Sampling Project Pat’s verse from Juicy J’s “Feed the Streets” for the opener of “Knife Talk” perfectly sets the tone for the track. The first two bars immediately show that Pat isn’t playing around with his street life experiences. From his tone, delivery, and lyricism, Pat delivers the “I gotta feed the streets, my pistol gon’ bleed the streets / Ski mask on my face, sometimes you got to cheat” (per Genius) bars with such rugged delivery that you can feel his pain through the speakers.
Spitting over a melancholic trap-orchestra instrumental, the sampled verse also features his unorthodox flow, which Genius describes as his “quintessential flow by stressing the penultimate syllable and then drawing out the final syllable of each clause.” The following four bars (“To stay ahead in this b****-ard, drank syrup like it’s liquor / Street life’ll have you catchin’ up to God quicker / Sticker, AK-40 to your liver / Let the chopper bang on you like a Blood or a Cripper”) further highlight Pat’s eternal struggle to cope with “street life.” He also mentions “AK-40 to your liver,” indicating that he may have been in situations that have called for gun violence throughout his tumultuous life.
21 Savage takes the baton after Pat’s verse. Continue reading to find out more about this track.