1. |
||||
LYRICS:
Live from 2-1-2 still rep the 9-1-4
Shoot I don’t pay dues no more I collect...
Sallie Mae flow,
You don’t get schooled until I say so this is what you paid for
Live from whatever city I’m in at the moment
Run it like it’s 1936 I’m Jesse Owens
Cowards stand next and salute they ain’t shaking my hand but I ain’t giving a damn I’m bout go in
Gold medal pedigree a future version of myself the only one who got even a half step ahead of me,
Some focus too much on their enemies
That’s why they circle got a hole like the letter C,
That’s why I roll with a sick tight clique I call fam,
We go all out, keep it genuine what we all bout
Less followers and more clout...
That’s when your reputation speaks you ain’t gotta say a thing
Sometimes I bring the love sometimes I bring the pain let em hang,
Gentlemen talk this from the throne
Bet your life against my skills won’t make it home
Lead from the back of the pack a novelist who just happen to rap
Whose greatness is an actual fact
Undebatable comfortable at a level seen unattainable
Ain’t it true I ain’t come with the basic package it’s pay per view
(Chorus)
Caught between a rock and hard place
Mind race faster than a car chase
I never fall like some Dominoes so unconscious I’m comatose
Kind soul but when you this nice you earn a lotta foes
Classmates like ain’t that dude from the honor roll
Indeed had to master vocabulary and now it shows,
Went from triple A and made major league
I’m just what I claim to be I’m just what they aim to be
Shots don’t hit when your chambers got vacancies
While I’m making a life some live make believe...
Don’t get me wrong I got the vision
Reverse engineering before I do it it’s written
Book of genesis I had the light since the beginning
Had to fight it just to get in I won’t die before I’m finished,
Stay in tip top shape and drink agua
Honor my mother and my father if it don’t serve me I won’t even bother
Respect women I don’t need a daughter
Love my brother on the beat it’s slaughter
It’s out the park don’t make me take it,
To a level like Tigger in the basement
While cats clamor just to get adjacent
The nicest rapper of a generation
Bringing more fire than the South post emancipation,
I had to take it there, too much ammunition I ain’t playing fair
If you in the line of fire hope you had great career,
Just stay low and keep firing
Me and Michael speeding past the red and blue sirens
(Chorus)
Caught between a rock and hard place
Mind race faster than a car chase
|
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2. |
BLACKOUT
03:55
|
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LYRICS:
Chorus:
No back door I’m tryna get it from the front
Respect for my people we shoulda had it from the jump
Loving the culture we always give you what you want
Honor the history we ain’t waiting for a month
Temperature rising think it’s about time,
Name an element melanin couldn’t outshine
We see the video ‘fore the body is outlined
The trauma is real no time to appeal
Couldn’t care less bout how you feel
You don’t see it then you never will,
When you know you under fire you could never chill
Which sound like violence? The taking of a building or a body
Murder for vacation it’s like killin is a hobby
I’m just tryna have a normal day, it’s exhausting
But I’m proud of my people and I feel it so often
Caught between ropes I ain’t talking bout boxing
But but we fighting like a bunch of Jack Johnsons
Ali is his prime with the rhymes I’m too pretty
Little Tupac in his prime don’t push me
Latifah Jamie Foxx do a little of everything
Welcome to the cookout and we playing Frankie Beverly
I’m about my biz like it’s Greenwood Tulsa in 1920
Or Madame CJ Walker with product across the country
You see the figures no longer hidden I’m Katherine Johnson
We master rocket science like it’s nothing
(Chorus)
Touch hearts like Daniel Hale Williams
With words like Morrison Hurston my pen working
Fly as Tuskegee, the airmen not the experiment
But know there’s always been a healthy fear of this
If Hov handle the roc like Van Exel
I, coach the team like McLendon on a fast break,
Tenn State three-peating before Wooden
This time around there be no overlooking
Like you better not Coretta Scott or Betty Shabazz
Can’t get this in class no, but you gon get in rap
This like Howard U and Spelman mixed with Grambling State,
Academics and athletics and forever great
You see the legacy, we all enjoy it on daily basis
Even if we don’t truly recognize the depth of greatness
Since day one and it’s infinite
From style to culture to product we invented
Nothing move without us, control traffic like Garrett Morgan
If earth was a person then Black folk is a vital organ
That means you play us then you play yourself, think about it
