Scoring a major label record deal may still be a pretty big deal in the world of hip-hop, however, the independent spirit that initially helped birth the culture has been more tangible in recent years than it ever has before. The traditional steps to success—heavy radio airplay and high-profile visibility on television or elsewhere—have proved to be unnecessary for artists such as Dizzy Wright, who has managed to carve out his own lane outside the confines of the mainstream with quality and consistency.

Born in Flint, Mich., Dizzy Wright and his mother would eventually settle down in Las Vegas, where he began rapping at age 8, using lyrics his mother wrote for him. He then got his feet wet in the music industry as a youth reporter. The experience would have a lasting impression on Dizzy, spurring him to shun the major label system and focus on building his brand independently.

Taking to rap full-time following stints in Georgia and California, Dizzy would hit the ground running with mixtape releases, catching the ear of indie rap label Funk Volume. Dizzy would ink a deal with the label in 2012, prior to the release of his debut album, SmokeOut Conversations, that same year.

Since then, the MC has remained prolific, releasing a multitude of solo and collaborative material that built his buzz to a crescendo, especially after being voted in as a member of the 2013 XXL Freshman Class. Dizzy Wright's brand of music may be more for the thinker than the drinker, with his new album, The Golden Age 2, a sequel to his 2013 mixtape, being the latest example.

Here are 20 of the most poignant lyrics from The Golden Age 2 that showcase Dizzy Wright's abilities as a wordsmith.

  • "Word on the Streetz"

    Dizzy Wright

    "Out high school to the league/Not for money for me/Know I'm in a comfortable space/Are you willing to pick up the pace?/I told my OG, "With all the travel what's the hassle?"/He told me, "What you rap about is only half the battle"/Admit it, don't build your castle and let your family straggle/I'm livid, money got less value than my fucking shadow"

  • "Outrageous"

    Dizzy Wright Featuring Big K.R.I.T.

    "They start this rage into black folks/My granny need water, I'm in jet mode/I feel like Bryson with a T R A P S O U L/Until I accomplish all my rap goals/Daddy went to jail when I was ten days/Twenty years gone as an inmate/Mama struggling to got the rent paid/Now I'm in the streets tryna have a big day" - Dizzy Wright

  • "Outrageous"

    Dizzy Wright Featuring Big K.R.I.T.

    "Out to check, ain't no help in the Rolodex/So you do a little wrong just to come correct/Sacrifice your freedom for the Louie V's/YSL, and every letter in the alphabet/But them laws on the low, casing/Life ain't Scarface the movie, face it/They waiting on you to be stupid, basic/You're just another number in a cell, cadence" - Big K.R.I.T.

  • "FFL"

    Dizzy Wright

    "Yo are you kidding, since day one I been J Kidding/Throwing assists, that Chris Paul to Blake Griffin/They selling a fake vision/Fake love and fake niggas get exposed for portraying in a different image/This life we living a scrimmage, God sub me in/When you got kids you live for them, I need another ten/I need a lifetime partner, a couple limbs"

  • "Do the Most"

    Dizzy Wright

    "I spread that world peace like I'm Metta/This is big business I'm talking CEO's and trend setters/Came when they wouldn't let us, we never let it effect us/Family man I like them holidays and ugly Christmas sweaters/On my down time I like to smoke a pound and switch them letters/I'm a simple man, but how they get away with murder on this schedule?"

  • "Do the Most"

    Dizzy Wright

    "But them boys in the hood saying they ready
    For Dizzy/Creating enemies yo and now you screaming for Ricky/I'm Tory Lanez litty/I know what they want like Russ before the fame hitting/Where niggas do the most yo I can see the lame in him/And everyone that came with him/And all suck a clone dick/Hold on, I need a bong rip"

  • "Fraud"

    Dizzy Wright

    "I hope you can over stand that we don't all come from roaches/So I hope you can tell the difference between soft and ferocious/Funny how they changed the game and weird niggas got all the focus/Wait I ain't no racist no, but this that black magic Tracy McGrady dog/That Mos Def and Talib Kweli Nineteen Ninety Eighty flow/That means I'm a black star/No that just means theirs too many frauds and I can't take no more"

  • "Big Shots"

    Dizzy Wright Featuring Reezy

    "I keep the ice on my neck it stay about a 100 degrees/Might bet a 100 on the Cavs and I took the under for cheap/Vegas night life, money, I think I'll take me a piece/I done left the water running, you see it all on my sleeves" - Reezy

  • "J.O.B."

