Yo I aint no hard hustling muscle man loving the curb
The only time I use a bullet is in Microsoft Word
Slick talk, you can say I got grease in my speech
Be rhyming with a fried chicken piece in my teeth
But now Im more self sufficient
The food in my shelves and kitchen give myself
nutrition to help with my health conditions
And while Ive never been too stable cerebrally radio
frequency rappers still aint able to equal me
Plus I link with them, cause the fatter the beats,
words battering peeps when Im scattering speech
Like jabs to cheeks, shattering teeth, drop the dagger
in deep, rattling jeeps with base levels no ladder can
reach (nice)
Shad be that freak with that five mic classic
Still rapping on his street selling tapes out his
jacket
No lights and action the places I bust a flow
The only rap videos I make are instructional
Trust the full power my verse packs
They closed the kitchen I worked at when they heard how
I served cats
(so are you wild?)
Like girls gone with Mardi Gras pearls on
Again and again, Im here to prove the world wrong
The real deal, Im just trying to keep my wheel still
Im worth fighting in a box office like Kill Bill
Chill live freestyling the jam
Crowds flip cause my rhyme is wilder than Vans
And my DJs nice on those tables like coasters
We trying see all the hunnies waving our posters
But yo they dont dig it I aint trying to be hyped out
With a mic Im cold lighting the Brian McKnight, rapping
is done
Forget the purple rex Im singing backing one in purple
mecks, turtle necks and khakis son
No shame, burst your brains with propane
Its just shad not add-ons or coat names
Like cocaine money lines, my new rhymes are dope
I do the thing wild like my name was Tom Mope
More wild were than the west with Kool Mol Dee
You know G bringing the sickest drama since the OC
In a crazy world, meaning Im sane
And a break from all the nonsense theyre feeding your
brain,
While theres Nas and Gen (?) at halftime when this cat
signs,
I own a master like tiger and get green like a back
nine
And I dont make the cash mine and thats fine
Id rather live with these up and downs than flat lines
Still my jam rock the body like kidney stones
When I pass through, I got more soul/sole than Shaq
shoe
I be receiving more paper than a fax do
For inspiration I draw on people like a tattoo
Art is regardless of the hardships we face, the world
aint so cold when your heart is embraced
So brace to the home where Im resting, peace is a dead
skin on my couch speaking with brethren
And spitting punch lines with that stupid smile
That got your crew saying hi like juvenile
If Im on your radio then dont you move the dial,
Just snap your neck to the music like you knew it was
What happens when the walls drop
The lies and the disguises and the small talk
That cover up the pain and the shame and the bald spots
We're runaway trains what happens when it all stops
Artists drop gems that ring false rocks
We shouldve got those calls blacked like Alstott
We're feedin our mind from the tree in Eden
Lately I've been reading what paul taught - freedom
That's what we all want...
(Relic The Oddity)
I wanna be on a level of skill
That's gold medal
But still I'm unsettled like
Clogs man - those are some hard shoes to fill
Especially when the pressure on and the lights is off
Me and my wife's just tryin to pay bills
And keep my son occupied
And keep the stocking filled when the holidays arrive
I try to be a good provider
Successful on the spiritual side but made a mess
When it came to my debts
Now let's take a lesson from it
I stand on the summit of sums that reflect
The lesser things that I've wanted in life
I don't want to be haunted by my decisions
I'll admit balancing wants and needs comes with a price
And I'm paying it twice
First with the cards, second with the interest
It ain't that nice
I've been blessed so I guess I know what's right
What I really want is peace from God and insight
It's what we all want, right?
Yo it's hard to be,
Man it's hard to just be
Especially with this artistry it's hard to be
Black and not be a hard emcee or r&b;
And that's cool if that's you but
What if all you are is me?
Man start the beat cause all my heart can see
Is a dark and bleak
Night sky painted on my mind so I spark this speech
Like stars to bleed light when it's hard to see
More than guitars and being down with a label that can
Market me I've scarred my knees
Praying hard for peace of mind and a heart that's free...
I live at home still
Not paying phone bills
Hydro or rent
And my mom makes most meals
So it's so I'll
I don't need no scrill
Only cash for gas
When I borrow my folks' wheels
(But you can't drive)
Whatever our van died
(Get a good bike)
Who I look like, that lance guy?
I ain't pushin no banana seat
Lookin like some 8-year old kid on your grandma's street
You can go ahead and call me lazy
I just retired real young ya'll, call me jay-z
Or maybe I just hate these crappy jobs
Call my crazy, but I refuse to work em man
It's miserable
Can't do it 'less it's due to circumstance
And I need the cash to feed my astronomical appetite
But for the time being ya'll, I'll sacrifice
And have a life minus a couple of luxuries
Just cutting by budget schemes
And getting some stuff for free
Like whys a brother need a dentist?
It's expensive and my gums'll bleed
They do everytime when he scrubs em clean
And every year they try to bump the fee
Plus he'll prolly recommend braces - there you go
That's another G!
Well thanks a lot doc but listen
I can brush my teeth all on my own
So you ain't gon hustle me!
So that takes care of the dental plan
Now heres a potential scam
Getting my toes crushed by a rental van
Then if I
Sued the driver and the rental guys
Enterprise or whatever
I bet they would settled niiice
Court adjourned, now I just gotta pay
For the law forms
That's easy - spend 2 weeks eatin popcorn
Like students 'cept I'm grown and it's not dorms
So it's a bit more pathetic - ok a lot more...
But what ya'll gotta mock for (mach 4)?
What's wrong with my mach 3?
Ya'll gotta be macho and mach more
Well not me and I do not need to change blades
It's all my own hair I shave
Chin back face legs
And the rashes rarely last more than 8 days
Usually so it's cool with me - I can save great
And hygene ain't no reason to buy things
Like soap or visine or getting clothes dry cleaned
I don't throw away dough on no facials
Yeah I make rolls of my pennies
I even pay folks
In clubs out this case full of pesos I lug
Get em exchanged? Nope, I'm waiting til the rate's low
Don't hate yo
Just cause ya'll wasteful
Ya'll wanna make your bruh the scapegoat
It's bugged...
