#StoriesAboutSongs

I met Ice-T at the Rainbo Roller Rink

5 years later, I was rhyming at Lower Links

And Alcatraz, Avalon, and the Double Door

I’d walk around and the ciphers I would explore

I got my start as a writer at the Fly Paper

Caught in the Middle, was created two years later

And I would go to dope shows thanks to Duro

Like Born Naked, O Type Star, All Natural

Sista Ang (Ang13) was one of my favorites

And Gramaphone is where I would pick up the latest hits

Ram and Spin, so smooth when they mix and blend

33 1/3, he was a linchpin

Kinetic Order, Mental Giants, The Molemen

East of the Rock, Rubberoom, Stony Island

Nuti Pack, No Home Training, Icon MCs

D 2 Tha S, Rhymefest, Verbally Diseased

Spalaney Macks, Immortal Griffen, Verb and Thawfor

There was an Avalanche coming around ‘94

Or 95, when I saw Primeridian live

And JP Chill had it locked on the southside

The first tape I ever bought on the streets

Was Rhyme Poets, ’89, it was proper release

George’s Music Room, First Lady, and Mary Thatcher

312 magazine, Statik, Mars and Casper

JPC, HPK, CRX, NUR

Triple X, Lit Ex, Project Roots, and The Yard

DA Smart, Jaquan Styler, Lo Tech, & Reese T

Aztec, Mary Jane, No ID, Peanut Gallery

Cee Rocks, G Most, THIG & Fully G

RIP Disco Dave, Pinkhouse and 3D

Verse 2:

Jesse De La Pena, Dos Ciferos, Mixx Massacre

Trixter, Queen Mother Productions, Fere & Zore

Decipher The Verbal Sniper, Vinyl Addicts, & Fuse

Blase Blase, Garden Music, J-Bird, & Chrewd

The Ultimate Weapon SWAN, Qwel, Devine & Dug Infinite

Underground Solution, AHX, & Crucial Conflict

The Grass Is.., Children of Reality

Stedy Serv, Ten Tray, the 40 Thievz

Alltruisms and the Monkey Wrench Factory

Monastic Cipher, Psychodrama, and TSP

Outerlimitz, Twista, Mr. Greenweedz

The Nacrobats, Vakill, Cayex and CMB

Off Da Wall, Nappy Heads to Whatnoxic

And when it came to freestyles rhymes, J.U.I.C.E had no losses

Black AG, Tha Chamba and Krashman

Rhyme with the ‘Warriors Ink’, and Atomic Ants

Larry Milla with ‘A Man, My Brother & Me’

Chi Rock, Booney Flawless, Mack Thorne, LA.Z

Sharing Needles, Unknown Elements, & Judas Breed

Family Jewels, Scam Artists- Ill MC’s

JP Schmedrick, Alterboysterious, & Cyanide

3 Stones from the Sun, 90 Proof, and Slaughter House 5

Titan Clash and Powerful Juvenile

And Iomos played drums while he freestyled

Go peep the flow of Dirty (MF) and SPO at the ELBO

No Pity Committee, M.A.T.S and Qualo

Universe, Discover, Grav, & Mind Space

I used to love when the Brickheadz were in the place

Tribe X, Dem Dare, Chicago Tribe

Boogie Boy, Jackboy, White Boy Mike

The Platter Pirates, 101 Crew, Quick Silver Cooley

Sudden Def wrote a rhyme like a crime movie

Third Rail & Intel dropping Mixtapes

The Pacifics, Bag People, MC Zulu, & F.A.T.E

Earatik Statik, Kingdom Rock, Mass Hysteria

At least one Ill State Assassin is in the area

Prodigy & EQ…G-Q…Smooth Lou

OCU and the Sauce Crew

Chicago Rocks, Artistic and Upski

Dzine, Slang, the Knomadz, & Pumpin Pete…

…and DJ Heather, Costume, Highruallahaz PCP Twilight Tone, and of course, the man, EC

More Love:

Ramonski Love, Risky Bizness, IFO, Rob Benavides, Abstract Essentials, Sean Doe, Them Badd Apples, Pugzlee Atomz, Brother El, Galapagos 4, Villain, Presence, Single Minded Pros, Manifest Destiny, Frontline, Organic Mind Unit, Hourglass, Sidewalk Skolaz, Time Travel Radio, Rage Hotline, He Who Walks Three Ways, Larry Mondragon, Luke of Law, DR Groove, Diamond Kut, Black Fist, Unorthodox Rhyme Pattern, Euphonics, Hip House, Red Dog, Beat Parlor, Metro, It’s Yours Magazine, Long Shot, Erica 312, Shazam Bangles, Longshot, Diverse, Seven, Psalm One, Chips Pentium, Rift Napalm, Meaty Ogre, Offwhyte, Centric I.E., Record Playas, the great DJ PNS, and on and on...

