1. |
Back Down
04:22
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Yo what’s up
Yo what’s up
Hey
A yo
You claim that you bang, its insane
A white supremacists campaign
When we’re slain, its mundane
Rappers killed in public domains
And we just tweet thangs
Hashtag Gone too soon
On to the next thing
Death has become an art
Rapping with hand grenades
Osama Bin Laden sure ain’t got nada on drama
Secretly ordered by the CIA
Black ops with the DEA
Black cops with these white cops
On those black blocks and they must obey
Reconnaissance on citizens
They’re melanated they’re innocent
Lets elevate our militance
And celebrate our consciousness Yeah
Hey
Alright I like a merry go round but
I ain’t merry I’m down
Cuz I see whole sale violence
Packaged up and polished
Astonishing who’s admonished
When poverty is our promise
Back down
They feed our souls with lust and hoes
We won’t even discuss these woes
We chose to candy coat I won’t
Back down
Ya can’t have it both ways
Drug dealer lavish plus saved
Classy and savage is what they had did
To us when we were slaves
No way
Consciousness protects me
You cant say you’re WOKE when you don’t know the recipe
Get down
Yeah Back down baby
Can't talk about Jews or Gays as these people you be slaying
Back down
Why ain’t the mainstream afraid of you
That says it all they play to you
You play to them
You’re both involved
So all Back down
Don’t be no clowns
We’re ancient we’re profound original be proud
Hey
Back down
Things should not be the same until the freedom bell rangs
Thugs are not revolutionaries
There’s a difference they’re not the same
You can quote Malcolm X or King
But you’re still not an excellent king
Until you execute excellent things
In your new life to your old life
Back down
I’m problem solving, I’m evolving
My old self ain’t coming around
But now days I’m coming around to spend time with my child
Pow
Here’s my check I’m out
I regret being foul
You’re respect for me will come around
But until then I
Back down
You critics get a smack down
Who are you to tell me, Speech
What’s not or is a hot track now
Back down
When I was young and there was elders around I would have sat down
Now you pasty cats got a playlist, thinking you running rap now
Back down
We did shows with Tribe and Wu Tang, P.E. and Fugues and Gang Starr
We go LIVE when we sang
30 years or more
Worldwide tours
You ain’t thought before
Back down
Uh, I thought of that before
I thought of that before but you don’t honor it no more
Back down
Respect for the past is something you deeply lack now
And I ain’t bitter either, I’ve had mad success
This ain’t lashing out
I’m giving wisdom cuz the system will stop giving rations out
And you will be poor like you were before taking that faster route
The disaster route
Who’s the masters now
We’re the masters now
Honor the crown or
Back down
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2. |
Moses
03:42
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I wrote achen for acres
Then I bought more than 10 acres
That's how I fight against these racist
Even my third eye had lasiks
So I’ve been seeing 2020 since 93 covering the basics
Every day people in the public
Fans screaming we want more - I love it
People every day during the encore
Back home open up my barn door
John Deere tractor pull it out
Riding mower for the mule and 40 acres
That never made it around my house
Slave away in my indoor office
Offices is for bosses
Any winner has had losses
And falsehoods poured all over him
Don’t get lost in the sauces
I asked Jesus can He save me
I felt myself drowning in these ladies
Breaking marital bonds for quick relations
Took my wife on the road to nip Temptations
I am no longer a rolling stone
Like Brian Jones
No large bodies of water in Georgia
large bodies of water give me euphoria
Menominee River Parkway off Concordia
Milwaukee Wisconsin lakefront
Down at memorial - it’s sacred soil
Nothing you know me for has been a front
Not a actor - a activist - no Stunts
And everything that I teach through music is the roots
My quest is love within the booth. Not about what I’ve done but what I do
Not married to the game but to the groove
Not married to the fame but to the tune
If you were to ask the same from the Who's Who
I bet there's a disconnect like Bluetooth
To my true blues its not new news to you
Who can offset me now? I'm like the Migos
Take off nationwide in a Prevost
Crunch time as if i’m eating Doritos
Spicy sweet chili is my Steelo
Its also the way I act towards evil
30 Years same girl Black
Not just dreaming its all facts
Career on Wikipedia a true poet
I don't have to do no explaining cause y'all know it
Knew it
I have never once made an entry
Fans do it
Simply I just MC
Real life I made it I'm not making it
Real life I took it not I'm taking it
Authentic vintage no mistaking it
Grammys on my shelf never faking it
All I'm asking for is some respect
That’s not asking for more than I should get
I know you want success I can see it
But it's one thing to want it another to be it
I've been it, and im still not finished
Cuz im just too cold
I said it before - don’t know? now you know
Check my wife she’s gold
I'm a gold digger
And I'm bagging organic juice where they sold liquor
And I’m a known sipper
Big tipper
Culture giver
Uber lyfter
You ride with me I ride with ya
With two children in the quiver
And when I speak some shiver when I deliver
Ancestral transmitter
Exactly why I could never be a nigga
Stay focused no hocus pocus
Made more than one OPUS
Broke down doors the media usually closes
So you can smell the roses
Exodus slavery existence Moses
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3. |
Amazing
04:32
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One day I changed
And re-arranged my brain
My body stayed the same
My inner had entered new plains
Visualizing terrains
Horizons were ever so strange
My mind got better with age
I walked in strength
Milwaukee was opposite of me
So many jocking to Judge me
They kept on knocking my locs
