#StoriesAboutSongs

Now, Hold up, is he performance-enhanced?

Forming his plans, stand in a formative stance

Bring up the hands, let’s test my wing span

Oh aye (OA) man, it’s just performative dance

I’m boarding for Cannes, It’s nice in Nice; the peace, the sands

Clear water left me feeling twice the man

I AM, or was, because I can

Learn and grown, light up some love then burn it slow

Turn it low, then hit em with love inferno

Internal, no telling what a try could earn you

I turn to instincts, I think, and I learn to

Yearn to fix all the things that concern you

So we don’t turn to where the red fern grew…coo?

Your move, I’m just here to improve

When ego’s bruised, the innocent’s the known accused

See the cues, or walk around sleep, hit snooze

I get grooves in my mind that I’m deep into

I’ll lead you thru, yeah, so you can peep em too

Don’t keep them to yourself, please follow thru

Not testing crews, or ciphering in vestibules

Or on festivals, I’m just eating vegetables

Working my day job, spending my pay cut

Working out on the body, writing rhymes to say stuff

Travel the world more, self-care world tour

Refuse to be miserable, that’s what the song’s for

What FOR? Cloud 9, beyond the allowed time

‘Bout mine and always had faith in the rhyme

53 and I’m in prime and I still got faith in the rhyme

Aged right just like fine wine, that’s why I got faith in the rhyme

If I don’t get mine it’s a crime, but I still got faith in the rhyme

Yeah, about time I shine, I got faith in the rhyme

Faith in the rhyme, yeah, it’s all part of designs

Mathematic(al) formulas of how numbers combine

Coming to find the best part is deep on the road

Heaviest load, towed by your mind in the snow

I personify, here’s a new style that I’m gonna try

Go outside, now I’m going live my life

Give me a slice a peace and decent price

A piece of recent history before your eyes

The mystery lies in the way that misery tries

To act high and mighty when we say time flies

Well, alrighty, I had to change my route entirely

Prior me felt the present time was conspiring

Tiring, acquiring a need to inspire me

A spark applied to the dark inside me

Accomplished, I promise, I emote like Gromit

But watch for the commas, or get a taste of the drama

But still keep the faith in the rhyme…

53 and I’m in prime, I got faith in the rhyme

Aged right just like fine wine, that’s why I got faith in the rhyme

If I don’t get mine it’s a crime, but I still got faith in the rhyme

Yeah, about time I shine, I got faith in the rhyme

Sometimes I might doubt my mind, I still keep faith in the rhyme

Styles of the various kind, yeah, I got faith in the rhyme

Doubt if you wanna, I ain’t lyin’, I got faith in the rhyme

I dislike the alt-right outright, alright?

That’s as plain as I can put it…all white

Some got a knack for acting fly, but it’s all hype

Check their flight plan and it’s all at a small height

There’s certain things that keep me up all night

Like if roles were reversed then what would the walls write?

Would we get a lecture from architecture?

Or would they sympathize cause they know we are pawns to pleasure?

Sure, I consider pros and cons, but they’re hard to measure

In terms of self expression, hmph, I know the art of extra

Extra, read all about it, whether you believe or doubt it

It’s all the same in the end

Even when attempting again

Thought I was destined to win

My brain is clearly clouded….

So Imma speak about it

Strength to power, by transitional means

I don’t need a castle, I’m the king of my dreams

Cause for affection, that’s a sight unseen

No silencing, these are just are my silent screams

Strength to power, by transitional means

I don’t need a castle, I’m the king of my dreams

Cause for affection, that’s a sight unseen

No silencing, these are just are my silent screams

In part two of New Music Seminar MC Battle For World Supremacy, our last episode for season 2, we focus on the years; 1993 and 1994!

I recount the stories I heard about 1993 with MF Grimm, Mad Skillz, and the ’93 champion, Supernatural.

As for ’94, I explain how my writing for local Chicago publication The Flypaper, created a lane for me to have some “involvement” and a front row seat to many of the key happenings at the seminar that year, including getting a chance to interview Bobbito Garcia, The Artifacts, Count Bass D, Hard 2 Obtain, Zev Love X, and Muddbones (Cage and Masai Bey) for an article in The Flypaper, which never came out, and ultimately inspired Caught In The Middle magazine, that I started planning with J-bird only weeks after the seminar. And, I share the memories of being at a showcase that had Indigenous Theory, Keith Murray, Rampage The Last Boy Scout, Notorious B.I.G, Craig Mack, and Original Flavor with Jay-Z. Plus, some insight on the actual MC battle itself, which was won by Judgemental from Chicago, who I was in town with.

