1. |
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A sense of calmness lands on my shoulders and palms
While the storms of my life gets me i sneak to the back empty
And I gently, pull the door and glide through with a 'sup eddy'
This club's ready i feel the notes falling like confetti
I order my drink normal except i add rocks to dilute it
I take a sip and then stop to talk shop to one of the
Newish folks that i've seen this spot is hidden 'how did you find it'
I reclined back on my seat while she spoke well of her findings
This world is a cold one and we all move so mechanic
So when rain falls on a painting and the paint runs it's attractive
Brings out imperfections that we try to hide but we can't
I don't lead with a glance i rather close my eyes and then dance
If I miss a couple of steps then that's fine its my humanity
Whats wrong with being normal cause it's so off chasing vanity
Likes, under lights, in the off chance that i might
I came here to take the night off with those sax notes under ice
I stood in that moment but time pulled me in forever
Through the shift and move of things that end too soon
I stood in that moment, wondering about me
Blank sterility, efficient in this room
We're numb to reality but primed for this song
The notes they sway and though they move on
The past is always present, ready for a visit
Close but never near, even you can barely hear it
Oh, even you can barely feel it
Imperfection used to be a picture too
Oh, even you can barely hear it
The human in me don't know what to do
The sting in treble clef a minor 7 and a flat
Black and white in shadows dancing all my thoughts back
Hear the clink in the glass of a jazz city poet
The silence in the night paints love as I know it
It's the best
The broken only have
Regret is our nuance on a canvas painted black
I stare down the glass
Can never take the time back
Cant ever make that smile but I thought
I'd never make this rhyme rap
So the crowd claps they don't really care
All eyes are on the stage, smoke is sleeping in my hair
Tune up the notes, I hear nothing but the night
Cause wishing does nothing but I wish hope was right
I stood in that moment but time pulled me in forever
Through the shift and move of things that end too soon
I stood in that moment, wondering about me
Blank sterility, efficient in this room
We're numb to reality but primed for this song
The notes they sway and though they move on
The past is always present, ready for a visit
Close but never near, even you can barely hear it
If it's connections that i look for then why am I always blinded
I'm chained within my apps while my profile's always signed in
Blink another message and i turned off all the banners
See i purposefully unplugged to be here in the banter
The artist on my left with the monochrome on his suit
Every time he hopped in the booth he came across something new
It would fill him with wonder and remind him what this bridge is for
Building all alone with the street lights as an orchestra
I'm grateful for these places to escape out of the rain
Its pouring in my cubicle and my home life is the same
I didn't hop inside of a plane i traveled through the music notes
Boarded with these verses it loosened how all the nooses choke
I'm finally breathing now, amidst the smoke and jazz keys
This makes me happy - my life it isn't past me
No it's only the beginning feel the station and arpeggios
Pacing through my playlists I'm facing it through my radio
I stood in that moment but time pulled me in forever
Through the shift and move of things that end too soon
Stood in that moment, wondering about me
Blank sterility, efficient in this room
Even you can barely feel it
Imperfection used to be a picture too
Even you can barely hear it
The human in me don't know what do
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2. |
Gowe - Hourglass
03:46
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What is an hour glass, time is like an overpass
Driving I'm grabbing moments that vanishes when I start to gas it
Then a casket starts to come up close and really quickly
Thinking bout the past and my people and will they really miss me
Did I touch a life and love them while I'm here?
Did I stack up all my chips only to dip and disappear?