And mocking most everything on me
As if a gift from heaven would weaponize me
To be lovely - despite the spite and intentional ugly
I rose
Through the concrete of my foes
Yeah Asante
To my Aunties up on Buford hwy roads
ATLien exposed
To such culture shocking lows
All the roaches encroaching all over my food and my clothes
So Far from the midwest
Where i gave more to Get less
I Prayed for it like a witness
And slaved for it like a laborer
And I paid for it with interest
Picture me like Pinterest
haters got so fired up
Bringing me the smoke like incense
Wow
This is
Amazing
Its us its us
Arrested Development
Don’t try blowing no smoke
You can’t comprehend
That AD ain’t no joke
This is
Amazing
Its out of the ordinary
Wake up turn your radio up
It don’t time for me to blow your mind
We did it
Do I have to tell you how this Industry goes down
They wanna promote us as the lowest things around
Stereotypical images and beats all around
Police beat us on the ground
Do I have to tell you how this Industry goes down
Promote the thugs with the criminal sound
Stereotypical images and white supremacist images of us never innocent It kills
Kills, Snitches and Witnesses
I guess the business is exploit us sexually
But Keep us intellectually primitive
Sedated the sensitive
Nullifying all their initiative
To ever unify, Just relying on representatives
Our english is now seen as this, Opposite of Guinness
The truth is meaningless
They deliberately been deceiving us
I know Im hot, give me the glock
Hold up let me finish, if i violate probation
The judge'll extend my sentence... I'm for real
I feel the ill’s
U.S. conceals the kills
From Libya To Brazil
It’s not out of the ordinary
My brethren
Ya can’t comprehend
Dollar bill y’all
Worship money them
Monsters have a ball - Halle Berry
Friendly with the enemy is never the call
Powernomics it’s by Dr. Claude
Read it with your squad
Get money for us
Dumb it down for what
We been sleeping enough
Wake up AND turn your radio up
Turn it up
This is
Amazing
Its us its us
Arrested Development
Don’t try blowing no smoke
You can’t comprehend
That AD ain’t no joke
This is all so amazing Shout out to Aerle Taree
Shout out to rasa, Shout out to Montsho Eshe, Shout out toBaba
Oje to Headliner to the extended family Dionne Farris, Nadirah
Shout out to Laurnea, Shout
Out to Dj Kemit, Shout out to Ajile. All of y'all will always be family
The world is ours we talk to one another
And we grab our power this is our hour revolution
Amazing
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4. |
Becoming
04:56
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I know I will
Become the best I can
Become the best I can
Become the best I can
9 Years old, my momma and daddy already divorced years ago
Now it's just me her and joe
Joe is her boyfriend that wishes mom was a different race
Cuz with his fist he put red all over her face
Beat the breaks off her
I say something he'd beat me too
I said a lot he beat me often
Took his fist and punched me dead in the jaw
He told me to tell my teachers I'm clumsy and I often fall
One day I had enough and I called 911
I could have went from 9 to eleven by the time the police would come
They rang the bell of this living hell
My momma ran to the door BEFORE i could myself
And what I saw would forever create a scar
Momma bruised and scared told him that nothing was wrong
And it would be from then on I went to the streets got me a peace and earned some RESPECT c'mon
I know I will
Become the best I can
Become the best I can
Become the best I can
I took on everything in my life head on
Even if it's fights
My fuse was easy to light
And I was literally a stick of dynamite
My good times was nights of bloody faces from victims
I beat from not not looking at me right walking the streets the flashing lights
They got me
Drugs in the car and an unregistered gun on my body
Back to the prison it's a party
I got more friends there than out here sad
Hardly
But it's been years if recidivism
What used to be black and white has become a full color prism
And now I got a daughter and she needs my wisdom
I had become the same Joe that made my own home a prison
There's a half way house I wanna enlist in
I've been sober I did a lot of emotional heavy lifting
But I know i have a gift and a heavenly mission
So I'ma get a new life by living life totally different
This is a mean world to try to live in
Glory glory glory hallelujah
I will become a true inshallah
East African name for father is baba
I will not be an average Joe
No not by far
I named my beautiful baby daughter Baha
That's Arabic for splendid glory
I tell her, we all can make our own end to our story
Our intro is just our entrance it's chapter one
And we can make a clean cut like when an actors done. Forward ever run
I know I will
Become the best I can
Become the best I can
Become the best I can
I know I will
Become the best I can
Become the best I can
Become the best I can
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5. |
Young Americans
03:41
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I met this beautiful sister overseas
It was after show We would go
Over Everything
She was a from a poorer country
She spit game on how she wishes she was American with fortune and fame
She sees the opportunity not the nuance
I said please get information like Beyonc
She said most Blacks take U.S for a joke
I did no we do t but U.S dropped bombs on Blacks in Oklaho
Black Wall Street 1921
The wealthiest Blacks was murdered by bombs mobs and guns
And that was just after the reconstruction yo
Where we was promised equal rights but Jim Crow
Ku klux klan hoods and hangings
She said this is now that was then
I said yeah sister many do better as immigrants coming to America than Blacks who are ADOS
That's: African Descendants of slaves
Black actually from the U.S. born and raised
Our lack equality and racism remains
Turn on the infra red and you can still see the blood stains
We all
We all
Wanna be
Young Americans
And she said
