I aint no joke, I use to let the mic smoke
Now I slam it when Im done and make sure its broke
When Im gone I wrote this song cuz I wont let
Nobody press up and mess up to seen I set
I like to stand in a crowd and watch the people wonder damn
Bu think about it then youll understand
Im just an addict addicted to music
Maybe its a habit, I gotta use it
Even if its jazz or the quiet storm
I hook a beat up convert it in a hip-hop form
Write a rhyme in graffitti in every show you see me in
Deep concentration cuz Im no comedian
Jokers are wild if you wanna be tame
I treat you like a child then youre gonna be named
Another enemy, not even a friend of me
Cuz youll get fried in the end if you pretend to be
? can be? cuz I just put your mind on pause
And I can beat you when you compare my rhyme wit yours
I wake you up and as I stare in your face you seem stun
Remember me, the one you got your idea from
But soon you start to suffer but you only get rougher
When you start to stutter thats when you had enuff of
Biting it, I make you choke, you cant provoke
You cant cope, you should of broke cuz I aint no joke

I got a question, its serious as cancer
Who can keep the average dancer
Hyper as a heart attack nobody smiling
Cuz youre expressing the rhyme that Im styling
This is what we all sit down to write
You cant make it so you take it home, break it and bite
Use pieces and bits of all the hip-hop hits
Get the style down pack then its time to ? swit?
Put my tape on pause and add some more to yours
Then you figure youre ready for the neighborhood chores
The e-m-c-e-e dont even try to be
When you come up to speak, dont even lie to me
You like to exaggerate, dream and imaginate
Then change the rhyme around, that can aggravate me
So when you see me come up, freeze
Or youll be one of those 7 mcs
They think that Im a new jack but only if they knew that
They who think wrong are they who cant do that
Style that Im doing, they might ruin
Patterns of paragraphs based on you and
Your offbeat dj, if anything he play
Sound familiar, Ill wait til e say
Play em, so ima have to dis and broke
You could get a smack for this, I aint no joke

I hold the microphone like a grudge
Bll hold the record so the needle dont budge
I hold a conversation cuz when I invent
I nominated my dj the presdient
When Im see ill, people freestyle, going steadily
So pucker up and whistle my melody
But whatever you do, dont miss one
Theyll be another rough rhyme after this one
Before you know it, youre following and fiending
Waiting for the punchline to get the meaning
Like before the middle of my story Im telling
Nobody beats the r so stop yelling
Save it, put it in your pocket for later
Cuz Im moving the crowd and be a record fader
No interruptions and the mic is broke
When Im gone, then you can joke
Cuz everything is real on a serious tip
Keep playing and I varies quick
And take you for a walk through hell
Feed your dome then watch your eyeballs swell
Guide you out of triple stage darkness
When it get dark again then ima spark this
Microphone cuz the heat is on, you see smoke
And Im finish when the beat is gone, Im no joke

Tags for this video have been changed from 'eric b, rakim, I aint no joke, east coast rap' to 'eric b, rakim, I aint no joke, east coast rap, paid in full' - edited by kronosposeidon

i think i can count 10+ lines sampled by other artists since eric b dropped these knowledge nuggets.

classic tune!