Was this really bout the fame and how we're chasing it
Facing it, only dip your toe but never bathe in it - hating it
I'll never know who this music really touches
Hope it brushes on your soul, hope you grab a hold and make it lovely
I've been in moments where my heart was in love
At least it felt like that at present but was never enough
And so I paint it in a frame just to claim it and keep around
Document my travels I'm reaching you through a sound
Hoping that you're vibing and living in all your moments
We could leave up out this earth in a second and we may never know it
We all wake up with the same amount of minutes
We're navigating daily with a 24 to live it
How you choose to move is your legacy, entity
Loving those around you keep it heavenly, symmetry
We all wake up with the same amount of minutes
We're navigating daily with a 24 to live it
Choose your own direction, not just to impress
You never know when we are leaving with a few minutes left
I never really needed much to feel alive in life
A cup of coffee and a sandwich got me feeling right
In the tightest window with a breeze up from the sunrise
I'm turning CBS on while I'm navigating one-eyed
Barely half awake but the mocha will get me woke
Next thing that I know is that beat on is kinda dope
So I slowly make way to my papers I'm always writing
About the beauties of our life and the moments that keep us smiling
Looking through my feed I'm reading current events
A stock ticker on the banner got my plan to invest
If success is really monetary why do wealthy people
Never feel at peace with their pieces they starve for c-notes
So I'm aiming to be grateful with what God has given out to me
I've been a starving artist in my past that's part of me
Walking upon the oddities, rapping as my commodity
Capturing all my images I'm finishing what ought to be
We all wake up with the same amount of minutes
We're navigating daily with a 24 to live it
How you choose to move is your legacy, entity
Loving those around you keep it heavenly, symmetry
We all wake up with the same amount of minutes
We're navigating daily with a 24 to live it
Choose your own direction, not just to impress
You never know when we are leaving with a few minutes left
I drive around to places that used to mean a lot to me
To see the life that changes age's like a novelty
Like back in college I would walk around the campus
Now the buildings represent a certain distant type of language
I hear the chatter from the younger in me
Who used to go to every open mic to kill an MC
Who used to hustle all their music using downloaded beats
Defeat was not a part of dialogues that I would just speak - peep
Let's take it further down to memory lane
I'm parked in front of south lake union flashing back through the waves
The graves of all my past mistakes and placed in front of my face
I'm forced to look 'em in the eyes, and try to not look away
We've all been there no point in despair
Hit the wrong attack but canceled out of it in midair
As long as we alive we got the night to make the most of it
Playing all my local hits, I'm chilling by the coastal tip
We all wake up with the same amount of minutes
We're navigating daily with a 24 to live it
How you choose to move is your legacy, entity
Loving those around you keep it heavenly, symmetry
We all wake up with the same amount of minutes
We're navigating daily with a 24 to live it
Choose your own direction, not just to impress
You never know when we are leaving with a few minutes left
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3. |
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Ringing on the cell phone, yawning as i sit awake
Take it down the hall someone calling from another state
I had to tell them wait, i normally just let it go
Right into my voicemail well this one got "hello"
Recognized the voice it was just my boy KENNY
Calling from LA want to rock a show in Venice
Want me hopping on a plane being down there on the 7th
I told him just to see you let me generate a setlist
Check list, let me pack up all my luggages
Love the independent hustle owning all my publishing
Wear a pair of J's and a hoodie on my back
Don't believe the hypebeasts comfort is the track
That I really try to follow and i know myself honestly
Throw a sonic jersey on, do it for camaraderie
Do it for the city and the people that I love
See you in the morning while I'm flying up above
I'm in my favorite vibe
The world feels so alive
Pack up my luggage, taking off
We'll rock it til the early morning
The plane finally lands and I feel that golden serenade
Kissing on my skin guess the sun is really out today
I miss that California weather feel it in my bones
Seattle got my heart but I could use a second home
Now we driving down the highway
Thinking bout my past and all the matches in our driveway
That was going back, to our youth all black
A bunch of air forces with the pinwheel on the cap
Man i never thought that i would really be here with a microphone
Writing bout my life and all the insights that I seen alone
Finally see my homies and I hit em with a dap
Couple snapbacks with the matching air-max's
Got they own fashion and the '95 classics
Driving down the boulevard en route to make it happen
Gas it, man i love it like this
Listening to new hits while rocking all our new fits
I'm in my favorite vibe
The world feels so alive
Pack up my luggage, taking off
We'll rock it til the early morning
I said, slow it all down
Let me soak it in - couple more songs sing along like we just beginning
All of us are here in this room give a toast to living
Time on earth is fast if we moving past we could miss it
On stage - the vibe is all great
They rapping all my lyrics man they caught me off base
Reminiscing on the time when i was hopping off stage
That was couple years ago, it could have ended terrible
What you expect when the adrenaline is running high
Climbing to the top rope diving off like super fly
Man i got to chill love my fans and my peers
Sitting in a circle with a round full of beers
Thats love, and the older i get
The more i really cherish all the times we connect
Cause life is really moving quick and we are all in our lanes
Lets rock another couple verses for we call it a game
I'm in my favorite vibe
The world feels so alive
Pack up my luggage, taking off
We'll rock it til the early morning
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4. |
Gowe - Beside Me
02:58
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Four hundred years since the trip was made
Placed on a boat and was laced with chains
Got a bunch of other slaves that were made the same
Get a taste of the states through a grave of dreams
Like 'my god made us' - 'your god didn't'
First you gonna kill us then, say you Christian
Every whip that you cracked on my back ripped in it
Intervention of the sin but you fear no sentence
You could even ask Emmett ask George and Arbery
Call it manifest destiny its robbery
Take another ride through the journey of the south
Want to flag another black man fire when in doubt
It don't matter whats the cause when you're running the law
First thing's to draw with no feelings involved
I'm not saying that i know but the feelings are raw
How can anybody sit back let poison evolve?
Do you see what I see?