    Dizzy Wright

    "I just need some time to think/This is good weed and I'm happy about it/This is my life, you can't sabotage it/We grew up poor with no daddy options
    Locked in/Still movin' to the top 10/Up early, worked it out/Too bad my daddy never clocked in"

  • "J.O.B."

    Dizzy Wright

    "Tucked my shirt in like a gentleman/High shorts, high socks/Had to break the high top, Michael Vick and 'em/Don't make me go bring the dogs out/Make this sound like fighting words/And if this a battle, then we can go all out/No Ike and Tina, we don't hit the bitches/But a hater gotta bring them paws out"

  • "Choosin"

    Dizzy Wright Featuring G Perico

    "Time to level up star boys like The Weeknd/Late night with a bag she can reach in/Iron out all my problems she gon' put the crease in/We don't sleep in we just dive off the deep end/By 25 I was tryna grow and plant seeds/Turning 25 grams in to 25 G's/Hate I got another nigga bitch choosing me/But she sucking like she a blew a 25 point lead" - Dizzy Wright

  • "Caught Slippin"

    Dizzy Wright

    "The bread maker I'm talking his top bottom piece/And you know she killing when she got that top model steez/Always about the bread that's the policy/But it's ashamed what she got to do for college fees/Yo I just may be too weak for my pimp side/But it's a full time job tryna get up in a bitch mind"

  • "Ghetto N.I.G.G.A."

    Dizzy Wright

    "Having conversations about the progress we made/I know when it comes to the real music that it ain't popping the same/But history changed the future, that's why you follow his name/Look no shame cause I'm in this club like it's a bottle exchange/Make some money and these hoes try to swallow your pain"

  • "Pet Peeve"

    Dizzy Wright Featuring Fatz and Sedrew Price

    "The whole world inspire while we treated like peasants/I get it you niggas want to be everything that we want to be with the leverage/You take it from us but try to keep that out the piece of the segment/But we should probably squash that and focus on the present/'Cause we don't want the minds to get infected by another misconception"

  • "Pet Peeve"

    Dizzy Wright Featuring Fatz and Sedrew Price

    "I been in and out of revolving door/Recidivism the symbolism of fallen shore/The prison system reminding me of a college dorm/My college buddies they all done studied The Art of War/The 48 Laws of Power and the 4 Agreements/The universal law so we know the secret/Might just be stuck behind walls but you stuck sleeping/Time to wake that ass up you did enough dreaming" - Fatz

  • "Pet Peeve"

    Dizzy Wright featuring Fatz and Sedrew Price

    "Pet peeve I can't trust nobody but me/To get to the rack they gon' cross you over Kyrie/Got me cold as my Rollie I wear my heart on my sleeve/My skin can make me a victim shot by police/If they the criminals how my mug shot on TV/Look in a racist face why you want my mama to grieve" - Sedrew Price

  • "Give It to ’Em Real"

    Dizzy Wright

    "Cleaning out rappers I'm about to vacuum in here/I got that Ray Charles natural ear/Eyes closed but I can feel when there's no passion in here/Showing us signs/It ain't no secret they shooting us from behind/I know your kind/The type to try to pull Tupac down in his prime"

  • "Give It to ’Em Real"

    Dizzy Wright

    "And the homies looked out/I ain't had no clout, but the ghetto surrounding me/Now the lot of opportunities shadow me/Thankful for the ones I got though/God knows and I know/Almost lost a eye like Sons of Anarchy Otto/Hospital lobbies is full of locker room convo"

  • "I Can't Keep Falling"

    Dizzy Wright Featuring Chellè

    "I took one step forward and got knocked back two/Point blank complain but I'm not that dude/Like CNN we can't just talk about bad news/I'm talking to my real friends making asshole moves/This shit is comedy/I was too focus on the conglomery instead of them percentages when the pack came through" - Dizzy Wright

  • "Loophole"

    Dizzy Wright Featuring Nowdaze

    "But this the land of free though/That's what they taught us that's what you and me know/That's some bullshit we come from next generational trauma/I'm talking about these black fathers taking away from they kids mama/Na we ain't tryna go back to them Ronald Reagan days/They want to charge us for a crime so they can treat us like a slave" - Dizzy Wright

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