It's all nuance
Use your head - why get a bed and couch
When you can slouch on a futon instead
If you got a little bread like croutons
Download them new songs and spread them coupons
If you happy when you save 2 dollars a week
You steal your neighbors empty bottles
And keep all your receipts and only treat your girl
Yearly to McDonalds to eat
Don't be ashamed, pop your collars mang - holler at me!
If ya'll are this cheap
This is for acknowledging peeps
That gotta track every dime usin columns and sheets
If you strip search the mall for the bargain to beat
Like everyday you're just a penny safe from starved in the street
Keep carvin a niche
I'm started in a jar for the wee
Little shaddies still to come for their college degree
Yo I figure starting early on the market is key
I plan on havin smart daughters all Harvard md
And regardless we gon never put a car on the streets
'less them gas prices lower and the parking is free
And no parka for me
Not even gloves scarves or a fleece
Now the first kid in the crew is called imagination,
The team would have him stationed first to work on the
aspirations.
But with him it’s all about having patience.
There’s no exact science to his magic making.
But imagination’s still the world’s finest engineer,
Who invents by merely paying no attention to his peers.
Tends to veer from convention and has a pension for
beers
Brewed from sunsets he says he drinks until his senses
clear.
He’s Einstein brilliant, with skills to design building
spines,
No mind is equal, so he spends his time with children
on site.
He draws the blueprints to set the plan in motion,
So you know he always takes his time to create designs.
Imagination works without tools or drills,
He’s not trained, and never went to school for skills.
Still, nothing starts ‘til he hits the site,
He often brings his sketches to the foreman in the
middle of the night,
Then he heads home ‘til the next project starts,
Leaving the boss to put together all the parts.
A foreman’s a born leader with a strong eye for detail,
To some it’s surprising that the boss is a fe-male,
But more remarkable is how she starts to go once the
plans are drawn,
Assembling the squad and supplies so the job doesn’t
die on paper.
Whether it’s a song soliloquy or strong skyscraper,
Her name is intellect, but her friends call her mental
just for short, and for jokes,
And though she knows all the credentials, most
incredible of all of her traits is,
Is as small as a shape is, she’s as strong as an ape
She even does most of the work all on her own,
Carrying bricks and stones, but it’s tricks don’t check
She supplies physics if the load is heavy,
And she always goes slow and steady until she knows
it’s ready.
See, intellect is mathematic, professional,
And perpetually pragmatic, but skeptical,
So she measures all the angles and checks the scales;
She makes plans, then makes plans for if the plan
fails.
She also oversees all the company’s construction,
And when the team is finished there’s just one more
part;
A specialist to make the creation a real piece of art.
Now heart’s not a craftsman,
But all the skill in the world adds up to just a
fraction
of the soul in his passion.
He makes pieces long lastin’.
Like intellect, he’s small and humble,
But if he wasn’t involved it all would crumble.
See, heart applies a polish that puts a special shine
on the work that intellect built,
And the imagination designed.
Plus, he also adds a touch of the divine,
To protect from the grind of the elements over time.
Without him, great pieces often go to waste,
And he makes the less refined unique in every case.
He’ll work through all conditions, even in snow and
rain,
Somehow pushing himself through the coldest days,
Covered in cuts and scratches with no complaints, and
Novocaine;
Just a threshold for pain that’ll blow your brain,
Workin’ through the setbacks.
Rock to it, a free free to it, to the beat to it this
is how we do it
Shad can cox plots and perfects clever scams
you can't find a better man in a Eddie Vedder Jam
MC's can't see the flow, unbelievable
we set records even when the needles broke
don't need the dough, asking more bang for your buck
the only lands that Canuck that can't handle a puck
played penalty killers skillfully pass and poke-check
when black flows jet there's more cash than opeck
arexon ex-cons exploit the oil field
of the inner city some day I hope the soils heal
I toil building a dream where my future can stay safe
a place where I never have to move it or vacate
physically I'm not in great shape cuz I placate
and don't consume dreams besides whatever grasps my
skate aim
the fakes keep fronting but I just don't care
wearing forces is the only time I put on air
I spit a hard-hitting verse, when I'm spitting it hurts
I never shift into first, yet alone put the whip in
reverse
my free-styling's like a gift and a curse
I'll stick with the verse, they gotta think I've
written it first
and plus my skills and sounds thrills the crowd
I can fill my mouth with prozac pills and I still get
down
rock to it, to the free to it, to the beat to it, its
unique music
rock rock to it, a free free to it, to the beat to it
this is how we do it
now whether on stage or in the studio space
we spool in cats to the game it's just the usual case
I'm like you wanna learn to flow homie move to the bass
and if you wanna make dough homie move to the States
I see suckers and style and musical taste
when we step on the stage and flash their futiful face
the honies hearts beat above a suitable pace
showing the super stylistics very few could replace
I'm that ill rap scholar never sweat the finances
just taking out a bank lone as big as my camp is
these MC's need to stop taking their chances
why scrap when you know my arms stronger than Lance's?
touring France with these mad rappers locked in their
stances
they thought they had a move until I blocked their
advances
I'll be low key chillin rhymes, filling the whole sheet
feeling down loading on sizzlon so seek
students slash(/) rappers songs dealing with no sleep
I'm still a cold thief when I'm stealing the show peeps
get out this young brother with doubts
my tongue smothers the whack
the dub never uncovered the traps
so I'm trying to give light through these mike devices
not that I'm perfect only christ was viceless
but there's too many dealing with the lightning crisis
all I want's a warm home and a wife thats righteous
we gonna get there y'all we gonna rock to it
we gonna rock to it, we gonna rock to it
we gonna rock to it, a free free to it, to the beat to
it, its unique music
rock rock to it, free free to it, to the beat to it
this is how we do it
unlike the bismarck I write rap tunes in the bathroom
my influence is a black moon and paiboon
I roll with a whole platoon of phat goons
who keep the hair on their backs groomed with a dow
sassoon
pick up the phone just to get the tone
my bicep claim I gotta leg ups, so when I walk the talk
I high-step
as a fetus I kick rhymes upon their skin
even back in 82 my ultra-sound was the jam
I just rock to it never get forced into nothing
but words like a mullet-cutting short on the front end
y'all life's more than cake, no offense to the ballars
but we all pay too much attention to dollars
brainwashed now I'm still learning how to be me
worth millions, I'd rather be free, uniquely
no, I may never know myself completely
If I make it home well maybe then I'll meet me
just a capital beat boy like meat street and DC
rock to it while I take it easy common
we gonna rock to it, a free free to it, to the beat to
it, its unique music
a rock rock to it, a free free to it, to the beat to
it, it's how we do it
What’s with this book now?