You breathe the same air I breathe
This isn't how it should be
We gotta go, right now, lights out
Change - it's coming to be
Will you be there beside me
Change - is coming to be
I'm an Asian American - first generation
Meaning that i walk the path of this nation and my heritage
Honor and shame with a plate full of arrogance
Side of a bow from LA up to Maryland
Growing up i never had to get taught
How to pull over how to handle the cops
How to show your hands first for bullets get shot
How to best verse a store when I'm tryna shop
I could - show up in a hoodie and sweats
I'm never second guessing when i'm cashing a check
I could push a tinted Tesla and the feeling is norm
But if my skin was darker then 'something is wrong'
Wait - i know i fight model minority myths
Like we all subservient we majority rich
Those are nothing more than lies that I'm trying to evict
But if black people hurting then we got to assist
Do you see what I see?
You breathe the same air I breathe
This isn't how it should be
We gotta go, right now, lights out
Change - it's coming to be
Will you be there beside me
Change - is coming to be
Nasir jones said that knowledge's king
Followed only second by the effort you bring
This is a daily intervention that we're pressing to change
We're not second guessing nothing cause we're destined to win
First, can i fight without feeling the hurt?
Can i really mourn how it feels in a hurst
If i take another step that's two feet in the dirt
Who wanna give they comfort up who wanna go first?
Times complex but we need an ally
Fight against lies that are built to divide
When we die, why should the future be denied
If we try now then the road will be more bright
'I'm king' thats the nature of sin
Help me feel above you let me target the skin
From the ships taking sail we will travel again
We're focused on the ending not how it begins
Do you see what I see?
You breathe the same air I breathe
This isn't how it should be
We gotta go, right now, lights out
Change - it's coming to be
Will you be there beside me
Change - is coming to be
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5. |
Gowe - Americana
03:56
|
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A lot of corner stores, a couple laundromats
You ever wonder why Asian businesses follow track
Maybe its the gas-station owners or the restaurant
Serving exotic artifacts marketed with a racist font
It's called survival mode, which came from yellow peril
And all our immigrants took jobs labeled feminine
Hold it for just a second, the strongest people i knew
I'm talking all of em, are confident, my grandmother, were all women
It's just the jobs that needed filling the most
So don't confuse the given labels with the strength of the show
For those who did make it past, the Chinese exclusion act
Set up shop to send some back, worked the wok and made it slap
Cooked their way into the fabric of Americana
Stitches on the outline embroidered it as a badge of honor
That's how our culture intertwined with the nation
The patience of the first generation laying foundations..
This for our history, a slice of Americana
Shout out to all of the grandfathers who walked with honor
Took all the prejudice and hammered on the railroad tracks
Built a new foundation so that I could pen this type of track
This for our history, a slice of Americana
Shout out to all of my grandmama's who kept us stronger
Held it down through all the restaurants and holidays
Gathered round the table I reflect like it was yesterday
You got some engineers, a couple lawyers also
I love my doctors with doctorates who practice riding solo
Some took the route of being entrepreneurs
While others walked the street of finance let investments mature
I wonder if our parents constant nagging altered us
I wonder if their sacrifice was what inspired us
Taking the journey over with little to start from nothing
To give it to all their children to have a better beginning
Hmm... i guess the vehicle of schooling
Was using it as a tool to get out of a real oppression
And that's not all of us, I'm drilling to the root of it
The causes of the ripples the background to why we're doing this
I'm not a dentist, I wasn't an academic
I did have a desire to capture my life aesthetics
Tt happens to be through music, and i'm not the only artist
Take a look around i raise a toast to how we started
This for our history, a slice of Americana
Shout out to all of the grandfathers who walked with honor
Took all the prejudice and hammered on the railroad tracks
Built a new foundation so that I could pen this type of track
This for our history, a slice of Americana
Shout out to all of my grandmama's who kept us stronger
Held it down through all the restaurants and holidays
Gathered round the table I reflect like it was yesterday
Here goes a question that derived from insecurity
"How do you keep the power with majors and not minorities?"