It’s an action-packed episode!!

Keep me ear to the drum and my heart to the street

Not rhyming to eat, I’m just trying to bond with that beat

I’m fond of mystique, pay little mind to critiques

I mix the hardcore with the boutique for the geeks

…Including, the one speaking, I’m not hard to define

Never walked one path, best of worlds of combined

Blend with the old with the new, plus the unknown too

I’m prone to, that ole one, two, and I’m gon’ do

My thing, I bring out the best in me

But let’s just see what happens when the rest agree

What’s next for me? Never know til that time comes

From a place where we dig deep to find drums

…Or take a classic and give it new a twist

Riveting blueprints of musical hubris

Who’s this? The 12 Hunndose and the 2-1

Like staring in the mirror reminiscent of '2 Tons'

Not done, the beat got me deep in effect mode

Accept no imitation, I am an expert

…In hardwork, my net worth, doesn’t reflect that

Expect worse to come, so I cook up a new bath

Of rhymes that react to life on the wrong track

Won’t crack, I’mma use the music to fight back

This excerpt, just another layer to texture

Just getting started, stayed tuned for our best work

In Absence of…

Serve no master, master certain things

I search for signs, yet still none I’ve seen

Except in dreams, or when the mind is clean

Clear the path for the last of the past extremes

Where fear is king…but I’m prepared

My purpose layered, I walk this earth un-scared

But not unscathed though, cause life ain’t fair

I might compare my wins to the weight of air

But that’s drama so let me set the facts straight here

Life’s been great, so much love’s been shared

But still I missed true happiness by a hair

No feeling spared, I give my full self and I speak free

Fasten my tool belt, clean house like a neat freak

Beep beep, I’m coming thru, break out, make way

The trail of the vampire, judgment, and then SLAY

That’s the way it goes down, till it’s a ghost town

Look round, yeah, we’re almost there now

Here’s how I’d like to move forward from here forth

Move mountains with love in absence of mere force

Study all eras, terror to the mic till the pall bearer

There’s laws I don’t follow, still I’m the ring bearer

Bring y’alls attention to the site of a mere flaw, slight error

Still I’m as sharp as a bear claw, in mirror I stare

I ponder my life’s work, ‘Nice work’

The music’s just the tip of iceberg

I served my own purpose, here is the punchline

My purpose was putting other’s goals before mine

Short time ago, stuck in that same space

Flux of the game face, trying to remain safe

Raised stakes based on the twists that life takes

Heartbreaks, and art makes a beautiful heart shape

Heart rate quickens when you thicken the plot-bait

But I’m not made for cheap thrills, or hills of hot takes

Hotcakes ain’t selling like they used to hot shot

I suggest, close up shop, kick rocks, no socks

No shock, I got some contempt for these RO-BOTS

They role play and obey the laws of the know nots

It’s so odd, the way we applaud the downfall

The downpour of rain, we’re all eventually bound for

…Final destination…sound wars

Final Destination…sound OFF

LYRICS:

So let’s all take a moment, take one breath in sync

Let’s just link, but keep each part distinct

I’m dressed in pink, walking up the street, trying to think

Of beautiful things, before they’re considered extinct

Not bitter, I bring a little bit emotion in themes

Hoping it seems authentic, cause that’s what it means

That’s what it is, the facts in the backs of their head

Front of mind, reserved for the fear that spread

Years ahead, I sense that the tears we shed

Will be vein, cause the brain, it appears to be dead

Numb from the the stress that is sure to come

For pure & young, and the old and almost done

It’s almost fun counting every loss I’ve won

It cost a ton but still I had a awesome run

I watch and wonder how others seem to find it fine

Respond in kind, but still won’t fall in line

I’m never gonna fall in line

I’m never gonna fall in line

I’m never gonna fall in line

That mean I gotta lose the game, well, that’s fine

I line cross, and find loss can motivate ya

Or can break ya, some times both things are true

That’s the nature of playing games you’re bound to lose

You give your love, but somehow they grew to hate ya

That’s the way it feels or the weight of guilt

The way we’re built seems to defy to free will

Will I be a slave to my thin beliefs?

Or will I BE BRAVE and seek the truth beneath?

Choose to speak on beats in attempt to reach

Each person with a passion that they HAVE to keep

This is me, know no other way to be

Best believe I looked until my eyes did bleed

But, Honestly, I’d do it all again to see

The beauty life gives, in-between the screams

A balance beam, my true talent isn’t MCing

But the way the words written, gave his life new meaning.