Looks like any other good brown hardcover book bound,
The type really took down in the libraries destined for
dust
That people can’t quite put down or brush off
Even though it’s been labeled hateful,
Abused to validate racial subjugation and justify
hatred
It just defies explanation, how pages could be both
burned and bashed,
Learned and loved, hated, yet translated into every
single tongue.
If this was just some regular book then how come?
And even these divisions it caused is all for proof,
As we find extreme reactions wherever there is truth.
And why have we heard it quoted a billion times?
Could it be more than just some brilliant lines?
A simple tradition to keep men so engaged in the pages,
By something beyond even the statements,
In the way the scribes, from different tribes,
In different places at different times, could all
scribble lines.
But without collusion perfectly coincide,
And connect like pieces of a puzzle
Made from parables, and prophecies,
Parallels and paradoxes that seem to unlock the
mysteries,
As we watch the history unfold,
Just as it was foretold
The scrolls unrolled to reveal
Words with that strongest trained sense of all things
real,
Could it be made up or actually, factually be?
Scholars have tested the historical accuracy,
But beyond science, even intuition attests
To what the book confirms and all of nature suggests.
That there is likely a force behind
That must possess some kind of mind to design the
search,
With all complex life intertwined.
But how could we travel through time, to unravel the
lines,
And discover the nature of the divine?
Like is he just and kind, compassionate, old, bearded,
and vengeful?
Indifferent? Omnipotent? And if so,
He must be some kind of sick old man,
‘cause the world as we know it is far from blissful.
Now all this goes to say, that most today,
Believe in some kind of God, even hope and pray.
But struggle with religion and faith don’t dismay.
We’re not destined to decease before we find…
The answer to all the question marks, a spot we began
to understand.
See, all the questions inside man are like hands
On the internal compass that guides,
As we search for what could make our hearts satisfied.
First we look outside, blind leading blind in
succession for success,
But no one ever conquers the questions,
It’s the quest which only serves to further evidence,
The irrelevance,
Of human skill and intelligence.
Then we look inside, and find with introspection,
There’s no bearing to define the direction; towards
truth,
To navigate the course,
‘Cause not inside or outside, the questions point to a
source.
Like is there more to life than sleep, struggle, and
strife?
Just eat, hustle, and fight,
And maybe juggle a wife, kids, and a job.
Why are we here? Is there a God?
If there were no answers, would it not be odd?
Our lives would be nothing but a constant search
For something we can’t describe
But swear we must have lost at birth.
‘Cause on the search we never feel quite home,
Even in large crowds we can often feel alone,
In our own skin trapped like slaves
To behave in ways
That betray our own will, it’s strange
The inconsistencies and mystery
How we often lament that we’re not who we wish to be.
Well, for those in this position,
First off you’re not alone,
Secondly, in this condition something interesting is
shown; the conscience.
But why would it impose such laws that expose such
flaws?
There seems no just cause.
But since our conscience is a part of our person,
The mistake that many make is to ignore it in our
searching; for happiness,
Which leaves many incomplete.
But this is still just the first step to finding peace,
‘Cause it’s not blind devotion to a code of laws,
But a real relationship with the one true God.
[Verse 1:]
So I wrote this song once - out of love
About a scrub
In a crowded club or lounge
Surrounded by these hounds and thugs
And he goes home and he pouts because
Well first of all, his ears hurt from shoutin stuff
Trying to flirt when the sound is up
So he already feels down and plus
He just got clowned and stuck out so many times
That now hes out of touch
Well as the story goes, that boy never found his luck
Sleeps in his folks' house
On the couch or just around the rug
Legs spread starfish-style
Mouth is up
[singing:] 'look out the window' and the blah-blah
Loud as what
You know childish stuff
The things you do when you're lonely
But homies gotta be all proud and such
Like 'we don't love them hos'
That's what they all say
Still I seen many fall prey to a doll face
They sayin I ain't all straight
Cause dimes recognize me now in the hallway
And flash a smile, I pass em quick with a small wave
Basically punk em so my boys get mad and punch me
In the junk til my balls ache
[Chorus:]
Look out the window and there's rainstorms
I let the wind blow out a brain storm [x3]
[Verse 2:]
Shad's back on that emo tip
Oh good.
The scarf and the tight jeans complete the whole look
Why don't you go cook
Some vegan food and rent The Notebook
We all need a good cry shad, you so should!
Then maybe you'll feel better
And won't put together another lame long love song
With no hook!
Go sniff a rose bush and learn how to rap again
I thought you got your flow back, what happened man
You had that super difficult, seven syllables at the minimal
A-typical schemes and you packed em in
Now oyu slack and when you rappin, you have to grin
Cause you know that them rhymes is as wack as sin
And not half as dope as you had em then
Shad dude, when was the last time you grabbed a pen
And worked your brains out, spat flames out
You tame now
Sort of got this half-way lame style
And this is sort of an aside, but you've gained pounds
Spending all day layed out on that same couch!
Whatever happened to 'I want a clair huxtable'
And 'the only rap videos I make are instructional'
I think you got a little bit too comfortable
And you still out of love, so what you gonna do...
