1. |
|
|||
|
I'm a calamity to your morals, contemporary, historical,
uncanny to your normal, I'm the yanny to your laurel,
look: I'm GLaDOS to Portal, my status immortal, I'm rapping for more than just fake clout,
your planet off course & you cannot step up to these bars if you're ordering takeout.
I'm savage on choruses, bad with the cordless, I only get full when the bass fat,
my daddy a Taurus, my mama impala, that makes me a bull on the racetrack.
No matter how high on the ladder you climbing, I'm up on the next rung,
if you jump your anatomy splattered, you stay & you getting your necks wrung.
That's between a rock & a god place, it's easy to rock like I'm Rob Base,
but if you want me to rapini y'all place, better come up off some of them broccolini rabes--
I don't do shows for free. I don't need the exposure, B,
it take a fee to rev up this engine, that's why I'm a pro-motor, see?
Split the wealth with the team, cold shower for your self esteem,
while you saying "that rapper's great," I just evaporate 'til my whole self is steam.
This is for Sean P., Fellow mean what he taught me is what you always tell a fiend:
there's more where that came from, quarterback play runner solid like a 40-rack paystub.
This is for Prince too, purple tints to the lens that I'm peeping my blends through,
purple haze was the maze that I came through, then I quieted the winds, now the flame blue.
I can't hear you! Shoulda spoken louder, now you got less hope than Schopenhauer,
maybe you were off that potent powder, waiting for shit to get funny: Broken Flowers,
Jim Jarmusch & Bill Murray, Skarsgård to your Tim Curry,
the shit starter done quit early, Vince Carter with twin jerseys, been Steph sturdy since I hit 30,
picture perfect, picture purty, mostly harmless, a bit nerdy,
but it gets dirty when I whisper, these iron gates collide with your face & you spit pearlies.
That's for anyone still in denial of how I would deal with a rival,
I'm built for survival, mics up & touch, come get this entire work, prince, the rough cut,
you can have a trial fight run with puff gloves, I'mma still Iron Mike up & punch touch,
even with the viral hype, cuz, you bugnuts, welcome to the mile high club son, you fucked up.
|
||||
2. |
|
|||
|
[Intro]
I went walking in the wasted city,
started thinking about entropy,
smelled the wind from the ruined river,
went home to watch TV.
And it's worse when I try to remember,
when I think about then & now,
I'd rather see it on the news at 11,
sit back & watch it run straight down.
[Chorus]
Run straight down,
I can see it with my eyes closed,
run straight down.
[Verse 1]
My city wasted, corroded,
urban spaces are bloated,
we stick our noses in phones & try not to notice
the blackened trees, back in the '80s dystopias looked Japanese,
but this one's American as Kraft Mac 'n Cheese.
The seasons ain't changing like they oughta,
skeleton polar bears & billions of fish belly-up in rotted water.
They call her Old Glory cuz her glories have passed by,
now she flutters in tatters against a mustard gas sky.
Blast wide open like the U.S.S. Cole,
capsized, floating with a few distressed souls,
turning blue with the cold, waiting on a life jacket
from an emperor that keeps a nudist dress code.
Now, we're trying not to drown in what was once the polar ice,
meanwhile the ones to blame are claiming we're too polarized.
They say solutions need to be bipartisan,
I watch the news & wonder what it cost to buy partisan.
[Bridge]
We've been living in the shadows all our lives,
where it's stand in line, & don't look back,
& don't look left & don't look right.
So we hide our eyes & wonder who'll survive.
Waiting for the night.
[Verse 2]
My city wasted, corroded,
public faith is eroded,
just as dangerous as subtle racists who voted
for those that embraced and promote it, are the hopeless
who turn away from the moment, talk about changing the focus
from hatred to closeness, they won't say they condone it
but their faces'll show it, stop & smell decay from the roses,
I wanna rub their complacent-ass noses in the nascent necrosis,
more than a symptom of a shameless old POTUS, it's a nation's motives.
My city is a microcosm,
we fight the problems cuz we're helpless to the blight that caused them.
Climatologists war, siphon hostiles,
& you're choking on your own ignited fossils.
When the people that built it don't feel welcome, that's an unsafe town,
when the church Sunday crowd get used to gunplay sounds,
the education board punks hate brown,
I'd rather see it on the news at 11 & watch it run straight down.
