One of the reasons rap is so powerful and has such deeply penetrating roots in our culture is because it utilizes so many elements from the African American spoken word tradition. Part of the equation that adds up to rap is the Signifying Monkey– a toast from the old school. A toast is a rhyming narrative poem that, in this case is funny or it could be used as the framework for a morality tale. Many toasts were about The Game, the lifestyle of hustlers and pimps and whores and addicts and because of this toasts were popular currency in prisons. The most well known toast is the Signifying Monkey, featuring a character, the monkey, who is representative of the African trickster god, Esu from Yoruba mythology.

There’s a lot of stories and variations on this tale. The one you know and love is by Rudy Ray Moore. Here’s the extended text and here’s the video.

Way, way down in the jungle deep
The lion stepped on the signifying mokey’s feet.
The monkey said, “Motherfucka, can’t you see?
You’re standing on my god damn feet!”
The monkey lived in the jungle in an old oak tree
Bullshittin’ a line every day of the week.
Everyday before the sun go down
That lion would kick his ass all through the jungle town.
But the monkey got wise and started using his wit
Start telling “I’m gonna put a stop to this old ass kickin shit”
So he ran up on the lion the very next day
He said, “Oh, Mr. Lion. There’s a big, bad motherfucka coming your way.
And he’s somebody that you don’t know.
He just broke aloose from the Ringling Brother’s Show.
He talked about your people til my hair turned gray.
So Mr. Lion, you know that ain’t right.
So wherever you run up on the elephant I want you to be ready to fight.”
The lion jumped up in a hell of a rage
Like a young man smoking some gage.
He ran up on the elephant talking to the swine.
He said, “All right, you big, bad motherfucka,
It’s gonna be your ass or mine.”
The lion jumped up and made a fancy pass
But the elephant side-stepped him and knocked him dead on his ass.
He fucked up his jaw, messed up his face,
Broke all four legs and knocked his ass out of place.
They fought all night and all the next day.
Somehow the little lion managed to get away.
He drug his ass back to the jungle more dead than alive
Just to run into the monkey and more of his signifying jive.
The little monkey said, “Look here, partner, you don’t look so swell.
Looks to me like you caught a whole lot of hell.”
Said, “Your eyes is red and your ass is blue.
I knew in first place it wasn’t shit to you.
But I told my wife before you left
‘I should have whipped your ass my motherfucking self.’
Shut up! Don’t you roar!
‘Cause I’ll jump out of this tree and whip your dog ass some more.
And don’t look up here with your stuck ‘ol case
Because I’ll piss through the fork of this tree in your motherfuckin’ face!”
The little monkey got happy; started jumping up and down
His feet missed the limb and his ass hit the ground.
Like a ball of lightning and a streak of white
That lion was on his ass with all four feet.
Thus, rolls of tears came in the little monkey’s eyes,
Nothing he could see and nothing he could hear
But he knew that was the end of his bullshittin’ and signifying career
And SIGNIFYING CAREER!!!!