7X3=21

Punch out, works done, proverbial phone booth

I transform to the rhyme writer before you

Prefer truth, so how’s about we lay a few facts down

I write the part of life that fits exact how the track sounds

Good times, bad times, future and past times

I maximize every word choice to the last line

Scrutinize every detail of these deep tales

The beat tells me secrets, I don’t keep it, I unveil

Show all my best parts, and times when I do fail

The stress and the strech-marks, tipping of each scale

Tooth & nail I fought since the days of my youth

Took it back to the start, for the burden of proof

Certain to lose if I choose to cave to the rules

Brave without booze, brazen without making a bruise

Aching to use my soul as a payment for dues

But never sold, fine line between music and muse, choose…

Self Jupiter

When the student is truly ready

the teacher will disappear

I wanna hock a loogie pops some boogers to keep him here

To trap him in the classroom optical bathroom

My graffiti ain’t so artsy

Just a kid with a sharpie

And a Locker full of flare guns

Crazy Americans

You see us how you wanna see us

Breakfast of champions

I wrote this is in detention

Need some gang intervention

I banged on the teacher for a musi-cian feature

professor of art and science

Has a fool for a client

Disorderly conduct in the comforts of blood sport

The master of many things

Is a master of nun

The sun of a sharecropper

Sequoia tree of grasshoppers

Learning all the essentials

Equations in differentials

Language and breathe control

pawn game for celestials

Looking at tadpoles in virtual glass bowls

If you’re feeling rather frogish

Then leap onto this grassy knoll

It’s go time, we’ll all be dead in no time

So go find what brings joy, increase the life line

A peace of mind, built piece by piece

With dents and dings, thanks to some recent beef

Sink my teeth, deep into the neck of the beast

It turns to ME, how’s that for turning a cheek?


I learn when I sleep, choose what concerns to keep

And which to lose, find clues to the place they meet

Basic beliefs shattered by the race to deceive

A place that we leave sometimes has a trick up its sleeve

So quick to believe, anything that sets us free

Or so it seems, but there’s no guarantees

A parent sees their child, struggling in NEED

Prays on knees, let ME be the one to bleed

The want of needs, the need for just once to see

Happiness…keep a firm grip on me

Happiness…keep a firm grip on me (4Xs)

'Don’t let go', I shout out, but there’s an echo…

…'Is anyone there?'…IF SO?

Call back, a guiding light is what you can call that

But all previous attempts seemed to fall flat

False flag, dog wag, revenge of the wind bag

So like tag, I zig zag when something’s amiss

A lonely road, on a pathway for bliss

What happens is, hopefully the keys to happiness

They breaking they neck, I ain’t even breaking a sweat

Make it a threat, naw, I don’t take disrespect

I’m patient, but let it be known I’m taking a step

To make ‘em regret, don’t even bother address em direct

Question my TECH-nique, well, I’m unique, what you expect

My foots on your neck, wreck weak MC's in a sec

Let’s make it bet, try to call a ball in roulette

Don’t forget, take your time, cause Imma cause an effect

On stage we connect, next I’ll be cashing a check

I laughed when I left, changed the tense, but intense till my death

Facing a vet, amazing since the days of cassette

I mastered phrase way before your parents met

Embarrassment, if you try to compare with this

I dare ‘em to risk their reputation, itching to switch

Lower the pitch, increase the grime til it glitch

Pull it back just a bit, now the drums gon’ hit

Ya don’t quit, an HBO scramble event

Ya stare and ya squint, trying to figure how the words fit

The purging of bliss, a person of interesting myth

I built that bridge, so I know the spots where it gives…


We build or destroy…TO LIVE

I can predict what you gonna say in your response

So I’ll restrict your rebuttal, of tough talk and mean taunts

NOT affected, NOT offended, but I GOT a minute

So let me spend it lowering your notch a couple inches

I hit for fences, I glitch defenses…indent my sentence

Start of something new, a shift of interest

Synthesis for the symptoms of my sense of rhythm

Different system of approach, not in to dissing

I’m in to wishing, we would all refine our vision

And competition was just a means to start the mission

Build your confidence, found your fear and conquer it

…or do the opposite, I don’t measure accomplishments

I doubt the prophets lives, I won’t profit from this

I probably risk some controversy if the verses miss

curse and gift, birth of myth, life is merciless

Prefer to give my all, write the words TO LIVE

TO LIVE…