Lyrics
ORDER ANOTHER ROUND
(Malk)
the Neanderthal pre-amble
ballad of a furry mammal that reads Nathaniel
I found my angle like Oprah found her ankle
trim the fat, the bacon and cheese plate? We’ll cancel.
sipping Modelo, shotgun, white Blazer
bumping Handel’s Concerto In I’m Major
this lightsaber is a lifesaver
up to slice necks and down to swipe lazers
quick-witted, I got icebreakers
might take her a minute to get it but it’s quite flavor
and when we come together it’s like nature
between my sheets, naked as God made her
I got neighbors that rock Rod Lavers
and everywhere we fucking walk we leave hot craters
we run our own shit, fuck hard labor
the motherfucking Palms Mayor.
(Sum)
the vodka-tonic godfather, cigar clipper
hellfire holder, monster killer dip attracter
fuck a rapper, I’m a mogul on the mobile clapper
(blakka blakka) moccasin wild game trapper
Gravy Crockett, hunt a stag, drag it home to wifey
skewered on the barbie Cajun style, mighty spicey
Charlie Chaplin, army-issue Gatling
James got the party cracking in a bomber Farsi jacket
yeeeeah the shit be cracking every week
I be in the booth at Saints, cracking bottles with my teeth
on some good cop, bad cop, girl no thanks
all the titty-weight you got ain’t getting you no Timberlake
it’s the Palms Weekend, bitch, we doing yall a solid
you come from long money, I come from alcoholics
so I might weeble-wobble but I won’t fall down
so if you really want that shit then order another round.
yo James, you on deck? (yep, order another round)
Sum, you on deck? (yep, order another round)
the Palms Weekend, it’s going down
the Palms Weekend, I like the way that shit sounds
(Malk)
I see a sea of heads, volume meter reads red
so much Hennessy in me, should technically be dead
got a request? I ain’t Ryan Seacrest
whether C-chest or D-breast, better be fresh
when we started it was Euro-dance and trance
now it’s rock ‘n roll, soul and gangsta jams
so thank ya man, Nowax with the tracks
throw Sabbath on after Sade and just max
legend has it, he’ll drink anything you pass him
down it all like magic and yell “action”
shit we drop got the bums outside clapping
standing ovation, then back on the pavement
it’s the neighborhood bar and we made it ours
to the Harleys and Kawasakis, this one is for the posse
make my water and Johnnie Walker rocky, yeah copy
(Sum)
we on Johnnie Walks, Jack D and pint suds
spiced rum, Sum from the P-Dub
fight club, music on the Brad Pitt
Westwood Block, bitch it don’t quit
soldier swagger catalog, I’m Wolverine dipped
flip a tractor-trailer on my way to play the hits
got my knuckles on, eyes peeled, cutter on my hip
for shady cats, on the block waiting for you to slip
the moon is full, they at the bar, woofing “who you with”
and my condescending tone gon get us in some shit
all day (all day) I keep it Dr Jekyll
.38 special off my third or eighth Ketel
got my tard helmet on, hit me with a truck
the calamari at the party gave me bubble guts
so I might weeble-wobble but I’ll never fall down
so if you really want that shit then order another round.
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BURNT BRIDGES
So drop some green on that Gotham Green
on some bakery shit, getting those profiteroles, seen
Malkovich, tryna make cream like Kareem Jabar
finger roll in the hole from afar
make it profitable is the phrase these days
motherf**kers broke blogging? why even log in
you’re scenery, a cog in someone else’s machinery
might as well try and sell weed for free
cats know I play my part believably
no Richie Gatso cats rolling with me
just tryna get my bankroll up like Ice-T
and make a record like O.G., what up Evil E
from LA to JFK we proceed
while I got no seeds, I’ma get these proceeds
so learn how to spell my name
Malko with no C, spell it M-A-L-K
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BANKRUPTCY
cowboys on soy
a plate of dogshit and a bucket of Altoids
one-armed pushup, all trapezoid
my pet Pit ripped my right arm off… down boy!
my insurance agent sounds annoyed.
freak accidents that keep happening
a new car a week and I keep crashing it
ran into an ATM with free cash in it
allow me to introduce my new E habit
let’s review each candidate
I like Obama, he seems passionate
I like McCain, he’s a maverick
but the fucking guy’s tie’s clashing with his suit jacket
fuck that shit.
how do yall do
my hobbies are towing cars and lawsuits
this is my wife Velveeta
my son Dasani, and my daughter Aquafina
got a brother in the service, another in the circus
Jules juggles better man, they got it backwards
kids, meet your new daddy
I’m filing bankuptcy and moving on my mama’s balcony
and if you think that’s funny, check this
I did a bank robbery with my tank on E and my man on E
because it seems like nothing on the face that all my friends got big closet space
you and your subpoenas can suck penis
Malkovich, the ‘I don’t give a fuck’ remix.
America is David Hasselhoff wacking off with a hacking cough.
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THE JERK
Took ’07 off, figured one year out of 28, what’s the loss?
Had a long breakfast, called the boss
Its been swell, wish you well, our paths will cross
Spent most of the year on the sauce
Is Malk in his draws or not? Coin toss
At that point it was more of a loincloth
Unless I got company then I let the boys off
Get some air, catch a breather
Your owner is now a man of leisure
I hit Belize and Costa Rica while you stayed home and ordered pizza
Hit France, skipped the Mona Lisa and ain’t need a visa either
Peace to my lady, four years last February, now I stroll LA like El Jefe
What you say we go to Mexico? I’m in D.F. off a bottle of Presidente by Wednesday
Tanning up my new muscles skinny punk, I work out one week and get plenty pumped
I’m silly drunk cats asking œdo you feel sick yet? œno, it’s still really fun.
And I’m nearly done with this one, so
it’s on… check the song… the jerk lives on.
2008 was uhhh kinda of a blur, my boy assured me it was absurd
Grew my hair out, slicked back
embracing my new incarnation as a used car salesman
Worked on listening more in conversations I’m up to sixty percent
And I keep observations way past the bare minimum, where women invite me I’m there, sharing opinions
Pretty stare, pretty hair, intelligent, and it’s so rare to get it in such a fine specimen as you
I brush her hand so she understands
electricity, now she sits with me
She looked at the sun over the sea and said œlife’s a vacation from eternity.
And like that, the uncertainty that used to worry me my whole life is now history
I’m free.
DON’T BE MAD CUZ WE’RE HAVING FUN… AND YOU’RE HAVING NONE.
yall pissed at me? Now I’m the enemy?
yall salty cuz I keep it all G?
cuz I got no strings to hold me down and you’re Homey The Clown
permanent frown cuz my fortune cookie said œsee the world
and two days later I’m stroking the Equator
Living in linen, lil drinks with umbrellas in ˜em and plump, tanned titties on television
My religion? Whoever’s serving lunch
so bring on the funny hats and prayer mats
That’s a cute accent, Let’s hang some
I’m in 301 playing Chuck Jackson albums
Two rooms, a kitchen, shower, patio, two weeks for $80 plus AC? Crazy
I’ll be working on my life story, so check for my memoirs
and don’t pronounce the œrs.
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PROHIBITION
Grab your partner and do the Charlie Parker, fling ‘em
drinks high in the sky, lemme see em
from the Great Election, the Great Recession, the Great Depression, and now the fucking resurrection
dollar and a dream, my motto since a teen
baby mama, daily drama, watch it on the screen
fuck that, get your mind unglued
that goes for you too, that goes for Youtube
do what you do
zoot suits, Saint Louis flats, Stetson hats, black Cadillacs, fly ass cats
if you ain’t got style then you ain’t got nothing
I’m clean to my cufflinks, fuck what you fucks think
yeah, I feel like cussing
I’m feeling myself cousin, word to Dave Ruffin
I’m going nuclear in the new year so watch your head when the crystal ball counts us in.
