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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
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~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
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~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
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~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
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~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