Yo, it’s that Fire Work A work of fire The kind of light that only deep and darkest hurt inspires Re-arisen with a mission like recidivism when I’m spittin’ ash and volcanic raps Social activism in a system what I give ‘em like Soulfire till their hands’ll clap And you can bring the water But it creates the steam Like when you block my vision It just creates a dream And I’m a sleepwalker So I will clench the fist And truth be told, even with a blindfold, I’mma show you what you’re up against This is the will to power This is the art of war And if you bring the beef Good thing I’m a carnivore And I’ve been makin’ paper So my arms are sore ‘The brick walls in life Let us show who wants it more’ And if you want awards I’ll take you to task It’s not a chore for me score a soundtrack with the impact to make a system blast Poetry is born on beats Until you need the cash Now all these rappers wearin’ chains Free at last Chorus: It’s that fire work Learn a skill When the revolution comes Burn and build Every day through the lessons and the layoffs I have come to bring the flame Order out of chaos It’s that fire work Breathe the smoke They said we couldn’t move the world cuz the lever broke But I’mma take it from the prose to the praxis Revolution till we knock the globe off its axis If you are what you buy, then I’m not buyin’ it Saved by the grace, or can you buy survivorship See how loud the sirens get, callin’ blocks out to the rocks So if I take you up and show you the poverty hanging over the Hollywood Valley I’ll make your balloon pop Because their heads are high Not with respect But from a life that is founded on a disconnect I mean no disrespect Because I’m guilty too But I’ll still call you out – cuz that’s what the guilty do Whenever we consider if a sinner should be shamed We often tend to save it if the sin’ is the same So give me forgiveness if the sinnin’ that we blame Is the sin that we commit, just said with another name And if the structure of the sentencin’ is drivin’ you insane Then I’ll say I’m sorry bout the sequence that I sang But better bring the heat if the tyger’s what you tame Cuz I’m tearin’ up a beat, plus I’m known to make it rain It’s that trickle-down In full effect So if I(‘m) Maximili Protect ya neck Ask Marie Antoinette how that cake taste What goes up must come down – Blake wait! Chorus I’m Che Guevara Plus the Reign of Terror On the back of my shirt: ‘Beware the mirror’ Plus don’t trust the wearer, especially when in the Booth It’s always Honest Abes who get slain when they tell the truth I’m the living proof, plus some fiction May the Lord give you a piece – benediction So if you’re sickened, I’ll say you fly as chickens Or say you fly as penguins cuz your ice flow’s quickly sinkin’ With the liquor that you’re drinkin’ makes me think that you are blinkin’ Only just to stay alive and to stop yourself from thinkin’ Cuz we’re all gonna die, it’s just a matter of time What’s the matter – does the pattern always seem to cause crime? If we tryin’ to stay alive or we just tryin’ to shine When the Sun crashes into Earth, we all goin’ blind Final Chorus: It’s that fire work Learn a skill When the revolution comes Burn at will Every day through the lessons and the layoffs I have come to bring the flame So this is the payoff It’s that fire work Breathe the smoke They said we couldn’t move the world cuz the lever broke So I’mma take it from the prose to the praxis Revolution till we knock the globe off its axis

Word playa verse dater Think pad prince paper Sweep her off her feet, take her on a tangent But did I cross the line? I call that enjambment I call that enchantment, every time she spoke Let her hair down for me to climb like a trope And free her from the tower, ‘cept the line nearly broke So she say sure nuff, she holdin’ me close Sibilant shimmerin’ scintillating synonyms She could save shells that souls had been livin’ in Give a chance to live again, but refrain from repetition Endless curse to walk the Earth – existential definition Stuck in a prison made of 26 epistles And every single epithet is dreaded like a missile And every single evanescent effort to do evil Is met with the ever-present pressure of an equal And opposite, I read her face like scholarship She was the type of seraph to make the bold call it quits Never got acknowledgment, but I didn’t mind at all Guess they say that every hero always has a fatal flaw I could take a fall… and a winter too Like a solstice sun, my shine is dimmin’ boo But sometimes on the flipside it feels like the longest day And even when she’s gone, she’s only just a song away Chorus: Word playa, Play on, play at Say word playa Play on, play at Say word playa Play on, play at Say word playa Play on Word killa terror dactyl Murderous burden is hella tactile I amicably played the amateur But I could love her in five foot parameters To be or not for me, that is the test To sleep – her chance to dream, that is the rest Watch me sling the errors of my fortune All of my sin taxed me in high portion So I’m driving discourse without poetic license Stay in double lines so as not to make her frightened But the test is double blind and so is the assignment Never stayed in solitary, got out on consignment Askin’ what a sign meant, answer endlessly deferred Question what’s the difference between the spoken and the written word It’s a bit absurd, but then so is she I guess it takes more than a rhyme to make poetry Chorus Thought Word Action Habit Character Destiny – caught, labyrinth Hang the men of tar for who they are So I question whether that was written up within the stars Beginnings call out what the winnings are Except for the hands that are later dealt a winning card But that’s a skinny draw – I’m talkin’ slim chance Sketchy odds, never lands like Rembrandt So what’s best to do? The best you can Use the lexicon to effect a plan And when perfection is murderin’ progression Then don’t let the enemy of good kill expression Cuz the subalterns stay silent if they choose to be But if you think the mute don’t talk, well that’s news to me Truthfully, all language is signed By the hand of the creator in this moment in time (RHYME) Chorus Don’t hate the word, playa Hate the definition