So what you think I been waiting for, play the wall
the tragedy of strategy, back to take it all
I came to ball jack, break your back
now find the direction of home and crawl back
I’m all stats, ten years plus in the dungeon
years before your daddy was done pumping out you younguns
my crew seen action, yall newbies ask around and catch the reaction
salutes when we’re in the saloon
that’s my tune yo
if it ain’t oldies then blow me.
new shit? my crew’s shit. only
music for haunted cruise ships
ghostly, Bela Lugosi with a Stoli and a stogie
fuck live bands and mic stands
I rock the same loop twenty minutes, left hand holding a Guinness, get with us
Saints & Sinners, 10899 Venice
seven days a week.. rain hail or sleet.
Rappers, catch me if you can man
this is Speedy Gonzalez with a Hollis Run ethic
your shit’s too polished, it’s begging to get demolished
George Orwell said it, those who control the past, control the present
so what’s your motive?
tryna keep up with the Joneses? get your own shit
that’s some ho shit and everybody knows it
put some lipstick on if you wanna get noticed
I’m west coasting, trailblazing
bombing yall non-stop, military types call that strafing
dedicated to my fresh-off-the-boaters, non-voters
went from the brokest to making more than their brokers
ex-soldiers that’ll solder some shit up to have your unborn kids hiccupping thick dust
don’t ask, my future’s bright, topaz
my celly rings through the night… no thanks
game like Paulie, don’t even call me
just see me on the block… Westwood Block
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DICTATOR OF LOVE
A smile that beguiles
then disappeared quicker than a flicker, my heart skipped a beat
standing in the street like she owned it, wait a moment
this shit is named after me. slow the Rolls a bit
ten seconds to catch a girls’ attention
“Bruno, you go.” (that’s my ladies’ man)
“Miss? Your address at his Highness’ request.
You got two choices and both of them are yes.”
sunrise, a letter met her doorstep
give her three days yo, then send the horsehead
inside, an invite. flashy. card stock, 2 font
and me on the front, major bouffant
we can go wherever you want
oh, PS, we have your sister prisoner, and no visitors.
at the restaurant she was prompt, well-dressed
meticulous, hell yes, a woman of particulars
fresh off a cappuccino with Al Pacino
“Are you coming from somewhere else?”
well how did she know?
you got intuition.
but one thing, when I talk, you will listen, or you might end up missing.
Andre? bring the entree.
she was Janet with a hint of Sintra Bronte
I got an empire, a modern-day Pompeii
so do what I say and you can have it all day.
I’m the dictator of love, gaming you up
In a speedboat, breeze blowing Pinot on my peacoat
I advertise paradise.
we can go to Malta, the strait of Gibraltar, maybe Mallorca, then straight to the altar
you’d think her behavior’d alter, not a scrap
thought I caught a smile, that was just Bruno’s gun digging in her back
hit her with the present
she just cocked her head and said “oh, that’s pleasant” and left it at that
barely a thank you, nary a “that’s cool”
nearly flew off the handle and sent Bruno for the bamboo
that’s when she hit me with the F-bomb
“Let’s just be friends, Kong”… can’t lie, turned me the hell on
how’d she get so headstrong?
stubbornness is what it is, so let me simplify this
I been sending memos out, you must not have got em
but not marrying me is uh, not an option
how’s about I pull this thing over so you can catch an eyeful of my Eiffel
my armada’s in your harbor
and any girl I ever really wanted, I got her, either that or put her out a father
she leaned forward and just said “You don’t know how lucky you are to make it this far, sir
now get me off this lonesome ocean. I don’t like you”
well why do you think I want ya…
What the hell I’m supposed to do? The usual?
waste her family, boobytrap their funerals?
I’ll have a sad wife, no more beautiful
think for Jim’s sake, a damn mistake, through and through
I could have Bruno take her in the back for a lashing
but I can’t have her scarred when them cameras start flashing
for the disrespect, I should take her neck
but I love her, despite what she may suspect
I was so focused on the outcome
OK then, my approach might have freaked her out some.
I can see that, I concede that… thanks for the feedback
now it’s Goldschlager, poached lobster
she puts her hand in her pocket to pay, don’t bother, nope, uh-uh
fuck what it is or what it might be
you’re wifey. and I don’t say that lightly.
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BULLETPROOF TUX
Chamber music, fully suited
tuxedoed down with sound, refined, straight from the mind
block walker, shot caller, and cops got the drop on ya
in the city with that hip-hop aura
as the buildings crowd around you like co-conspirators
95 storeys high, we’re living a miracle
we rushed the staircases, elevators to the top floor
double-locked door so we waited, breath bated
six hard kicks then it gave in
on the rooftop with a boombox, yelling like we made it
but we ain’t no closer to God, we’re just a lot closer to smog
chasing a mirage
some kind of façade that we feed firewood and this is for the lives I took
16-bar rhyme, fuck a hook
Malkovich Man on the run like Afghanistan, back ˜em down man.
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EGGHEAD
I got numerous ladies in my new Mercedes this cocaine is okay but nothing crazy megabucks, the bank owner pays me he wears paisley, he thinks it’s stately more wax in my hair than you got in your crate and yall just figured out Tom Waits, you got raped Burnie Nowax, my a.k.a., which classics will I play today? driving gets real risky off whisky, looking all fishy, to court swiftly, still tipsy take us to Vegas, this looks real ritzy so how’d I get in the front door in grilled Dickies? this bouncer is a certified downer his girl is fly though, and I bet he leaves without her Malkovich signing off for tea and chowder no flour on my flounder.
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FUCK PROMOTERS
Get a grip, promoter with sweat on his lip, trying to talk shit like I can’t see a gang of peeps in the street paying ten bucks each like I can’t see the headliners backstage, choking on prawns and Dom Perignon like we ain’t drive from LA in a Hyundai, fucked around and went the wrong way on a one-way fucking with your dumb-ass state, now we got sheriffs calling in airlifts to get our asses out chicks passing out in the front row, and you blame us.. gee, Columbo maybe you should get your bodyguard on the job I think I see him in that dark corner messing with that girl fresh outta Pop Warner but no biggie, when this is all over we’ll sit down like some grown men and discuss payment I got two words for yall: break bread.
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DOPE
Smash, cornucopia, mind, kaleidoscope
man everything I write is dope
pop wheelie, brainfreeze, say cheese, wave and smile
c’mon, stay a while, drinks on me
the beat is three gees, the mindfuck is free
the evil doctor grins cunningly or is that fiendishly?
I seem to have misplaced my dictionary
blank spots on a Rorschach test, I think in inkblots
Mr. President, rap’s a pitstop
to all you earthworms and germs who slept, you’re in debt
get crushed like insect without breaking sweat
the pace is breakneck, got a crowded shitlist
traitors get served first, and all you fakes next
you see the man hanging round town all chill
so you shake the man’s hand cuz the man all real
so you fucking fishface get smoke in your gills
like you’re standing on legs, man, you’re standing on stilts
you’re amongst monsters, some sleeping giants
inhaling experience and breathing science
but while we was earning stripes cats was peeping science
soaking up crazy game and sneaking by us
what can I say? I got a steep bias
rhyme mechanic, here to grease you squeaky tires
waking up in a bad dream, a scene of geek promoters, managers, and their geek clients
now it’s ’05 and nerd rap’s all the rage, cuz one nerd signing checks means ten onstage
put the mic down, go make some daisy chains
this is high intensity, get snapped like celery
a life of sin and rap’s the penalty
it’s a life of pain and rap’s the remedy
BLX, Halifax, get Xed from memory.
