#StoriesAboutSongs

I used to walk many miles, writing rhymes to say

With a great memory on full display

Locked in my head, get home quick as I can

Turn on the 4-track, put the mic in hand

And I might stand, or I might sit on the floor

Relaxed to the core, then let the rhyme just pour

And I won’t bore with all details that occur

When trying to record, a rap masterpiece so pure

And oh sure, that wasn’t always case

Perfection I chase and let greatness fall in place

Y’all waste so much time thinking in small ways

ALWAYS giving off bad vibes (crawl space!)

Smile on my face, cuz I’m in a beautiful place

Fragile, could break with just one brutal mistake

Used to the weight, used to the time things take

Tempt fate…cause right now things seem great

Seems Great…Seems Great…Seems Great

Things Seem Great…Seems Great

Yeah, Things Seem Great…Seems Great

Yeah, Things Seem Great…Seems Great…Seems Great

Seems great, but you better look both ways

Catch ya on the flip side, start a whole new phase

Long days, short nights, don’t feel sun rays

Need room to breathe, greener grass to graze

The last to raise the fist, is the first to fail

Tooth and nail, almighty vs the frail

If it hurts to tell the truth than the truth has failed

Use the state of the world as some proof as well

Tip the scales, send the devil's back to hell

Then I’ll sip satan’s tears from the holy grail

Hope it helps to hear that you’re NOT alone

It’s the anger we share, from the pain we own

But pain be gone, give happiness its due

You have to choose, the power of the change is YOU

Strange but true, we all seem to lose out the gate

BUT WAIT…right now…things seem great

Seems Great…Things Seem Great…Seems Great

Things Seem Great…Seems Great

Things Seem Great…Seems Great

Yeah, Things Seem Great…Seems Great

Shrouded in darkness, his eyes like the stars in the sky

Hard to describe but recognized from the scars on his hide

Deep and hideous but do not not pity us, or our affiliates

We get really deep into the meat, exposing idiots

The truth comes to light, but sometimes it’s too bright

This is life, eternal fight just to try and do it right

An approach that’s assiduous, connective just like MIDI is

A matter of convenience more stress, like the city is

I ain’t city kid, come from the other side of town

Been a foreigner, I stood and I took a look around

Trying to master my surroundings, trying keep my spirit grounded

Trying to keep my goals unbounded, trying to finalize my sound

But it’s finite, the grind might, lead me to the pine box

It’s fine art, but still use my hands, like it’s sign talk

Sign off, final transmission from the field of dreams

I build through means, without the profit, altered logic, Celestine

Seldom seen, selling magic beans on the dark web

Plant, add water, watch ‘em grow in your own head

Gon’ head, times are critical, the warning’s on red

False Prophets on the corner, spinning lies, daddy long legs

I’ve long said, ‘My end is near’, but here I am, the long stretch

Wrong neck of the woods, on a path, taking the wrong steps

Lost wanderer, spell conjurer, mic conqueror

Return of the minotaur, the quintessential ponderer

Incremental sacrifice, slowly slice away ya life

Ya played with dice, snake eyes, now I guess ya pay the price

I prayed for rights of those who every day they have to raise & fight

Day and night, modern man’s version of the canaanites

Each page write covers lots of ground, it’s the age of ice

Aging nice, kept it down-n-dirty like some cajun rice

Stages / Lights make me feel confined like some caged in mice

Rather be druid in seclusion, under cave-light

Made life better, once I focused on my hindsight

Key in on my happiness, disregard the limelight

So all aboard the astral plane, it’s your captain speaking

If I get too far ahead, just look out for the beacon

I spend weekend’s writing endlessly to keep me from the bush-league

First round draft pick, Atlanta bound, Butch Lee

Wish ME luck, I’m bout to test this new contraption

Used for mapping out the future to ensure conducive action

Using magic, plus some ancient gadgets, logic with some changing facets

Lean into my strangest habits, sit at home, creating classics

Fading sands, back in time, shot the ground, made em dance

Game of chance, trying to hold on with they’re praying hands

Way advanced, futuristic being, secret life of plants

Speaker of the House of Wax where EVERYthing is happenstance

I sit and I meditate, realign my mind, tryin’ to get it straight

Dissipate the dark cloud ‘fore that it turns to hate

Learn ya fate, time’s up, now it’s YOUR turn to wait

Don't turn away, stare into the face of my mental state

It’s been late run, but I’m still training and feeling great