Check the history you ever start to doubt it let us breathe
(Chorus)
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3. |
Bona Fide
03:08
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LYRICS:
On the shoulders of giants I stand
A mic two turntables or vibe with the band
Whether freestyling or devising a plan
At the minimum I’m coming out as the dominant man
Still I’m lowkey like the reverse of thousands of grams
Heavy, kilo lowkey you know me when I speak it’s the keynote
This the end of the conventional wisdom
Extraterrestrial how I enter rhythm
Just me living is activism respect what I’m giving
Enough courage and energy to effort the vision
My foresight like hindsight make the universe do for me what dessert fiends would do for a Klondike
Nothing sweet about bars flow nuts and butter like it’s out the jar
Foes running home I hit it out the park,
Major and I cover all the bases,
Highly favored not to play with this the coronation
Chorus:
All eyes on me you know the time
Yea the pen gon do what the soul decide
Hustling so long it’s overtime
All strength no weak we bona fide
I just think it’s funny how,
Had all this time to see the work but still they wonder now
Me and my fam ain’t animated but I’m plenty proud
My head is clear but my feet might touch a couple clouds no coming down
So if, SWISS is genius the,
Flow is the meanest then,
The art never get old something like Peter Pan
If my life is attributed to our leaders then
It take more than a couple of raps for me to be the man
How you feel, I bring the food without the toys it ain’t a value meal
Even when the checks low I bring the value still
I kill the precedents each word is like a dollar bill
Maybe more to be honest
I been, reading everything from Baldwin to Gladwell
To Dan Brown, Coates and hooks that’s why I excel
Assata gave game on the intel
48 Laws of Power little extreme but know it meant well
Know what to use and recognize when you getting used
Truth is I have a kid probably have em skip school
Going through my library visiting museums
This is god talk you could take notes but never be him,
Mitch Albom wrote a legend bout impact so when I die I’ll probably meet mad fans in heaven
Wise like the elders don’t half ass a lesson
Quick as a kid who think of hashtag in seconds
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4. |
Golden
03:17
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LYRICS:
The most beautifullest thing in the world must feel like
This don’t even feel like it’s real life
Fam all here and we real tight
I look at my future at midnight with eyes closed and it’s still bright
Like my present my mind is a weapon
With a full magazine as I blast off the essence
Come on, essence magazine
If it’s wack then you know it’s not mine Billie Jean
Look at me I’m the one like she say he say
No skips and thеy come back for the replay
Oh shhh quiеt when a real king approaches
To so-called kings I’m like D Wade in 0-6
You know this, on the throne in my zone fully focused
Chillin home penning poems when I wrote this
I was feeling all bliss couldn’t be a movie though
Real life no scripts
Chorus:
Feels so Golden
Shine like Golden
I am Golden
You are Golden
We are Golden
Back in the day when I was young I knew that I would be great
Only thing I didn’t know how it would happen
I thought I’d play ball years later started rapping
Was smarter than my peers coulda been an engineer
Cuz the math came easy
Short smart still too cool to tease me
I was voted most likely to be Pres cuz Obama was in office
But bump that that job seem exhausting
I need peace and quiet too often
Even with no campaign I reign and die with a gold plated coffin
Or maybe they build one of them pyramids
Big enough that visitors know this where the spirit lives
Just to marvel at the kid again
Feeling like God in the flesh no middle man
At the fork in the road I walked straight
This quality called grace I say it and clean plates
I got food for thought, but still hungry
To lames if it feels better, just say I’m lucky
Those who saw the whole thing know the deal
Worded with conviction but the flow got its own appeal
Order in the court sorry your honor but lyrically I slaughter just for sport
Pen nothing but gems from a diamond to a quartz
Put it under a lens the value is clear
It’s been nothing but rare form all throughout the career
Face fear for a living never living in fear
Cuz when I feel it know I still do it
Delivery rock solid but it’s still fluid
Don’t gas me I’m the master yet I’m still student
Massive but I’m still expanding the ore’s rich so they dig me
Return’s endless every journey never come up empty
Don’t tempt me I go copper for a pretty penny
But still shine when the light hit me