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
|
||||
3. |
Mpitse (for H.H.P.)
02:35
|
|
||
|
[Verse 1]
The bars ring bells like it's last call,
surpass y'all, Adderall cut with bath salts,
no ragdoll, little cutie, I'm rock-handed,
do my duty, slap you fruity with my palm of granite.
What the hell, boy? The red-armed bandit,
and I file down my horns, yeah I marching band it.
You the Titanic string quartet, a band in ship,
you should just abandon ship,
but you go down playing, bow out with the bow out,
faking the knowhow, fronting like a boat bow.
How many rappers I saw rise, fall?
Been around the block like 4 or 5 cycles.
I know the talkers will fade, like a chatty barber,
you ain't no big wheel, DMV, Natty Harbor.
Had to kick it like I used to in Lesotho,
sloppy blowjob, head had a loose screw.
[Verse 2]
Now get down to the old school sound,
stakes high, De La, no Nobu house,
those who pimp Pro Tools, Roland Cloud,
dreams of headlining Rollin' Loud.
Heard HHP passed, took me back, struggle days we passed,
Miss P, D'Kay, humble stage, cheap gas,
before the job ringing up trays of wheatgrass,
lazy Sundays, summer haze, heat rash.
Someone bump your elbow, make you spill beer?
Offer it up to the ones you wish were still here,
then go a little harder for their sake,
the martyr, patron saint, the part of you they can't break.
I'm stupid in the pocket like a cocked gat,
& they knew it so they wanted me to rock that.
Should I Snoop it? Should I Pac it? Should I Nas that?
Screw it, I'mma do me, fuck 'em if they talk smack.
|
||||
4. |
|
|||
|
Now when I say "my people," it ain't white people,
double-wide people or suit & tie people,
when I say "my people," it's struggle strive people,
no pride, ego, gassed up, refined diesel.
Stumble & fall, we don't just lie feeble,
I mess with get the fuck back up & try people,
never be afraid to let 'em see you cry people,
every day the revolution ain't start, wonder why people.
But when it pop off, we won't die peaceful,
very low tolerance for the bovine fecal,
question everything you see, hear, read, view,
now that's my type of people.
Now when I say "my people," I mean kind people,
demeanor sweet until it's heated, then the bite lethal,
when I say "my people," it's those that see through
3rd eye peephole, also known as pineal.
Blood don't make you a king, it's mind freedom,
see my people, yeah we redefine regal,
read the bible, Qur'an, Bhagavad Gita,
Tao & Einstein, they all divine equals.
We believe in science, also primeval,
plus we know the love of money is the prime evil.
But we know pursuit of money ain't a crime either,
it matters who you hustle for. Me? My people.
Cover more ground than pine needles,
respect the producer so we acknowledge 5 Beatles,
when we say American, it ain't a bald eagle,
we mean Pancho Villa, Sacajawea & Don Cheadle.
When I say you my people, we cool,
until you turn sly weasel, then it's back to preschool,
back to the drawing board like I ignored the easel.
Rest in peace P, now throw on some Mobb Deep, fool.
|
||||
5. |
|
|||
|
[Verse 1: A.D. Carson]
I be staring at mirrors & seeing strangers,
looking at the world & seeing nothing more than danger,
stubborn, full of anger, I be twisted like a hanger,
tryna take my thoughts & rearrange them on some paper.
I be brainstorming, mind leaking, rain pouring,
illustrating when my day's boring,
I be more into my usual, music'll be flowing through my cuticles
& that's a feeling that's congruent to few I ever knew,
& I just let it through--it's a source of revenue
but if I let it do the opposite then what I'm led into
is like I'm letting too much do to me what mirrors do to light,
so when I do it, I'mma do it right,
& as I write these words it's like I heard it said before it came out of my pen,
when I heard this song before it kinda went
like "honor what you see when you be looking, it be looking back impressed like
it manifested through your right & left eye."
[Verse 2: RIELXRIEL]
Probably I done think less & just write more,
shit, energy never dies, it only transforms.
So what's fate then? Shit, what's death to me?
It's chasing waterfalls & embracing in its destiny.
