KRS-One & Marley Marl Rising To The Top Lyrics

[Intro]
... to you super listeners
How you doin' tonight
All you fly guys and fly girls
Welcome once again to the world famous Mister Magic Rap Attack
And of course I am...

[Verse 1]
Way way back before the *Hots* and the *Powers*
We used to listen to live mixing for hours
Roxanne Shante, U.T.F.O.
Mister Magic's Rap Attack some of y'all know
But I was in the shelter in weakness, homeless, turntableless and microphoneless
Fresh gearless, but still I was fearless and focused on being the dopest MC alive
It's '85, LL's on Def Jam with the best jam
And Whodini's on job
Man you know I had to survive
New York City was crazy in the 80's but d___ it was live
So here comes the Juice Crew with MC Shan
Shantay's already the queen
Marley's already the man
Y'all don't really understand
When you throw on Shantay or Shan it got live in the jam
So we went to Mister Magic
If anybody had to power to put you on he had it
We gave up the demo tape no love lost
But it seems Mister Magic just brushed us off
Somehow we heard we were wack
Every track, and that we shouldn't even call back
Right there my jaw dropped, no doubt
But it made me see what I was all about

[Chorus]
And I'll keep rising to the top while my mind go
...give it all you got, give it all you got
I'll keep rising to the top while my mind go
...give it all you got, give it all you got
We'll keep rising to the top while my mind go
...give it all you got, give it all you got
We'll keep rising to the top while my mind go
...give it all you got, give it all you got, give it all you got

[Verse 2]
In the spot new Hip-Hop and Latin corners
And the Union Square and the rooftop
We used to hear them tunes pop in the parking lot
Where it got dark a lot
Me and Scott La Rock
But it was all for the Hip-Hoppers
Salt-N-Pepa answered Doug E Fresh with *The Show Stoppa*
MC Shan was gonna challenge LL
Shantay was battlelin' 3 or 4 groups at the same time what the hell
Answer records were big then
After Shantay did it everybody was trying to spit them
So we spit off, to tell you the truth it was the only way an MC could get on
We answered MC Shan's *Queensbridge*
A dope jam about where he was from and where he lived
But in the Bronx there was these kids
KRS, Scott La Rock trying to live

[Verse 3]
This it what an MC was
We had a strong street buzz
Marley and Shan showed us some love
And love never hurt
Cause while Shan was with Marley we was with DJ Red Alert
Every Friday night, every Saturday night
On the airwaves the battle was right
Under New York nights, ????
Jar King at night
The rocks used to get so hype
You could put on your headset and get with heads ????
Live MC's going *check check*
Spitin' rhymes over the radio set
These are the days and the ways I can never forget
So I don't forget it
To Marley and Shan I am indebted
For the start of my career these guys could take credit
For my rappin', the whole battle they let it all happen
Marley and Shan and Shantay could have been guns trappin' cousin
But they wasn't, and you know why
Cause we was on some real Hip-Hop
Lets keep it buzzin'