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ROCK ON
Cascade on a track made for a mack
all-black fade, uptown Harlem
told the barber I was from L.A., posted up in BK, just off the A
but not just another clown chasing stardom
Malkovich, rap shit, beg your pardon
back to the wall, man, I’m going all out
sledgehammer hands, I’ll bring a wall down
each sentence relentless, recognize we meant this, no question
terrify cats like a hijack, cyanide cap in my tooth
I’m on that hundred-proof sunroof tip
Krush Groove to œBust A Move and I still can’t quit
Sun Tzu on that Art Of War kick, motherfucking carnivore in the art of raw shit
check one two, rap kung fu
gimme the right beat and gimme the right mood and I’ma make your whole crew look like fools
I don’t wear jewels, I spit jewels so be careful
err on the side of caution, cuz being all on my wrong side’s exhausting.
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OF THE FEW
The will of the few will become the future of a few million motherfuckers
who can’t capture the view I’m catching from my side of the room
gotta straighten up, get in tune
watch what I do, watch who I listen to
stick and move is the rule of the like youth
out the group home, straight up living proof
we talk hot and off go the alarm clocks
light bulbs, but they’re shining quite dull
seems a slight lull in your little plans, man
why don’t you sign up and work for Caltrans?
go join the circus, learn some handstands?
join a support program and hold hands?
gotta hand it to me now, Andy
as far as this rap shit, I’m handy
I see a girl looking lost like Bambi and I’m about to meet her, she’s a Libra
a hint of Selena, a touch of Serena, a pinch of Shakira, a dash of Aaliyah
and when she gets older she’ll be looking like Tina
some real sick shit yo some Stalseeker shit yo.
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FUCK WITH YOU
I put flows on a banger like clothes on a hanger
just a real live rapper throwing rhymes like linebackers
I am the ringmaster of this extravaganza, louder than a Stratocaster
so grab your cameras to catch the panorama
widescreen, data travels at high speeds as light beams to scramble scanners
hijacker, passengers chugging their Mylantas
from Iran to Sri Lanke then back to Casablanca
the plan to conquer land like Alexander
brute force, what you thought, this ain’t sweet home Alabama
I speak into alabaster and crack the plaster
wail on a brunette, leave ˜em blonde as Daryl Hannah
acrobatic antics, manic depressive sentences
spreading like an epic epidemic embedded within your head
I go from angry to happy, hostile to hospitable
docile to difficult, honorable to despicable
step and get Xed with not a drop of sweat wasted
Concentrated Entertainment’s where we laid this
and I ain’t obligated to say shit but I give it up
MOL, Wize, Om, Crag, Black Silver produc
this is our lifeblood, our personal Fight Club
BLX and the rhymer Tyler Durden here to flex
the next beat threats in this piece, so play peace, or get that ass wrecked.
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I LOVE YOUR WIFE
Sipping on a Coca-Cola, that’s when I scoped her
my M.O., I mosey over and say hola
my first thought, she’s on the payola
till I saw your daughter in a stroller, eating Crayolas
trying to fit a babyseat in a Corolla
hold her over my shoulder, ignoring the odor
she says you’re a software coder right? And tonight’s poker night
poker night
an hour later, drinking rum with some shit
in your casa, compliments on the plasma
got hotness topless and now she’s tripping
barely conscious, now she’s getting a conscience?
already in a Y-shape, so why hate?
going for the okey-doke I ain’t
she starts to gyrate then vibrate at a high rate
Jesus, I wish you could see this
but you might get irate, might take it bad when I tear out her back and wear her like a hat
ass like basketballs, and she work it like a casting call, almost woke your kid down the hall
tried to leave but she wouldn’t let go of me
I said œChill, you don’t know me, you’re just lonely
go back to your drunken husband. In the end sex means nothing. You know you love him
so ease up player, I did you a favor
and you know it, that’s why you don’t trip
so for now, rip up that pink slip
just don’t never forget I love your wife.
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HENCHMEN
Cuz when it gets drastic as this, nobody panics
it’s all passing glances, flying through the atmosphere as shit happens
slow-motion explosion, sociologists sit, trying to figure out gorilla politics
inhale, doing well, alpha male, go the bird’s eye view, parasail
shattered nails, picking up glass got my hands all bloody
so now everyone I dap up is family
show me love, my personality’s my salary, staying D double O
running with the hustlebone and look how much I’ve grown
from rolling shotgun, double-tone Datsuns
smoke in the steering column, doing the slalom
but I’ve never forgotten, the very last time I saw him
Big Yusef told me œyall gonna be a problem.
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LIKE A GLOVE
Goons stand up, hands up, get amped up
if your man’s drunk, stand your man up
if you’re in handcuffs stand up
come on yall, give it up for some damn nuts
Malkovich shit, Los Angeles shit
talking that and this but can’t hang with this shit
so simple, high-hats, cymbals
and shining high in the sky, the GBLX symbol
I dribble syllables, a serial skiller, top biller, Godzilla
prime minister of this shit here, another hit for the too legit
throw a fit, who you rollin with, this is it
no fear, we’re in control here, in this whole sphere, we got no fear
whether rolling on 20s, or rolling on empty, just recognize some real emcees.
Everyone say LA style (LA style) say LA style (LA style)
say NY city (NY city) and all of the above
we do it for the love, the shit fit like a glove.
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FULLTIMERS
Here we are, big bad W West Coast, and we came here to fuck with you Death Row to Project Blowed, SFO to Fresno to Mexico it’s BLX, set to blow like Texaco, flow Testaro, watch the engine go nothing less than BLXceptional, so when the bomb drops on the dancefloor, back up when the bomb drop on the back row, back up we study like doctors, train like boxers to be the number one mic rocker, rhyme opera running with a rapping schematic and everybody in the spot aware we’re here to do damage cuz I’m the man that’ll manage, my mindstate is manic the science is static, and the music is magic Crag Malkovich, fully automatic rap shit.__________________________________________________________________________
BOOM BAP
Moving in like Peyton with the penetration heads rotating like twenty-inch Daytons they say Malkovich, his style is so amazing them GBLX boys, they ain’t playing the escapist, I break out of steel cages all they saw was swinging doors and metal shavings I radiate wind, send planes in a tailspin got it raining limbs and people’s life savings lets separate mature from amateur raw from manicured, big scores from liquor stores yall Stans get a plan, I just got the call from MOLMan in Japan, our shit’s on program solid, hypnotic, yeah the kid got it so throw my new CD on and skip college rap’s a gamble and we’re the pit bosses so raise your gin tonics for the Gershwin Symphonic.
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THE RUCK
ring bell, inhale, the flag pops out the toy gun, it’s Merry Melodies
Roger’s quiet, with a name like a World War 1 figher pilot
Victorian wigs and extra-long cigs, at the bar taking big swigs
Porky Pig, looking like a side of ribs
thought bubble, if he starts trouble, double back
watch him double back in them huddled stacks of open mousetraps
four rooms, go ahead, name your tune
water in my ear since I was six years old
when I walk, I hear Romeo & Juliet by Peter Nero
soundtrack to the life of a down mack with about that much tolerance for the obvious
nice work, shook ‘em with the Burt Reynolds sideburns
squeezing outta automatic CD players, nobody dirty up a rug like me.
Back to work early, like 7:30
crazed look and some red jelly on my jersey
urgency emergency, nursery to gurney to surgery to eternity
thirty-three thirty-three thirty-free leaves one, and there gotta be a reason
ease up, blood vessels in my temples seized up
for a U.S. visa I’ll thumb-wrestle Jesus
caught ‘em with the three-second rule… freedom!
a Godzilla truck flying flying over speedbumps
yall cats dissing me did OK… C+
calm down, hold your microphone right, breathe some
you got a new CD? I’ll give you three bucks
off the deep end, this is how we spend our weekend
the three-men ESPN off the weed blend
attack like violent monkeys swinging from trees
Crag and the Vinyl Junkies.
