1. |
"Thesis"
01:30
|
|
||
Trying to build upon what I know I got naturally
Frowned upon the title Rapper, now I claim it happily
Cause Hip-Hop's a way of living
Rap is the verb that's utilized to describe the way I choose to spill it
The truth is always written
Let your light shine bright, get lifted
Back in elementary, they said I was gifted
Crenshaw, 100 something, bed in the living room
Made a little dough pushing hair with a broom at the barbershop
I recall cold nights at the bustop
Me & moms, late night, Inglewood to The O.C
She was trying to get a degree studying oral hygiene
Let your light shine bright, get lifted
Real life's improve, not scripted
Some scenes are always vivid, think back, rewind, relive it
Reason for why we're living - a mission, maybe - is it?
Who knows, reasons for dying - too many - no denying
Let your life shine bright get lifted
This next one's for the misfit that really wasn't with it
When the "in - thing" suddenly shifted
Don't feel like social strangers, losers, or lone rangers
It's the gift & the curse that you had from the birth
Don't change it
Yo, it's a flood & i'ma stop it up
Drain to the rain, send it here & I'ma sop it up
Spitting weak flows on the floor & I'ma mop 'em up
No telling, so compelling when on the microphone & I'm zoning
Ey, yo - I might erupt
|
||||
2. |
"iLLCANDESCENT"
02:06
|
|
||
Ill is loving life instead of loathing
Spelling it out twice with acronyms and thus showing
Your skills as an intellectual lucid lyricist
Using my surroundings and experience to give you this
L - O - X ish, yo I'm living off experience
Wonder where Hip-Hop went?
Search no more, you're hearing it
West Coast Tribe vibe, any given time I'd stride
Do my thing over big drums swinging
I be traveling, never drop the ball - like a pilgrimage
Wonder where you got the nerve to say you're not feeling it
Now that's an oxymoron, ain't it?
Well, ain't it?
Some say they got the cure
When it's the treatment for what's tainted - the game
A rookie with the rhyme, scouts - remember my name
A rookie with the rhyme, scouts - remember my name
A rookie with the rhyme, scouts - remember my name
Remember the name
Yo, it's the I - double l, well - c - to - the - a - n -
D - to - e - s - c - to - the - e - n - t
It's illcandescent, homie - it's a blessing to be
Illcandescent, shine fluorescent most definitely
I - double l, well - c - to - the - a - n -
D - to - e - s - c - to - the - e - n - t
It's illcandescent, homie - it's a blessing to be
Illcandescent, shine fluorescent
What's illcandescent?
Shining thru the stark and the darkness
Emerging from obscurity, opposite of thoughtless
Witty, shining thru the smog of the city
Repping my town, L.A
It's quite gritty
That's why I'm thankful for the people I'm around
They always hold me down, yet they never hold me down
Here in Cali where they're set tripping like a blooper reel
Shoot - to - kill for blood to spill
Dudes is running rampant, still
I rise above it, the underdog - I love it
The worse be the adversity, but still you gotta love it
The worse be the adversity, but still you gotta love it
Got this little light of mine in my mind and I'ma shine it
|
||||
3. |
"The Journey" (4U)
02:52
|
|
||
I'm trying to get it any way I want it on my journey
Keep my nose and neck out of what that don't concern me
Ducking, dodging, weaving
Won't stop believing in the birth of the dreams
And the thoughts I'm conceiving - by any means
Blow these hot 16's like it's '07
Around the time I was confined by big brethren
Don't get it twisted, I mean he held me down
From beats to loose leaf sheets, look-it - listen now
Mama, yeah I'm spitting, now
Crazy how it panned out - considered to be a man now
Unlike my father, hardly even bothered
Coward - least provider of the meals I devoured
Nah, I ain't mad at him - or feeling sad about him
More apathetic, how pathetic - this is real life
This music is medicine making me feel right
I split my tablets from my tablet with the public
To keep me from o.d
Take a d - o - s - e, a little piece of m - e
Perhaps these raps'll serve as maps on the journey
Perhaps these raps'll serve as maps on the journey
This life's a lemon, gotta squeeze for what it's worth
