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about
This song is dedicated to Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, recorded on her birthday (May 27th, 2022). 2 + 7 = 9. It is also dedicated in memory of DMX, 1 + 8 = 9, a galactic center December Sun, and it was written during the time of his passing in 2021 (leading up to April 9), when I felt his spirit speaking to me. The beat was leased from Wyshmaster and included Lydia Caesar's beautyful hook, with some remixing by blosSsom. The views/message/lyrics are my own and are not intended to reflect the opinions or beliefs of any of the above artists. What we all have in common is being artists in this world we share, and I send my love, respect, and tribute to all involved (directly and indirectly).
I originally had another tribute to Lisa that I was hoping to record in time for her birthday, but because that song wasn't ready yet and was too important to rush, I recorded this one instead. It's a little raw, but from the heart...inspired by these times we live in. The lyrics already referenced Lisa's legacy (not to mention she is a big influence on everything I do. I especially love her song "Head to the Sky" ft. Natina Reed from her Supernova album. It is one of my favorite songs of all time. I also want to celebrate her good friend Natina's amazing legacy, who wrote much of Blaque's music).
After just recently discovering that Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, and Timbaland recorded the majority of their songs from "One in a Million" not far from where I live, I also learned by chance during the making of this song that DMX served time in juvenile detention just a few more miles down the road in the late 80s, at age 15, after escaping from Valhalla, NY in the middle of winter. His mother convinced him to turn himself back in, and he was relocated nearby to where I now live. Land of the Haudenosaunee Cayuga and Seneca peoples. So the legend goes... If you understand the song title's reference, you will begin to understand the synchronicities at work here. The world is a mystical and magical place, call it god, call it math, call it nature, call it whatever.
Likewise, I am releasing this during the Gemini New Moon, at 9 degrees of Gemini, which is conjunct Lisa's natal Sun in astrology (just a few degrees away). So much more I could say...
Last but not least, this song is dedicated to my love of Hip-Hop. Long live our legends.
country roads
take me home
to a place at the crossroads
crossfire richochets
like the dogfights
screams echoing
blood in the night
saw it everywhere
felt the daylights go out
when i woke up
the streets were swept clean
could it have been a dream?
searching for our names
in the ending credits
if i’m lucid, was it you
who spoke first?
i don’t want the credit anyhow
been through so much
i can’t remember
if i wrote this verse or not
something
on the tip
of my tongue
kinda reminds me of nina,
maybe kurupt or natina
i do it for the love,
somebody once said
free your mind
and the rest will follow…
a third world country
babies starving
somebody says
it’s not ours
i said
which block you talking about?
on my block we’re careful
where we walk
how we talk and
if the cops don’t get you
their chalk lines might
no, i misspoke
couldn’t have been my block
and if it was mine,
i wouldn’t know
they say
the place i’m from
doesn’t exist anymore
but this technique is immortal
primordial and eternal
so i travel the earth
and if you go far enough
they say you walk in circles
stutter on a syllable
i need a sybil for your query
i’m feeling weary
and nowhere near my destination
wary of using words
wondering if somebody else
said them first
this fucking war…
is it me?
one man gets his credit
another put a target on his back
man, when i was coming up
you couldn’t bite a bar
at least it wouldn’t get you far
cause our artists were so great
a slick verse
was just a tiny fraction
(was just an infinitesimal piece)
of who they were, nowadays
we bicker over who said
2+2 = 4 first…
shit. i’m out here tryna figure out
how to make it into 5 or 6
i’m so many songs in
i skipped over to 667
like two thirds, point is…
6 plus 7 equals 13 and
it’s getting kinda meta
(Like mousetraps &
Industry cheddar)
It’s like a goldrush
Pit us against each other
Until there’s nothing left
but gold dust
Disappearing
into their pockets
All that beef
they brought us
Is rotting
A smell never forgotten
& we can’t even
Pay the cost
Nobody taught us
to make Moccasins
from the leather
Ain’t got no Elders left
To teach the lessons & skills
We need to keep from killing
& getting killed
But that’s neither here nor there
Matter of fact nobody knows where
We go from here—
our homes gone,
This land of ours
turned to stone
and on that note
wish i could sing
like nina simone
maybe someday
somebody
who can
will sing
a song i wrote
just for them
credits
released May 30, 2022
Vocals/Lyrics by blosSsom
Hook/Lyrics by Lydia Caesar
Music by Wyshmaster with additional mixing by blosSsom
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