I'm focused on trying to stay focused
In '06 I dealt with some blows now the process
Of sorting thru these ghosts can feel hopeless
It's bogus but it still gets under the skin like osmosis
Yo this world's so sick
Like ne-yo's hit o folks with no OHIP
Don't slip
Know who the staff you roll with is
Your staff can turn to snakes like moses'
And motives get exposed quick
When cash is grossed so don't trip
No sum is worth what your soul is
No sun immersed in the coldness
No son, reverse like the poles
Get past the bitterness out the standstill
It wasn't in the cards
Some ppl can't deal
Play the hand you're dealt
Might make a grand still
A man's real if we can return like grant hill
Those that know shad know that hes on his own path
Like a nomad rolling without a roadmap
Just 4 lads in a topaz with no gas
I call my car rocafella cause it's got a broke dash
My generation's movin so fast
Runnin like old taps
From fear and stress and tears choked back
Boys hold gats while the girls got no strap
On their dresses and won't eat 'less it's low-fat
Between low-cut tops and teeth with gold caps
That new school look's more crazy than OCAD's
When there's no dads to say don't show that
Make em look in your eyes, your mind's where the show's at
And you need more than beats for a dope track
Even with more hooks than a coat rack
And more hot lines than 1-800 phones
That's why most cats in this rap game just don't last
It's not vocab they need to grow it's go nads
And back bone so they can speak and not hold back
We need folks with faith that's gon last
To teach the younger ones how to live with no mask
And pose the kind of questions that most just won't ask
And keep that hope stashed like a safe of cold cash
Our vision for the future cnt fade or go black
Like some Kodak pictures at night with no flash
Them cats be pollutin the air like smoke stacks
I'm staring at the world's blankest page
White with all the angst and rage
I can't convey
Just feeling so distraught and depressed
as I imagine these lines filled
with all the sick rhyme skill
I thought I possessed
It's a pressure to produce, its my process its slow
I got no mic presence and no progress to show
Its this project its so ambitious
It makes me wish that I could just
sit and talk to a professional musician
Cause maybe he could tell me if I got the talent
I just wanna shoot the gift
All I wanna do is spit so bad and its sad
Cause all I wanna do is quit when the pressure hits
Hard to __ the prospect of failin' y'all
I get left with this sick deep feelin'
most definite, I should sleep this off
Man you can't be this soft.
Man where'd you come from?
Listen son take those bedsheets from off your body
No time for rest, don't just resign to stress
I'm the real MC that you wanted to find
and test your rhymes again
all the thoughts in your mind address em
Sit up a second let me answer your questions
[Original Rap, with new school leaders]
Young bro, open your eyes you're gonna make great music
Just open your soul and cats will relate to it
If you open your heart at least you'll escape through
Yeah I'm scared that I will but still no one will take
to it
I guess that's why I'm stuck before this opening line
Cause when my demo drops its gotta be blowin' some
minds
To make some dough with these rhymes I must be showin'
them I'm...
What, deaf? Cause only the deaf need to go and get
signed
Just to express themselves, you can get your wealth in
other ways
I ain't tryin to scam millions, or get your love and
praise
Cause god gave man brilliance
Yeah but why plan buildin' if the most I'll ever do
is rhyme for my grandchildren
Respect! You love to get but you hate to earn
This time can be a blessing if you wait your turn,
and simply stay concerned with making sure you state
what you feel
when you're lacin' your reals and always elevatin' your
skills
See I've learned this thing determines what it takes to
get ill
And real patience doesn't mean you sit and wait for a
deal
Build with local cats, do the open mic thing
There ain't none!
Then make some, you wanna be an all time great son?
Cool, do your thing, but just recognize this
success will make you happy at best
and make you rich at worst
and make you paranoid bitter and afraid
and either way there's no use for cash in the grave
Problems and platinum plaques,
so don't let your raps detract from the bigger things
in life
cause that's a trap
[Original rap, with new school leaders]
Yo, tell me exactly how you got your props?
One day I started working hard and just forgot to stop
If you don't stay on your rhymes you'll probably rock
the spot
Around the time pigs fly like some cosmic cops (?)
Man I'll never match
That's true, who in the world can?
Most of these cats can't even flow, like Pearl Jam
Man I'm just playin', but you gotta have confidence
Well what about humility?
Well I'm not sayin' be pompous kid, just recognize your
ability
Cause a real MC knows if he's competent, you feelin me?
Well are you feelin' me, do I got what it takes?
Well do you got a vision, a purpose, a mic, and some
drinks(?)?
I know you got the passion cause I can see it in your
face
And that's already more than half of these cats making
tapes
I'm trying to be making paid though, school ain't my
thing
all I think about is rappin' and makin' this happen
and...
Man I been there, matter of fact I'm still here
Let me get some cats on the mic to explain this to you
real clear
Fellows who can speak with authority
Listen:
While real MC's and DJ's are a minority [Gang Starr -
You Know my Steez]
A dope MC is a dope MC with or without a record deal,
all can see [KRS One - Step Into a World]
See no need for boozy crowds clappin' their hands
I never let a statue tell me how nice I am [Tribe
Called Quest - Award Tour]
It ain't hard to tell [Nas - It Ain't Hard to Tell]
I part mimics market it for target and charts with
smart gimmicks
from the fresh soul for sharp witted and artistic (?)
Brother please
No more Pamela lee's let's set it straight
I'm the biggest thing out of Canada
Til Quebec separate
And I never medicate
So y'all feel me if I'm I'll
Like a lump - some dudes used
To burn down trees now they stump by the simplest questions
And everything they think is deception
As they sink in depression
No telling where our life's headed
I'm light-headed
From scraps where I write/right hooks like a fight method
Like credit I'm indebted for my misuse
My life is like a magazine - got so many issues
God edits the stories
Still tryin' to find the father like Maury
He ain't with the stars lie... Tori Spelling's
Spell is out like N.O.R.E. on a quest for glory... on a quest for glory...
In my life and times
Writin rhymes
Has gone from being my release
To putting who I be in my release so
I can release it
Eventually re-coupe maybe cop a coupe
And in a year or two re-lease it
I prolly get screwed but who read leases?