Impregnated with dreams, I gotta induce the birth
Gotta make it happen, days be time lapsing
It's not in arms reach if it's ever worth grabbing, so
Any way I want it, that's the way I need it
At times I don't see it, but I don't stop believing
Any way I want it, that's the way I need it
At times I don't see it, but I don't stop believing
The journey
This is for you, you, you
And all of you in the back, and in the middle and the front
This life's a lemon, gotta squeeze for what it's worth
Impregnated with dreams, I gotta induce the birth
Gotta make it happen, days be time lapsing
It's not in arms reach if it's ever worth grabbing, so
Any way I want it, that's the way I need it
At times I don't see it, but I don't stop believing
Any way I want it, that's the way I need it
At times I don't see it, but I don't stop believing
The journey
|
||||
4. |
|
|||
Without a doubt, we all got one
No fairytales, real life could be cumbersome
If you choose to run
That's why I'm unloading
Microphone detonator, over the beats I'm exploding
Yo, give the drummer some
Tho I've been marching to the beat of my own from
Circa '91
Was dealt some crazy cards, poppa was a rolling stone
And a shooting star
Kinda sounds like a meteor, right? shook up my whole globe
Inspired me to go write
And shed a little light on some things that in hindsight
Might kill me softly or make me strong in it's own right
I call it paradox, you call it - [life]
Yo I'm trying to get the glory
So if you just listen
You might could understand
You might just understand this is my - [story]
And I'ma tell it how I wanna
Story of my life, three things for certain
Death, uncertainty, contradiction? certainly
Story of my life, swear she could've been my wife
Wouldn't even think twice, fickleness her only vice
Oh how I wish I was an octopus with a firm grasp
When in the way of harm, I'd detach my arms fast
And escape, get away, but I can't cause I'm weak
And I'm meek, and I'm vexed cause I can't
Move-on to the next just yet
I'm trying to get the glory
So if you just listen
You might could understand
You might just understand this is my - [story]
And I'ma tell it how I wanna
Story of my life: dysfunctional relationships
Keyword is "functional" - life is what you make of it
Story of my life: I try to be the bigger man
Motion for truce and get left with a hanging hand
Yo life's a trip - with a one-way ticket
Full of pain and pleasure
Nonsense daily, empathy for Hellen Keller
And yet life's a treasure
Dig the dirt up off your chest, brush off the rest
Ain't nothing better, you better [dig it]
|
||||
5. |
"Dig This!"
03:24
|
|
||
Now pump your fist real quick if you [dig this]
From L.A. to VA, you know they [dig this]
It's C-A, all day - gotta [dig this]
So grab a shovel, 'bout to bubble - gotta [dig this]
A bulldozer to your shovel, I could dig this
It's like the rubble runneth over - gotta dig this
Captivate the whole crowd with the quickness
Hitting you right now with the business
Yup, you're digging this
The flow's slit-wrist-emo-tion-al
It's just the Golden Era steelo with a little twist
Nappy headed, Afrocentric 90s born kid
A lyrical Basquiat, my every line is innovative
Silence [is] my canvas, acrylic is the lyric
I'm painting pictures - vivid - verbatim how I live it
Life portraits, yeah I'm all for it
Whether Plane Jane or insane metaphorics
Subtlety is key, sonny - never straight forward
Don't get it twisted, never phony with the phonics
Might quite simply be right over your head
Just like a bonnet, baby
Yup, because the truth is underlying
Spitting rivers - rhymin' em
An onion to these sucker MC's
I'll have them crying them - yo
That's on the 23rd letter with the veteran flow
Bronze Era, hella clever with the lyrics to go
New decade - Glade - fresh with a spin
Vets hella vexed cause I shine like them
When they was in their prime
It's crazy - no fugazy, I ain't even reach mine
I'm never hesitant to spit the rhetoric that's relevant
Minus the Bora Bora - oh the ora's so heaven sent
On the mic - yeah, you're nice - but I'm benevolent
Remind you of a veteran - I say that in a reverent tone
I freak the microphone - bone and I bone - out