We all
We all
Wanna be
Young Americans
And she said
You got it all
You got it all
You got it all
Young Americans
And she said
You got it all
You got it all
You got it all
Young Americans
She said
Black Americans be dripping I that gold though driving Buggati’s, Chanel Bags and Hublot
She still thinks the 45 prez was dumb as a mofo but she said that on the down low
I said I love the U.S. home of Hip Hop but just Jazz Blues and Rock it got co-opted
All I’m saying is don’t see things with rosey optics
Come here get that money and give back to your continent
We agreed and we planted seeds
I wanna move to Africa and her to DC
The world is ours we both wanna be free
And everyone's at a different stage of what freedom means
So we went and got some greens and some corn bread
She down with elegba I’m down with what the Lord says
She kissed each other lightly on the forehead
And pray for the diaspora to be joyous
We all
We all
Wanna be
Young Americans
And she said
We all
We all
Wanna be
Young Americans
And she said
You got it all
You got it all
You got it all
Young Americans
And she said
You got it all
You got it all
You got it all
Young Americans
We all
We all
Wanna be
Young Americans
And she said
We all
We all
Wanna be
Young Americans
And she said
You got it all
You got it all
You got it all
Young Americans
And she said
You got it all
You got it all
You got it all
Young Americans
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6. |
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Capitalism is so real
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
The pharmaceutical companies in cahoots with bad meals
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
And mainstream rap in cahoots with private jails
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
And mainstream religions, no facts just all feel - yeah
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
So what’s up?
If your mind is a weapon then make sure that its loaded
And probably keep it on safety cuz the world is thought phobic
Politically correct no respect for the stoic
Such neglect for the steps of those reppin heroics
Someone steps up. A whistle blower fesses up
Lets protect the rights for them to do it, I cant stress it enough
Cuz the 1% got a poker face lets call their bluff
Put their greed inside of a toilet, give me a royal flush!
Kings and Queens from red shades to Black spades
Back in the days we raised rap to jack thangs
CNN for Blacks P.E. Chuck D phrase
PRT to XClan to AD we gave our Flavor Flav
To tell the world behave we are no slaves
And while we dance, we’ll take stands and part the waves
And part the seas give healthy thoughts to fight dis-ease
Show em hip hops strength Hercules, Hercules!
Capitalism is so real
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
The pharmaceutical companies in cahoots with bad meals
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
And mainstream rap in cahoots with private jails
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
And mainstream religions, no facts just all feel - yeah
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
So what’s up?
What’s the solution when power’s what their abusing
No more of this confusion, conclusion of the collisions...
Amusing how they portray us and try to use what we say
Then turn right around and try to mimic how we live everyday...
Now whats up with that? Take and give nothing back?
Well they put the dope off in our hood and blamed us for crack...
And look at em now, they giving us mask to cover up the masses
From something they produced in a lab, it’s a disaster...
The world we all livin in is so cold
Hands high, don’t shoot, got me kneeling on the floor...
While they’re kneeling on my throat trying to overplay their role
Suspend the suspensions with pay and let em pay with their soul...
Lock us up but let them go? I’m demanding some understanding
Why is fast food so cheap but it cost to eat what is planted?...
Taking nothing for granted, this planet that we call home
We can call it a lot of things but can never call it our own! I’m gone!
Capitalism is so real
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
The pharmaceutical companies in cahoots with bad meals
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
And mainstream rap in cahoots with private jails
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
And mainstream religions, no facts just all feel - yeah
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
So what’s up?
Knowledge equality justice... Understanding
Power to the people the streets demand it
Fires be fueled by the unjust rules
Look universal law is to gather the tools
So many jewels- free ya self unlocked rage
Know the source free force let the energy rain
If you woke you done seen the turning of tides
Its nothing new but new clues gave birth to the rise
Blind eyes
Seeing light for the first
Bubbles burst
Broke curse
GOD spoke
Know why, worth...
The gold is tainted
Most times THINGS ARE NOT
As THEY seem
Once you realize
You're a threat to the regime
STAY FOCUSED
No hocus we exposing the frauds
Learning — as we kick open the door
They create the sickness
They create the cure
Thats how the rich is getting richer
They at war with the poor
Limited resource
Neighborhoods abused by force
Red lining humans dying its histories course
Facts hidden and lost
But divine intervention
Kept us marching - right on course
Wild rhythms deep wisdom in the spin of the record
Generations fought shine light on the skeptics
We see fakeness
Our intension is sacred
3rd eye wide exemplifying greatness whats up
Capitalism is so real
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
The pharmaceutical companies in cahoots with bad meals
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
And mainstream rap in cahoots with private jails
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
And mainstream religions, no facts just all feel - yeah
The same people that sell the sickness sell the pill
So what’s up?
