Classic Verse: Blackilicious’ “Alphabet Aerobics” (Video & Lyrics)

In some underground circles, particularly here on the west coast, not knowing Blackilicous' "Alphabet Aerboics" is like a Christian not knowing the Bible, but for everyone else I thought I'd bring Gift of Gab's classic, A-Z flow to the spotlight. If only elementary school was this dope I would have learned my ABC's a lot faster.

Lyrics are below the video:

"Artificial amateurs, aren't at all amazing
Analytically, I assault, animate things
Broken barriers bounded by the bomb beat
Buildings are broken, basically I'm bombarding
Casually create catastrophes, casualties
Cancelling cats got their canopies collapsing
Detonate a dime of dank daily doin dough
Demonstrations, Don Dada on the down low
Eatin other editors with each and every energetic
Epileptic episode, elevated etiquette
Furious fat fabulous fantastic
Flurries of funk felt feeding the fanatics
Gift got great global goods gone glorious
Gettin godly in his game with the goriest
Hit em high, hella height, historical
Hey holocaust hints hear 'em holler at your homeboy
Imitators idolize, I intimidate
In a instant, I'll rise in a irate state
Juiced on my jams like jheri curls jockin joints
Justly, it's just me, writin my journals
Kindly I'm kindling all kinds of ink on
Karate kick type brits in my kingdom
Let me live a long life, lyrically lessons is
Learned lame louses just lose to my livery
My mind makes marvelous moves, masses
Marvel and move, many mock what I've mastered
Niggas nap knowin I'm nice naturally
Knack, never lack, make noise nationally
Operation, opposition, off, not optional
Out of sight, out of mind, wide beaming opticals
Perfected poem, powerful punchlines
Pummelling petty powder puffs in my prime
Quite quaint quotes keep quiet it's Quannum
Quarrelers ain't got a quarter of what we got uh
Really raw raps, risin up rapidly
Riding the rushing radioactivity
Super scientifical sound search sought
Silencing super fire saps that are soft
Tales ten times talented, too tough
Take that, challengers, get a tune up
Universal, unique untouched
Unadulterated, the raw uncut
Verb vice lord victorious valid
Violate vibes that are vain make em vanished
? well would a wise wordsmith just
Weaving up words weeded up, I'm a workshift
Xerox, my X-ray-diation holes extra large
X-height letters, and xylophone tones
Yellow back, yak mouth, young ones yaws
Yesterday's lawn yards sell our (yawn?)
Zig zag zombies, zoomin to the zenith
Zero in zen thoughts, overzealous rhyme ZEA-LOTS!...."

Catch all that? A less talented emcee than Gift of Gab would have sunk under the weight of the concept, but the man's flow is so dope, so precise, that it elevated "Alphabet Aerobics" from a cute gimmick to a legitimately dope track. In fact, I would argue that it's his delivery, rather than the lyrics, that truly make the song work. The lyrics occasionally delve into absurdity in order to make the concept work, but the flow is always on point. And just in case you're still on the fence about "Alphabet Aerobics", let me ask you this. Do you feel a strange desire to memorize the cut and then try to spit it exactly like Gift did? I find it hard to believe you don't. And that, my friends, is what defines a classic.