First, let's make a system with a pecking order layout
Then you elevate a group with cash in other words you pay out
Keep them working silent, and reinforce that behavior
You tell em you're doing great and you write em up in the papers
Now the other groups will envy all the things that they get
Still oppressed but we call it 'model minority myth'
Let em think they winning but we'll stop em with a glass ceiling
Class ending, take these notes and pass em to your own children
Never buck the system, never bite the hand that feeds you
Keep you playing as our robin batman standing on the steeple
We'll say they're passive and they're better in supportive roles
Really that isn't true but the story will fit our narrative
Yes, it is imperative we stick to the script
Before the people find out the truth that this is all just a myth
This for our history, a slice of Americana
Shout out to all of the grandfathers who walked with honor
Took all the prejudice and hammered on the railroad tracks
Built a new foundation so that I could pen this type of track
This for our history, a slice of Americana
Shout out to all of my grandmama's who kept us stronger
Held it down through all the restaurants and holidays
Gathered round the table I reflect like it was yesterday
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6. |
Gowe - Arie
03:50
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How you doing baby if you're really listening
Right now you're sleeping your mama and I are finishing
Washing the bottles we just, put you to sleep
I'm praying for your future, and who you turn out to be
Hope you love God, He's above us
Loving Jesus He's someone that we can all trust
I hope you find a passion that you really care about
A vision driven by a purpose rather than the clout
You can be, whatever you want to be
A singer or a vet a missionary overseas
You're not my trophy no - you are your own soul
And my goal is to help you discover your role
Welcome to life
Welcome to new love
We'll make it alright
We'll take it all slowly
Hello to life
Hello to new love
We'll make it alright
We'll take it all slowly
I hope you know that your beauty ain't just the outside
Our looks will change but who you are is really internal
Integrated with intentionality and love
Where passion from a man and the vanities not enough
Don't ever think you deserve less than what you work for
Cause equal pay is sometimes skewed up in the workforce
And as a woman of color the hurdles hurt more
You got to keep it moving reminder we're on this earth for
Something greater our vision is Kingdom minded
Beyond a 9 to 5 our desire is undivided
Live a life thats full and is guided with more compassion
Loving God and loving people thats what really matters
As far as love goes - make sure he loves God more than he loves you
Is focused above you - I promise to hug you
When I'm around and life is raining
And if I'm not beside you you can listen to this painting
Welcome to life
Welcome to new love
We'll make it alright
We'll take it all slowly
Hello to life
Hello to new love
We'll make it alright
We'll take it all slowly
The first time that i saw you, i could tell life would be different
So much for the better any self doubts were extinguished
My job as a father is to walk you closer to God
Show you how a man loves, despite the fact that I'm flawed
Model that it's okay to talk through your emotions
Some days go by easy, and other days feel atrocious
Don't lose all your focus cause brighter days are ahead
I love you, baby Arie - signing off now its your dad
Welcome to life
Welcome to new love
We'll make it alright
We'll take it all slowly
Hello to life
Hello to new love
We'll make it alright
We'll take it all slowly
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7. |
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My pops he secretly slid me a gift that he shifted
Outside of the standard conditions that loosely fitted with Christmas
I pulled back all the wrappings and the back half was Nintendo
With duck hunt on the cover it, was too dope I remember this
Launch pad for my juices with new views of adventures
And these sprites were the catalyst of how art was a treasure
How God could use art forms like music notes on a key
I hear songs in the background and can visualize all the scenes
That's when it-dawned onto me that i could get lost and be free
Within the structures of a sixteen like i was trapped underneath
Pillars of expression like lessons learned when I listened
I would play back all my favorites and my outlook would be shifted
It was crazy *b*, the world would start to slow down I'm tracing it
Beats used as a canvas and these verses were vehicles
I'm still driving like my journey just started I'm clocking a thousand
Miles per an album while I'm recording it
It's still a special feeling inside when i write
When I could speak through different stages and the seasons of life
Document the ups and downs of it, navigate through the sounds of it
For lovers and our activists this music is our catalyst
I still reflect on all the times when i write
When I could speak through different stages and the seasons of life
Document the ups and downs of it, navigate through the sounds of it
For lovers and our activists this music is your catalyst
You and I, we got history between the two of us
Back when no one knew of us, writing these raps in the back of a munibus
Something so new to us, daydreaming couldn't no one get through to us
Nothing no one could say or could do to us
We kept it one hundred, keeping it true to us but
Even the truest love could fade over time I went from
World tours to barely writing a rhyme
Passion was something I was dying to find
I mean I love you but I think its time I leave you behind
Lets Ross and Rachel this
And if it's meant to be, we'll find our paths intertwined
That was ages ago, several pages ago
I'm in a new chapter from rapper to pastor to church planter
To husband to my new happily ever after
Used to love you but I found what my heart was meant to go after
But it's still love, you'll always be my first love
Maybe one day we'll pick it up and pen a verse one
It's still a special feeling inside when i write
When I could speak through different stages and the seasons of life
Document the ups and downs of it, navigate through the sounds of it
For lovers and our activists this music is our catalyst
I still reflect on all the times when i write
When I could speak through different stages and the seasons of life
Document the ups and downs of it, navigate through the sounds of it
For lovers and our activists this music is your catalyst
So where do we go from here where each bar is a fadeaway
MJ from the baseline on each court as a get away
Time doesn't wait for no one, you got all that you wanted
Rings, wins and a legacy, what's left as an entity?
I'm not saying i got it, i got gas in the tank left
And i took almost four years to relive let my brain rest
Re-cash all my rain checks, really had to discover
That your worth doesn't equal a number look at "I Wonder"
I mean it, look at the team and the whole gleam when she seen it
You sat in the city you're born in what a scene could you dream it?
I can't, that's why I think that God's plan is the greatest
He took me from nothing, an orphan redirected my calling,
I'm walking a living example of a son who was saved
After living through that journey what's the point of the chase?