A sick beat, blank sheet and I zone out
Yeah that's the formula - and I'm just warming up
Nu-damu - could never say I never warned you, bruh
|
||||
6. |
"Spittin' In the Wind"
03:33
|
|
||
Love is a place I'm hesitant to go again
It's strange I'm still willing
Yo - I'm spitting in the wind
Love is a place I'm hesitant to go again
I think I might be illin'
Think I'm spitting in the wind
The 'ship was headed for Bermuda, never to return
I thought I'd do like Usher Raymond and just Let It Burn
Come to find that I ain't much a pyro'
I'd strike a match, take a deep breath
Quickly, I'd blow - it - out
Yeah, I was illin' no doubt
But peep the words to the song 'bout how it didn't pan-out
'bout how it didn't pan-out
Her resilience amazes me, I knew the deal from the get
Yet I must admit, it still phases me
We was on the up-and-up, I'd like to think we had something
The poetry, profound convos - the sweet nothings
Aesthetically, she appealed to me
A courtly love, we only linked intellectually
It was too good to be true
Love sick, long term reminiscent of the flu
But - she went thru phases like a real estate listing
Only speaking the truth - don't be offended if you're listening
[love]
The facade grew faded and true colors appeared
Connection fell jaded, 'bout as quick as it adhered
Love is a place I'm hesitant to go again
It's strange I'm still willing
Yo - I'm spitting in the wind
Love is a place I'm hesitant to go again
It's strange I'm still willing
Find A Way by the Tribe - story of my life
Sent scrambled signals something sickening
Yo I feel you, Phife
Except she wasn't playing games
Not even scrimmaging
Spoke my mind one day
And from then we had always went
Back-n-forth like palindromes and pendulums
Feelings fluctuated they had no hope of being
Stopped, but umm
They say your 1st love is likely not to be your last
In that, I find truth - in fact I found out first hand
Love is a place I'm hesitant to go again
It's crazy how it changed, she was just a lady friend
Looked around and found it was love I was in
The very place I thought that I could've never been
It sounds foolish, and I say this with a grin
For a second time, I wouldn't mind spitting in the wind
Wouldn't mind spitting in the wind
Again
Love, love is a place I'm hesitant to go again
It's strange I'm still willing
Yo - I'm spitting in the wind
Love is a place I'm hesitant to go again
I think I might be illin'
Think I'm spitting in the wind
Love is a place I'm hesitant to go again
It's strange I'm still willing
Yo - I'm spitting in the wind
|
||||
7. |
"Love is Love"
01:32
|
|
||
8. |
"Slow Down"
03:08
|
|
||
At first I tried waiting to do the deed [damn]
At least I made it 'til 18, [then...]
I guess my libido kinda took over [and...]
It got a little crazy, started making moves
Guess you could say I'm something like that Clarence Carter guy
It wasn't feeling right, ain't like them other dudes
The types to dine-n-dash
Rather settle my food, I know it sounds silly
But that's just how I'm feeling
Coming from yours truly, able and surely willing
Keep it on the down low, vague and discreet
See, I'm not the type of kid to have my bus'[iness] in the street
No bragging, boasting ale toasting with my boys and all
Cause gossip grapes grow, and then from the vines they fall
[aww] here we go with the "he said, she said"
She started catching feelings, guess I was misread
Cause in my head, bold letters on a sign read:
Slow, slow down
You need to pump your brakes
Slow, slow down
Before you make a big mistake
Slow, slow down
Think you need to double-take
Slow, slow down
Hey hey, lady
This is me when I'm thinking with my other head
Hitting the sheets still, but this time it's full of lead
Instead of open legs, it's open minds
You show me yours, I'll show you mine
I'm talking mind sex, conversation climax
Most don't comprehend that you really gotta have that
Syntax, meaningful, fruitful, beautiful
A steady foundation with plenty of room to grow
It's hella relevant, in the development
Of a relationship, gotta consider it
Cause otherwise your love is lust in disguise
Getting stuck with hard luck, wondering: why?
And though I'm preaching my second hand teachings...