You see the glow
(Chorus)
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5. |
Last Day
03:16
|
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LYRICS:
Chorus:
If this’ll be the last day I wanna know it all
Give me all the answers and the wisdom fore the fall
Sure the world is ours but the time is all borrowed
Today is now nothing but the day before tomorrow
The streets go quiet but the fear is booming, louder
The brink of history we don’t wanna be part of,
Uncertainty is the name of the game
Drinking tea in a parade of the flames
So many questions at a time like this
Was life full or did it all go amiss
Sometimes wonder
The boogie man came with a face we couldn’t guess
And now there’s no time to redo or interject
A last minute scramble to earn God’s respect
Time to look oneself in the mirror and reflect
A wise man knows he knows nothing at all
But scholars run to him the eve of the fall
No secrets involved everything is resolved
Been eager since dawn til the evening’s upon
Time to show true character no need to perform
Reality is different no one could believe it’s the norm
It’s a dream every 24/7
Is it here hell or heaven?
Run to the imam rabbi or the reverend
As it was written it was destined,
It wasn’t a failure it was a lesson
It wasn’t enemy but it was brethren
If life teaches then we surely tested
To live sheltered is the most reckless be self invested
You get the message
No question is trivial from physical to spiritual
Not against the natural order to see miracles
It is the last day of who we are in literal sense,
We change cuz, that’s what the mountains and the trees and the rivers do best
But yo
(Chorus)
In the end it’s all love and enthusiasm, that’s all that matters
Pursuing success as an end is truly tragic
Apocalypse is not ending but regeneration
I take what I can cuz my soul is gon make it,
No challenge means no room for growth so welcome with arms open
Anything that could leave you with happiness or broken
Action screams to the Universe while soft spoken
Gather in the center of the city by committee
For words of elegance more simplistic than witty
Is it Happiness or Duty, Humility or Beauty
That counts when reflecting on life like home movies
The Unwanted Visitor approaching at the door?
If that’s your motivation for living than what for
If self love’s missing than you’ll always want more, to endure
Moving by other people’s standard so passé
And not how you wanna live your last day
(Chorus)
|
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6. |
Defeat
03:03
|
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LYRICS:
To bounce back from a battle launch another battle warriors know
Could take defeat with the wins or have nothing to show
No scars and a shiny sword
You could say you never took a loss but never sparred
And it’s written on your armor untouched but untested
Without question gotta answer for that perfect record
Zero losses come at zero cost the pay get delayed
You fill the safe and don’t invest while history being made
Don’t be afraid cuz the battlefield bloody but there’s honor
And there’s beauty once you make it through the horror
Among the defeated are those who never fail
Cuz in defeat you earn a lesson you could treasure still
It’s how legends build it’s the way of nature
Ain’t it funny how playin it safe can’t even save ya
The defeated the only truly victorious wounds speak for themselves
The truest mark of a champion with a story tell of Defeat
Chorus:
Defeat (defeat), we all gon' lose
It's defeat (defeat), we all gon' lose
Defeat (defeat), we all gon' lose
It's defeat (defeat), we all gon' lose
Go to battle lose like a champion,
Break a leg win the war if you stand again,
A new slate the score vanishes to the experienced go advantages
You see a scar I see a weapon you see damages
A wound shows a man already been through something
And your weapon might work shoot but it don’t stop nothing
That’s a dangerous image, ain’t game or a scrimmage
Could step in it and fall, but stay in it to win it
It’s like the war is infinite, every start is an ending
Victory is temporary oh you thought it was finished
Not even, you victorious feel free to toast
But roles get reversed watch if you need to boast
You win by, not just winning how you execute
The process, and success just a consequence
Shoot for perfect post a less than perfect record
Still walk like beast and a winner every second
(Chorus)
Speech:
Only he who gives up is defeated
The defeated are those who never fail
You don't take the opportunity to lose,
You don't get the opportunity to win
(Chorus)
|
||||
7. |
What's Love
02:45
|
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LYRICS:
Four letters, L-O-V-E
Love more love better