In terms of rapping, happy and I actually feel embraced

Filling breaks with vocal takes, unknown in my local state

Stay at home, staying on the mic, and it’s open late

No mistake, it’s soul food, I got a open plate

Like open play, enter all the data with no delay

I know to way to engineer a rhyme like the Golden Gate

Old and grey, still hungry, told that I over ate

Over 8 ’xactly when I started this pathway

That path strayed, the loved stayed, that’s all passe

Two years till 25, soon to be Class A

A castaway that cast away his love in a cascade

So I find that silver lining like that song that Caz made

No cash made, that’s ok, I build on skills

Live off will, follow dream til it’s fulfilled

Since back in the day, yeah, when my Puma’s suede

And Fat was the Lace, in batting it’s foes that I faced

I gave em a taste of breathing in the fabric of space

Rapping with haste, cause I don’t got no moment to waste

Started from scratch, I didn’t have no picture to trace

Slowed up the pace by pulling stolen moments from crates

Honing my base, I come from a unknown place

That the past don’t know, and the future chase

It used to take a whole lot longer to shape

A whole new universe, yeah, but time’s displaced

Pass the salt, pass the pepper, pass the mic around

Like a break in a record, bout to get down

It’s bound to cause some controversy, small or big town

Big fish, small pond, kinda like a myth now

Far as sink or swim, thin line, with a split crowd

Trying to share my life, god willing, do it with style

Locked on my life goals, he’s a human mis-sile

Tune in now, wait too long, you may miss out

Fate called my number, but must’ve been a misdial

Thought I had the answers but I guess they’ve been misfiled

One thing I know for sure, just trying to live in bliss now

Happiness been fleeting every since I was kid- CHILD

Please memories cut deep, some real foul

Used to take the ugliness, blend it with ill style

Now I take the filth, wash n rinse, cleanse then guilt

And write through the pain till every inch is felt

It’s sort of like a ritual, the rhyme is like a raft

Push in the water, light the match, spark the staff

Engulf it into flames, push it out into the waves

Wherever that it sinks…that’s where the failure stays

Plan on feeling free, living in my elder days

Sitting in silence, it’s my Hans Keller phase

Don’t raise your hand, for parts you can’t understand

Just please pardon the brand, it’s all part of the plan

Better or worse, it’s intentional I did this

It’s not new invention, I’m reprinting from the index

First time it fell through, but I plan to win next

Crack the glass ceiling but first, pass the Windex

I wanna see clearly, reshape my theory

Analyze the enemy, including those that’s near me

If I said ‘I love you’, I meant that sincerely

Said it more than twice, then it means I love you dearly

Million miles apart, thousand days since we spoke

Confusion in my heart, doesn’t change what I wrote

My brain is on the ropes, this weight class joke

This heavyweight depression got my peace in the yoke

But he didn’t know I stashed a dagger in my cloak

I put it to his throat, ‘Release me and my folks!’

That’s just passing hope, that real is more complex

And being self aware is merely one of the steps

Try to build community, seek a good therapist

Show no shame cause the path we trek is perilous

If love is in the air, I can’t feel where it is

Hurt people hurt, predictable as a parrot is

There it is, the raw data, all actions all matter

Diamond in ruff, yeah, classic case, ball-batter

Fat beats, no gallbladder, painting words, wall splatter

Choking on my own words, just to watch the ego shatter

This is the instrumental version of a mixtape I made celebrating my time on the Lake County, IL Hip Hop scene circa '87-'95 (North Chicago, Waukegan, Zion, Etc...). All these beats were made between 1989 and 1995 for various artists I was producing then, but they never came and laid verses to the songs. So I decided to clean them up, and make a mixtape. All the beats were digitized from cassette tapes, so don't mind the tape hiss and normal wear and tear. But they were also enhanced in Pro Tools with some light studio magic, so don't sound too bad for some beats made in my various living rooms through those years using either the Roland TR-808, Casio SK-5, and a Tascam Portastudio 4-track OR the later set up; SP-12 (5 seconds sample time), Quadraverb, and Tascam MidiStudio 688 8-Track. It's possible a couple were transferred direct from the SP-12 and further developed on KBATE's MPC-60, which I did some times, but not 100% sure if any of these apply. Anyway, take it back to the 90s on this one. Vocal version to soon follow...