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SHANKS
Blowing out the back, coat flapping like a cloak Trouble Man from Iran, bringing action in bulk hard-ass stance like I’m backing down the Hulk line ‘em between the eyes, smash ‘em down to pulp don’t sulk, be an adult Charles Schultz drawing these kids up like Peanuts or pre-nups sound hand with the fountain pen, beat’s like the shoulder lane, I weave out and in ask around, I’m the Bout It Man, if I say it’s gonna happen, don’t doubt it my outfit shrouded in shadows, sharpening arrows, jumping out manholes with that Rambo handflow spot like Hoboken, NJ on body day, one got away, it’s ok, you got a day posted up, working on my next million Malkovich shit, leave the chain on your chest jingling.
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SHOT ONE
Crag got the M.I.C., the M.I.C.
take out the I, it’s M.C. (and that’s me)
Call the ambulance, we got a dead man in a headband
Rambo, suspect seen careening south in a black Astro
hat low, stalking the outback, alien plateau
steel trees, lampposts, crazy bums, jackals
are we hit? damn close… no time to catch your breath
all hands on deck, we’re battleships, the Los Angeles map’s the grid
F1 left my car torched, C4 crippled the power source
aye aye captain, come on man.. hard to starboard.
This is the sound of my soul down in a hole, loud, kinda low
leaving my mouth as a flow, and that sound in the background is my fuse about to blow
count slow (4, 3, too late) blackout, thoughts erupting like water rushing
caught, stuck in the flooding up in my mind, hype rhymes
high time that you learned I never play the back burner, you got the wrong guy
Crag crack heads till they see tie-dye and shit worms
some hi-fi sci-fi fly shit, class of ’96
It’s the Incubus, incubated from eight minutes to age six in a frankly pathetic attempt to death this medical miracle
videotaped interviews from Stanford to Syracuse
professionals adjust their spectacles while Crag just sits amused
wanted like the Pikachu, only answers to women in the nude
and subsists on a strict diet of curry vindaloo
we bring the news, hot off the press, who rocks the best
there ain’t no need to proceed, we got it hemmed
now drop and give me ten.
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THE MILE HIGH CLUB
Nimble-tongue M.D., ruckus emcee hitting tracks like a ten-speed bumping through Belize Jet Li on a jetski, skip on the water kick off the wall, flip and land on a quarter JP ladies with the neon on, and the Hawaii dimepieces looking beyond bomb used to give me the frion arm, now I go get a drink and they say “don’t be gone long” but we long gone, on the next train, man mad turbulence but we all calm, maintain it’s a damn shame, cats letting me on songs, I just aim then blow ‘em out the frame (bang bang) ass out on tracks then pass out the wax, you get pat down for gats, we’re passed out in the back got it down pat, guess who’s wearing the clown hat back down cuz we’re back now, out the background, like that.
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FOUR DOPE BOYZ
Another tale to tell, I stay on the bail sipping grain on the train, I skate the rails blow smoke on a boat, I sail the swells came to make Gs, I am not taking Ls yall beaking nails, meanwhile Sum, Dex and DT on Peachtree, Adidased up, raising hell on some Run-DMC, or the Treacherous Three plus me in a Skeletons tee black high tops, I run rhymes like livestock it’s my life that I’m giving you man, it’s all that I got it’s my shot, so I go at it white hot morning shift through to night watch and why not grab your shinebox, put your back into it one time we all had to do it representing for the worldwide travelers, curbside anglers third rock, third world, Los Angeles.
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TOP RAMEN/JITTERBUGS
Working on the mixtape, late night
time to cut another track, it’s gotta be right
got a Black ‘n Mild in hand, freshly chiefed
anybody taking a hit, just be brief
Burnie got the funky beat, a stupid dope loop
but it got words on it (what we gonna do, troop?)
we gotta chop it up, digital mixer
tried the reverb, even the filter
but no matter what we do the voices won’t soften
fuck it… pass me some of that top ramen.
Hole in my throat, rock with two mics
Malk man go with the flow, it’s BLX
too hype for you beaucou types
this is a warning, scrawled in big red letters
caution when caught in the blade propellers
bounce to the sounds of the BLX click, bounce to the sounds of the next shit
we at the exit before breakfast, you in line at the entrance, stuck off my first sentence
word benching, hundred-ton arm-curl extensions
I down a cup of that power up, out the cut in a buttoned-down tux on some now what
hit the club with love, shared a bitter jug, did the jitterbug then I bit her in the jugs
that’s hilarious, word to Larry S., BassLine Xcursionists be the Cali-est
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SOMETHIN LIKE THAT
Back from Iran with a big ol’ gut and a Persian chick with a big ol’ butt
West LA’s in the house keeping shit legit like fat cats rocking moneyclips
so we slid on home so I could hit it
smiling all the way, knew she’d get the didick
but that’s all a part of showbiz.. homeboy, tell ‘em what your name is…
Crag, the time zone hopper, full off pasta, so come gimme my propers
raps I can throw ‘em back with the best one
no test run, who want it? come and get some
slow motion, how I remember it all
yes yes yall, high school halls, banging the walls
now I’m just going for mine
checked my tires, ate my Wheaties and got all of my lifelines
unlike a lotta suckers who claim they’re getting busy
knowing damn well they work for the city
you need to stop running off the mouth, sit your ass down
and figure out how to get your music out
it’s not difficult, in fact it’s kind of simple to get your name known without looking pitiful
you need to stay on your J.O.B., rhyme hard, keep your nose clean, and don’t fuck with me.
This is portable, something to clean out your ears
B. and Crag will appear when the coast is clear
to fuck it up like we always do and that’s the trick
saying some shit to make the ladies wanna have our kids
but it’s an everyday thing, communicating to yall with the LA slang
Pudge mic’ing shit lovely in the apartment and B. with beers fresh from the corner market
showtime, so keep the rhymes tight, you can drink all night, just no fucking up, aiiight
I got a brew in my hand with a hell of a grip, a grown man and you can’t tell me shit
bad chick in a black Denali with two friends, a perfect time to bring the show to an end
cuz if you’re a fly lady then I’ma hang with ya, and if you’re with your man then I’m ten bucks richer
Two B. and Malkovich emcee, BLX, Halifax and the VJC
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THREE GENTLEMEN & A LADY
Falling off the brink, note on the fridge “I flew the Pinto to hell and dinner’s thawing in the sink” gelatin monsters take over planet Earth front page update, right underneath the recipe for a broccoli souffle (touche) I stabbed the mad Frenchman and his henchmen left him yelling like Venkman on the seventh floor, yelling like he just saw Skeletor yelling like he slammed his hands in four foot metal doors I drop metaphors and females feel ‘em like menopause, life-changing quite strange and at the same time it’s lovely it’s like game but it ain’t game, it’s just me much steez so bust these, hit the club musty with a plus three, just me and my trustees.
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WHOSE BOODA
OK, without a doubt, the man known to turn it out I go from Hammertime to Millertime from a long line of smalltimers that grind till we caught fire real shit, we selling low, buy up. get ‘em hooked then bump the shit right up missed the call, was with babydoll, kinda tied up yin-yang off this rapping thing, one-man orchestra orchestrate the big bang, I’m on my shit man I crash a flow like Feds crashing through the window creep like thieves, tiptoeing slow black plimsoles like it’s Gitmo, Guantanamo we wanna git mo’ so we trot the globe Jack Kerouac, on the road for that pot of gold for a chance to advance I do the impossible Dr. No on tracks and it’s like that millennium emcees, the empire strikes back.
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SLIPPIN IN THE CAR
So where were you when Miles Davis made hits floating in my daddy’s balls, just waiting to be created straight missed ancient Rome, the Great Wall showed up along with payphones and a-bombs last month I was a toddler, rocking a Tonka Willy Wonka and breaking outta my walker four days later I was a fourth-grader wide-eyed, still bugging off of elevator rides on the 16th floor, and now I’m 16, trying to figure out what shit means and it seems this life thing is more than a one-night fling from 19 jumped five six years in an eyeblink mid-twenties and yeah the shit’s heavy time’s flying and it’s more than a little bit scary.