These diamonds and jewels are irrelevant and fame can be toxic
While authenticity is rare in music hope you can spot it
It's still a special feeling inside when i write
When I could speak through different stages and the seasons of life
Document the ups and downs of it, navigate through the sounds of it
For lovers and our activists this music is our catalyst
I still reflect on all the times when i write
When I could speak through different stages and the seasons of life
Document the ups and downs of it, navigate through the sounds of it
For lovers and our activists this music is your catalyst
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8. |
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I'm not sure if you know, but the song "I wonder"
Was really just a letter inside of a digital bottle
I structured it like a novel in hopes it would swim beside you
And close another chapter that was left open and hostile
I didn't know if it would one day get the treatment
Of being opened and read am i daydreaming realistic?
Is it being ambitious or will i end up with anecdotes
We on this planet though manifested a fan of hope
And so I swallow any pride and write another letter
Knowing it could never reach it's final destination
I wrote you in 2012 and never heard a word back
I tried again in 2014 with the same attention
Blame it on redemption the way my soul is wired
Loving cause my savior showed me mercy in the first place
This was my last chance by now its 2017
It's really now or never so I sleep of hope and dare to dream
I never knew that this would be the day
But in my heart I knew there'd be a way for us
Yeah, I forgive your choices and the pain
No longer do we have to wait
Face to Face
I get a voicemail, checked it when I left a meeting
Listened to it frozen while i partnered with some heavy breathing
It was revealing and my case worker said call me back
I called her fast and I spaced out for like half the chat
She said i got some really crazy news to share with you
Not only does she want to meet, you also got a sister too
I told her that my flight was literally this weekend
I was just expecting to go visit Seoul til this sequence
Threw me for a loop and now I'm thinking of what gift to bring
This is the missing link, thinking deeper the finishing
Touches upon the story of a son who was adopted
Into a loving family where grandma would feed me often
And now i get to meet the woman who gave birth to me
How will our conversation go, really i feel the urgency
To tell her everything that's happened in my life with only
Limited availability i started praying for her…
I never knew that this would be the day
But in my heart I knew there'd be a way for us
Yeah, I forgive your choices and the pain
No longer do we have to wait
Face to Face
I feel the plane descending waking to a foreign country
Part of me is energetic, aesthetically it's melancholy
We took a trolly or the train into the epicenter, Seoul is really
Glowing and I see the city full of winter
Pregnant ladies walking, strollers all around the streets
Really its unbelievable truly we finna get to meet
I hop a train and take the journey out to Daegu
The land it looks magnificent, dreaming could never prep you
For the meeting of a lifetime, finally i see you face
You had the tears of a mama who had been holding pain
Gently i hold you, told you that I never hated
What you had to do and the circumstances that it created
We talked for hours, pouring out our heart and soul
You kept on holding on my hand til it was time to go
We gave a hug that was decades in the making
Finally we made it a mom and son trading graces
I never knew that this would be the day
But in my heart I knew there'd be a way for us
Yeah, I forgive your choices and the pain
No longer do we have to wait
Face to Face
|
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9. |
Gowe - Celebration
04:13
|
|||
You know what they say money doesn't buy it all
And I agree - but it sure replaces Tylenol
Sipping I'm paying bills that it feels great to be paying off
Finishing our taxes while I backtrack that we made it far
Went from minimum wage payments from finish line
To driving forward in my dream car toward finish lines
And I'm careful to never make it an idol
That I never took the time to really stop and celebrate
Educated with the right tools to handle your funds
Doesn't matter how much comes in if you end up with none
So here's a toast to all the budgeters focused on killing debt
Paying off da crib or da car now that's a flex
All the nights that you done put in to stick to the script
Still tithing ten percent too can never forget
This is just a celebration, motivation
Let's take a couple minutes out to live the fact we made it
It took us way too long, but now we're on
I feel that confetti fall, celebration
The road was long, we kept it goin
Now the world's looking on, celebration
Now we sitting in the fourth quarter with two minutes left
Final drive to win the whole thing and they're up playing press
Silent count to catch em jumping you audible on the fly
You pass it to the side - he toe taps it with the dive
That's a touchdown, you looking back at life like what now?