It's like we lost sight of self, blinded by depressing things,
like the world's complexities projecting out on every screen,
we need tender L'in C, since Lisa Lopes left us with the legacy.
Who else made it hip to protect yourself sexually? & made a wave we ain't seen since,
but your style seemed to cycle back around as of recent,
& things tense since you taught us how executives be creeping on the sneak tip.
Sadly the reality ain't everything the dream is
& hits without publishing actually don't mean shit.
We wanted nothing but the truth, & my lord you gave us, whew,
something crazy, sexy, cool.
[Verse 3: Fellowman]
Now picture me, age 9, summertime,
cross-legged on the living room rug,
not knowing O.N.P. from the hole in the knee
on the jeans of every pre-teen punk,
not knowing much about race, except that the black kids
didn't make fun of me, so I was attracted,
after school took the walk to the back lot,
never learned to ball, but I learned how to trash talk.
That MC Hammer tape spoke to my soul,
now this is the way we roll:
with the Fischer Price tape recorder & the boombox next to that,
so I could hear myself rapping on the playback.
Took my finger that was popsicle sticky,
hit the record button, then played the CD,
shook my bowl cut, closed my little eyes,
spit the first rap verse I memorized,
& it went like this:
I seen a rainbow yesterday,
but too many storms have come & gone, leaving a trace of not one god-given ray.
Is it because my life is 10 shades of grey? I pray all 10 fade away,
seldom praise him for the sunny days.
And like his promise is true, only my faith can undo
the many chances I blew to bring my life to anew.
Clear blue & unconditional skies'll dry the tears from my eyes,
no more lonely cries.
My only bleeding hope is for the folk who can't cope
with such an enduring pain that it keeps them in the pouring rain.
Who's to blame for tooting caine into your own vein?
What a shame, you shoot & aim for someone else's brain.
You claim the insane & name this day & time for falling prey to crime,
I guess the system got you victim to your own mind.
Dreams are hopeless aspirations, in hopes of coming true.
Believe in yourself, the rest is up to me & you.
[Chorus: Harli Saxon]
Don't go chasing waterfalls,
please stick to the rivers & the lakes that you're used to.
I know that you're gonna have it your way or nothing at all,
but I think you're moving too fast.
|
||||
6. |
|
|||
|
[Intro: Computerized voice]
They will come to realize that for a few moments they believed in something extraordinary, & may be driven as a result to seek out some more intense mode of existence.
[Verse 1]
Nowadays these kids don't know the meaning of savage, it's just a slang term.
I speak the ancient scrolls, awaken the fanged worm.
No heaven, hell, just a portal to the netherrealm,
passage for the scourge when you hear the sound of 7 bells.
Ding dong, the pitchfork is 3-pronged,
just like the trident of Poseidon, the sea god.
You been trying to find him? You seek god?
Don't sleep on Ik Onkar, the Sikh god.
You can see god, as above, so below.
It's all one: the lamb, the dove, the crow, the goat.
Beelzebub, Astaroth & the holy ghost,
visions of opium eaters during an overdose.
Put your faith in 4 decades of technology
before 3 centuries of Aztec knowledge? E-
clipses & solstices, perfected astronomy,
which one do you privilege? Picture the hypocrisy.
[Chorus 1]
Immortal subconscious beyond the walls of sleep,
was that a whisper on the breeze or the autumn leaves?
There's gotta be more than what the science laws perceive,
I caught the disease: I want to believe.
I want to believe, I want to believe,
I want to believe in the prana, the chi,
the state of transcendence the shaman achieves,
I want to believe, I want to believe.
[Verse 2]
Gifted with the mystic equipment to rip the rivets
out the thin division between this existence & the limitless.
But the peril inherent in tearing barriers down
is you might not handle awareness well & just flip your shit.
The mind boggles when the line wobbles,
sky topples when the genie's not confined to the wine bottles.
Sip a mug of moonglow instead of moonshine,
feel them goosebumps, you know it's a real stein.
Shadows climb up aluminum siding,
suburban sunsets--you wonder what they're hiding.
A frail blue dot strewn with humans surviving,
mystery makes this mediocre ruin exciting.
Tobe Hooper, Wes Craven & Romero,
supernatural transformation & the tarot,
burnt offerings, swimming pools turn to choppy seas
for Oliver Reed--I want to believe.