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FAILSAFE
This is failsafe, on some West Coast shit with a hella flow spit and an extra-pro click I lay waste to a paleface, catch me on the railways chilling like the sleeper seat 303, Cinema Paradiso boy from the old world sticks on his promise, vaunts modern economics foreign policies to become the next Hollis, Queens success story except the West bore me Travolta ponytails, get shorty, check shorty all in the sarong, she hella saucy approach genuine, like a gentleman, tell her in this time of life I’m a player, I’m leveling they call me Bugsy, I don’t respect money if you’re not from the heart, not a word you get from me rep lovely on the track, Sicksteens quarterback the millennium dream team, now who wanna rap…
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THE UGLY
Well it’s the bruiser, bully on the block, track abuser put me off lock, point me at a crowd and watch me move ‘em I flew in, superhuman, boosters in my shoes shooting off slugs the size of Cubans out mics cats scootching in car seats and peeling out, wheels screaming loud homeboys, we give ‘em pounds, fly girls we dick ‘em down, man don’t try to twist shit around, we been with it clown whipping through your town, drowning your surroundings in sound lounging behind enemy grounds dousing the spot in gasoline, flicking a match and bouncing my style is a cold mountain, an old house with owls in the attic and wolves in the yard howling I came up scrounging, kept my money in a brown tin pennies turned to hundreds, hundreds turned to thousands it’s either live kneeling or die standing so I live crouching, waiting for my time to pounce introducing my crowning achievement, my joint takes you through the whole spectrum, we’re oiling your joints lyric and business, this is the boiling point on some Luke Skywalker, I drink firewater and chase flying saucers get your mind altered, sly talker out the wine orchard, horrify straight ruck when I erupt, Molokai.
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STRANDED IN WEST LOS
People all applaud and swiping all awards, it’s ya man Malkovich and I brought catalog Black ‘n Mild, half weed half tobacco style, I blow Os, crack a No-Doz, sit back and smile at a plan gone perfect, ya man gon’ work it, I bust and yall hang on to every word spit rookies on the floor, yall don’t wanna go to war, we by the door, hoodied up, sharpening our swords black bags round my eyes, backpack on my back carry my life on shoulderstraps, no holding back stagedive off the planet, fuck Earth you can have it, shit’s much worse than we ever imagined beasts, we upsurge and burst through the granite beasts, we buck first then survey the damage the mission is religion, so sing if you with it ring finger across my heart, we married to this shit.
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IMPROMPTU
Saturday, Phillie Dutch, bumpin Wille Hutch
Richard Pryor died, what’s really up
words fail me so I use them carefully
clarity is a rarity, we only see what we care to see
and all I see is me – I’m one man G, self-centered and I should be
actually, it’s policy you gotta be when hanging in the Los City
and comedy’s just honesty so I get over with a buncha bearhugs and a couple cold shoulders
above all I love yall don’t forget it but, above yall I love all, that’s the lesson
kids get moved off the shit that I bring through it’s visual, you understand it, it’s visceral
speaking the language, sneak in the slang shit
rhymes rough enough to leave you leaking out a bandage
handprints in the sand, a bad wind
if John Lennon was still alive, imagine.
dreamers dream on, cuz we’re gonna be the first ones beyond
just keep your G strong
keep calm, this is just recon
relax your shoulders, soldier, breathe long
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THE MOVE UNIT
Sharpen my teeth on the side of the street lean over, leave bite marks in some white meat like peace I’m slightly out of your reach Ivy League psyche with a Ph.D in fly speech and you might queef at the sight of my fleet Sumkid, Big Pudge, Ali Baba, the elite the move unit, making mood music for your smoke sessions all day, 24-7, no question coyote, do my work all on my lonely a cold wind, I broke in the houses of the holy throwing Stoli bottles, moving on to the gin it’s like Ho Chi Minh, all hoes and heroin a block away I spot my prey and zero in just settle in boy, and take your medicine this is severance pay, your day of reckoning so call your relatives and inform your next of kin.
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NICARAWGUA
The dark prince, throwing sharp hints in a nard’s rib your face screw up, looking Quaalude up hot coffee, you can take two lumps big gaps in my raps, rhyming like I gave two fucks Crag Malkovich make you change crews up not to be on no empty rap rhetoric but we know emcees and they be mad delicate take a seat bro, don’t be no hero stay tuned, cuz we’re about to have a breakthrough I fly like the H2, oh, you ain’t know? If you say so, get out the way though no time to waste, throw a fist up for Kaydoe sixteen-bar all-star, trademark to Omni rolling palm trees, vibing off that Don Conti Gandhi car keys, Milx takes the sill cake Malky mixtape infiltrate your milkcrate
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THE FINISH LINE
With a hardcore mic rock I bust the hip-hop big Crag Malkovich got shit locked Hithcock with a rhyme, kickboxer, spit lava graduated school of hard knocks with honors Inshallah, the job came dangerous we move like park rangers on mile-high blazes playing with razors, I bite down when the pain hits a pinch then one sly eyebrow raises sneaker sole on the cold concrete, I’m running for the gold, live nerve on my shoulder understand, I ain’t better I’m just bolder we stand up, visual, we beat the rap like criminals and when cats show love, we act reciprocal Malk managerial, we work miracles in a six-by-two, working on a room with a view.___________________________________________________________________________________
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OLD SOUL
Burst out on the scene about four in the morning
heard voices calling and started crawling towards them
baby boy James, eight pounds, eight ounces
another pea in a plastic pod surrounded by thousands
destined for something, and all would hope greatness
but by the grace of whoever’s in charge we’re all fated
some don’t make it, some get swallowed by self-hatred
and the chosen few remaining shoulder the weight of a nation
it’s a new day, as you laid on a hospital tray
DJ Kool Herc rocked the PJs with beatbreaks and PAs
three quarters of the world is water, a girl is known as a daughter
being a boy you’re a son, so that’s what we’re gonna call you
but no more time to explain where you are or why you came
the movement’s in effect, get in step, this is how you play the game
carry yourself correct, always show respect
don’t neglect the ones you love and live life with no regrets
when I came into the light there were a bunch of people grabbing me, they called themselves my family
it was taken for granted these were folks who would catch a bullet to see me protected
and on the same token the same of me would be expected
and that respect’s extended to anyone in my friendship
unless it’s senseless, moms said “use your head, kid
we got a lot invested in you, don’t forget this
single parent, three dependents, this is my life sentence”
if only one message of mine becomes embedded, let it be
that life itself is the most precious of all possessions
see, I owe my successes to these jewels I was blessed with
she put it in me, I really can’t take the credit
I just venture on adventures with my bag of tricks
throw ‘em all against the wall, and see what sticks
this is for the old souls, the solo is all we know souls
a world of faces but we’re still lone souls
the people in our lives soon to be gone
and the people who ain’t here yet, but won’t be long
Things keep changing and I rearrange with ‘em.
I leapt and caught a thought and let it transport me abroad
humid Tunisian nights, white tunic clinging to the sweat in my pores
cheap whisky and witty whimsy with a native missy
playing soft-spoken till the room fills with smoke and I cough, choking
woke up in flames, took a breath as if expecting this
but now deep down, somehow feeling doubt I never did
I roamed the realm in fits, saw my reflection through the mist
and there I was, a little kid again, innocence in the flesh
and it’s picturesque what I pictured for myself
just a white picket fence, a couple pictures on a shelf
but now my life is something else and nothing seems secure
things that seemed so clear before just aren’t as clear anymore
but in sickness and health, I take a dive and stay alive
ain’t no talk of suicide, it’s do or die, truth or lie
till a ray of light, undetected by the naked eye
shines through the sky, taking me back through space and time
and I could have played it safe, yeah, some moves were made in haste
but I strayed away, and nothing we say can change a thing
even if I had a chance to, I wouldn’t trade my place
cuz mad fools been laid to waste before getting to state their case
so I kiss the floor when I wake up in the morning
looking at my watch and it’s about four again.