Legal jargon, people bargain
I'll prolly keep the car an'
Hope it don't crash/Crash like Don Cheadle
Starring with these non-peaceful hearts
And minds with strong egos
That only see what they want to see like on TVO
Darling
I gotta maintain just in my own way
(chill)
We gon play these snakes like the phone game
And we don't say jack - just bring it back to the facts
When it comes time to rock like the stone age
I heard you had a voice like an angel
I heard a strange tale
About a saint that fell
Music became jail
These bars I hear you rapped/wrapped in em
Wove in the beats
Like the clothing of sheep
Wolves tracks - spin em
Cd's dj's
C-notes
G's thrown on d's
We'll be kings like T.I hope
I heard you even sang when you spoke
And the emotion you evoked got you choked
When your beauty struck a vocal chord broke
Boatless dove ovcrboard
Look upon the surface
Caught your reflection before the lord's
I heard you had a voice like an angel
Strange though
You were blinded by the light
Shining from your own halo
Fell off
Sort like a rainbow when heaven watched
Your faint glow fade slow
I heard you had a voice like an angel...
I heard that fame's a killer that can murder great
Princes like \Kurt Cobain singing Purple Rain
From a distance
Hope home ain't a virtual game
Nor this cursed place earth
Where the dollars and the karma don't circulate
The world's a stage
And you know this play well
Gee I bet you even know how it ends, pray tell
Had a voice like an angel, now you score the drama scenes
The comedy's the fact
We enact what you want to be
Had some old songs still stuck in your memory
Distorted though
So he sort of re-assembled melodies
And fine-tune and turned em into single after single
In this industry you built so sinfully simple for
You to write cause, a song is what your life was
The destiny of stars is their light must
Fight dusk
With sparks of brilliance to ignite us
But of all the billions of stars
You were by far the brightest
I heard you had a voice like an angel
Now it's just a light hush...
Now you keep everyone's heart on charts and schedules
And the trends trying to stack gold bars and medals
They want vessels void and dark as space
Fools wanna make stars instead of music that's smart or special
Because art at a level that's real can be harder to peddle
Business prefers a market that settles for 2nd rate
Kill the true artists martyr the rebels
That's the system and it's straight from the heart of the devil
See merchants of dreams sold to souls eyes-wide shut
Passin the buck to purchase a pass to buy stuff
Workin in this circus get hired up
To walk over have-(k)nots on a tight rope
Tied-up in my gut
It's a delicate balance
Developin talent
Into persons that we worship
To it's a hell of a challenge
I heard you had a voice like an angel
And don't really sing no more
But you still running the game so
If you don't behave like them
They call you crazy
And if you won't slave for them
They call you lazy
Lately
I've started to see why you hate me
Hearin this voice it must be painful
To the ears when for years
You had a voice like an angel
If you don't behave like them
They call you crazy
And if you won't slave for them
They call you lazy
Well I say...
They wanna take your mind
Turn it into a prison
Lock you inside
Then they call that livin
Well I say...
[x2]
Smile for the camera
Smile for the camera
While they take your children
Smile for the camera
While we rape your women
Smile for the camera
While we make our millions
Smile for the camera
While they make their billions
Smile for the camera
Smile for the camera
Big ups to 91.5 live from cold k-dub
Just reminding all my guys in the world to stay up
Never had to spray slugs so I dont play thug
Or try to fit with the killers like O.J.s glove
Still cats love to see me like they own pay stubs
Out to create buzz
Know that S.K. can shake clubs
Like car thieves or golfers
Crazy compulsive
Cold killer so ill
I'm giving competition ulcers
Fierce frenetic poetic pierce the pathetic plagues
My powerful prophetic poetics penetrate
This renegade relic raps rugged and demonstrates
How to scoop honeys with nothing but that angelic face
Aesthetic-based waste get shredded, I set it straight
For the hapless half-wit homies that hesitate
The hellagreat, elevated skills you celebrate
Practice??? Kid I've been this ill since seventh-grade
I dedicate this to my sis and the crew
Thanks for coming out but the competition is through
I get down
All the suckas and frauds with soft stamina dont
trouble me
Duck or I'll damage ya on camera publicly
When I utter these subtleties
Brother please
I'm the biggest thing out of Canada since Pamelas
double-Ds
Colleagues and critics all apply the accolades
To aptly describe how my flyness fascinates
I activate the part of me
That advocates the artistry
The slick, sharp tongue
That would lacerate your arteries
Like an axe to the heart
Hackin apart cats lackin the smarts
Cuz I've mastered the art
I synchronize my syndicate
For rhyme syncopation
Even skits that I improvise
Sit in syndication
Let my sinful syntax and simple grin flash
Cuz dimes fall victim when my dimples impact
Cats listen close for quotes or vibe to it
I school dudes and make guys students of my music
The dumb sound dopest with their mic lines muted
While my IQ is so high you couldnt fly to it
I get down
My language is used
To bruise and stick damages to
Other bands and their crews
While all their slick managers do
Is just bandage their wounds
This man is just too sick for Canada's amateurs
I make em dudes do flips like coin tosses
When I rip mics like loin clothes
Stripped off a groin
Join the clique or get going
Kid you're showing softness
I cross kids like Hot Sauce does
While imposters talk and jock like Bob Costas
This colossus is so pompous it's preposterous
I'm always jamming like Peter Toshs rastas
Getting the thoughtless tossed quicker
Than The Moffats in a mosh pit, homes
I get down like acrostic poems
My resources hold more forces
Than the torque on 400-horse Porsches
I contort, twist and torch kids
With my oral orifice
Til these dorks is nothing more than some scorched
corpses
I get down
It's like I'm squeezing a glock
When I creep in the spot
People get shot back
Freeze and then flop, breathe and then stop
The way I leave em in shock
Forget radio they play my flow on (Ripleys) Believe it
or Not
But I still dont own the keys to the drop
Leasin to cop the beach with the yacht and dont forsee
reaching the top
But thats cool cuz I'm frequently jocked from speaking
this talk
Plus on the streets I get props
Well before I leave peace to the blocks
Where my people still beef with the cops
And get beaten a lot, it needs to get taught
And ask Kanye, Jesus can walk
Already reach for the rock, not the heat to get cocked
Releasing the shot, ending a life
No need for the pop
Ya heard? like sheep with the flock
[Verse 1:]
I put the smack down like it's rehab
Make sure that there's no relapse with these cats
Cowards couldn't rap this dope with a zig zag
I let my lips drag, spitting with that big swag
It's sad all these wannabes
Wanted to be Jay then K. West
Wanna be star of the Roc(Rock)
Kid you're not Sean Connery
But like The Rock I'm surrounded by watery flows
Still it really don't bother me
Fake ballers, weak game, less polished than Bell Wallace's
While I breed quality music getting quality spins
They stay 2nd rate Chingy's at the Quality Inn
Now that's a joke to a real rapper
I could decrease the skill factor and still make you feel whacker
Ah gee, now you got me - cocky
Cats say 'you the illest' I'm like 'nah b nah b nah b... '
Well ok probably but that's just only cause I rap like it's my hobby
Not a jobby-job all sloppy and off-key
Y'all Mad as March trying to knock off the top-seed
I'm in the mix/Da Mix like Roxy
So hot he even get props from neo-Nazis
Now I don't really like to...