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7. |
Do or Die Mantra
04:14
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Almost every party I rocked - yeah
Chances are I coulda got shot - yeah
Suicides & murders all around me
Childhood friends gone with the wind
Do or die - the mantra
Yeah
Do or die - the mantra
Some friends sold that white girl or that Ganja
For me it was selling life music to get cha on to
Either way i would say it was
Do or die - the mantra
Do or die - the mantra
Some friends sold that white girl or that Ganja
For me it was selling life music to get cha on to
Either way i would say it was
Do or die - the mantra
Most every dude that I was involved with, ran the malls with, kicked it with at the parties and talked ish and
Was hawkish with
Was dudes from Sherman park to 3rd street
Especially around 24th and capitol, near Rufus King
I was literally
the only cat from Wauwatosa
Never rapped with them heavier cats the Black La Cosa nostra
Going to Detroit did rap shows with ghetto promoters
Picture kids 11 years old
Selling dope... All shooters - no posers
It was quite literally right under our noses
An epidemic with no limits
Quick cash turned cliques bad
All of it quick fast
Flirting with darkness
Brought a Serious Whiplash
And by then, hoods were getting bad
Had - pregnant mothers down on their knees, doing things That might require some knee pads
Sons buying some ski masks
Do or die that was mantra
Families was going under
Almost every party I rocked - yeah
Chances are I coulda got shot - yeah
Suicides & murders all around me
Childhood friends gone with the wind
Do or die - the mantra
Yeah
Do or die - the mantra
Some friends sold that white girl or that Ganja
For me it was selling life music to get cha on to
Either way i would say it was
Do or die - the mantra
Toast! To all my partna's and my family from Magnolia
We some soldiers, We ride or die
Survivors, We the coldest
Cant control us, Dont even try
Quit talking boy come show us
You oppose us, Its suicide
Its best to get to know us
The Panthers, we the champs from Eureka to Stamps
We rock them helmets with lamps
We got 4 wheelers and ramps
We got them woofers and amps
Complete the boom that beat the speaker box
Magnolia got that yola we dont wip around wit weaker rocks
Legalize the ganja, Why dont ya
Fire doper smoker, since a youngster
A fisher and a hunter
High now I philosophy and wonder
How they changed the laws to keep us under
Then sit back and enjoy the plunder
Look into my eyes, and realize Ive been traumatized
Lost my best friend to homicide and one to suicide
Man, the pain I feel inside when my Daddy and Momma died
Rest in Peace to O and Skeet
Please pray for me and Tweet
Almost every party I rocked - yeah
Chances are I coulda got shot - yeah
Suicides & murders all around me
Childhood friends gone with the wind
Do or die - the mantra
Yeah
Do or die - the mantra
Some friends sold that white girl or that Ganja
For me it was selling life music to get cha on to
Either way i would say it was
Do or die - the mantra
Do or die - the mantra
Some friends sold that white girl or that Ganja
For me it was selling life music to get cha on to
Either way i would say it was
Do or die - the mantra
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8. |
||||
She was special baby she was special
She was extra baby she was extra
Body hot like a sauna
She will eat you up like a Piranha
My sunrise was in America but my sun sets in Ghana
Dark as a coffee bean
Legs long like a Pentecostal worshipping uh
But Ghana's the scene uh
In Accra, and I'ma get lost all in her English patois
Her people were clearly Maroons - fighters from the start
Um
I'm in awe
I had a corporate job back in America
Climbing a ladder that's empty once you reached the top
Plus I had enough of living against my peace and trust
I needed Africa
Like Chris Tucker or Dave Chapelle I said farewell
It was the year of return I wanted citizenship back
Where my ancestors were equipped and lived very well
Where I could gel
Where we excelled in the lane of Akan languages
Here with you now I cant explain just how sane it is
What I’m saying is
She was special baby she was special
She was extra baby she was extra
Body hot like a Sauna
She'll eat you up like a Piranha
My sun rise was in America
But my sun sets in Ghana
She was special baby she was special
She was extra baby she was extra
Body hot like a Sauna
She'll eat you up like a Piranha
My sun rise was in America
But my sun sets in Ghana
But my sun sets in Ghana
But my sun sets in Ghana
I met this girl named Aba at Republic bar
Akpeteshi shots out with a couple stars
AJ Nelson Reggie Rock Eddie Blay leaned over like she's very hot
I mean very hot like yam chips and peppers
I'm smooth I move quick but my plans is forever my plan is get her
Together we will be better this weather is never cold not ever I'm glad I met her
It's been a long time since I been in town
Said she would show me all around if I'm really down
I'm down
So now we hit the rehab club that's at the beach I see the brother Speech at much
Dancing to Feli Nuna me and this chick tho
I barely knew her hoping she ain't a slay queen as I kick it to her
A night cap that could be in the schedule
I bet you would love how I caress undress you and Speech
Do me a fav and sing the rest dude because
She was special baby she was special
She was extra baby she was extra
Body hot like a Sauna
She'll eat you up like a Piranha
My sun rise was in America
But my sun sets in Ghana
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9. |