[Chorus 2]
Immortal subconscious beyond the walls of sleep,
was that a whisper on the breeze or the autumn leaves?
There's gotta be more than what physical laws perceive,
hypnotic odysseys, I want to believe.
I want to believe, I want to believe,
I want to believe in the prophet of Thebes,
unexplained forces flattening crops into rings,
I want to believe, I want to believe.
I want to believe, I want to believe,
I want to believe, cryptozoological beasts,
dinosaurs in unexplored pockets of sea,
I want to believe, I want to believe.
I want to believe, I want to believe,
I want to believe both agnostics & priests,
I can't describe Heidegger the philosopher's tree,
but I want to believe, I want to believe.
|
||||
7. |
|
|||
|
[Verse 1: Fellowman]
I want to put honesty over technique,
like graffiti that I wrote when I was 17
to tell the whole school system they ain't worth a fuck,
blasting The Clash in the whip to get my courage up.
One thing 'bout music, when it hits you feel untouchable,
indestructible, word to Tibet, the combustible.
The incorruptible soundtrack to suffrage movements
& Venezuela resisting U.S. puppet rule.
Farmers sharpening sickles against the empire,
facing missiles with nothing but will to win fire,
it's what I'm tryna hear,
tying on the black rag soaked in vinegar to go against the cops in riot gear.
I cried a tear when somebody said "this one's for Heather,"
cuz Courtney said she was inspired by my open letter
to the ones, when I was swelling mama's tummy,
who were turning rebellion into money.
The people got this.
[Verse 2: Waterloo]
Everybody out here in the street just tryna make a way,
what you put out on your job ain't reflected in your pay,
it's a setup for a struggle in the game we're forced to play,
corporate forces hoarding fortunes, the judicial make us feel we ain't important
so they force the hands of people every day,
make my brother wanna holler & my mama gotta pray,
hope police won't kill her baby cuz they daily where she stay,
mistake a cell phone in his hand for a gun & start to spray.
Fuck the city up, they buck so giddy-up, won't be no peace
if they can't provide the justice that my people never see,
rather cuff us in the street, grown accustomed to the beat,
throw your fingers, wave your flags, no surrender, no retreat.
Always told us what we could be, couldn't teach us who we are,
so we redefined a culture in a land we don't belong.
Project halls to conference calls, traffic work to trappin' bars,
all my people go so hard, every nigga is a star.
[Verse 3: Fellowman]
De América yo soy,
fantasmas de la guerra, Tolstoi,
y en la calle no hay baile, Bolshoi,
chicos llevan martillos, Oldboy.
Oye: ser americano, ser inmigrante,
ser humano, paisano representante.
Ya grito como antes,
con la voz del indio, cubano, gringo, irlandés,
el campesino, el médico, el confederado,
abolicionista, revolucionario,
el académico, puritano, niño soldado,
refugiados de ambos lados del golpe de estado.
Nuestra reputación me importa,
y me molesta el puto que la exporta.
Si vecino no sea vecino, sino asesino,
acá las UVAS pisan a la gente para hacer vino.
|
||||
8. |
|
|||
|
[Verse 1: Fellowman]
I'm about to defy the laws of Newton,
cuz I think I'm too high to fall, the proof's in
the pudding & the work, yeah I put it in,
played a part in putting the puppet in like Putin.
The fix is in, I rush in,
but I know it's real difficult to fix a sin,
I mean, atone for the trauma, word to Trauma Tone,
change your tune cuz all I hear is monotone.
Demonetize, send Amazon a drone,
bomb a bulldozer, leave the Amazon alone,
the future's female, leave the Amazon alone,
this a credit check, leave the Amazon a loan.
Throw a fist if you grew up in your mama's home,
now put away what you threw up, cuz mama's home,
strong protein, Kobe Bryant zone,
and I know you feel it all up in your ribosomes.
Paul McCartney wrote a melody
for Aretha cuz she sang so heavenly,
in '69 but she waited 'til 70,
so he took the song back, shoulda just let it be.
This ain't sobriety sequel, I remain sober,
it's a rally makeover, Range Rover,
this is a takeover,
shouted Kyra out on the last joint, now her sis'll take over.
