What's more powerful - the brain or a twelve gauge?
Collection
West Coast rap quotes
50 lines from 19 artists filed under the West Coast, all rated 3.5 or higher. 38 are lyrics and 12 are interview lines. Sections run by the decade of each song's release; interview lines carry no year, so they have a section of their own. By release decade the dated lyrics split 1 from the 1980s, 10 from the 1990s, 4 from the 2000s and 23 from the 2010s.
2Pac, Nipsey Hussle and Vince Staples have the most lines, and the themes that come up most are wisdom, wit and struggle. Next to the East Coast rap quotes page, struggle shows up in 16% of the lines here against 10% there; life goes the other way, 12% there against 0% 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).
An artist's scene comes from our artist data, not from where a song was recorded. Only 121 West Coast lines clear the bar, so thin decades are grouped rather than padded. 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.
West Coast in the 1980s to 2000s
And although it seems heaven-sent
We ain't ready to see a black president, uh (Oh-ooh)
With my mind on my money and my money on my mind
Why shed tears? Save your sympathy
My childhood years were spent buryin' my peers in the cemetery
My name is Short, my game is long
If I was old, they'd probably be a friend of me
Since I'm young, they consider me the enemy
They kill ten of me to get the job correct
I'd rather die like a man than live like a coward
There's no way I can pay you back
But the plan is to show you that I understand
You are appreciated
Institutionalized
I live my life a product made to crumble
Much too hardened for a smile, way too crazy to be humble
Now I remember, I used to be cool
'Til I stopped fillin' out my W-2
A hero is a sandwich, and a Manwich is a meal
A marriage is a paper; are they fakin' or for real?
They give us guns and drugs
Then wonder why in the fuck we thugs
I was taught to act my shoe size, never my age
If Dr. King marched today, would Bill Gates march?
I know Obama would but would Hilary take part?
Everybody here was born to hustle
It's a very thin line between the boss and the muscle
West Coast in the 2010s
All this money, power, fame and I can't make you reappear
Nigga that bitch thicker than... peanut butter in the freezer
Gotta keep it on me, I don't wanna die young
I rather be judged by twelve, than carried by six
Spoke some things into the universe and they appeared
I say it's worth it, I won't say it's fair
Find your purpose or you wastin' air
I'm not gon' lie and portray, um, this ultimate poise
Like I been had it figured out
Nah, I just didn't quit
Broken promises, steal your watch and tell you what time it is
Take your J's and tell you to kick it where a Foot Locker is
The devil doesn't wear Prada, I'm clearly in a fuckin' white tee
Ones that hate us, handcuff us and mace us
Call us dumb niggas 'cause our culture is contagious
Third-generation South Central gangbangers
That lived long enough to see it changin'
When shit hit the fan, is you still a fan?
Ain't no party like a West Coast party
'Cause a West Coast party don't stop
You be into rap beef 'cause you ain't never had beef
I ain't soup and salad, I'm souper salad
It's hard being brick and mortar creatures
My thoughts have to fit in phones and through computer speakers
Next line will have 'em like "woah"
I've been kissing white boys since 2004
I'm a businessman, you ain't never been the man
It ain't a force in this world like the focused drive
You gotta focus on yourself like an only child
You make your dream realer, and you make your team better
I know that money come and go so money not my motive no mo’
I made enough to know I'll never make enough for my soul
College was a plan of mine until I seen them fees
Everything I ever needed, I done learned out on them streets
In school, I was the one that was thinking outside boxes
So everybody in them would say that I got problems
I hate when you lie, I hate the truth too
My only fear is fear itself
I ain't afraid to die, more afraid of myself
Couple problems my cash can't help
Human issues, too strong for tissues
False bravado all masked by wealth
My feelings told me love is real
But feelings known to get you killed
West Coast rappers in their own words
When you’re not fed with a silver spoon you learn to lick it off a knife.
It's easy to make people think you’re a gangster. It’s hard to convince the feds you’re not.
I don’t represent the Democratic party or the Republican party. I represent the gangsta party.
Being cool is when you win, you don't get too happy, and when you lose, you don't get too mad.
I've always hated authority from an early age. And authority has always hated me.
You keep using the same recipe, You’re gonna keep baking the same cake.
So if you’re my friend, you could never compete with me, cuz I’m not competing with you.
I think one of my biggest assets is not knowing how famous I am.
The way that was mixed, the fucking hiss—that song feels like when depression hugs you.
I ain’t on nobody else timetable.
Music is a mirror of what we’re going through, not the cause of what we’re going through.
Fear is stronger than love, remember that.