped an' who you done up
Nigga, whattup? Put up or shut up
Poppin' s*** about the chicks an' the whips you got
You think you hot? Uh uh, man, you put up or shut up

Always talkin' 'bout your dough an' your wealth an' fame
You's a lame, get out of here, put up or shut up
You got hot beats an' kids that can spit mad fire?
You's a liar, that's whack, put up or shut up

This mic in my hand, I'm rulin'

Aiyyo, I've seen the toughest of tough guys, the roughest of guys
Get reduced of their juice against the wall like small fries
All rise, it's time to do the damn thing
I'm all wise, my mind exercise like handsprings

Crazy degrees of difficulties
Remain mackin' chicks, O.G. s***, the ten prix
Please, you know my peoples want a lot, the corner's hot
We gettin' love on y'all block

An' that's gangsta, but a lot of s*** ain't
Believe me, it ain't easy like you sleazy niggaz think
Uneasy niggaz blink, when I step to the stage
An' don't flinch, don't move a inch, I'm 'bout to empty the gauge

I've witnessed the bad s***, sickness an' sadness
Always dreamed about what I would do, if I had s***
Drop jewels infinite for the blind deaf an' dumb
Down with M.O.P. an' Bumpy, plus I just left Krumb

But I'm back, ha, fresh outta the max
An' I'm gettin' at you cats

Aiyyo, popped out the beast, met The Ownerz with the lease
Soldifyin' contracts over dope beats
Learned a whole lot up in these streets
Like when to talk, when to spark, an' when not to speak

I do the one before a gun come out
Plus y'all don't really wanna see Krumb dumb out
A ghetto doctrine to watch every pistol pop
An' then while you watchin', examine all options

Young bodies in the coffin more often
It stay the same from Brooklyn to Boston
Every interstate, more youth with the inner hate
Deep in the struggle, puttin' food on they dinner plate

Hungry W.O.L.V.E.S. that roll thick in packs
An' pray on you cats with the gangstafied raps
Extortion, only gettin' left with abortion
Pullin' out tools on them fools who be flossin'

Oh, you brag about the ki's you flipped an' who you done up
Nigga, whattup? Put up or shut up
Poppin' s*** about the chicks an' the whips you got
You think you hot? Uh uh, man, you put up or shut up

Always talkin' 'bout your dough an' your wealth an' fame
You's a lame, get out of here, put up or shut up
You got hot beats an' kids that can spit mad fire?
You's a liar, that's whack, put up or shut up