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SINKORSWIM
A faceless man stands staggered
paintbrush in one hand, pallette in other
splattering every culture – I mean color!
on a canvas, haphanded
strikes unplanned, satellite unmanned
paint contacts, expands and drips slow
like raindrops on windows but the scenery’s on top as well as below
tremble tremolo, two-treble-o, deuce deuces bellowing over open archipelagoes
and the record goes
Everything around me keeps going down and down
but this ball of dirt keeps spinning round and round.
Eight billion individuals
sleeping and eating and living and dreaming and killing and stealing
civilians, criminals, constants, variables
morals, dismissing rules, normal, shit to lose
barbarians, infidels, battalions, terrorist cells
Isaac, Ishmael, crisis, morning bell
kills, casualties, mobs, families
bomb ‘em till there’s no more problem then build gradually
over bodies of soldiers, property holders, peasants, presidents
believed in God but life is not what He told us
so people lay bedridden and wonder if the world is moving or their heads just spinning
and in the interim, business is imminent
militants kill innocents, citizens hunt immigrants
the bigoted birth the ignorant
cuz hungry babies make quiet little kids, confused adolescents and full-grown killers
in a cycle of idle principles, mindless rituals
a rhymebook of listless riddles and still we keep scribbling
higher and lower and over and under and cover to cover
and only to discover
Everything around me keeps going down and down
but this ball of dirt keeps spinning round and round.
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TRIPPIN
Sagging rear bumper and a frost exhaust
AM radio and Maceo’s playing 54th
2002 and we’re still paying dues
perfected the neck-sleep technique, on the snooze
while my man Jay holds down the cruise control
broken glass and ice, last night was rock and roll
Wisconsin prom king screaming Rodney King
wanna-be SWAT team gassing cats, happy Halloween
Americana, same shit wherever I wonder
Some spots are colder, and some mo’ hotter
DEA field day, can’t find no marijuana
got the potheads all wet under the collar
but regardless, that got nothing to do with my product
the shit sell itself, I ain’t gotta do nada
just make sure it’s solid and polished and people can cop it
and that’s tax-free profit from their pockets to my wallet
yall know what I’m saying, yall doing the same thing
build your own circle and it all stays internal
biters out the woodwork can’t bust our sphere
rubbing my hands, yall doing good work out here
running the track alone’s a mad-ass load, why get your back broke
scratch our backs here, we’ll do the same back home
we can take this shit over like Tic Tac Toe
and on that note I’m out man, gotta hit that road.
Throw your hands in the air and keep ‘em moving
I don’t know where I’m going but I know what I’m doing.
NYC – whole different ball game
people on the stoop, people in the hallway
hard rocks on the block, bums on the subway
everyone a hustler, man fuck your small change
only big bills gon’ buy that North Face
then there’s restitution, court case, yall know the drill
cats in a short space all chasing the same nickel
so it’s straight overkill, fishhead, bloated gills
just breathing in Brooklyn’s like you’re liable to trip a hair trigger
mothers crying clear rivers, I kneel down
wash my face in the basin, and take inspiration
we can make it happen, it’s all a question of pacing
so every day we sway the BK, streets to PJs
C train to the L.E.S. to meet the VJs
real talking, you want it or you keep walking
then my mind spits a vision of home
I tell myself I got this far alone, might as well keep going
Fast-forward, New Orleans, four in the morning, rain storming
French Quarter orphans tapdancing for fresh quarters
Gothic chicks snort, snicker and then hit the liquor
Mississippi riverbank, sucking off her dealer
listen close on a calm evening and hear the ghosts breathing
faint gunshots and people in the hood screaming
then I wake up in a cold sweat, though it’s humid
like things are moving so fluid I’m addicted to it
my man sits me down and says don’t worry yourself
cuz having me here is like being yourself
next stop ATL, steady on the bail
coach class, toe back, enjoying myself.
Throw your hands in the air and keep ‘em moving
I don’t know where I’m going but I know what I’m doing.
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TRAIN
Loping pallbearers, open caskets, this is life stripped down to the chassis
we deal with all that was, all that is
Bourbon Street heat, stormy night on the bayou
“Typhoon weather” the man remarks as the lighter sparks
sipping Maker’s Mark as the train departs, my window’s a slideshow
I see trailer parks, babies playing in the dark
eyes like glowflies, swaying through the marsh
the old man takes two, coughs and looks off in the distance
like he lost something out there and looking’ll make a difference
people catching each other’s stares and flinching
a boxcar of childless fathers, fatherless children skittering through the wilderness
the train creeps the tracks like a heartbeat, making it hard to sleep
the engine shrieks Neanderthal animals through the blue black
I sit watching the admiral come unglued
not sure when he was born, been through every war
fought with the Spanish Armada, did Pearl Harbor, Desert Storm
sailed galleons, commandeered battalions, fought valiant
and now he just sits there stammering
everyone laughs inside but he’s just dealing
ain’t no such thing as crazy, he’s just dealing
this man here ain’t crazy, he’s just dealing
went to sleep on his bad side and lost all feeling
ain’t no such thing as crazy, we just dealing
a crowd of people face to face, just sitting
on their way to their rented apartments for more sitting
waiting rooms where they sit and wait to stop breathing
and neighbors are strangers, you just hear ‘em through the ceiling
the occasional muffled sound, the television
and it gets so lonely sometimes you wanna scream
then the old lady sitting next to me starts speaking
never loved a soul, didn’t know the feeling
was a dead woman’s sister, a family man’s mistress
never loved her mother, her father, her own children
and all you hear is…
talks to herself cuz nobody else will listen
spotted her in the street and they put her on medicine.
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SKELETONS
Smoke everywhere, man, smoke’s all I see
smoke darkening the world, smoke darkening me
fire burning, the lame get burnt to remains
fire burning, those who remain dance in the flames
men come to douse the blaze, just flesh and skin
one blast, all you saw was the skeletons
metal, tin, flesh and skin, life is everything
beginning, the ending, it’s life and it’s everything.
A leap of faith in deep space, freeze frame
2004 A.D., a strange beast in a weird place awake 20,000 years late
shooting stars scrape scars on a night sky, bleeding rain on us
walking red-spotted like we’re in hospital garments
it’s pitch-dark in the tarpit, we bark in clipped parlance, begging your pardon, sergeant
all I see is Martians and crooked arches
flying carpets chasing iron starships
passage six, man can see things that don’t exist
but can’t comprehend a time before this, and so it is
on the escape, cuz nothing is a mistake.
It’s ebb and it’s flow, it’s the head, it’s the toes
it’s yes and it’s no, it’s friend and it’s foe
it’s my arms and my legs, it’s my heart and my head
it’s the start and the end, the darkness around the bend
it’s the land and trees, and the sand and the sea
it’s the hand on the key, it’s the man you can’t see
it’s love and it’s hate, and it’s bumps and it’s scrapes
and it’s running a race with one foot in the grave
sperm, dirt, muscle, earth, flesh, mesh, faith, fate
create, erase, replace, change shape, same weight
light steals water, water rusts metal
kill a man and his body leaves a bed of rose petals
animal, machine, planet, bone, steel, cold, steel
veins, wires, fertilizer, eat your whole meal
hear with these ears, step with these legs
I breathe the night air and I’m aware something’s up there
I’m man, programmed with invisible hands
mastered the codes of math and mind, still a pawn in the plan
getting tired now and these legs are like toothpicks
spark dying out but I keep moving
injured I heal, threatened I run, cornered I fight
tired I rest, threaten my kids, I’m coming for your head
and when it’s time to die I lie down and go to sleep
cuz the Earth gotta eat.