7X3=21 LYRICS:

You can’t front, ya know I gotcha open

And each moment’s just another loss for my opponents

You ever notice, how certain folk try to provoke us

Then change their whole tune, once we come into focus?

But Imma man of peace, I demand the release

Of all the grief trapped inside me, I try to believe

In endless possibilities and possible leads

How to achieve, greatest heights human eyes’s ever seen

Some have clever schemes, others just work hard for their dreams

And some let the time pass, hanging on by the strings

I go to extreme measures to further my means

I put in work, fully immersed since I was first in my teens

I’ve been a part of many scenes, they all had their benefits

They all had their differences, and each produced a nemesis

But I might add in parenthesis, it doesn’t really matter

Let me pause for some emphasis

...

OK..back to my biz-a-ness,

Like trying to figure out which snakes are venomous

They come in all shapes and sizes, full of surprises

And lies is one their favorite forms of disguises

Prey on our kindness, misalign us

…But those moments don’t define us

Dark times are upon us, so just take it all

Well, only, minus what mine us

LYRICS:

Back in the dasy when the phone was still rotary

A few years before The Joker said, “Get a load of me”

I was writing rhymes, with violent lines

By design, having battles, creating exciting times

And when I stepped on stage at a talent show

I always said, in the intro or the outro

‘YO, It don’t matter who wins 1st prize

Cause in a real battle, that'll be your demise'

I gotta say I’m surprised no one ever tried

I’d step off the stage, off into the night

Because I had reputation for verbal annihilation

And that’s just a factual statement

I’m into innovating- translating what my brain is thinking

It's a magical place, invigorating

I’m sick of waiting for better days

I feel I’ve been led astray

Following the path I laid

And that’s a hard pill to swallow

But I don’t wallow in self-pity, or hit the bottle

Terrain gets too rough, I adjust the throttle

And, It’s my motto to trust the average person

About a much as the cursing in this verse’n

Go back count ‘em, when all accounted for

I can assure you …it’s a zero score

Look in the mirror more, not for vanity

That was a metaphor, plea to humanity

To focus self-awareness, treat others with fairness

And don’t let your mouth run careless

Too many people like parrots speaking without merit

The opposite of Polaris, they should be embarrassed

I’m not perfect, I’m far from it, and I don’t love it

I’m always trying to improve, and…while on the subject

As for the start of the song and all that ego tripping

Well…that was just to grab your attention

And give a real live of example of how I learn to handle

My ego, my natural placebo, that I try to veto

But, the question remains, am I the haystack or the needle?

I’m black, and my people still gotta fight for the right to be treated equal

….against the forces of evil, and it’s a lotta people

And, since the government’s involved, well, I it’s also legal

...So, I’m setting my sights on the eagle

LYRICS:

What’s the greatest moment you ever had in your life?

And what’s the possibility you could experience it twice?

And would that suffice? Fine line between passion and vice

I fight for what’s right, come with the compassion of christ

Ain’t asking the price, you can dim the lights, it’s a heist

And taking nearly everything that’s in sight, except advice

So roll the dice, or think twice, and heed a word from the wise

And while I’m speaking, I hope you realize

The length’s I’m willing to go’s about….as wide as the skies

That not a surprise, at least not to me, I’m self-aware

How could I read the room when there’s nobody here?

I just listen to the whispers in the winds, and begin

To write the words down, once they start making sense

And if that time never comes, I may have to relent

Or maybe still choose to write em down, then try to convince

The people to listen anyway, in my defense

Coded messages, I sneak em in, like toxins through vents

Undetected, that’s a method of a suspending suspense

If it’s a wash, then it’s he who repeats, who repents

I think a lot about the words that I use

Carefully choose, selecting each emotional hue

An ocean of choices…so, what I’m trying to do

is tap into my subconscious for responses to my thoughts and my views

Erase self-doubt, that the fodder of fools

Impossible to lose, cause I base my wins on my moves

Not reactions from the people, don’t got nothing to prove

Rather rugged or smooth or combination therein

I’ve been a rhyme barbarian since the days of the pen

And wide-ruled, eyes glued to the pages to think

Its alchemy, comparably, changing thoughts into ink

I’m often on the brink of how much I can take

So I use writing as a tool, to trace the steps that I make

There are no mistakes, just lessons to be learned to replace

The bad decisions in our rear view but, it’s not a race

Yet, in any case, time is of essence, so is our fate

I turn words into actions, turn a phrase to phase

Back in the days, AMC was simply trying to amaze

But 7-3-21 isn’t a slave to praise

Still I’m human, so I’m longing for a need to connect

With those like-mind but I find ‘em very hard to detect

When selfishness is soaked in bliss and weighs more respect

But I was told, ‘The world is yours’, so I’m just trying to collect.