This is the instrumental version of a mixtape I made celebrating my time on the Lake County, IL Hip Hop scene circa '87-'95 (North Chicago, Waukegan, Zion, Etc...). All these beats were made between 1989 and 1995 for various artists I was producing then, but they never came and laid verses to the songs. So I decided to clean them up, and make a mixtape. All the beats were digitized from cassette tapes, so don't mind the tape hiss and normal wear and tear. But they were also enhanced in Pro Tools with some light studio magic, so don't sound too bad for some beats made in my various living rooms through those years using either the Roland TR-808, Casio SK-5, and a Tascam Portastudio 4-track OR the later set up; SP-12 (5 seconds sample time), Quadraverb, and Tascam MidiStudio 688 8-Track. It's possible a couple were transferred direct from the SP-12 and further developed on KBATE's MPC-60, which I did some times, but not 100% sure if any of these apply. Anyway, take it back to the 90s on this one. Vocal version to soon follow...

This is the instrumental version of a mixtape I made celebrating my time on the Lake County, IL Hip Hop scene circa '87-'95 (North Chicago, Waukegan, Zion, Etc...). All these beats were made between 1989 and 1995 for various artists I was producing then, but they never came and laid verses to the songs. So I decided to clean them up, and make a mixtape. All the beats were digitized from cassette tapes, so don't mind the tape hiss and normal wear and tear. But they were also enhanced in Pro Tools with some light studio magic, so don't sound too bad for some beats made in my various living rooms through those years using either the Roland TR-808, Casio SK-5, and a Tascam Portastudio 4-track OR the later set up; SP-12 (5 seconds sample time), Quadraverb, and Tascam MidiStudio 688 8-Track. It's possible a couple were transferred direct from the SP-12 and further developed on KBATE's MPC-60, which I did some times, but not 100% sure if any of these apply. Anyway, take it back to the 90s on this one. Vocal version to soon follow...

This is the instrumental version of a mixtape I made celebrating my time on the Lake County, IL Hip Hop scene circa '87-'95 (North Chicago, Waukegan, Zion, Etc...). All these beats were made between 1989 and 1995 for various artists I was producing then, but they never came and laid verses to the songs. So I decided to clean them up, and make a mixtape. All the beats were digitized from cassette tapes, so don't mind the tape hiss and normal wear and tear. But they were also enhanced in Pro Tools with some light studio magic, so don't sound too bad for some beats made in my various living rooms through those years using either the Roland TR-808, Casio SK-5, and a Tascam Portastudio 4-track OR the later set up; SP-12 (5 seconds sample time), Quadraverb, and Tascam MidiStudio 688 8-Track. It's possible a couple were transferred direct from the SP-12 and further developed on KBATE's MPC-60, which I did some times, but not 100% sure if any of these apply. Anyway, take it back to the 90s on this one. Vocal version to soon follow...

This is the instrumental version of a mixtape I made celebrating my time on the Lake County, IL Hip Hop scene circa '87-'95 (North Chicago, Waukegan, Zion, Etc...). All these beats were made between 1989 and 1995 for various artists I was producing then, but they never came and laid verses to the songs. So I decided to clean them up, and make a mixtape. All the beats were digitized from cassette tapes, so don't mind the tape hiss and normal wear and tear. But they were also enhanced in Pro Tools with some light studio magic, so don't sound too bad for some beats made in my various living rooms through those years using either the Roland TR-808, Casio SK-5, and a Tascam Portastudio 4-track OR the later set up; SP-12 (5 seconds sample time), Quadraverb, and Tascam MidiStudio 688 8-Track. It's possible a couple were transferred direct from the SP-12 and further developed on KBATE's MPC-60, which I did some times, but not 100% sure if any of these apply. Anyway, take it back to the 90s on this one. Vocal version to soon follow...

This is the instrumental version of a mixtape I made celebrating my time on the Lake County, IL Hip Hop scene circa '87-'95 (North Chicago, Waukegan, Zion, Etc...). All these beats were made between 1989 and 1995 for various artists I was producing then, but they never came and laid verses to the songs. So I decided to clean them up, and make a mixtape. All the beats were digitized from cassette tapes, so don't mind the tape hiss and normal wear and tear. But they were also enhanced in Pro Tools with some light studio magic, so don't sound too bad for some beats made in my various living rooms through those years using either the Roland TR-808, Casio SK-5, and a Tascam Portastudio 4-track OR the later set up; SP-12 (5 seconds sample time), Quadraverb, and Tascam MidiStudio 688 8-Track. It's possible a couple were transferred direct from the SP-12 and further developed on KBATE's MPC-60, which I did some times, but not 100% sure if any of these apply. Anyway, take it back to the 90s on this one. Vocal version to soon follow...