All the times that you were let down, when you got cut down
Now you're back up at the top and you remember the struggle
All the nights up at the gym when you were living the hustle
No one wants the dedication, the work behind the scenery
Pulling another nighter its never like what it seems to be
They want the bright lights along with glory
But take away the difficulty that's a part of the story
That's the part that makes it sweeter to see it paying off
You walk up to your moms you grab her notes and pay it off
Celebration, motivation
Let's take a couple minutes out to live the fact we made it
It took us way too long, but now we're on
I feel that confetti fall, celebration
The road was long, we kept it goin
Now the world's looking on, celebration
When broke, I was there with you
When low, said we'd make it through
And no, we're not here to lose
Celebration
It's been like ten plus years since y'all really met at school
Kinda hung around with the same people and knew
Of each other met another didn't make it got their number
Finally you made the call and landed right back at you
See at first it didn't seem like a match
She was all about the marathons you like to relax
She would love to play the jazz hop in the backdrop
You was all about the fast rock up on your laptop
Then with time it started feeling like your destiny
Fighting through all the doubters encounters like it was meant to be
See her parents didn't like you at first
You had to show them who you really were to get that reversed
Fast forward a couple years now her dad is at church
Walking with her down the isle man the feelings are pure
That's celebration, motivation
Lets take a couple minutes out to live the fact we made it
It took us way too long, but now we're on
I feel that confetti fall, celebration
The road was long, we kept it goin
Now the world's looking on, celebration
|
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10. |
Gowe - GMA
04:08
|
|||
Orphan kid, off the grid, just an infant been a min
Met you when the plane done landed, held me close in your arms and gripped
Like i been here waiting for this moment yes took me in raise me next
Weathered all that good and bad, like a mom and dad that i never had
You're my grandma yes i honor you, sacrificed all of you
About to write that song for you, all you do it's overdue
Late nights wait til I fall asleep, even though you stayed up round the clock
Had me strapped up on your back in tow, while i drifted slow you took the walk
Fed me on that formula, woke me on the morning of
First one up to warm me up, the one i trust felt more then love
Like worksheets ready when i'm woken up, put in work in-side of the kitchen too
All the things you did behind the scenes are the same ones gleaned that i learned from You
When i think back on my life, pause the scene when i see my wife
I still get just a glimpse of you in the way she lives and the way she moves
And I'm grateful yes that I got to know, a wonderful woman that taught me growth
And i hope I live out what you taught, may i pass it down to my kids and go
First in my life who never left
Took me in with a new address
Showed me love no second guesses
That's my grandma yes, there's not a next
She's in my heart cause she is the best
Raised up quick in a family of dad was working all around the clock,
Soon you learned how to work the pots, you made it pop, you served it hot
All withstanding and without a mom, she passed away when you were six
Had to share that burden with your sis, but you held it down when it went off script
And you became that anchor, later on you got married younger
Round twenty one and filled with wonder, had a son and became a mother
Dude went off said he'd look for work, barely wrote when you'd write him back
For all intents and purposes, you're a single mom that was still on track
And you still kept it moving, looking after your mom-in-law,
When times got hard, you donned the scars you lit the dark and i feel the awe
That's where i get my strength soon enough you moved out of China
Took my dad with a couple bags, put it on your back leave it all behind us
Hong Kong was the destination, made a stop for a longer rest
Put in work for a couple years, then took the flight out to the west
And landed in SF, made a stop inside of Oakland
Every wave your heart was open, on to better greater moments
First in my life who never left
Took me in with a new address
Showed me love no second guesses
That's my grandma yes, there's not a next
She's in my heart cause she is the best
Made it up to Seattle yes, settled down with a new address
Found a job just to make it happen, paying taxes on to next
Best thing now is to help your son, they want a child but they can't conceive
Another route is to try adoption, on to papers, all complete
Couple months later I arrive, you held me at the airport
No more room for fear nor, no darkness felt cared for
The love that i felt well i won't forget, taught me all that i know and more
Sat me down with a pen and pad, you walked the path, you're my mom and dad
No one else had invest in me, calmed my soul like a melody
I want to keep building your legacy, that's next for me, it's destiny
Best thing was when you met the Lord, really got plugged in at the church
Read the word daily, prayed to Jesus, living out what it meant to serve
I saw your life and the transformation, how you loved who did you wrong
I felt that peace inside my heart, i been praying hard for you all along
And i know there'll be one day, you'll leave this earth and you'll ascend
I'll feel that pain deep in my soul, but I'm rest assured that we'll meet again
First in my life who never left
Took me in with a new address
Showed me love no second guesses
That's my grandma yes, there's not a next
She's in my heart cause she is the best
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11. |
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I look down at my hand I see two kings and I play it off
It's high stakes in a new Vegas with major costs
Cuban rolled cigars see the snipers from afar
With a kingpin on my right wiped the slices on his scar
Smoke filled the Vatican deadly vixens and paladins
All I see is trafficking underneath the extravagance
I got to make my way into the inner circle first
I look down at my watch and signal to my partner - here
Here I am like the son of sam
I gotta play the part, all according to the plan
I'm dressed to the nines down every single fiber
Gentle as a dove but I'm shrewd like a viper
I'm tryna play it cool I don't know what's next
To my left he's talking out the side of his neck
But I can see the gun peaking out the side of his vest
I'm tryna keep my heart from jumping out of my chest
Chest yes, still my wire's connected
Wasn't sure if it got tangled when I took off the jacket
Had to roll up all my sleeves just to show that I'm average
I'm not cheating on the river I'm not using a gadget
Now we're going deeper and we talking bout the outfit
It's operation costs losses margins of the profits
Its really getting tense so I glance up at my partner
He's killing at the roulette table, chips are getting larger...