[Chorus: Harli Saxon]
She told you to leave her alone,
but you annihilate and rape her home.
Aretha said "take it easy,"
she knows your money is much too strong,
she's added to your chain. You fools.
[Verse 2: Harli Saxon]
She decomposed in the soil, she became the earth.
You excavated, surveyed & then you got to work.
So now she evaporates & she rains down from the sky.
You won't absorb the message & so she floods her cries.
You fools.
[Chorus]
[Verse 3: Harli Saxon]
She decomposed in the soil, she became the trees.
You cut her down & put her through all your factories.
You fools.
|
||||
9. |
|
|||
|
[Verse 1]
I wanna impress you with my references & my poise,
the way I stick to talking points, my commitment to being employed.
You know giving birth is major, to spit a verse is a favor,
with patient claims & pay to play they charge you for your labor.
So my boss happened to stumble on this song I made on Youtube,
& he wasn't pleased, cuz publicly I'm supposed to keep it neutral,
but I love this underground tightrope walk, it's in my nature.
They made it easy to be an entertainer but took away the danger,
let me tell you!
[Verse 2]
Now I've been looking diligent, filling in a bunch of applications:
job Tidal, Spotify/Fiverr, Amazon & Apple stations.
Not looking for princely pay, or to rock the biggest stage,
be cool to be rich someday, but I'm good with a living wage,
chip away at this loan, cable & phone, baby at home, save for my own,
but soon as I get in position to kick it they've been relocating the goal.
Found out stream revenue ain't shit, get a new revenue stream instead,
so we looked for plugs & booked some clubs, now the venue scene is dead?
Let me tell you!
[Verse 3]
Mi canto es un canto libre, pues lo mas gratis me piden,
libre hasta asesinato, estadio, estado.
Ask Victor how they did him, put 40 bullets in him,
but at least they gave the spot his name & now they charge admission.
It's bigger than hip-hop, my shifts drop,
but I need to please the cheese or else my chips stop.
Phil watched as his nirvana died, I don't know what made him wanna slide,
but he got up out the war before his sword could be commodified.
|
||||
10. |
|
|||
|
The best way to honor me, after my time of dying,
is to give the planet back the space I've been occupying.
Please don't plant me in the cold, cold ground,
give my ashes to the river, let me soul float down.
I am fire & water, I was wind & the earth,
dissolving in it, immersion the way I'm quenching my thirst,
I hope nobody's in attendance that attended my birth,
but if they are, the same tears'll be bookending my verse.
If like the owl I ascend to my perch, then so be it.
If nothingness descends like a curtain, I don't fear it.
I hope that you remember the person I meant to be,
but castles made of sand swept from the surface eventually.
If geological time is a week in July,
then I lasted like a millionth of a blink of an eye,
but inside that blink I left this meager message,
& inside this moment you blessed me with your attention,
so thank you.
|
||||
11. |
|
|||
|
[Verse 1: Fellowman]
When you hear about what happened, even if you knew it was close,
there's a piece of you that won't believe it's true & think it's a joke,
like any second now, they're gonna walk through that door there
& say "surprise," I'mma say "yeah, you gave me a good scare,
but don't do that shit again! Never again! Don't you dare
play with my feelings like that, it's not fair, I wasn't prepared,
but ok, let's get some food. If you're not hungry we can share."
Then they disappear & you realize you were talking to the air,
& it's real--your whole world tips & the past tumbles away,
the last time you made them laugh & what you never got to say
& the future spools out in front of you like a sad movie,
birthdays gon' be the worst days, the first year or 2 or 3.
Then one day, you realize a full 24 hour day went
by without you thinking about them, you feel like you betrayed them,
cuz you don't want to move on, even though you're attempting to,
somehow it feels like that would negate all they ever meant to you.
But they'd want you to make use of the time that you've got left to use,
plus there ain't no way you could ever truly forget the dude.
This is for Norm & Tom, Courdeja & my uncle Jerry,
ntate Mabooe, Jacob & Jackie & uncle Terry.
They taught me some of the hardest lessons, and mourning an artist
is cool & all, but the people around you got your back regardless,
so this is the end of putting entertainers on pedestals.