||||
There is a lesson you must learn
Play with fire you must get burned
There is a lesson you must learn
Play with fire you must get burned
There is a lesson you must learn
Play with fire you must get burned
There is a lesson you must learn
Play with fire
I burn sage I burn bridges whatever it takes to get away from you dog - you a negative ni%ga
I figure I'd give you time to realize that's the issue between us
It ain't stature or status, class factors or baggage
It's being a human being and I'm way past being savage
Or being average, uh not me homie I'm care & I'm free
I'm rare and I'm a t
I scare when I Re
Up with a ruff rhyme for the whole industry
When I retire be desired as spiritual being
We've won two Grammys
But when consciousness was killed we became raps Orphan Annie's up on the bill
Daddy Warbuck's gives us bucks to tear it up
And tear it up we do like staffers in Watergate
Shredding everything as a group
People talk soup
Equal walk equal fruit
Evil stalks truth
So I guess more or less it's arrested development they stalking us dude
There is a lesson you must learn
Play with fire you must get burned
There is a lesson you must learn
Play with fire you must get burned
There is a lesson you must learn
Play with fire you must get burned
There is a lesson you must learn
Play with fire
Uh Cuz opinions are a dime a dozen
But truthful opinions can be the kind that bludgeon
My momma said stand in your truth So I ain't budging
My daddy said never be poor - so I wasn't
But I had a choice because he gave me one
An entrepreneurial father - gave hope to his son
A responsible mother gave me prototype and example
The drum that they marched to - I'm remixing it like a sample
I can be known to ramble but
My name is speech so is that really a gamble
I mean the whole scene got me needing a Advil
I been Adamant since the Eve of Hip Hop in the Big Apple
There is a lesson you must learn
Play with fire you must get burned
There is a lesson you must learn
Play with fire you must get burned
There is a lesson you must learn
Play with fire you must get burned
There is a lesson you must learn
Play with fire
See I was resting at the park
Minding my own
Bizness
Til my granny told me
Go and get your microphone
Listen
Bring your bible going viral
On your iPhone
Wrap your head
On and on
Call Tyrone
Whoa
Too many clones
My own
Need a
Nina Simone
No gmo's
Or emo
G's in my home
It's 3 to go
Five months Day 2
In a row
That's 3 or 4
Five, six seven or mo
MTV, yo
Fab 5 Freddy
The Show
Believe me yo
I got the ingredients
So
Gimme the flo
It's hot sauce
Leave it alone
Or let it simmer
I'm a sinner
At the Lord's dinner
So when I enter
Make the lights dimmer
For all the White folks
And all of my niggas
Kirk Franklin
Stomp in the yard
Godz'illa
Ask Jah
I'm one of The Last Airbenders
I got a thirst, for tapping into the rhythm inside the earth
Converse with the universe, find my purpose, and purge the worst
Versions of myself, trying to reverse my curse
Ain’t trying to be the emcee seeming more perverse per verse
But the surf is hard to ride sometimes
When Poseidon rises the tide to pull you inside
And to survive, you gotta stand up or else you’ll drown
But the entire weight of the ocean is holding you down
And the life preserver thrown from the demon is tempting
But I turn to the pen instead, the writing is cleansing
With every sentence invented I sense my spirit is mending
A tendency to mentally bend time, my mind is extending the tracks
On my train of thought, I’m conducting myself
Never static, pushing forward, I’ll be shoving myself
I don’t need no ones approval, I can govern myself
Translation for the masses, I’ll be dubbing myself
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10. |
Ecclesiastes
03:15
|
|||
Its better one handful with tranquility
Than two hand fulls with toil and chasing after the wind
Wind wind blow
Getting an education ain't emancipation
Nah But it also ain't a joke
I'd rather you learn that European occupation
Than be just Vegetative with no water to grow
Schooling comes from school
Then More schooling must come dudes
That knew we can make black power Evoque
No more spending wasteful hours on that blow
Cuz it Sours the most
And our powers implode
As a people we feeble
We already know we not equal
From lethal attacks from our foes
In the ghettos, we settle
Generational woes
And We carry that metal
Confrontations arose
And we bang bang
Go and join gang gang
Do a little side thang
Hold up hold up hold up
Are we thinking
What are we relinquishing
When we either die
Or end up in the clink
I don't know what you doing baby girl no
I don't know what you doing Baby doll but
Why are following that bad Nigga around
Why are following that bad Nigga around
No
I don't know what you doing baby girl no
I don't know what you doing Baby doll but
Why are following that bad Nigga around
Why are following that bad Nigga around
It's trouble
He’s a D-boy
And its Ludacris
He’s a shooter miss and you had to have noticed this
Yeah
Ain't it about time
That our ghetto queens were afforded a better dream
And it's just a renewal of the mind yo
From the known obscene racist Willie Lynch routine
We'll be Facing the stench - rinse and repeating
It's all so intense - this Low self esteem and
Four centuries of hatred, oppression and natures
Conditioned for taking positions of enslavement
No no
I know that we can do way more than we're doing right now
And I’m not thinking about just you baby I’m thinking about your child
Thinking about your now your life & your power