Life’s not about success, it’s about progress And they say, ‘who you are is who you spend your time with’ So assemble teams who will help you take the next step Affiliate with betters; yo, that’s not a secret best kept I’m my brother’s keeper but an only child So I help my fam up whenever I hold it down Like a King without a crown, we startin’ a movement Not to make it perfect but to make an improvement Who is practical? I just let the passion flow Let ‘em throw stones if they feel it’s irrational Everything is tactical; we go international Gain a little traction yo, that’s what we takin’ action for If you’re classical, then think outside the Bachs Even if your show panned, the hidin’ has gotta stop And if it’s Baroque, you know I’ll remix it I’mma call the future though the number’s unlisted Chorus: We gonna be alright, let it ride, let it ride We gonna be alright, let it ride tonight We gonna be alright, let it ride, let it ride We gonna be alright; we gonna be alright Joe ‘Focus’ Martinez: Yo we gonna be alright, even if we design Something deep inside, I can free your mind Can we disagree without seeking to divide Can we save the peace without leaving the divine Blake: We can lead the tribe out the hood of the clan Cuz a background of trust will create a promised land And if that is utopia then I suggest we open up A possibility that we can get a step closer to Cuz I am not beholden to the past, every memory Is now what I choose to be, rest is old news to me Talkin’ how it used to be, actin’ like we duty free When the language of compassion needs more fluency Joe: Yeah I flow fluidly, half-this, half-that But you know my song’s all Sinatra and the Rat Pack Blake: So keep me in mind when you in N-Y I’ll tell you a story at the end of the N line Chorus ‘Verse-re in it put’ – run the platter back ‘Boundaries the police’ – in a habitat ‘Construct a are differences’ – imagine that Sorry if the sentences are written so you have to grasp It in retrospect, all I’m really sayin’ is That we as a group choose to define relationships And it may be best if we use as a test The way people act, not the way people dress Or the skin tone or the style of speech No matter what your batter, we’ll get wild for weeks Cuz if you a freak, I’m a Free Range Educator Always Knowing everything, come on ride my elevator Take you to another level, levitate your mindstate You lookin’ bananas, and I’m feelin’ like a prime mate It’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder How we hold it on our shoulders just to keep from goin’ under

Wesh wesh mon frère, je viens de l’univers Où les rimes sont sublimes et on se met les mains en l’air Je reste solitaire, contre les injustices De la terre, la terreur, et aussi de la police J’habitais au Maroc, on faisait du beatbox Je parlais l’arabe avec des jeunes rappeurs du bloc Drustu fil maghreb, fi medinat Fez Saudiqati fi Rabat me mettait à l’aise É agora, vamos embora, não tenho medo Porque se acha que acabou, é muito cedo If someone else has played you, then don’t think I hate you I believe that everyone in life can make a breakthrough As long as it takes you, I forgave it all Cuz if there’s a heaven there’s a message on the wall Saying that we get back whatever we have lived And as for this love, well, it’s only mine to give Chorus: Hey, I’m being pushed to the limit Start it with a mic and won’t stop until I kill it Yeah, I’m talkin’ overflow And if you test me again, then it’s on fa’ sho’ I know that the bridge gon’ burn Askin’ myself when they all gon’ learn Best back up, duck down or get low Cuz when it starts, don’t stop, like a river I overflow Ana lubnani, shukran ala ilati Yo I Choueir I mix it up, cuz this is really me Yeah you know I’m multiple, all my raps are quotable I hope to make the rain from my brainstorm potable So that it will overflow, governments are overthrown When the weeds that corrupt are rooted out if overgrown Like a mobile phone when they reach into your pocket It takes a committed active citizen to stop it Yeah you see the logic; that’s why we launch the rocket Between subject and object, the verb is to profit Separate the people from the products of their labor And encourage them to favor the commodities and paper I don’t call it ‘money’; it creates ‘mo’ need’ Plus a seemingly insatiable inflation of the greed And it’s unsustainable, the draining of the seeds For debatable ingraining of the flock and the feed Chorus Yo, can a revolutionary get his grind on Every day I’m feelin’ like I’m in another time zone People over places, so you gotta know that I’m home With my fam, always stayin’ rooted like a rhizome Remember botany? I leave it like misogyny See it like a distant past; I call that astronomy Girls aren’t commodities, and people aren’t property So ladies, if there’s no respect, say ‘get the hell up offa me’ I am on an odyssey; iller than the Iliad Oil’s like a Trojan War, the way we always drillin’ it My rhymes are like the planet, the way they say I’m killin’ it Your rap is like an autocrat, the way it’s illegitimate In a battle of wits, you’ll get outgunned Y’all produce albums, I produce outcomes And stay cool, cuz I’m stone-cold sober If my flow’s not solar, then hell froze over Chorus