[Verse 2:]
I Tunes, eye-patch
I'm in the same boat where the pirates be
Tell'em I'm down with that pirate stee
They don't buy it, I say don't buy it - pirate me
If it's I'll, it'll spread virally
From my received folders to
Appearin in the love that the crowds show
(shhh) if it sound dope - keep it on the downlo(ad)
Keep it real, player/Real Player
With the volume cranked
And I'll be ballin like Tim Duncan - callin bank
Cash - banked it
But the bank said
That my cheque's been bouncing like the bankhead
So I'm bad like credit while they bear styles
More plain/plane than the air miles
Borrowed metaphors from mega-stores to get rewards
We get'em open automatic like the exit doors
And take a step higher - y'all just gotta press the floor
And step out - in faith - it's ok to confess doubt
Knowin how it feels to be stressed out
Tribe called map quest-style poems I sketch out
To find the best route home
Don't live in your dome for too long
You end up like that Tiffany song - thinking we're alone
We all get older, we don't all get grown
They say he's like the new K-os, cause I got a band and a brain, I guess
Every black man is the same. Growing up I was nothing but a fan of the
Game, with a spark a friend said let it fan into flames... Stoked I spoke
From the heart I figured listen this is art, If I'm lame I'll advance with
A cane, If I'm trippin' I'll stop, if I'm not invited into the club then
I'll dance in the rain... But my brain playin' PYT, but since that Pamela
Line, I'm not on VIP. Shame. Some entertainment got me feelin' cold chills,
I could point to some cases like deal or no deal... It's crazy like Tracy,
Jordan on NBC, that they will show The Hills, but not Lauren performing on
MTV, switch converters, hands wave to my mp3. They say you need a vid to
Get big, No Lie! But the video games not for kids! Did both sides of the
Math but it's more like trig... Can't figure who'll cosine, Dig? Cause no loan
Equals low +++... Cause low like me has barely seen a cut like low rise
Jeans, I mean by my means, I can't afford this. Look I ain't the Mike
Jordan of recordings... But even Michael got a grant like chrous... Yeah and I
Know what the board says, We'll show you love when you show us a chorus...
But man I can't force it! Yo, they say I heard you gave up rap music to be
A grad student, Dog, I'm a grad student, I ain't that stupid... In Vancouver
Where the sand is smoother than Cancun, and the water is safe so you can't
Scuba, cause it's fresh! No canned tuna on the West Coast, But the grand
Poobah in the land cruiser lets it go... Get the special van buddah says no,
Only guy on the whole coast with no supply, Where they smoke and they lie
'Till their bones are dry, Or they rename the Rockies the Stonies, Why?
Because west of the range folks is always high! At least that's the
Stereotype... But I could say the same thing for what Ontario is like! Now
Hold up, how long am I gonna talk this nonsense it's liked I blacked out,
Man, I thought I was conscious... Some kind of com sense, some kind of black
Thought, one of God's men in chilla, Amen... Look, I ain't the Christ but if
You want to know what my faith is like, it's like too much, I can't portray
It when I write... God said, Son try and say it with your life, convey a
Living right in the way that you love people, and shun evil, become
Peaceful, and be slow to speak because the tongue is more lethal than the
Gun when it's all said and done. It's not who won, WE'RE one! So even if
One is lost than our sum is none. Yo, I ain't mean to get deep all of a
Sudden... Hold up, I can talk on all the superstar stuntin', cats frontin' to
The point, they can hardly even go to the wash room without a costume... Who
Told you it was cool to make pop tunes and brag about gunshot wounds? They
Need to stop soon +++ Yo, Hold up, hold up, I'm spazzing out like Kanye or
Like my little brother, and I ain't talking about Fonte, My songs, the
Regularly do the Sean peyton, smooth as Andre, lay nude as Ron J (Jeremy)...
I just mean that I'm raw don't take it the wrong way, Double entendre if
You want to play. Bring strong game, Bring over Lebron James, been a long
Way locked in my enclave written', till the paper filled more than the
Paper mill made. No paper they had to make scrill out of old, stale, paper
Mache... They told me Shad K, don't treat paper that way, cause we can't
Breath if you kill them trees. That's a roundabout way that I kill MC's...
Dog, I'm twisted, the business of this linguist is mischief... I've got'cha
Holding on these bars, like a gymnast, more bars than a Guinness pint... I
Like that second bar metaphor more, I ain't the fitness type, now who's the
Sickest? Tell me who could spit this hype, this type, this black and still
Rap this bright, not bright like the color like, write what I write, it's
Colorless, it's right... It's just like I want brothers in gangs giving up
They colors like Mike... I want dudes in suits in coupes in tune, so they can
Use the cash to bring life, I want women in gyms, thinking slim isn't in...