How many lies straight to your eyes
How many tell you you are divine
And if they do is their purpose for you in line
I don't know what you doing baby girl no
I don't know what you doing Baby doll but
Why are following that bad Nigga around
Why are following that bad Nigga around
No
I don't know what you doing baby girl no
I don't know what you doing Baby doll but
Why are following that bad Nigga around
Why are following that bad Nigga around
It's trouble
I don't know what you doing Baby doll
Why are following that bad Nigga around
Why are following that bad Nigga around
I don't know what you doing do doing
I don't know what you doing do doing
Why are following that bad Nigga around
Why are following that bad Nigga around
|
||||
11. |
||||
It may seem like to you
I got it all together but that ain’t the truth
I've been through all the weathers I’m weather proof
Some fallen trees and a severed root
I just have more than one root
And like you I have more than one truth
I get depressed but I press through
More or less I guess I just get through
My melancholy is a cess pool
My wife and daughter my staff they oughta
Just arrested speech arrested development guilty your honor
I'm all inside my mind so I’m just a constant mourner
I feel like a foreigner baby what are you wanting
Pardon you for disrupting
My melancholy my woe is me so I lust thing
My I’ve been hurt by them so I don’t trust thing
So pardon you for disrupting my melancholy sometimes its truly folly but
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
I never said this
But I got a problem in my head miss
Got a mental illness
I have emotional stress
There’s many things I wont admit
Not just to you but to my clique
I realize I need some help
And I just cant relieve myself
And I don’t got the money for therapy
Only money enough for us to eat
And I’m sunny enough to please the child in me
Cuz I don’t wanna lose custody
And its not just the deep sin in me
My sinful nature or the enemy
There’s something deeper more substantive
That when I was a kid was crushing me
So now I love in the company of indecision and insecurity
Juxtapose that with moral purity if you’re questioning my maturity
I drop jewels but I’ve been dropped too so maybe I’m just some damaged jewelry
So baby maybe you should not be so sure of me please
Pardon you for disrupting
My melancholy my woe is me so I lust thing
My I’ve been hurt by them so I dont trust thing
So pardon you for disrupting my melancholy sometimes its truly folly but
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Maybe I am what I planned to be
Turning fans into my family
Like the morning after with no plan B
But that ain't what I meant by pampeing
My preparations near insanity
Like I'm indoors with a canopy
Demanding me to be the man in me
And not just what I need a brand to see
I am still trying to justify the pain I seen in my sons eyes
The day daddy said quote I tried
That was 6 years ago time flies and I'm still adjusting to my whys
Am I there yet don't ask my wife
Me and her got a special deal and you don't need to know my price
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
Baby I am just adjusting
|
||||
12. |
Journey On
04:23
|
|||
Shout out to my baby my lady
Floating like a Lilly pad
She says she's sunshine
She said hold me by my waist
I said I'd put anything on those legs and anything on that face and
I ain’t just minding my business I’m minding my black owned business
There’s a difference
You’ve joined with me
Have I fulfilled your dreams do you know
I'm so here for it
Journey on ever forward
Yeah
I'm so here for it
Journey on ever forward
Yeah
Back door ok fine
The bills paid out the side
Lets go ‘you are mine
And we can even go to LA
Take it down
Lets go so profound
Til the late night yeah its fine
So important we enter back door
Out the side friends are gone
It just you and me
Me and you is on the move
Lets go I don’t mind
Breakfast perfect time
And do it all again
Floating like a lily pad
She said she’s sunshine
I said she’s a sunset
She said would you hold my regrets
I said I’ll place forgiveness on your lips
My hand will guide you hips and you
I wont just mind my business no
I’m minding my black queens interest and I
Journey through out our lives
Yeah
I'm so here for it
Journey on ever forward
Yeah
I'm so here for it
Journey on
Yeah
I may not be a god
But I know I got me a goddess yall
And you know I stay defiant
Me and you can start a lot of riots y’all
They don’t know, they don’t know, they don’t know
And we got confidence though I know we journey on
And 30 years and we going strong
I hear all of they talking but its opposite of what’s going on
We journeying on we journeying on I’m I’m so
I'm so here for it
Journey on ever forward
Yeah
I'm so here for it
Journey on
Hey
Journey on
Journey on ever forward
Journey on
|
||||
13. |
We’ll See
04:11
|
|||
I put all my eggs in one basket
And now I’m just scrambling to make sense
I asked one legend to spit 16
Like BB king He said the thrill
No longer exist
Being conscious in hip hop
Is a steady consciousness
Of odds stacked up against you
Being super sharp just like a Ginsu
But less in your bank Like when the rents due
Yet thankless if things do improve
And nobodies moved by what you’ve been through
It's all about the groove the publics into
We was all connected at the hip
It was always a gamble how we spit
Cats I respected from the rip
Are suddenly cashing in all their chips
It's got me Wondering if
They see inevitability
While I’m steadily ignorantly blissed
They say whatever floats your boat