The heroes in my life deserve to get a few--
in the name of the fallen.
[Verse 2: Remy St. Clair]
Cheers to the ones who came before you & I,
for every battle fought & every mile they walked they kept they stride.
Moments & memories will keep your name alive,
the flesh may die, ashay, but the energy survives, now.
Now they reside stress-free on the other side,
vibing with the ancestors, scenic views in the sky.
You walked with pride & wore your heart on your sleeves,
lessons learned are as vital as the air that you breathe, so
[Chorus: Remy St. Clair]
Light a candle for the fallen,
put your lighters up high.
Don't you hear the angels calling
as the saints testify?
[Verse 3: Remy St. Clair]
Manky & Max, we miss you, guide us with shining light,
Busta I know you cooking, chefin' the afterlife,
so many called home like Buddha & auntie Jo,
Money Monroe, Bootsy Collins on the radio.
Ronald & Pearl set the pace on how to keep the faith,
place an L in outer space for Laced Up Grace,
Rinker, Tinky & Morgan, all taken too soon,
& only god knows when we'll sing our final tune.
So I value all the disciple & cherish the affection,
every bit of nourishment, time & direction.
I wanted you to hear this while you cloud-hoppin',
you may be physically gone but you'll never be forgotten.
[Chorus]
|
||||
12. |
|
|||
|
[Verse 1]
In a world where we substitute violence for kindness,
sometimes you gotta take love where you can find it.
People love you in the only way they know,
sometimes you try to force yourself to love who you don't.
You can find love in places that seem odd when
you're not even looking, in the words of James Baldwin:
you think that you're alone in your suffering 'til you read,
might have never met a person but they still meet your needs.
How could you cry when someone died you never knew?
Because they helped you know yourself, helped develop you,
& it's a communion, the work you feel connected through,
you know you're not the only one they showed a bit of heaven to.
But maybe they were hell for someone else,
sometimes the only one they loved was self.
I've had my heart touched by more than one abusive narcissist,
it ain't as simple as loving the art but not the artist.
[Chorus]
How could the cause of so much pain & so much joy be the same?
How could the cause of so much blame & so much credit be the same?
How could the source of so much shame & so much pride be the same?
How could the cause of so much strain & so much peace be the same?
[Verse 2]
I never had a model in my household
for speaking emotional truth out your mouth bold.
You could talk about feelings, but only abstract.
For that raw soul spill I only had rap.
I remember being 16 & weeping
to Pac, "Life Goes On," not being a street kid,
grabbing the words like the drowning seize lifesavers,
practicing for battles I ain't know I'd have to fight later.
Then I heard Pac say he hated bitches,
then I heard about his rape conviction,
then I learned John Lennon beat his wife;
these were people I needed in my life, to save shit?
Sometimes love is finding the parts that work,
I reject the suggestion that love hurts.
Sometimes love doesn't demand another person,
the antiseptic stings so you know it served its purpose.
[Chorus]
|
||||
Fellowman Charlottesville, Virginia
Literate, lyrical, hard-hitting hiphop from Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
Fellowman is a
rapper, producer, promoter and educator, the director of the Nine Pillars Hiphop Cultural Fest, co-founder of Rugged Arts Hiphop Showcase, and contributor to the Virginia Film Festival.
... more
Fellowman recommends:
In Search of The Black Messiah: Deluxe Edition
by Marcel P. Black
This dude lives & breathes hiphop, one of the most interesting & down to earth people I know.
go to album
i used to love to dream
by A.D. Carson
The first peer-reviewed rap album published by an academic press. I'm honored to know A.D. & to feature him on Death of the Author.
go to album
Appalachian mystics & outsider poets repping the weird side of Southwest VA. (You might not have known there was a non-weird side.)
go to albumIf you like Fellowman, you may also like:
Anthony Kannon & Frost Gamble "Cautionary Tales"
by Anthony Kannon
Rapper Anthony Kannon & producer Frost Gamble join forces on a dozen moody NYC hip-hop songs.
go to album
The Art Of Combos
by Cage Targaryen, So=Cal
featured on Bandcamp Radio Oct 20, 2023
go to album
The Eternal Reflection
by IAMGAWD & Custom Made
featured on Bandcamp Radio Apr 9, 2021
go to album