Nahh haha, let me begin that again... But I want women to begin to see in and
Not thinking as much of what men think of them. Or giving into the trends,
Big or slim, feminine limbs, cause the real gym is within... I want women in
(Cough) I don't know, I just want women, man... Nah, I'm just playing with my
Women friends there, this is sincere, gentleman, sentiment here! Now if I
Ain't the greatest on the day I die, my last words will be laughter like
"Why ya'll lie?" I'm just a nerve writing raps on my laptop, quit, close
It, make it go flat like bad pop... And Shads' pop always played bad cop, had
No badge, though we didn't give him mad props... But now I respect it,
Perspective, spectacles, and hindsight, seeing it's corrective... So when I
Get kids, if they get arrested, they gonna get licks like breathmints,
Check it! I ain't abusive but I do make a few hits... on charts, leave a
Mark, like bruises... Without the new whips, just a cut of real music... This
Is for my wool kid, D.J. Who dig, pullin' out wax like Qtips... Find it
Loose, it's sick like Mr. Qtips... The new Biz Mark this kid's stupid... But
Spit sharp like toothpicks on an all inclusive cruise ship... As my crew sips
On a cocktail, like that cruise flick, like clockwork, like cupric. Eyes
Wide shut, bye bye, I'm all in the game let me try my luck. Now I'm living
Off shooked ice, dreams of the good life hanging by a foot, like dudes
Working for Suge Knight, books heavy like kush everynight, dreams, I'm
Trying to give life, I'm trying to give life, with no midwife, to help
Through the rigger, so I just gotta push myself to the liver, On my own, on
My sudogrown, all alone livin', on alone, but given', I gotta home, I
Wonder what I should give to the homeless, to love all men, like the stone
Says, I'm trippin' out, forgive me, I live with doubts, and the voice that
Tells me that I should take a different route, all the rings and things you
Sing about, give them out, it's hard to yell with hellfire in your mouth,
Before I take a mic
Take a break beat or a break to write
Break me down lord please and shape my life
We need leaders
These elitists got nothing to teach us
By they strength, our children need to see jesus in
their weakness
And keep seekin where
Free speech is rare
And realness gets kept less frequent than these secrets
Share a couple stories
Like a townhome or brownstone
Over loud phones about my hang ups and dial tones
Swim in heaven and at worst you get drowned toe’d down
To the place where the clouds roam
So we get up
All my ppl feeling bored and strange
If you don’t feel at home in this conformist state
Don’t ignore the pain
That’s the lord that’s sayin
To you stand up King you were born to reign
That’s the war that’s waged
And the important thang
Aint what youd die for
Its what you live for today
Get up even if they knock us down
They cant cant stop us
Smile right back at em laugh and then get up
Actions speak louder than a thousands talkers
So make em blast that in their walkmans (x2)
Its hard to stand in a nation where the masses sit
Idle and passionless
Politics is polls
In the papers all the facts are skipped
Cant ascertain so the scholars place an asterix
And stories on the stars to dumb down
And distract us with
We cant help but feel detached from this
Capitalist confusin communion of coportate sponsors and
advocates
Where every actor is an activist
But a movie cast wont fix these broken homes full of
fractured kids
Aren’t broken bones you can wrap up quick
Folks trying to master this game that I call money for
masochists
Where if you wanna make a cut
Gotta match their risk
Dig in your pockets, not for cash
But to slash your wrists
And fashion’s just a game of who can follow fads
fastest wish
Some kind of miraculous world change can happen quick
But these problems don’t take seconds to solve
And getting mad aint the same thing as getting involved
We need to get up
(chorus x2)
Get a mic
Get skill
Get ice
Get bills
Get the life
That you always wanted and then get killed
Get slain
Cuz the rappers that do
Get fame
Its insane
All they talk about is who should get blamed
Young brothers get steel
Before they get aim
And they wanna get it pulled
Before they get trained
Cuz they wanna get respect
Get cheques
Get dames
Things we all wanna get
But end up getting drained trying to get em
We get stressed and we get strained
We don’t all get the ghetto
But we all get pain
Before I get to the refrain
I hope you get what im sayin
Its messed, but we just might get some change if we get
Though I empathize with em
And sympathize with em
(x4)
Though I empathize with em
And sympathize with em
I don’t enterprise with em
Or synchronize with em
We don’t strategize with em
We’re not allies with em
We don’t fratenize with em
Let em patronize
We don’t want no ties with em
Wont monopolize with em
Let em ostracize
We don't
compromise with em
We wont victimize with em
Commit genocide with em
Spit their lies with em
Or objectify women with em
Socialize with em
Broke my ties with em
Now we open-eyed in this over-hyped system
We know…
Chorus:
This wisdom of man
Is foolishness to God
Don’t build on the sand
Or trust in the odds
Be shrewd as the snakes
And innocent as doves
Don’t succumb to hate
Overcome hate with love
(x2)
We’re taught not to question to status
quo cuz the masses never get heard
that’s unless your established
with expert professors in dress-shirts
and glasses that lecture to classes
from lecterns
where next term the best third will pass an’
earn cash working as
desk clerks for the best firms in manhattan
where the pressure can crack em
cuz networks and net worth and class get
treasured over pleasures that last
always measuring stacks
a passion for lesser god’s
growing, see – the distraction is clever
but trust
(chorus)
Though I empathize with em
And sympathize with em
I don’t enterprise with em
Or synchronize with em
We don’t strategize with em
We’re not allies with em
We don’t fratenize with em
Let em patronize
We don’t want no ties with em
Wont monopolize with em
Let em ostracize
We don't
compromise with em
We wont victimize with em
Commit genocide with em
Spit their lies with em
Or objectify women with em
Socialize with em
Broke my ties with em
Now we open-eyed in this over-hyped system
We see…
[Verse 1:]
When I'm writing I repeatedly edit words and rework tracks
I'll admit I'm like the raptors – I got weak first drafts
So when I'm dropping a new flow
It's prolly not all that solid at first post yo might call it Arujo
But ballers I'm prove yo
And in the same way soon the tunes get better
And I polish a juno
Who knows... I might get acknowledged and kudos
It's cool though
Long as I keep rocking a few shows
Not to model some new clothes
Pocket that loot bro
I'm still trying to figure tax. Stocks, and the loopholes
Like wheres the refund? We filed for em'
Deducted from gross? Shouldn't that be taken off the net?
Like child porn
My smile's warn off but I ain't that pissed though
I still got cash and I don't lack distro
And if I didn't I wouldn't change to go bag fistfuls
Of cold green, homie I'm no black minstrel show
Shad just don't compromise...
[Chorus:]
In this life we just can't compromise
It's a fight but we just can't compromise
With our time we just can't compromise
With these rhymes yo I just can't compromise
We just don't compromise...