But Is this another boat that I’ve done missed
I got a house on the lake
Peace for peace sake
Taking breaks
Turn em into loops and make a track
Run the track, like I’m still in the race
But am a dude that’s out of date
Am I that funk band in the eighties when Rap was thoroughly on its way
Saying ahh man that ain’t music
It's just a trend - a passing phase
Boy how deeply wrong were they
Am I discreetly facing that same fate
I remember touring with James Brown
When he was too old to be on stage
I said that won’t be me - I'll bow out gracefully
But can I really say
Cuz here I am in my fifties
Thinking I’m still grizzly
But can I bear the shame
Should I have to mention our debut album
Is it always just nostalgia
Til our last days - omega
Will fans only jam our Alpha
We'll See
Can u stand the rain when you really want sunny weather
Sometimes you don't get what you want because you deserve better
Thought of that? Have u ever
Emotionally I feel the heaviest when I'm empty
Haters on the gram strangers on the gram
Messing with me mentally living rent free
And I've been inside a cocoon that's been hiding me
So I'm turning over a new leaf grow wings
And be butter and be fly metamorphosise and be
Whether I swim up the S H I T creek
Like Andre 3000 said in Rosa Parks we dread that peak
We all want that praise dude. Our peak was our debut
We moved straight to sex with our fan base
We couldn't just chase and just date you
And they packaged us as miraculous and the fact was just that we stayed true
And that's boring sometimes but ain't you feeling the need for rap not to debase you
This is our Mount Rushmore
Faces and monuments traces of our continent confidence showing lyrical dominance
During the era of oppression our prominence
Arrested Development we promise this
An entity of dignity since our infancy
We meant to be an epiphany for the industry
And whether or not we claim victory is subjective ain't it
There's a Fat lady to our right
I guess it's right to not say goodnight until she starts to sanging
I remember touring with James Brown
When he was too old to be on stage
I said that won’t be me - I'll bow out gracefully
But can I really say
Cuz here I am in my fifties
Thinking I’m grizzly
But can I bear the shame
Should I have to mention our debut album
Is it always just nostalgia
Til our last days - omega
Will fans only jam our Alpha
We'll See
|
||||
14. |
||||
One day I changed
And re-arranged my brain
My body stayed the same
My inner had entered new plains
Visualizing terrains
Horizons were ever so strange
My mind got better with age
I walked in strength
Milwaukee was opposite of me
So many jocking to Judge me
They kept on knocking my locs
And mocking most everything on me
As if a gift from heaven would weaponize me
To be lovely - despite the spite and intentional ugly
I rose
Through the concrete of my foes
Yeah Asante
To my Aunties up on Buford hwy roads
ATLien exposed
To such culture shocking lows
All the roaches encroaching all over my food and my clothes
So Far from the midwest
Where i gave more to Get less
I Prayed for it like a witness
And slaved for it like a laborer
And I paid for it with interest
Picture me like Pinterest
haters got so fired up
Bringing me the smoke like incense
Wow
This is
Amazing
It's us it's us
Arrested Development
Don’t try blowing no smoke
You can’t comprehend
That AD ain’t no joke
This is
Amazing
It's out of the ordinary
Wake up turn your radio up
It don’t time for me to blow your mind
We did it
Do I have to tell you how this Industry goes down
They wanna promote us as the lowest things around
Stereotypical images and beats all around
Police beat us on the ground
Do I have to tell you how this Industry goes down
Promote the thugs with the criminal sound
Stereotypical images and white supremacist images of us never innocent It kills
Kills, Snitches and Witnesses
I guess the business is exploit us sexually
But Keep us intellectually primitive
Sedated the sensitive
Nullifying all their initiative
To ever unify, Just relying on representatives
Our english is now seen as this, Opposite of Guinness
The truth is meaningless
They deliberately been deceiving us
I know I'm hot, give me the glock
Hold up let me finish, if i violate probation
The judge'll extend my sentence... I'm for real
I feel the ill’s
U.S. conceals the kills
From Libya To Brazil
It’s not out of the ordinary
My brethren
Ya can’t comprehend
Dollar bill y’all
Worship money them
Monsters have a ball - Halle Berry
Friendly with the enemy is never the call
Powernomics it’s by Dr. Claude
Read it with your squad
Get money for us
Dumb it down for what
We been sleeping enough
Wake up AND turn your radio up
Turn it up
This is
Amazing
It's us it's us
Arrested Development
Don’t try blowing no smoke
You can’t comprehend
That AD ain’t no joke
This is all so amazing Shout out to Aerle Taree
Shout out to rasa, Shout out to Montsho Eshe, Shout out toBaba
Oje to Headliner to the extended family Dionne Farris, Nadirah
Shout out to Laurnea, Shout
Out to Dj Kemit, Shout out to Ajile. All of y'all will always be family
The world is ours we talk to one another
And we grab our power this is our hour revolution
Amazing
|
||||
15. |
||||
One day I changed
And re-arranged my brain
My body stayed the same
My inner had entered new plains
Visualizing terrains
Horizons were ever so strange
My mind got better with age
I walked in strength
Milwaukee was opposite of me
So many jocking to Judge me
They kept on knocking my locs
And mocking most everything on me
As if a gift from heaven would weaponize me
