1. |
NO CHILL
03:09
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My Bic pen is Big Ben
Put London on the map
We big men
Schoolin em: Big Ten
This is kid’s stuff:
Pigpen
Babar
Barbie
Hanna Barbera
Best bars
And I’m not even in my bars era
had the bars up
Since Starbucks
Was nothin a startup
Now what’s in our cups?
Really dark stuff…
Let that sink in
While you’re drinking
I wonder what’s changed
From Lincoln to Clinton?
Grassy Narrows to Flint
Let that sink in
While you’re drinking
Your water
I’m thinking
What’s a stream?
Nothing means
Much it seems
Just some memes for
Troubled teens
Clutching screens
Muffled screams
We’re all just data
They’ve been wanting to mine
Since they see us all as numbers
Kids cocking the nine
Police like math teachers
Holding chalk is a sign
Many factors divide us
We’re not in our prime
I’m for the mystics and misfits
Winning hunger games
Tho I was born in the districts
Listenin to new funk
And classic house
Still about rappin
Just not what y’all rap about
Say you’re have some clout
It sounds more like you’re having doubts
say less so when you do talk
You won’t have to shout
I still believe in a song’s influence
I just wish corporations
Would talk honest to us
When we say the game’s fixed
They throw a wrench in the plans
And call mans unhinged
Becuz they wanna screw us
That’s the drill…
Thats why
I can’t chill
Or stand still
I’m Grant Hill
Cuz if you’re close to the mic
Or you know skill then you know
Im the closest to mike
Goat when I write
Cuz
I know when I’m right
I seen the points
On all sides
Like I’m holding the dice…
I’m old fashioned
I put lyrics in it
This is sippin an old fashioned
Cuz the spirits in it
Nearly 20 years
Steering clear of gimmicks
So if you like what you been hearing
I been here a minute
No time to pick beats/beets
No Dwight Shrute
I said the first one I hear
Imma write to
Like ayt this a nice loop
Dropped Thursday night
I already killed that Friday
Like Ice cube
They said brag on it
I don’t really like to…
I’m a nice dude
Ok we made the best doc
since Johns Hopkins med school
don’t believe me? Just watch things
Only needed a camera to go pro
Now only Bo knows
How I both flow and host shows
Both catch bodies and peabody’s…
basically EGOTing…
Braun of braveheart
Brain of Descartes
Plus the kinda swagger
I honestly oughta trademark
Prison hoops:
I’m the definition of pen game
I’m Sidney Crosby in the pens game
Zen brain
In the clutch
When it’s end game
Giving y’all jewels
But these fools can’t comprehend game
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2. |
LIGHT A CANDLE
02:45
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I’ll post a Spotify wrapped
When I see the CEO of Spotify rap
And monetize that
This bonafide hack
Told artists they ought to work faster
I’m like “sure, master“
Last I heard your balance sheet suggests
Your company is weak
Maybe you should literally mind
the company you keep…
I wish everybody health
I hope everybody sells
And you stop caking off
everybody else
Ok —
Now who’s had a better yr than me yrically?
Empirically
Not quite album time yet
but it’s getting close
Blessing folks
Is the only item on my list
When I’m setting goals
Medical professionals
said the flow’s Lexapro
Cuz when the decibels up
Depression goes to record lows
Ever skeptical heads that
Check the Netflix show
Request the next episode
The second that the credits roll
They let it load
Low key but he special tho
those that test him
Get a big L
Like a sectional
Yo I studied Big L flexin
So I’m flexible
I could stretch my rhyme schemes
from Weston Road to Mexico
Exceptional
On records or at festivals
When I catch the ghost
The whole set becomes a spectacle
I know the agendas
what’s trendy to say
But like rest
I’m the best at the end of day
Its a strange Christmas
In my town
Thinking of Bethlehem then
And then Bethlehem right now
it’s too much to write down
I was told that the suffering
Is where Christ’s found
But we never get the lessons
We just get some presents
And pray for peace
While our pensions
all invest in weapons
Somehow we end up
More frightened
With less protection
We’re short-sighted
No depth perception
Death and aggression
Meanwhile a child’s born
Sign of new hope
Gifts from wise men
Or is it fool’s gold?
Who knows
Its a strange Christmas
When you’re wish list
Isn’t huge goals
Just food, clothes
And politicians
That listen
To truth told
Another year in toronto
But everything’s changed
Every exchange feels dangerous
Now everything’s strange
I light a candle
And hope for the unexpected
An outcome that no one suspected
For those neglected
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3. |
CIRCUS
02:29
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Like a circus in a tent
Every verse is an event
Step right up!
This is a layup
Its left right up
With Steph-like touch
Tracks get sliced up
When my chef knife cuts
Another Red Stripe buzz
have mercy
The more drinks
The more mans get thirsty
I always sip 2nd, spit firstly
I can’t be on stages
In a haze with slurred speech
cuz fans in midlife
Still come out at midnight
Any hour just to catch the kid
like a midwife
They saying he ate
I’m only mid-bite
They just gave me my plate
like it’s mid-flight…
These rappers all mid, right
Let me tell em how I live life
Husband of one
and father of two daughters
out in loose joggers
Getting huge propers
Walking thru shopper’s
… drug mart
That’s a popular Drug store
In a province run
By former drug lord
Doug ford
He used to be a west end
drug source
Now he’s building more jails
For the drug wars
That’s the facts man
It’s on the record
But they spin it like a song
When you put on a record
Yo I’m talking at the Premier/premiere
Like a Cannes director
(Let ‘em catch that one)
Your boy Shad’s back at it
all behind-the-back passes
I am that Magic
When I rock
I’m slash, axl, and
Black sabbath
Spit flames —
I bbq em like Skratch Bastid
That’s my brother
The kid’s amazing
Diggin in crates
Mixing breaks
Give him praises
Now let me do a different cadence
Flip the phrasin
Switch the intonation
Use a quicker pace
And syncopation
Up the degree of difficulty
Like dissertations
And still spit with the same
wit and sophistication
This one is for all the bros
Lonzos and Lamelo Balls
Polished prose
Is all I pen
Uncut gems
Solid gold
Safdie brothers
From different mothers
Like Hall and Oates
I wrote a story called brother
That sticks to a theme
Plus it’s 40 plus bars
That stick to a scheme
Dre said 40 plus rappers
Got nothing to say
I think its fair to assume
They heard smthg today
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Shad Toronto, Ontario
Shad is a Juno Award-winning rapper from London, Ontario and the host of Netflix’s Hip-Hop Evolution. His albums have been recognized for their sharp lyrics and soulful arrangements.
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