Roll the dice
This the Poltergeist
Knocking at your noggin
with the hubris of a heist huh
They say "when you get the money right
everything else just seems to fall in line
So we put it into motion all eyes on us
No room for any error, she called my bluff
Need to keep my eyes still while I hide my clubs
Then I take a deep breath I don't ride on luck
Blending in, but we're really here heist
Rolling down the strip on a studded Vegas night
You can call it what you will but we got to do it right
Breaking into all the systems infiltrate a bit of light
The kingpin on my right got a note in his left pocket
He started lookin closer and his vibe got way quieter
Guards around his circle started pulling out two silencers
There's a chance I could die in here
Dash it to the left? do I flip over the table tops?
Try to get a grip or to zip-line with a cable shot?
Really all my options are to blow my cover
I try to reach my pen so I can hit that buzzer…
I knocked my drink and lost my chips
The microphone in my chest dropped out real quick
But I'm slick
Hit it with my foot
Toe tapped it
So fast you wouldn't even know what happened
Hoping nobody noticed not even the hostess
I've been so dormant
A silent commotion
I've been tracking my movements and this ones to cross me?
I sit back in my chair and pull my leg back calmly
Man snaps, we really going out like that
We're two undercover agents and we bout to get clapped
If we don't get back on the track of being smooth and anonymous
Then bullets gonna pass soon through our esophagus
So I stand, extended my hand
'It's been a pleasure playing poker with you gentleman'
And I head slowly toward the door my eyes glance to the side
I see the wire near my partners foot with fear in his eyes
I felt a hand on my lap, leather gloves all black
He said let's take a little walk to the back
Can't fall for this trap but I have to play along
When we turn the corner imma hit him in the jaw
Bop bop before I could react
They jumped me
A bat to my head
Before things got ugly
Woke up to my hands zip tied to my feet
In a room full of goons
My escape's looking bleak
Blending in, but we're really here heist
Rolling down the strip on a studded Vegas night
You can call it what you will but we got to do it right
Breaking into all the systems infiltrate a bit of light
See the second that I thought that things could not get worse
I see my partner getting slugged like I was stuck on
First base make my way while I swirl Chardonnay
I gotta get him safe if they stop me ill keep it vague
"Sir - where you going?" while I'm pulling my mask on
'I gotta catch that undercover' - locking the backdoor
'I'm heading to the holding cell - pure interrogation
If our bosses ask, say I'm getting information'
Remind me who you're working for again?
Kinda forgot when you kicked my chin
He grinned
"What's the point in tryna pretend
(Ring ring)
Bring the other executioner in
Well, I've grown really tired of you
So it's time to move on
Boy, hand me that knife"
But his butcher looked at me
I've seen those eyes
Man I knew it all along
It was just a disguise
See my guy kept on staring like he knew it was me
Then I signal keep it quiet while I showed him the keys
I had to sneak a new disguise just to get us to leave
I wasn't gone let you die here, we ain't feeling to sleep
We came with a mission thats to hack into mainframes
Let a bit of light in just to lighten the mainstream
Now that we are finished it's our time to get out
Time to vanish to the background let me pull up the route
Blending in, but we're really here heist
Rolling down the strip on a studded Vegas night
You can call it what you will but we got to do it right
Breaking into all the systems infiltrate a bit of light
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12. |
Gowe - First Home
03:56
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I feel like it was yesterday on a Saturday
Grandma cooking up a storm all for this holiday
Dumplings on the steamer, the cleaver is on the side
The sounds on the tv see the excitement in my eyes
Got Nintendo games, see the window frames
When I take a look outside I see reflections of my innocence
I'm talking bout the house that I grew up in all my life
Right next to beacon avenue located on the side
We would ride, take our bikes around and buy
A bunch of magic cards and bring em home and crack em open
We dueling all on the floor when the borders were kinda white
After that we wrestling the daytime would turn to night
It was tight but I really loved the couch
The cushions would come out and we would lay it on the ground
While we watching all our shows and our favorites were all cartoons
I'm thinking bout the house that I grew up in my youth
That was the start to my route
I'm talk-ing bout my first house
I wish that I could go now
I know it's been a long while
Look at the paths that we crossed
Not all who wander are lost
I loved my beautiful start
I still feel it in my heart
Jr high was really really wack that's enough of that
I guess we're growing into who we're really trying to be
I had the bangs they hanging on the sides up on my face
I put a bunch of posters in my room up in this place
That's my comfort zone play that crazy bone
This is way before dat jazzhop integrated through the saxophone
My home was my safe haven where painting was my escape
I would sit for days while my writing would take away
Any pain I felt got that wrestling belt
Hanging on the side of my closet it made me want to push myself
And reach another level and make it up out the dirt
We got a hundred years as a max and we out this earth
