Released on July 26, 1988

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[Verse: Rakim]

I was a fiend before I became a teen

I melted microphones instead of cones of ice cream

Music orientated so when hip-hop was originated

Fitted like pieces of puzzles, complicated

'Cause I grabbed the mic and try to say, "Yes, y'all"

They tried to take it and say that I'm too small

Cool 'cause I don't get upset

I kick a hole in the speaker, pull the plug then I jet (Then I jet)

Back to the lab without a mic to grab

So then I add all the rhymes I had

One after the other one, then I make another one

To this the opposite then ask if the brother's done

I get a cravin' like I fiend for nicotine

But I don't need a cigarette, know what I mean?

I'm ragin', rippin' up the stage and

Don't it sound amazin'?

'Cause every rhyme is made and thought of

'Cause it's sort of an addiction

Magnetized by the mixing

Vocals, vocabulary, your verses, you're stuck in

The mic is a Drano, volcanoes eruptin'

Rhymes overflowin', gradually growin'

Everything is written in the cold, so it can coincide ('Cide)

My thoughts to guide

Forty-eight tracks to slide

The invincible, microphone fiend, Rakim (Rakim)

Spread the word 'cause I'm in

E-F-F-E-C-T

A smooth operator operating correctly

But back to the problem, I got a habit

You can't solve it, silly rabbit

The prescription is a hyper tone that's thorough when

I fiend for a microphone like heroin (Heroin)

Soon as the bass kicks, I need a fix

Give me a stage and a mic and a mix

And I'll put you in a mood or is it a state of

Unawareness, beware, it's the re-animator (Re-animator)

A menace to a microphone, a lethal weapon

An assassinator, if the people ain't steppin'

You'll see a part of me that you never seen

When I'm fiendin' for a microphone, I'm the microphone fiend

After twelve, I'm worse than a gremlin

Feed me hip-hop and I start tremblin' (Tremblin')

The thrill of suspense is intense, you're horrified

But this ain't the cinemas of 'Tales From the Darkside'

By any means necessary, this is what has to be done

Make way 'cause here I come

My DJ cuts material (Material)

Grand imperial

It's a must that I bust any mic you hand to me

It's inherited, it runs in the family

I wrote the rhyme that broke the bull's back

If that don't slow 'em up, I carry a full pack

Now I don't wanna have to let off, you should've kept off

You didn't keep the stage warm, step off (Step off)

Ladies and gentleman, you're about to see

A pastime hobby about to be

Taken to the maximum, I can't relax, see

I'm hype as a hypochondriac 'cause the rap be one

Hell of a antidote, somethin' you can't smoke

More than dope, you're tryin' to move away but you can't, you're broke

More than cracked up, you should've backed up

For those that act up, need to be more than smacked up

Any entertainer, I got a torture chamber

One-on-one and I'm the remainder (Remainder)

So close your eyes and hold your breath (Breath)

And I'ma hit you with the blow of death (Death)

Before you go, you'll remember you seen

The fiend of a microphone, I'm the microphone fiend (I'm the microphone fiend)


[Outro: Rakim]

The microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The micro-the micro-the micro—, the microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The micro-the-the mic-the microphone fiend

The micro-the-the microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The micro-the microphone

The micro-the micro-the microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The micro-the micro-the microphone

The micro-the micro-the microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The-the-the-the-the microphone fiend (The microphone fiend)

The mic (The mic), the microphone fiend