To be lovely - despite the spite and intentional ugly
I rose
Through the concrete of my foes
Yeah Asante
To my Aunties up on Buford hwy roads
ATLien exposed
To such culture shocking lows
All the roaches encroaching all over my food and my clothes
So Far from the midwest
Where i gave more to Get less
I Prayed for it like a witness
And slaved for it like a laborer
And I paid for it with interest
Picture me like Pinterest
haters got so fired up
Bringing me the smoke like incense
Wow
This is
Amazing
It's us it's us
Arrested Development
Don’t try blowing no smoke
You can’t comprehend
That AD ain’t no joke
This is
Amazing
It's out of the ordinary
Wake up turn your radio up
It don’t time for me to blow your mind
We did it
Do I have to tell you how this Industry goes down
They wanna promote us as the lowest things around
Stereotypical images and beats all around
Police beat us on the ground
Do I have to tell you how this Industry goes down
Promote the thugs with the criminal sound
Stereotypical images and white supremacist images of us never innocent It kills
Kills, Snitches and Witnesses
I guess the business is exploit us sexually
But Keep us intellectually primitive
Sedated the sensitive
Nullifying all their initiative
To ever unify, Just relying on representatives
Our english is now seen as this, Opposite of Guinness
The truth is meaningless
They deliberately been deceiving us
I know I'm hot, give me the glock
Hold up let me finish, if i violate probation
The judge'll extend my sentence... I'm for real
I feel the ill’s
U.S. conceals the kills
From Libya To Brazil
It’s not out of the ordinary
My brethren
Ya can’t comprehend
Dollar bill y’all
Worship money them
Monsters have a ball - Halle Berry
Friendly with the enemy is never the call
Powernomics it’s by Dr. Claude
Read it with your squad
Get money for us
Dumb it down for what
We been sleeping enough
Wake up AND turn your radio up
Turn it up
This is
Amazing
It's us it's us
Arrested Development
Don’t try blowing no smoke
You can’t comprehend
That AD ain’t no joke
This is all so amazing Shout out to Aerle Taree
Shout out to rasa, Shout out to Montsho Eshe, Shout out toBaba
Oje to Headliner to the extended family Dionne Farris, Nadirah
Shout out to Laurnea, Shout
Out to Dj Kemit, Shout out to Ajile. All of y'all will always be family
The world is ours we talk to one another
And we grab our power this is our hour revolution
Amazing
|
||||
16. |
The Forsaken
03:26
|
|||
I worry about success more than any average human being should
Especially with not being considered that good
Not being that rich but rich enough to get myself outta raps ditch
Help myself to this rap history
Ignore me if you wanna
I've been looked over
My whole life being shorter
My supporters must be a tall order
I've been hurt more than celebrated
I keep it all in like a hoarder
I'm a pessimistic optimist
I'm a living being living thru a zombie apocalypse
My group and I should be at the top of ya list
So many quick to forget
Our phenomenal hits
I sit
Patiently waiting
Knowing we got a stake in
More hearts than vampire slayers how can I stay zen
I have to know that Theres more like me let's be friends
Wave ya hands in air for the forsaken
Who's forsaken? - I'm forsaken
Who's been taken for granted? - I've been taken
Wanna see ya dead - dey said - I'm a break em
Not today Satan - not today Satan
Who's forsaken? - I'm forsaken
Who's been taken for granted? - I've been taken
Wanna see ya dead - dey said - I'm a break em
Not today Satan - not today Satan
I’d like to get things off my chest
You know when y’all mention who’s the best
My names not mentioned more nor less
In fact its not mentioned at all - so let's talk
And let's walk, take a stroll down memory lane
Since day one swimming up stream not in the main
Not in the mainframe, not in the same gang
I’m answering all these critics just like phone rang
Elders in the group because we needed that in the community
Men and women in the same group we needed that Black unity
Thick and curvy sisters, skinny misters its you and me
First to represent rap in melody man we true indeed
Videos from the rural south
Everyone else would rule that out
We put that in the fore front
We could have lost it all son
No materialism we some raw ones
Songs feel like raw fun
Biddy bye bye bye at a party and its all done
I'm a pessimistic optimist
I'm a living being living thru a zombie apocalypse
My group and I Should be at the Top of ya list
So many quick to forget
Our phenomenal hits
I sit
Patiently waiting
Knowing we got a stake in
More hearts than vampire slayers how can I stay zen
I have to know that theres more like me let's be friends
Wave ya hands in air for the forsaken
Who's forsaken? - I'm forsaken
Who's been taken for granted? - I've been taken
Wanna see me dead - Dey said - I'm a break em
Not today Satan - not today Satan
Who's forsaken? - I'm forsaken
Who's been taken for granted? - I've been taken
Wanna see me dead - Dey said - I'm a break em
Not today Satan - not today Satan
Not today
|
Arrested Development Atlanta, Georgia
Legendary. 2 Grammy awards for Best New Artist and Best Rap Single (Tennessee), 2 MTV awards, a Soul Train Music Award, & the NAACP Image Award. Rolling Stone mag named them Band of The Year (1992), VH-1 named AD one of the greatest Hip-hop artists of all time! The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named AD's smash “Tennessee” one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. The definition of legends. ... more
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