Love is natural but it does take effort
Love could take us out from where hate tends to get us
Love don’t forget us,
Love of passion love as action
Love is beautiful love is dangerous love is tragic
Love is powerful love is wild unpredictable
Love is never under control love is a miracle
It’s miraculous we still love when it hurts and we know it
Love’s a shepherd love’s a poet
Love provides food for the body and the soul
Love breaks the heart, love fills the hole
Love could bring happiness love could bring pain
Love could be told but could never be explained
Love is all that matters and ain’t matter at all
Everything is really nothing if love ain’t involved
Love is scary but it’s comforting
Love could just, piss you off but even still you know one day you’ll love again
We feel love but could never get a hold
You could love for decades still never really know what’s love
Chorus:
What's love, what's love, what's love, what's love
Learn to love self, love to learn others
Sometimes hate is just love undercover
Love could be love shown out in the open
Love could be lovers making love under covers,
Love sustains love’s never mundane
We could want one thing but love’s on some other
Love is being open to what love might discover
Love is a risk cuz you might not recover
Love is a house and the concrete below
Don’t jump live in it wait a minute let it grow,
Love could be a dream and a nightmare
Love is a battle and you know it don’t fight fair
I strike air with blows but I always miss
Fighting love, but love is some invisible ish
And you never see it coming til you know it’s arrived
Million ways to describe no way to define
They say love is blind or we blind to it,
Love’s the best way to define music
Love’s a teacher that always reminds students,
If you lived through it you could shine through it
Love is fighting another day right after the fall
Love is feeling rich when you got nothing at all
Love’s a choice and accident but, never mistake
Love is never contained but it’s never misplaced
Love’s for everybody but love’s exclusive,
Love loves faith don’t love excuses,
Love is the direction on the compass of the soul
Write a whole song about it still never really know what’s love
(Chorus)
|
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8. |
Elegance
02:59
|
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Extraordinary though appears without effort,
This is elegance beyond measure
You ain’t gotta dig deep to dig the treasure,
It could be all so simple still clever
Not the superficial but the inner light in the physical
School of life never hide the light is the principle
Not the type that’s arrogant inspiring a narrative
Of hatred and envy cuz Love is imperative
True strength in the beauty of authenticity
Giving meaning to life while respecting the mystery
Unique appeal not dictated through history
Each life serving a purpose as it was meant to be,
Not useful for trying but just for being
Not a martyr, but willing to live for what you believe in
A unified front from complex composition
Made from natural order but out the box of convention
Universally pleasing is looked at with suspicion
But unwavering conviction is more than something to mention
It’s respected make sure instinct ain’t neglected
Everybody else is taken only you can be perfected,
Chisel away at the masterpiece that’s within,
Don’t take for granted what was planted the day life began
The same rules of nature still govern over the man
Our exact gems will never be uncovered again peep the shine
Chorus:
Fly (fly)
Gorgeous (gorgeous)
Don’t you turn your eye
Look at all of this
Fly (fly)
Gorgeous (gorgeous)
It don’t gotta try
It’s elegance
What’s cooler than being cool fly
Truer than true I, stick to my guns
Not the one ever should you try
Love wit no fear the soul in a new light
Elegance definition looking like this guy
Genius that’s the narrative not no arrogance I really mean it
More simplicity than complexity that’s what the key is,
Keeping the hand hidden Houdini in handcuffs
Mystery how we did it
Keep the machine covered, gears moving but quietly don’t make a stink of it
Birthed without labor, immaculate
When we talk elegance it ain’t fashion sense
When you got the character then homie that’s the drip
Ask the kid, the flow more elegant than flowers
Or the uniformity of the desert spanning for hours
So bask in the way of the sun moon and the stars
Composed of the same elements making up who we are
(Chorus)
|
||||
9. |
Dreams
02:56
|
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LYRICS:
She 25, she got a good job
That’s what everybody say, she wish she could stop
Follow her heart follow her mind
Moments she don’t wanna be there like all of the time,
Too often her mind shifts...
