Mid-major conferences as a few bars from Black Thought’s Hot 97 Freestyle

It was a cloudy Sunday morning in December 2017 when one of the greatest freestyles known to mankind graced the internet.

For roughly 10 minutes on Hot 97 with Funk Flex, Tariq Trotter — known as Black Thought — entered some sort of tranquil zone and to give the world the gift that will never cease to give.

It’s incredible. A jaw-dropping performance. A measure in endurance, memory, and skill. If you haven’t seen it you can click the video below.

With 10 minutes worth of linguistic mastery it’s easy to cherry pick a few choice bars and attribute them to a mid-major conference.

So that’s what I did.

Enjoy.

A-10

~5:26

I charge more just for awkward small talk

So, yes,

Who’s fucking with it if it’s not the best

I’ll get the lobby paint fresh upon my request

It’s Kafka-esque.

His Holiness, stop the press.

WEST COAST CONFERENCE

~9:16

Y’all know I’m exquisite

Wicked as Wilson Pickett

The sickness I exhibit

I’m too legit to quit it and I don’t fake it til’ I make it

I take it to the limit and break it

Never pretending what I’m about or representing

MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE

~8:14

I don’t burn bridges

I keep the haters running forward

I ain’t one of y’all peers

I’m the sum of all fears

Somebody stronger than me?

Who that? I’m all ears.

MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

~2:00

When I don’t give a fuck then I ain’t fair

I’m on a higher tier

With people getting money like the finest here

Catch the Herald, I’m fresh, chopped, and beveled

Rap on a doctorate level so F. Scott Fitzgerald

CONFERENCE USA

~4:20

Sipping on something with a strong taste

Like whiskey or bootlegged bourbon with a corn base

My Levante resemble a vehicular threat

The mic I spray resembling a sickle of death

It ain’t strenuous to come from a continuous breath

MAC

~6:36

The trigger’s mandatory to spark

With the slightest inflammatory remark

I had you when you and living a category apart

A grain of salt will tip the scales

It never fails

Walk on egg shells

Sleep on a bed of nails

SOUTHERN CONFERENCE

~9:26

Been a million places

Conversation is how beautiful my face is

People hate on how sophisticated my taste is

Then I pull up on these motherfuckers in a spaceship

IVY LEAGUE

~9:37

I’m made of elements you can’t combine

I’m at a level of intelligence you can’t define

Einstein, Shakespeare, Voltaire, Tesla

Recording artists slash psychology professor

I preach for the east

Never fold under pressure

SUN BELT CONFERENCE

~6:15

Y’all go get the next challenger for Excalibur

More police for my core beliefs

They tried to capture me and brand me on the cheek

With a Fleur-de-lis

That side of my heart will be more discreet

COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

~5:13

How much hypocrisy can people possibly endure

But ain’t nobody working on a cure

My young boy

Y’all just regular

I’m an apex predator

Brim stay fresh, feathered up, etcetera

Nevertheless I’ve got a message of love

One dead messenger

My pen is Henry Kissinger, Buzz Bissinger.

BIG WEST CONFERENCE

~6:27

I’m international

My passport pages like war and peace

I’ve always played my part from the start

HORIZON LEAGUE

~2:23

For a couple things we lost in the fire

The drive, the desire, to perform on a higher plateau

I made that show lost in the mire

Wondering how we got so far from inspired

PATRIOT LEAGUE

~2:56

Archaeologists found my image

In parchment rolled into a scroll

Holding a message for you

It said, “The only thing for sure is taxes, death, and trouble.”

The anomaly sworn solemnly.

High snobbity.

Freakonomics and war policy.

Dichotomy.

SUMMIT LEAGUE

~4:03

Look at my state

I got electrified gates for the blaise guys hating at a high rate

Because I dodge fate then got great then fly straight

If we ain’t family or friends then we don’t vibrate

And I’m that gun in your face

None of that safe if I catch you get the right time in the wrong place slipping

METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

~7:25

And just because they give you shit

Doesn’t mean you have to take it

My words capture greatness

Sworn affadavits

BIG SKY CONFERENCE

Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports

~0.27

The writing all across the window and the walls

Whether it was true or false you shouldn’t have got involved

Remember we walked past a teacher talk the chalk and laugh

We wrote punishments, I will not talk in class

BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE

~1:24

Wearing slippers made of python

Getting mine quick

Because I’m slick as a pipeline

Transporting the oil

Tribulation and toil hit the operation

But I’m back in the soil

Got my crown tilted and gown quilted

AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE

~7:30

Yours truly the celestial being you state

See him pulling up in the fresh European

Hot stepping out of it dressed to a T

And not another got more soul

OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE

~9:51

My new name is 85 X’s

Because I’m the rap game certified specialist

When I was reckless I was worried about the guest list

I’m helping rappers everywhere fulfill a death wish

ASUN CONFERENCE

~3:26

Every heavy dignitary paying me top regards

Boy, I’m three optics far from the bin-oc-ular

So the smart money finna get the heat out the car

I’m K. Lamar meets Tupac Shakur

WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

~7:15

I never thought I would be getting long in the tooth

My OG’s told me boy you’d better go and live your truth

I am a walking affirmation

That imagination, and focus, and paces

Get you closer to the aspiration

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE

~3:50

The game went their own route

I can’t explain what lame kids is talking about

Or how they fit their whole foot into their whole mouth

I put a couple bodies in a brown bag then I’m on route

SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE

~1.11

Everybody plays the fool

Well I’ll be that exception to the rule

The principal to hand deliver lessons to the school

I was making major moves

My dollar deja vu

My mission when my ambition was brandishing the tool to be an icon

MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

~5.57

Let them massage your back with black seed oil

The foundation is firm

The flags need soil

Me, I need royalty because I bleed royal

Go through the veins to the brains

Fabulous and strained

My journalistic range is a catalyst for change

SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

~0.42

I hate to say I told y’all

But I told y’all things fall apart

When the center’s too weak to hold y’all

I’m just collecting what you owe to my old jawn

You about to get swooped down on and stoled on.

Fools swear they’re wise

Wise men only foolish