Men lie, women lie, numbers don't
Collection
2000s rap quotes
Every line here is a lyric from a song that its linked Genius page dates to 2000–2009; interview lines carry no release year, so they are left out. 50 lyrics from 30 artists are shown, rated 3.5 or higher with at most five per artist. By the scene listed for each artist, the lines split 24 East Coast, 12 Midwest, 8 South, 3 West Coast, 2 UK and 1 Canada.
2003 is the busiest year, with 8 of the lines. Kanye West, 50 Cent and JAY-Z have the most lines, and the themes that come up most are wit, wisdom and confidence. Next to the 90s rap quotes page, wit shows up in 38% of the lines here against 18% there and justice shows up in 14% of the lines here against 8% there; struggle goes the other way, 20% there against 6% here (a line can carry more than one theme). The top-rated short line is “They give us guns and drugs / Then wonder why in the fuck we thugs” (Ice Cube, Why We Thugs, 2006).
The East Coast, West Coast and Southern pages draw on these years too, but hold mostly different lines. No line appears on more than two of the region, decade and old school pages, and no two of them share more than a quarter of their quotes.
East Coast in the 2000s
You can pay for school, but you can't buy class
Life's not a bitch, life is a beautiful woman
You only call her a bitch 'cause she won't let you get that pussy
Maybe she didn't feel y'all shared any similar interests (Nope)
Or maybe you're just an asshole who couldn't sweet talk the princess (Haha)
Coke like a caterpillar, I make butter fly
These cats drink champagne to toast death and pain
Like slaves on a ship talking about who got the flyest chain
'Cause if you go platinum, it's got nothing to do with luck
It just means that a million people are stupid as fuck
I'm top 5, dead or alive, and that's just off one LP
These niggas ain't thugs, the real thugs is the government
Why is the industry designed to keep the artist in debt?
We independent women, some mistake us for whores
I'm sayin', "Why spend mine when I can spend yours?"
My little boy seven, he the sequel to the thug
So I told him the money will never equal to the love
Black entrepreneur, nobody did us no favors
Nobody gave us shit, we made us
I gotta make it to Heaven for going through Hell
No, I wasn't born in Ghana, but Africa is my momma
Hip-hop is a freedom of expression
Not a freedom of depression
Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week
Here's a jewel: love your enemies and hate your friends
Your enemies remain the same, friends always change
Crime pays no dental, nor medical
Unless you catch retirement, county, state or federal
We came to this country
We were kings and queens, never porch monkeys
There was empires in Africa called Kush
Timbuktu, where every race came to get books
Rap snitches, tellin' all their business
Sit in the court and be their own star witness
If I had a dime for every rhymer's that bust guns
I'd have a cool mil' for my sons in trust funds
Being broke is against my religion
I love you like a fat kid love cake
Move the H on our block, in front of H&R block
South in the 2000s
But you can never walk on water if you still fear the sea
He say, she say rumors all day
The rap game is high school and life's a hallway
Didn't choose this dirty game, this dirty game it chose me
Some say I lucked up; I call it perfect timin' (Chyeah)
I used to hit the kitchen lights, cockroaches everywhere
Hit the kitchen lights: now it's marble floors, everywhere! (haha)
Hope that we feel this, feel this way forever
You can plan a pretty picnic but you can't predict the weather
Man, I got summer hatin' on me 'cause I'm hotter than the sun
Got spring hatin' on me 'cause I ain't never sprung
Winter hatin' on me 'cause I'm colder than y'all
And I will never, I will never, I will never fall
My filthy mouth, it won't fight cavities or beat plaque
So I shot the tooth fairy and put my old teeth back
Midwest in the 2000s
Swear I should be locked up for stupid
that I did
But I'm a champion, so I turned tragedy to triumph (Uh-huh! Yeah!)
Make music that's fire, spit my soul through the wire (Woo!)
Everything I'm not made me everything I am
My big brother was B.I.G.'s brother
So here's a few words from ya kid brother
If you admire somebody, you should go on 'head tell 'em
People never get the flowers while they can still smell 'em
Drug dealer buy Jordan, crackhead buy crack
And the white man get paid off of all of that
Couldn't afford a car, so she named her daughter Alexis
You better lose yourself in the music
The moment, you own it, you better never let it go (Go)
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo
Can't burn his cross 'cause he can't afford the gasoline
Now the grown up Goliath nation
Holding open auditions for the part of David, can you feel it?
I keep an eye on heaven and a ear to the street
I thought I saw you yesterday
But I know it wasn't you 'cause you passed away, Dad
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface, he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting
Somebody give me a big yes (yes!)
God bless America, but she stole the B from Bless (and kept it)
West Coast, UK and Canada
They give us guns and drugs
Then wonder why in the fuck we thugs
Just when I discover the meaning of life, they change it
Last name Ever, first name Greatest
I was taught to act my shoe size, never my age
I would hate me too if I had the same MySpace views as you
If Dr. King marched today, would Bill Gates march?
I know Obama would but would Hilary take part?