Seeing ladies pacing by that I wouldn't mind beseeching
It's some ladies pacing by that I wouldn't mind beseeching
It's some ladies pacing by that I wouldn't mind beseeching
Like - [h]'ey
Slow, slow down
You need to pump your brakes
Slow, slow down
You made me do a double-take
Slow, slow down
And then you made me wanna say
Slow, slow down
Hey hey, lady
|
||||
9. |
"Rain Rain Rain"
02:38
|
|
||
These raindrops keep falling on my head
I could let 'em soak me but I tilt my head instead
And take a sip - embrace it
As if it were my life's reins
Refuse to live a lifestyle of many that's mundane
Nine-to-five, lack of drive - with my hands tied
No money for vacation - just enough to get by
Scratching and surviving, trying to afloat
Among the flood of MCs in hightide on my coast
A lot of goons and buffoons haunting the scene like ghosts
With braggadocio flows, no-name lames got it backwards
Like Emanon - more than you know
Making it rain up in the club
Nothing to grow, nothing to show
Ironic how thinking green's polluting things
It feels like a lucid dream - how I crept on the scene
Not really being seen, but heard
My rhetoric, my words - so bittersweet - The Verve
|
||||
10. |
"In Your Dreams"
03:59
|
|
||
I do this for me, ain't worried 'bout records to be sold
Or records to be broke - truth being told
I'd rather gather cosigns like petitions from people I don't know
I'm one word - two syllables - get to know 'em
Versis with an I - S, not a U - S, or an E - S, so better take note
Studied the game forever - graduating - I'm applying it
All for higher learning yearning burning, no denying it
One word - one syllable - l - i - f - e
Set the tone for the project, please believe me
Illcandescent, shine fluorescent most definitely
Shine your light and might discover who you're destined to be
Treat it as rhetorical for those that's questioning me
But no hard feelings, yo - I'ma let it go
I'm so butter - on a roll, serotonin in my soul
And when I feel the need, yo - I let myself go
I be traveling - never drop the ball - not at all
Aim, take a shot and chase it down with one more
No alcoholic notion - yo, dreaming is my potion
Don't get it twisted, bro - cause sleeping's never my devotion
I'm coasting here on the left side of the map
It's 'bout time for more Rap that's trying to bridge the gap
Between the Golden and the era of the new
Born in '91, could never say you never knew
Steady pulling stunts, don't front
You know I gotcha open
How many MCs who got the props got 'em proper?
It's few on the roster - this is me hoping
To add my my name to the list, blow 'em out the ocean water
I flow in vain/[vein] fresh like the new blood ought to
12, 34 - here we, here we, here we go
Dreaming and scheming - 90-something-type-flow
Doper than whatever that it is that you smoke
That bud - whatever you wanna call it
I'm on some Domino trying to get a slice of that pie
My lyrics be the leverage to sever - no lie
Took my time, dropped my 1st joint in '09
After years of steady studying and jotting down lines
No half steppin' to the rhythm of the drum
Power moves - I'm talking fee-fo-fi-fum
Better run - African - high strung - and I'm young
Nappy-headed, almost dreaded - wait a sec'[ond] - I'm not done
I flow in vain/[vein] fresh like the new blood ought to
Nu-damu on the scene looking lean
Force to be reckoned with - new rhyme regime
Bump what you heard - focus in on what I mean
The fire burns higher - this is just the kerosine
The fire burns higher - this is just the kerosine
The fire burns higher - this is just the kerosine
Thinking I'ma get doused? - think not - in your dreams
|
||||
11. |
"The Need"
04:16
|
|
||
It's alright to dream just wake-up before
Crude, rude reality comes along and has you swimming up stream
Everybody bent on "get the dollar, get the cream"
Profit first, conviction last
Guess that's how the globe spin
Currency reigns supreme, I'm in a whirlwind
These thoughts wrapping up my mind like a turban
Now why is everybody (w)rapping like it's Christmas?
And getting signed in no time
Tell me, what is this?
