Classic Verse: Kanye West’s “Touch the Sky” (Video)

Just because a track's old doesn't mean it's a classic, and just because a song's new doesn't make it a...um...un-classic. Case in point: Kanye's 2004 single "Touch The Sky", a cut that announced the arrival of not one but two top shelf lyricists. Chicago stand up.

Lyrics are underneath the video:

"Back when they thought pink polos woud hurt the R.O.C
Before Cam got the shit to pop
The doors is closed
I felt like Bad Boy's Street Team
I couldn't work the L.O.X
Now lets go...
Take em back to the plan
Me and my momma hopped in that U-Haul Van
Any pessimist I ain't talk to them
Plus I ain't have no Phone in my apartment
Let's take em back to the club
Least about an Hour I stand on Line
I just wanted to dance
I went to Jacob an hour after I got my advance
I just wanted to shine
Jay's favorite Line "Dawg in due Time"
Now he look at me Like " Damn, dawg you what I am"
A hip-hop legend
I think I died in the accident
'cause this must be heaven!"

In retrospect everything we needed to know about Kanye's music can be found in this one verse. First, his use of "oh shit!" punchlines that made you think twice: "I felt like Bad Boy's street team, I couldn't work the locks (LOX)." It's funny cause it's true. Second, his penchant for purposefully mispronouncing words to fit his rhymes scheme ("I ain't have no phone in my a-par-a-ment"), a trick Busta Rhymes mastered in the mid-90s. Third, his incredible ego: "Jay's favorite Line "Dawg in due Time" Now he look at me Like " Damn, dawg you what I am." Yeah, in 2004 Kanye was a young rapper and producer who had just dropped his debut album, and Jay was the greatest rapper alive, a man who had dropped eight albums and sold millions of units. But other than that, the were basically the same. Regardless, Kanye's work on "Touch The Sky" might not blow you away at first, but there's no way you can listen to this track and not want to rap along to the opening verse, and that's what truly makes something a classic; no matter how old.

And as a bonus, "Touch the Sky" effectively introduced Lupe Fiasco to the world. That's right, it all started here.