[Verse 2:]
I'm feeling like the people's champ
See my fans greet
A brother with hugs laughs and daps
They don't yell like banshees
Or stampede
Women ain't gotta dress fancy for the man
Please my listeners understand me
My fight to about this right
What this stand means
It's more than some grand schemes
To hold up a grammy
We fighting in a war that we can't see
My brothers and sisters in this struggle
There's no fans we famil
Same root and branch tree
Listen I'm amped
Keep your hearts warm?
Mines on fire and I'm ancy
I know it's so cliche but I'm angry that some can't eat
Meanwhile I'm letting a damn feast of pastas and canned meats
Rot in my pantry
Like lord please can we speak on this frankly
Like God why you letting this happen?
Amen, he answered, son I'm askin you the same thing
Cause you're supposed to be my servants
Out here working
Like you're my hands reaching out to those that's hurtin
You don't have long on this earth
I try to hold some hope in my heart
For these African youths
Coming up where I'm from
Many traps to elude
Surrounded by
Mostly white and affluent dudes
And somehow, you expected to have
Mastered this smooth
Swagger and move
With the right walk, the right talk
Fashion and crews
Souls subtly attacked and abused
And what's funny's being black wasn't cool
Where I'm from til suddenly
You started hearing rap in the school
Hallways
Admist this madness I grew
With knack for amusing through this little skill
For rappin at dudes
An' we all like to laugh at the truth
But when you young and same facts
Pertain to who you rappin em to
Well, I opted not to bring
That to the booth
But after a while, it sort of starts naggin at you
The crazed infatuation with blackness
That trash that gets viewed
And the fact that the tube only showed blacks
Actin the fool and I was watching...
(saturated with negative images and a limited range of
Possibilities is strange...)
And it's sad cause that naturally do
Sort of condition your mind and over time
That's what's attractive to you
So young blacks don't see themselves in
Scholastic pursuits
Or the more practical routes
It's makin tracks or it's hoops
Or God-forbid movin packs for the loot
Even with this music we so limited - it's rap or produce
And that narrow conception of what's black isn't true
Of course, still we feel forced to adapt to this view
Like there's something that you're havin to prove
Now add that to the slew
Of justification the capitalists use
For the new blaxploitation
Many actions excused
In the name of getting cash
That's adversely impactin our youth
With mental slavery, the shackles is loose
And it's hard to cut chains when they attached at the roots
So what the new black activists do
For our freedom is just being them
Do what you're passionate to
Not confined by a sense that you have to disprove
Any stereotypes, so-called facts to refute
Or match any image of blackness
They've established as true
Perhaps we'll break thru the glass ceilings
Shatter the roof and emerge
From these boxes that they have us in cooped
And grow to smash the bold that they casted of you
Picture life etched in stone
Life sketched in poems
On sidewalks in dry chalk next to homes
Picture all you’ve left alone
And kept in reflections shown
Your dome sketched in subjective tones
Picture life on a sidewalk
frame it - so all view
all you’ve ever felt
try to name it - its called you
picture it
in the space between steps
it’s the grace between breaths
and the message in this make-believe text
picture …
God exhaled
The moon shivered in a blue river
Stardust fell
Through space released and gave its peace
To a man in his place beneath
Graciously as he laid asleep
draped in sheets
with his honest wife
in the gold days of his old age
and on this nice August night
his soul raised
he saw this light - the calmest bright -
like Coldplay, it was all yellow
and in its gold rays, he saw his plight
as it showed him the youth that he’d forgot about
like how he block the spout on his house’s hose
and not let the water out
he thought it out and wondered
how he’d remembered it all?
how younger he’d enter the halls
when summer surrendered the fall
then he wondered was his life through?
In slumber under this bright moon?
Like skies after thunder, the light grew
And more from the limitless stash of images flashed
And poured from the reservoir to mimic his past
He saw himself with his wife growing old
his children’s lives
He filled with pride as the light showed his soul
Then it’s brilliance died …
And it was dead black in his eyes
A voice said that it was time
But he was steadfast in his mind
So he said back in reply
“Please! Seeing my life like this
It made me think
I could state succinctly everything life is
if you gave me ink
And I could maybe print every speech and thought
And release my plot on these streets I’ve walked
With a piece of chalk
To paint the sharpest image of a heart
Cuz as much as art can mimic
Nothing’s as real as a life told from start to finish”
Suddenly the man awoke with a violent cry
That strangely didn’t seem to disturb the silent sky
His wife was still beside him under the blankets
enclosed
And when he looked up at the clock he saw the hands in
it froze
So the man just arose, put his hands to the roads
And began to compose the most candid of prose…
So he wrote every quote spoken
And left every breath kept
Sketched in the next step of concrete
Then Death crept and lead him to his bed
As the sun began to rise
He titled his surprise
“The Story of the Man that Died”
Then his wife and the townsfolk awoke and were shocked
First by his passing, but then by what he wrote with
his chalk
They got the roads blocked by a flock of postmen and
cops
He wrote from his lot to the edge of town close to the
docks
Where he used to watch the boats and often joked with
his pops
His folks had not long ago passed and now both with him
walk
People came from everywhere
They read the story through for days
It wasn’t nothing new or strange
Still they were moved and amazed
It wasn’t the places he’d been or the people he’d met
It was the spaces between and the secrets he’d kept
They wept joyfully, for the greatest story no one told
Was just the story of an ordinary man growing old
Picture life etched in stone
Life sketched in poems
On sidewalks in dry chalk next to homes
Picture all you’ve left alone
And kept in reflections shown
Your dome sketched in subjective tones
Picture life on a sidewalk
frame it - so all view
All you’ve ever felt
try to name it - its called you
picture it
in the space between steps
it’s the grace between breaths
and the message in this make-believe text
![Shad - Out Of Love [With Lyrics]](http://web.archive.org./web/20130806133206im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aAYXJPoAB9Y/default.jpg "Shad - Out Of Love [With Lyrics]")
![SHAD - Brother (Watching) [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](http://web.archive.org./web/20130806133206im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4Jhn3X8gGEA/default.jpg "SHAD - Brother (Watching) [OFFICIAL VIDEO]")
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