I'ma turn it all back to the essence
With a little bit of wit, class & effervescence
Taking you aback with the musical essence
Dropping knowledge you acknowledge
Now here's the lesson, check it:
The microphone, I wreck it
The sucker clones, I school 'em
Like microphones, I check 'em
They're gone like no one knew 'em
Claiming to rep the real
Yo, cut that bull-spiel
Messing it up for dudes that do it like it's nothing to it
Yup, and when I feel the need
I let myself go
Open up my mouth & let the words flow
Yup, and when I feel the beat
I let myself go
Open up my mind and let the words flow
Average MC is a commodity to me
That I occasionally would eat just like a creature from the sea
With every single sentence make you wanna cop a plea
Now who should be the judge? the p - e - o - p - l - e
The jury, unanimous votes - you get the rope
From a grim reaper sleeper keeper - wait, with no cloak
A stand-up guy telling the truth and no jokes
Don't be fooled by the punchlines
I'll hem you up like one-time
Plaintiff and defendant of this Hip-Hop when I rhyme
A bronze medal boy with a golden era vibe
Like I-N-I, De La - of course the Village and the Tribe
You shooting for a buzz - heavy influence what I strive for
Got grammar galore and so I scribe some more
You hungry for the money 'til it becomes a chore
And then you start to question what you're doing it for
Instead of trying to deal, still you choose to ignore
That bit a conscience fighting against the nonsense
I got the package, you got the items
You lack in content, you got a problem
Assess and then address it
Now here's the lesson - check it:
The microphone, I wreck it
The sucker clones, I school 'em
Like microphones, I check 'em
They're gone like no one knew 'em
Claiming to rep the real
Yo, cut that bull-spiel
I rep the league of dudes that do it like it's nothing to it
Yup, and when I feel the need
I let myself go
Open up my mouth and let the words flow
|
||||
12. |
"Life After You"
04:27
|
|
||
Loving you is like open-chest
The blows connect when you reject the clear and evident
Love is a battlefield, at times I wish I had a shield
Would've raised my hand only to swear that you were heaven sent
Had me bent
I told myself I wouldn't do this again
But the weather seemed right, had my heart feeling light
And there was no sign of wind coming in in sight
until i felt a slight draft for me to cope on my behalf
"Spittin In the Wind" - more than some paragraphs
About the riff raff of a love interest that was of the past
That was my first song you were my first love but before long
i met my 2nd one, call her my first wind gimme a second love soon it''ll make sense
you helped helped me find a more mature and less perplexed one
it's like no matter how polite i could never please you
a vacay in paradise couldn't apease you
we both got a lot of growing up to do
so i'll leave it up do the next fool
life after you
even though we're though
my mind keeps on playing back the memories of you
best believe it made me crazy
only few could ever phase me
coulda been my lady
this is life after you
i'll be lying if i say i do it on my own
too long a list to names, too many reasons for the poems
could be adversity, could be the simple fact that i'm in good company
whatever it may be
it resonates in me beyond the 3rd degree
so now yo know it's deep
i gotta that my peeps so if the shoe fits lace 'em up
as all the favors and support steady tally up
yo, i never take it lightly and the day i start to is highly unlikely
so may god strike me if i ever stray from my roots
you're near and dear i couldn't state it any clearer
this is life after you
can't be standin' around doin' nothin'
you gotta get it in gear and move somethin'
& do somethin' & be about it
if you take a break gotta keep the motor runnin'
can't be standin' around doin' nothin'
you gotta get it in gear and move somethin'
& do somethin' & be about it
y'gotta get up get out & get
get up get out & get somethin'
|
||||
13. |
"Travelin'"
06:01
|
|
||
14. |
||||
(chorus)
the bare necessities, a pen & pad in front of me, see, that's the basic recipe of what I need, so I could keep it comin', hot & steamin' out the oven;gotta love it know you're hungry, now it's time to eat. you gotta love it(8Xs)
VERSE 1:
growin' up I never had much, but didn't use it as an excuse-noose to hang myself up, impervious, didn't let it do me damage, flipped the script from protagonist, writing's how I manage, never did I ever have to shoot or pass the rock, like the system, these bars are all I really got for ya, brotha, either get knocked or get locked, when I come through the spot, I'm lettin' off via lyrics, non-constructive critics, zip y'lip, not tryin' to hear it, some use Head & Shoulders, some stay flakes, others say they love you when you knowin' that they're fake, careful who you're shunning, some got their heads on straight, though it's kinda hard to know who's friend or foe, let your network grow, but who am I?, cause all I know is that...
(chorus)
VERSE 2:
A'yo I'm 18 now, & I lack the know how on how this all gon' turn out, wish I could take the scenic route, a wanderlust, a yearning burnin' to see what the world's about, aside from preconceived thoughts or what the nightly news reported, gotta see it for myself, media mind-state contorted, always been the one to take the roads less traveled, wing-it as I sing-it, sit back watch my live unravel, keep my fingers crossed, not for luck, but 'cause I rep the West, divin' into life's sea of stray bullets, no vest, my art's official & I know the artificial gon' test, but it ain't gon' phase me if nobody praise me, Hip Hop hair in my mouth got me spittin' crazy, but who am I?, just some boy that's on the mic sayin' the game's been kinda flooded by too many that don't love it, tellin' the fans don't feed-in, 'cause a glutton don't need it!
(chorus)
|
Streaming and Download help
If you like Versis, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp