Step Up/Nobody's Listening/It's Goin' Down

"Step Up/Nobody's Listening/It's Goin' Down"
Song by Linkin Park
from the album LP Underground 4.0
Recorded:	July 18, 2004
Released:	November 22, 2004
LP Underground 4.0 tracklist
Sold My Soul To Yo Mama Breaking The Habit (Live) Standing In The Middle Step Up/Nobody's Listening/It's Goin' Down (Live) Wish (Live) One Step Closer featuring Jonathan Davis (Live)

Background

"Step Up/Nobody's Listening/It's Goin' Down" was a medley played regularly by Linkin Park from June 3, 2004 until the end of that year. It is also referred to as "Hip-Hop Medley" in some of the official setlists from 2004.

A small clip of the "It's Goin' Down" portion of the medley was aired in November 2004 as part of the MTV Ultimate Mash-Ups special, which was recorded live at The Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California on July 18, 2004 and included in the Collision Course DVD. A full live recording of the medley from this same performance was released on November 22, 2004 as part of the LP Underground 4.0 CD.

Versions

Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.

Title	Album	Length	Recorded	Released	Notes
Step Up/Nobody's Listening/It's Goin' Down (Live)	LP Underground 4.0	4:57	July 18, 2004	November 22, 2004	Intro starts at the end of "Standing In The Middle". Recorded in the summer of 2004.
Step Up/Nobody's Listening/It's Goin' Down (Live)	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	4:57	July 18, 2004	April 7, 2023	Same recording as the LPU 4.0 version. Fades in at the start.
Step Up/Nobody's Listening/It's Goin' Down	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	5:23	June 15, 2004	April 7, 2023	DVD only. Live In Manila 2004.
Step Up/Nobody's Listening/It's Goin' Down	Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)	5:44	August 30, 2004	April 7, 2023	DVD only. Live In Denver - Projekt Revolution.

Live

The Hip-Hop Medley debuted on the 2004 International Tour, mid-set after "Runaway". When the band performed it on Projekt Revolution 2004, Ivan The Urban Action Figure came out to dance during the "It's Goin' Down" portion of the song. The medley was not performed once the Meteora touring cycle ended.

Live Guests

• Ivan The Urban Action Figure

Lyrics

Live Version

Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Bring it to you every time like this?
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Step, step up, step, step up

Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Bring it to you every time like this?
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Step, step up, step, step up

Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Bring it to you every time like this?
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Step, step up, step, step up

Watch as the room rocks
Mentally moonwalk
Mixed media slang
Banging in your boom box verbal violence
Lyrical stylist
In a time when rock hip hop rhymes are childish
You can't tempt me with rhymes that are empty
Rapping to a beat doesn't make you an MC
With your lack of skill and facility
You're killing me
And a DJ in the group just for credibility
I heard that some of you are getting help with your rhymes
You're not an emcee if someone else writes your lines
And rapping over rock doesn't make you a pioneer
'Cause rock and hip hop have collaborated for years
But now they're getting randomly mixed and matched up
All after a fast buck and all the tracks suck
So how does it stack up? None of it's real
You want to be an emcee you've got to study the skill

Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Bring it to you every time like this?
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Step, step up, step, step up

Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Bring it to you every time like this?
Who can rock a rhyme like this?
Step, step up, step, step up

Come / Come / Come / Come
Comin' at you
Come / At you
Come / Comin' at you
 
Yo
Peep the style and the kids checking for it
The number one question is how could you ignore it
LP right back in the cut
Over basement tracks
With raps that got you backing this up like
[Rewind that]
We're just rolling with the rhythm
Rise from the ashes of stylistic division
With these non-stop lyrics of life living
Not to be forgotten
But still unforgiven
But in the meantime there are those who wanna
Talk this and that / So I suppose
It gets to a that point feelings gotta get hurt
And get dirty with the people spreading the dirt
Chester!

Tried to give you warning
But everyone ignores me
(Told you everything loud and clear)
But nobody's listening
Called to you so clearly
But you don't want to hear me
(Told you everything loud and clear)
But nobody's listening

When I say it's goin', you say down
It's goin' (Down!)
It's goin' (Down!)
When I say it's goin', you say down
It's goin' (Down!)
It's goin' (Down!)
When I say it's goin', you say down
It's goin' (Down!)
It's goin' (Down!)
When I say it's goin', everybody down
It's goin' (Down!)
It's goin' (Down!)

Check it out
It's going down
The rhythm projects round my next sound
Reflects the complex hybrid dialect now
Detect the mesh of many elements compressed down
The melting pot of a super futuresque style
The combination of a vocal caress
With lungs that gasp for breath
From emotional stress
And special effects
In a distorted collage
Carefully lodged between beats of rhythmic barrage

It's going down
The logical progression on the timeline
The separation narrowed down to a fine line
To blur the edges so they blend together properly
Take you on an audible odyssey now
It's going down
The logical progression on the timeline
The separation narrowed down to a fine line
To blur the edges so they blend together properly
Take you on an audible odyssey now

It's going down
Out for the world to see
LP and X-Men to the 10th degree
It's going down
Nobody in the world is safe
We melt down the wax in your record crate
It's going down
Put it out for the world to see
LP and X-Men to the 10th degree
It's going down
Nobody in the world is safe
We melt down the wax in your record crate