I want to touch a life, let em know it'll be alright
As long as you stay focused it don't matter what your start is like
You see me reminiscing on the room where I grew up
The four walls that surrounded me giving me just enough
That was the start to my route
I'm talk-ing bout my first house
I wish that I could go now
I know it's been a long while
Look at the paths that we crossed
Not all who wander are lost
I loved my beautiful start
I still feel it in my heart
Now I'm looking back as a grown folk, In my own home
Been around the map and traveled down around the coastal's
I been here reminiscing and missing my younger days
The city that i knew is a new one and not the same
Guess it's natural that's how life evolves
Every minute we are changing it's impossible to stay on pause
And still we holding onto all the items that we know
A graduation cap and my degree rolled like a scroll
I remember that, and my favorite class
Double A-S-206, where Connie So would come and lay the facts
And now I'm sitting here in the room and I'm flashing back
The pictures on my wall while I'm playing my favorite tracks
Felt like yesterday, and the sun is out
The way the windows illuminate the room it makes me want to think aloud
I'm talking bout my youth and the house that i grew up in
Even though its over i'll remember til the end
That was the start to my route
I'm talk-ing bout my first house
I wish that i could go now
I know it's been a long while
Look at the paths that we crossed
Not all who wander are lost
I loved my beautiful start
I still feel it in my heart
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13. |
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Growing up, I had a wild imagination
My planes started taking off with verses from my basement
I placed another track back packed it for my travels
And the spaces I would visit made me feel like It was NASA
Loaded up my heartbreaks, writing took the pain away
Therapy of rapping felt like MJ on a fadeaway swish
I've been isolated on this ship
Had a first class view up on the stars you tend to wish
And I'm missing all the things that used to happen on earth
I'm thinking about returning and ill kiss this goodbye
If I never write another song then this is my ride
I hope you never take for granted all the times that we cried
All the times that we laughed and all the times that we had
And in it all we tried to bandage our past while making it last
And now my gas is running low closer to E
I'll see you once again if our journeys are meant to be
If this is really the finale to the journey
Know that I'll remember the moments that made it worth it
Writing down the verses that documented it all
I'll leave you with our pictures I plastered it on the wall
Let's take couple moments cause the sun it hasn't set yet
Soaking in the present that I'll look back from my headset
High in the clouds while I'm piloting around
The curtains coming down and I'm up to take my bow
Ever since I was a kid, I rocked the Off the Wall Vans
Skateboarding over transfers had taught me how to have faith
Move your feet but keep em planted on the landscape
When you on the grind head high keep your back straight
But I traded my kickflipping and varials
For various sick lyrics, handwritten or Arial
Scary when a man compromises in some areas
And think that he could take it to his burial
The sin I hid in dim lighting started sprouting and revealing
Like the variegated ivy that I mounted on the ceiling
Heart barricaded tightly fighting with these suicidal thoughts
Maybe nightly you struggle just like me
And I could never treat the gift of God He gave me lightly
But lately I've been writing just to make you all like me
Skateboarding had taught me there's times you gotta fail
There's times you gotta commit, there's times that you gotta bail
If this is really the finale to the journey
Know that I'll remember the moments that made it worth it
Writing down the verses that documented it all
I'll leave you with our pictures I plastered it on the wall
Lets take couple moments cause the sun it hasn't set yet
Soaking in the present that I'll look back from my headset
High in the clouds while I'm piloting around
The curtains coming down and I'm up to take my bow
Will I miss the adoration? maybe I don't really call it that
I'll miss building these time machines that masks as an artifact
We all can hear the song, that helped bring us along
Whether that be through junior high or through the center of a storm
The backseat of ya car with your first love around ya arm
Ya'll be looking at the sky not fully knowing whats to come
Those are moments of our life that we can drown back found that
Complimented with the perfect soundtrack I count that
Ground's flat on the grass, we lounge back and remember
The stories that we made from this adventure pain is in perspective
And battles that bottled us in the darkness
Had only really made us into conquerors
If this be my last song and curtains fall from beyond
Know I'm proud of the person that you are
You're strong and you've got this, you're awesome
And even though I'm gone remember
God's got you in His arms I promise
If this is really the finale to the journey
Know that i'll remember the moments that made it worth it
Writing down the verses that documented it all
I'll leave you with our pictures I plastered it on the wall
Lets take couple moments cause the sun it hasn't set yet
Soaking in the present that I'll look back from my headset
High in the clouds while I'm piloting around
The curtains coming down and I'm up to take my bow
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