LYRICS:

I love taking long walks just to clear the mind

Feed the soul and try to find a way to retake control

Put on the headphones, step out in the sunshine

Sometimes I study rhymes, other times I write mine

This beat reminds me of 89, back then I had wild rhymes

Changing pattens every few lines, redefining the guidelines

My time is coming, I’m in the front of the line

But still feel like living proof that love is blind

I hope you get yours, and I get mine while I got time

And in the game of life I’m cleaning up with a spot shine

Spotlights? They don’t matter to me, or more accurately

I don't believe that is the path that’s for me

I passively seek a way to search my past for a piece

Of the puzzle I’m trying to solve to invoke inner peace

I’m hoping to EASE all tension mentioned previously

I appreciate the love that the listeners give

When listening to these lyrics of the this life that I live

If life is a gift, I guess I’ll give mine in due time

And I hope their surprised once they open up and look inside

I took ride on the wild side and I nearly died

And was teary-eyed once I realized it was foolish pride

I pried the doors open wide where self-doubt hides

And once sunshine HIT IT, it was in full stride

LYRICS:

I’m so devoted to speaking coded that you might notice

My flow is a form of focus, informed by poets

Some may quote it, others may find it bogus

And question what my approach is...dully noted

But, I’m not truly insulted, this is my white lotus

I don’t follow no man, there is no modern Moses

I suppose if death lurks, there’s gon’ be vultures

And there’s a lot to pick over, these so called soldiers

And I’m speaking in general, I’ve been demoted

Perhaps I’ll reach my magnum opus while at my lowest

Will I be gasping for closure in my final moments

Or grasp a flask and drink the tears of my opponents

That’d be a bonus…to tell the truth, I don’t even won't it

Instead I’m focused on inner-peace, I’m not out going

I’m about…showing myself new routes to escape doubt

Will I ever make it out? I’m not knowing

Still I’m going and never slowing, I’m fueled by motive

I’m not here to fill quotas or rally voters

My style’s been wild since Madd Maxx in Kenosha

But my demeanor is mild…like Cali cold is

And, now, for my finale I’ll let my soul smile, then show it

Searched my mind to find the words, once I found em, I wrote it

I know emphasize a lot that I improvise the plots

Of the rhyme schemes and find things that fit into the spots

That are blinding, binding to the laws of nature

I’m mining my deepest crevices, layer by layer

There are no saviors…and hardly any favors…

Do we even know our neighbors?

Or alone, on the crux of the edge on top of razors

On top of RACISTS and covid cases

I’m over anxious….

No need for clarity, I covered all the bases

And, this is one for the ageless, it’s audacious

Ok, this is this is second in a likely ongoing series of “songs” that are one-part story rhyme and one part narration to complete the story. And unintentionally, just realizing it right now actually, both of these first two are about 1985, and the first was about UTFO (titled "Trusting Instincts" and out everywhere now!), and this one is another story of the Summer of 1985 where I thought I was going to meet Roxanne Shante! SPOILER ALERT: I didn’t.

But I was a huge fan of Roxanne Shante due to songs like “Queen of Rox”, “Runaway”, “Roxanne’s Revenge” and of course, “Bite This”!! And, though I didn’t get to meet Shante, I did get to do what may have been my first rap performance, which happened to be at a Sunday church service.

What’s the connection? Wonder no more… Here’s the story just for YOU.

Shout Out: To my partners in the 3D Crew (Burning Hot TNT, MC Capri, DJ Pill, DJ Quiet Killer, and Eddie Love on the human beat box). And, the Fort Riley Breaking Patrol, DJ Reggie at Skate Junction, and the House Rockers Nation (The Sheik, DJ Pill, Black Knight, T.T.T., Champagne, etc…), and the back cover models, and good friends circa '85; Leesa Sleed and Carolina Chapa.

Some of my other peeps from back then: Jamie Jackson, Eddie Wilkes, Lisa Finley, Darrel Green, JP Barber, Garret, Eddie Love, Ursula, John, Frankie a.k.a Golden Gloves, Lonnie Calbert, Errol Cooper, Derrick Hill, Shantelle, Maya Salahu-din, Jean, Clem (R.I.P), Albert "Nikeski" Wiliams, Ralo, Talisha, Marsha Lacy aka Playmate, Trisha Caldwell, Christy Gilmer, Cathy and Cathleen Cole (the twins!, Wikiki Dawson, Danny Anderson, Tyrone, Bernard Sledd, and the whole Fort Riley/Junction City, KC Hip Hop scene circa ’84-’85. Oh yeah, and the Fort Riley Chapel.

Produced by General Consensus

Co-Produced & Edited by Rube DKB

Rap by 7X3=21

With Interest (Extended Instrumental) by RedefineHipHop

With Interest (Acapella Version) by RedefineHipHop