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EVENTUALLY
I walk through life with my heart on my sleeve
but yall women just rip it apart then leave
don’t let ‘em tell you different, the shit is a game
her loss but my bad, I didn’t know we were playing
don’t ask why when you see the censored me
instead of the James that remains in your memory
he’s no longer like that and never will be
cuz honesty always gets me fucked up eventually.
Mon cheri, when I see you I hear Stevie
wonderful feelings erupt and seize me
I’m trying my best to control ‘em, believe me
they came on so speedy it’s almost creepy
back when I was young I talked to women deeply
where you see yourself at 60? what you wanna be?
then around 16 the conversation turned sexual
since then, been thinking with the head on my genitals
but here we are, ma, wishing upon a star
delving into ourselves, coming out with something raw
and I reach so far, now it’s a matter of the heart
I kissed your stretchmarks, let you caress my scars
now the focus switch from sexual to chemical attraction, passion, something everlasting
feelings that I had tucked away for so long
feelings that I thought were just about dead and gone
if you’re feeling the same way, you ain’t letting on
but then actions speak louder, no card, no flowers
but my phone stays ringing… still, I’m a doubter
at least once an hour’s like I’m thinking about you
instinct in this predicament’s to let you in
but conditioning in feminine ways tells me different
a woman is a devilish maze and I’m an instrument
made to be played, so I watch what I say
don’t give up too much, gotta walk that fine line between the loving touch and not giving too strong a sign
cuz yall ladies been fucked, wined, dined and left behind
screwed over blind until it’s like you lost yall minds
and I’m sure I’ve been that punk more than once, fine
but with you I’m sincere, because you’re one of a kind
but lines like that probably come a dozen a dime
and after all, who knows, you might be duping me
so I keep my feelings tucked like a nine, but keeping them concealed is a crime so I’m calling time
can’t name the occasions I came in, guns blazing
trying to speed it up when I should have been patient
point taken, now I know to go slow but practicing what I preach is a different situation
but I’m gonna try… but I shouldn’t have to try… but I… I guess what I’m saying is
I walk through life with my heart on my sleeve
but yall women just rip it apart then leave
don’t let ‘em tell you different, the shit is a game
her loss but my bad, I didn’t know we were playing
don’t ask why when you see me blowing in the breeze
the head games’ll never get the better of me
I’ve always been like that and always will be
cuz honesty will bring me my love eventually.
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TO B. OR NOT TO B.
Nighttime’s when I see the memories best
I hear them all the time, night’s when they manifest
I lay in bed as they invade my head
so real I can almost feel your flesh
our lips locked as our fingers meshed
I kissed your breasts like they were the last food on Earth left
I stayed up while you slept to listen to your breath
then I heard the sound of drums coming from my chest
no rest, awake till daybreak, tongues exploring, tongues done talking
mind is running, knowing that we’ve walked into something awesome, shunning caution
aflame, amazed by the things that take place
a present from heaven in a Venus-shaped case
come to grace this lonely man’s lowly space
too much to take so I just gaze at your face as we lay waist to waist
and you don’t budge, you look straight back at me with eyes filled with love
our lips touch like wet paintbrushes
we kiss and hug and lick and suck and paint each other the same color
candlelit, feeling like I’m dreaming, intertwined shadows creeping the ceiling
we hold tight, you and me come, two become one as the moon becomes sun
and after the rapture dies down, just like before we ever lied down
I smile cuz I feel like I’ve found my soulmate, somebody that’s mine now
to share the sights and sounds with which life surrounds
you make everything feel like the first time, you make me so happy it hurts to smile
feels like we’ve known each other forever, so at ease
I missed twenty years, one look put me up to speed
and when we connect for that short time, everything against us floats out of sight, out of mind.
Funny how me and you always equals deja vu
more sleepless nights but this time no table for two
and in the place you once laid your head next to me
now lays the ghost that you left when you left
it caresses me then off I doze into the cosmos, I’m on top, it’s below
biting my collarbone and moaning, then I’m woken by a phone that’s not ringing
a brain that won’t stop thinking, a clock that won’t stop ticking, waterdrops that won’t stop dripping
life wouldn’t have been better if I never met you, the pain was worth it for the pleasure
but now I’m left to wonder whether we’ll ever be together
am I just a dumb motherfucker for getting in the center of a man, woman and child situation
so we weren’t in relations, is there a place in that equation for me?
am I the third leg awaiting amputation? Maybe
but you made me feel like I had a stake and James needs no explanation
I came too late and just early enough to get my heart taken
of course I understand the other man has the upper hand
he was your pat, chance flung him back like a rubber band
I guess we both knew I’d have to go soon
it just felt so good, we held on as long as we could
and pray for a miracle, instead the unthinkable, rendering everything else miniscule
sure, we had a bond, but yall bond was umbilical
so I give you room, cuz I know how difficult it must have been to lose
and the only thing simple about this whole issue is the fact I miss you.
Some people come in your life for a reason
have a little fun, make a point then leave
and some people come and stick around for a season
fade out before they go and get too deep in
and then one person hangs on for the whole ride
the lows, the highs, the ride of a lifetime
I watch you stumble through the dark alone
in the aftermath of the blast, trying to grasp for a hold
and it’s been a long road, twisted and cold
you were 19 feeling like 90 years old
but I want you to know that you’ve touched my soul
something stronger than steel, more precious than gold
it was true romance, crappy circumstance, still you walked with me, still you gave me a chance
and for that I’m forever grateful, forever faithful, forever happy’s what I’ll make you
but alas, no dice I guess, oh well, I tried my best, that’s life I guess
a whole bunch of decisions you thought you’d never have to deal with
leading to a grip of positions you hoped you’d never be in
and I know at times it’s all seemingly meaningless
but remember everything happens for a reason
just never forget the feeling we give each other
and I’ll see you someday, one way or another.
The same love that set me free is the same love that won’t let me be
to B. or not to B…. I guess we’ll see.
___________________________________________________________________________________
EVERYTHING’S PERFECT
Beats like this remind me of ’96
school days, when dookie braids were looking good on some chicks
especially the girl next to me in my only yearbook flick, on picture day I ditched
I was that rapping kid, always on the roam alone, bailing with his headphone on
relatively well-known but kinda on his own zone
just sitting round like I had it all figured out
just counting down the days till I could bounce
of course that was back when the homey was anybody who knows me
we didn’t know love so we didn’t know lonely
my skin was too thin for anyone to get under
a tin man, blundering through an urban Wonderland
see there’s certain things you just gotta roll your sleeves and discover firsthand to truly understand
and some more than others, so it seems
so while I smoked weed and roamed the streets many of us ended up in some sobering scenes
waiting rooms with a baby due, operating rooms, masked ladies draining .380 wounds
interrogation rooms, looking at a case or two, cuz either end of a .380′s the wrong end to be facing
looking for the palace, still no sign of Alice
and my hands are catching callouses handling all this baggage I gathered in transit
and I don’t mean the ones on my eyes, so since you’re asking
I don’t talk to that girl I was with, and yeah, it hurts like a bitch
and certain people ain’t my homeys no more, and it stinks
don’t cut your toes off to fit someone else’s shoes, but sometimes all our nails need clipping.
Remember how we used to say our time would come someday?
I guess that day ain’t today, we’re still on the runway
and remember how we used to say we’d make it together?
I guess along the way some ties got severed but whatever
everything’s perfect… everything’s perfect.
it’s all about how you work it
and for better or worse, it was all worth it.
___________________________________________________________________________________
HOMECOMING
Left my house keys somewhere on the map, slipped in the back
bags still packed, where everybody at?
