It's been a long time   It's been a long time   It's been a long time   It's been a long time   Rakim the microphone soloist      Follow procedures the crowd couldn't wait to see this   Nobody been this long awaited since Jesus   Who wouldn't believe this I heard the word on the street is   I'm still one of the deepest on the mic since Adidas      They said I changed the times from the rhymes that I thought of   So I made some more to put the New World in Order   With Mathematics, put your status above the average   And help you rappers, make paragraphs with graphics      'Cause new days is dawnin', new ways of peformin'   Brain stormin', I write and watch the night turn to mornin'   On and on and, I got the whole world respondin'   Rock, I keep it hot and blow the spot without warnin'      The Emperor, well known for, inventin' a sentence   Full of adventure, turnin' up the temperature   Rush with adrenaline, how long has it been again   To be in the state of min'd that Rakim is in?      It's been a long time   Rakim, the microphone soloist   It's been a long time   It's been a long time   Rakim      When I'm out proppin', either, hangin' or shoppin'   People see me stop and ask me when the album droppin'   The wait is over, information like a soldier   Like I told ya, greater stronger, now that I'm older      I broke the, code of silence with overloads of talents   My only challenge, is not to explode in violence   I'm Asiatic, and blazin' microphones a habit   At least once durin' the course of a day, it's automatic      In ghetto apparel, mind of a Egyptian Pharaoh   Far from shallow, thoughts travel like an arrow   Allah's monotony, so far they can't stop me   You know, Ra want property like Mumar Khadafi      More thoughts than Bibles, recital, taught disciples   A sawed off mic, so words scatter like a rifle   Thoughts that's trifle, I'm bustin' these for you   Aiyyo, technical difficulties is through      It's been a long time   Rakim, the microphone soloist   It's been a long time   Rakim, the microphone soloist      It's been a long time   Rakim, the microphone soloist   It's been a long time   It's been a long time      When I float at night, I show 'em new heights, I go to write   They know I strike with new prototypes to blow the mic   Critics and biters, don't know where my source of light is   Still leave authors and writers with arthritis      Cursed kids like the Pyramids when they found the style   First to ever let a rhyme flow down the Nile   The rebirth of hip-hop'll be dropped now   'Cause the crowd didn't hear the original in a while      So be alarmed, what you 'bout to see is the bomb   Like, 3-D in' 'Nam, vivid like CD-Rom   Info kept like "Internet.com"   My notebook's my bond like the Holy Quran      Since I came in the door, said it before   But no I ain't down with Eric B no more   At night the open mic be invitin' me to rhyme   So yo I'm online, it's been a long time      It's been a long time   It's been a long time   Rakim, the microphone soloist   It's been a long time   Rakim, the microphone soloist      It's been a long time   It's been a long time   It's been a long time   It's been a long time   It's been a long time