When she think of future it’s not like this...
It’s not the life she had thought of now she getting caught up
Bout to the throw it all away in spite of how she was brought up
Whole family tell her it’s impoooossible
She telling them she give a uh about an ooobstacle
She gon leave...
Don’t give her advice she don’t need,
When she put it to will she’ll succeed
Already seeing visions of herself on the screen
On the sidelines everybody think it ain’t nothing but a dream
Chorus:
See everybody got dreams
See everybody got dreams
See everybody got dreams
See everybody got
See everybody got
See everybody got dreams
53 thinking about 15
Back when anything was possible or so it seemed
No bills no job more thrills
It was more than imagination it was so real
Innocence there then he missed it, now it’s all about realistic,
Either throw in towel or be a misfit,
Had to trade in the love for the logistics
But now it’s all pulling him back
World say it’s too late he don’t know how to react
Soul tearing at the seams but his body’s in tact
Starting over at his age like a death wish
Only if he give a damn about perception
But he could look himself in the mirror that’s all that matters
The fear and all the chatter
Like do you wanna what if or regret it after
Why go and close the book before the last chapter
Only some live their dreams but we all have em
He don’t wanna be foolish with pride
But the same passion from his youth is inside
And when he hear that voice of fiery young teen
He feels good cuz he know what it means that he still got a dream
(Chorus)
I hope you never wake up (repeat)
(Chorus)
|
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10. |
Make Room
02:54
|
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LYRICS:
Now here’s a smooth introduction how I’m too nice
Reputation for wrecking more than a few mics
So what it look like...a sun shining
Soon as I proceed rhyming I hit with pristine timing,
Three tatted by my hand it’s a quarter past
Purpose by the other one as a forge a path
Ditching the mission ain’t occur to me yet
I envision with every goal I meet further success
I’m a beast who probably deserves more than I get
Cuz they never gives awards for the wit
This here ain’t for the weak
One thing that you should know it ain’t fair, why I make sure that they could never compete
I elevate to a higher level than I could I ever know in my past
Idolized legends, now a youngin all on they ass
I provide lessons, all these rappers all in my class
Only time they ever are in my class you get it
If a pass permitted I let em through that’s the policy
A master in terms of my skill and my autonomy
Gotta be fond of me, if you got good taste,
Running things at a good pace
Chorus:
So check me out son (Make Room)
Yea yea check me out son (Make Room)
Wait a minute check me out son (Make Room)
I was built for and groomed for this before I knew
Forget a dream another rapper’s nightmare gon come true
I’m a monster phenomenal flow man when I go in
This icon clicks you better get with the program, In any application I’m a upgrade
Buffering until I start to streaming what I must say,
Out the brain genius brilliant
Architected I’m the master builder and the blueprint
I am the work and the artist, regardless
If I say I’m just one of several gods I’m being modest
Please, I know what I am I know what I ain’t
I connect from long range and go hard in the paint
Jimmy Buckets when I walk through team on my back though
Know I gotta talk bout the Heat it’s what you asked for
Isn’t it, no box the flow limitless,
In a club of my own there’s no membership
No card holders, just face recognition
For a real one who stay on a roll like large boulders,
All downhill when I rap for real
Premiere spitting guru with the mass appeal
Of course following conviction
Ironic how I’ll do it like it’s never been done still carry on tradition
With dope rhymes over heavy beat breaks
When your presence this big one thing I need space
(Chorus)
|
Michael Leonhart & JSWISS New York, New York
Grammy Award-winning trumpeter, producer, and orchestra leader Michael Leonhart, and versatile rapper JSWISS make for a
dynamic pairing.
The union formed after a spark of creative chemistry during a monthly residency at NYC venue Jazz Standard, during which JSWISS guested with the Michael Leonhart Orchestra for performances broadcast on NPR & WBGO.
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