Microphone Fiend (Song)

"Microphone Fiend" is the second single released from the hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim's second album *Follow the Leader*. The song became something of a signature song for rapper Rakim, and AllMusic's Steve Huey says the song "weaves references to substance addiction throughout in explaining why Rakim can't keep away from the mic." Featuring a prominent sample of Average White Band's 1975 hit "School Boy Crush", the song was further evidence of Eric B.'s fondness for soul samples and became one of the most quoted songs in hip hop.

## Lyrics

* 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
* 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
* My thoughts to guide
* Forty eight tracks to slide
* The invincible, microphone fiend, 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
* 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 animatora menace to a microphone, a lethal weapon
* An assassinator, if the people ain't steppin'
* You 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'
* 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, 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 of kept off
* You didn't keep the stage warm, step off
* Ladies and gentleman, you're about to see
* A pastime hobby about to be
* Take it 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 have backed up
* For those who act up need to be more than smacked up
* Any entertainer, I got a torture chamber
* One on one and I'm the remainder
* So close your eyes and hold your breath
* And I'ma hit you with the blow of death
* Before you go, you'll remember you seen
* The fiend of a microphone, I'm the microphone fiend
* [Outro]
* The microphone fiend
* The microphone fiend
* The microphone fiend