Zig-Zags and a big bag of shwag, I got the Popov and it’s about to pop off
on the porch, long shorts, loving the sun, got the boombox bumping that bump
got me thinking on them days when we were just running to run
searching for something, and now something’s begun
and to you, to the crew, what’s new on the view
we connect like two and two, my peoples through and through
I got stories, I got souvenirs, and man yall ain’t been through in years
looking at you is just like looking through a mirror
fat hats and slacks, I could never take that back
to the life we chose, the life that chose us
no regrets, no ifs, ands, and no buts
Yeah yeah make a joyous noise like this, give it up for some real life shit
to the couch kids with sofabed dreams, dirty jeans and still living over their means
and it seems money ain’t in our genes, so we steam through throwaway schemes
with a gleam like you don’t know what they seen
nothing happened but adaption, good or bad, action, it’s gotta happen
and I got something in me and it’s gotta get out
so either you’re running with me or you gotta step out
sometimes I can sit and smoke and drink and drown it out
but tonight the voice is shouting and I can’t turn it down
if I hurt you in the process I’m apologizing now
this ain’t shit I talk about out loud.
No one to blame, how can I complain
just jumped off the train and home looks the same
eses and runaways at the station, and seen one cat I recognized from graduation
and everywhere I go it’s the same conversation
“how you been, how you doing, what’s the latest”
“same shit as always, trying to make it”
but this year I’m still here and it appears you’re here again
seen my boy behind the counter on some eight bucks an hour
forty of every week for a small pile of powder
seen my other dog, still on that heron, mad holes in his arms, smiling like nothing’s wrong
at the pad, staring at high ceilings and pipe dreaming
trying to find reasons why we’re in these tight squeezes
some blame it on friends, some blame it on no ends
and some stand up on their feet and start hustling for theirs
named all the streets eyes closed on my ride home
same spots I stayed posted at since eighth grade
different kids, same lost look on they face (disappear)
and all them girls who you knew would have kids had kids
and everybody who you thought would do a bid did
and everything I say or do is like deja vu
man I’ve done it all before, everything at this stage, I’ve run it through the floor
then I think about that kid who got killed in number four
I think about Daoud and how his own pops popped him
or Rafi, ending his problems with a shotgun
so nowadays when somebody asks me how’s things
I say more of the same, man, can’t complain
to the life we chose, the life that chose us
it’s all good man, knock on wood.
___________________________________________________________________________________
EMPTY
Hazy days, shady lanes, slight gains, major pains
major pains, migraines, name of the game, you pay to play
Sail away, take a night train, a flight on a plane
watch life change, yet remain quite the same, it’s kinda strange
what can I say except what I’m saying, and what I’m saying is why am I saying this
why am I saying anything
far be it from me to think thoughts through thoroughly
Ronald Reagan and Rosemary’s ADD baby
watched Pogo the Clown till I found out he was John Wayne Gacy
loved John Wayne till I found out John Wayne hated me
guess you thought after that I’d have gone insane, crazy
but instead I got taste for complicated ladies
and it’s all related, says the therapist, sent in to help her deal with the rapist
and the rapist is any man cuz we’re all dangerous
it could have been a reverend, it could have been a relative
well, everything’s relative
just avoid relationships, stay celibate, take these sedatives to forget what a mess this is
she walked in looking down but walked out looking up
the hell with it, I’m interested in an expert’s consensus
so I step in, and attempt to craft my conflicting messages into something resembling relevant sentences
I say “Nothing is definite, the uncertainty’s deafening, life’s a projector with no projectionist, left to spin”
she sighes and replies “It’s all about perspective. You’re delicate, sensitive, why are you such a pessimist?
You’re so negative” I say “hell yeah I’m negative, I’m HIV negative and still scared as shit
So what do you think? Maybe passive-aggressive or just manic-depressive or just anal retentive?”
she said “You got some personal issues to make amends with. This is added incentive”
and I said “aahhh forget it.”
I smell something rotten in the bottom of the garden
something sodden, something downtrodden, lost and forgotten
and nobody’s acknowledging just how bad it’s gotten
we just keep a lid on it till the cogs in our brains start popping
something in the air spreading like pollen
I inhale the oxygen intoxicant and start coughing like…
hard times bring out the dark side
part silence, part “why”s that spark fires in my…
hot flashes, time stops, crashs, into fragments
of anger and anguish, realizing we don’t understand shit about a damn thing on this planet
we just adlib, frantic, try our best not to panic, and when it’s all over then we assess the damage
and it’s nothing else than a classic reaction to rejection
a period spent acting as if we’re not affected followed by a hollow kind of feeling like a bottle minus liquid
and mine was filled with spirits but now there’s nothing in it
and what’s the fucking difference, the world’ll keep on spinning
(here we go) another scenario in this deadly merry-go-round to which we’re indefinitely bound
we carry every petty doubt and memory around in this fleshy old crown from belly to burial ground
rendered in stereo sound, but can’t we put some where they can never be found
cuz frankly they’re getting me down
heavy and empty and running out of energy so gently but steadily the gauge on my left drifts from F to E
ecstacy, dependency, what a tangled, mangled web we weave.
___________________________________________________________________________________
IN THE DARK
Heads to the sky, semper fi, always simplify, Malky enterprise powderskin, forty moons under paraffin went madder than Malkovich, but I think I mastered it too much coffee in my saccharin zombies in the building lobby, they’re after me a flash of diamonds, the light’s so blinding four suits in sunglasses and moustaches kidnap me in the excitement slicing throats with Tyson’s boxing license Vegas neon in the rearview, fuzzy dice swinging Gladys Knight singing and I’m catching a slight feeling spidersense tingling like Venom’s round the next building 16 deep dishes aimed at Venus and all we’re picking up is zeroes and ones and digital dust thought we caught a Jesus frequency in ’63 turned out to be four stranded astronauts breathing deeply on CB we know about your little disappearing act a few Decembers back when the whole city went black thought it could have been electricity till nine fingers popped up in somebody’s Christmas tree, and you’re rocking a lone pinky hmmm kinda fishy… and with that he cuts the craps, fumbles in the dash, slides forward in his seat and pulls out a long needle, syringe to my cerebral I cringe and accept it as my face steels he says “tell us what you know or you go down” “I can’t help it, it’s genetics!” “You wanna take the long route?” he leans in, needletip piercing my skin I cursed God then a cold wind sends us in a spin flipping seven times, blood and twisted Michelin four crash victims, face all in the ignition slipped into the night… guess the old man wasn’t listening.___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
I GOT
Pull back the cobwebs as I set it off with the offstep, onstep
Crag bring it on from the onset
captain’s log, depth: fucking deep
several hundred leagues undersea
in my submarine, moving bomb threat
God bless this verbal godsend in your box deck
I was found in Roswell, like Chest, I Rockwell
a hot male, I get around like Hotmail
I make it hot as hell, heat flashes and hot spells
my process: concept “ content – context “ progress “ props, checks, no contest
I bomb many spots daily in the name of conquest
who wan test? Catch a hog’s head in your mom’s bed
cat with the long neck sipping on a longneck
gripping the mic object cuz we on next
peons best be on your best
we above and beyond the best bring on the rest
Cuz I got rhymes, I got flows, I got styles, I got skills
I got a microphone with unlimited minutes
a headpiece with infinite lyrics
now here I come down the block (can you feel me)
here I come ready to rock (can you feel me)
here I come, ready or not
dropping lines on wax, rhymes on tracks
styles that straighten out naps, put curls in flats
burns on your girl’s kneecaps, she heard me rap
and that shit was kinda like an aphrodisiac
it’s just another day in the life
just one of the many ways I get nice
fools trying to fake ill, they still paying the price
painkillers for dinner and chasing them Northern Lights
an episode of my life with this perpetual metronome in my head that goes
flesh and bone plus a megaphone, you hear that?
that’s the sound of me taking it back and I can, cuz uh