I’m in a liminal space My raps originate from a subliminal place But the conscious mind guards like a sentinel waits And the writer’s block jump ya like you sittin’ on weight Whether shoulders or the streets we always sittin’ on greats But the thought gets lost ‘tween the sinners and saints I hang on the periphery and center my aim Cuz risk and opportunity: considered the same I’m the difference, between rags and riches Between a tattered package and the mayor takin’ pictures Between a cinematic graphic action-packed adventure And a massive battle rap in which I win it with a clincher I’m a ninja – that’s why I make the ladies sigh Volume up, gain high, when I let the fader ride I’m only takin’ sides whenever the major prize Is to see the insight only shown to patient eyes Why? Cuz fear will leave your mind killed All of these scenarios are like a mine field And wise navigation will produce a high yield If you have an iron will, you don’t need to try steel But the guns and germs Gon’ spread through the hood cuz the hunger yearns The way an idea takes a hundred turns Before it arrives for your mind to learn Chorus: No idea’s original - there’s nothing new under the sun That’s why we gotta finish what we’ve begun From the first to the last, just refer to the past Cuz that’s what’s gonna tell you how it’s all done (x2) If it don’t compute, you might be the type real Who’s lookin’ unfamiliar, twenty-five to life deal On appeal, with a record deal, how the mic feel When it’s a lifeline to the iceberg – chiiiilllll Titanic, undefined panic Thinkin’ every shadow lookin’ like a live cannon Y’all might brandish, the heat when y’all standin’ Underneath the weight of always takin’ wide stances Breadth afield, I got one hand beneath the wheel Cross over bases, I know how the speaker feel Boss of the aces, I know how to keep it real Cost to the patients, I know how to keep it illllllll … Insurance premium Focus on the messaging, not focused on the medium And if the money short, then they will be steppin’ large With your life in the balance, just like a credit card Shimmy shimmy ya, shimmy yam, shimmy yay Blizzy off the hizzy make you dizzy everyday And they say ‘bills everywhere; trill everything’ But Blake stands for ‘Bring Love And Kill Everything’ Contradiction? Raise the opposition Cuz I feel the tension with the logic’s imposition And I’m in a position, to send the logic missin’ I’m not logocentric when the ransom note is written Y’all just logo-centric cuz of the branding on your shirt Y’all just in a panic cuz a Brandes put in work Y’all will never manage the mechanics of rammin’ ceramics through mountains of granite ‘til you’ve mastered all the training first So getcha grind on / getcha cheese grater I’ll sign a check like: hand up, ‘Please, waiter’ Avant-garde so I bring the real static Every record that I make’s a postmodern Illmatic No idea’s original - there’s nothing new under the sun Even if the odds 100 to 1 Yo, we gotta try harder than just pumpin’ a gun Greatest weapon in the world on the tip of yo tongue ONE

Chorus: Like satellites that arrive Reflect your candlelight Music washing over you Makes you feels so right Wakin’ up in the dawn You don’t have to walk alone Even when your heart is breakin’ You’re never on your own Blake is like half-Libra, half-library Poetry that’s deep, and you know I never sleep Cuz sleep is the mother of dreams And I’m related by birth 86,400 seconds per day on this earth I get meta for change, I ain’t afraid of this verse I’m just takin’ a turn, to grab this mic kid And every day I ask myself what this life is My answer’s always an analogy of likeness Like, I like this, patience in a crisis Cyrano de Bergerac, I smell what the sign is With my silence, used to be the shyness Until my confidence grew up to where my height is So now they call me highness, but that’s a misnomer Cuz I get lower than the catacombs of Roma Or a soldier beatin’ civilians into a coma Or saying that a person should ever have an owner So I think the onus is on us to stand up So come on put your hands up, and question what they hand us You don’t need a brand, you just need a Brandes Brothers in a hurry, don’t worry yo, we can’t rush But we’re still fraternal, naught without labor Raise up your voice; we can talk without paper Until the citizens united cannot be divided By supremely high prices and the mercenary violence Chorus Blake is like an earthquake, hurricane, plus the rain CNN for your brain, also the most trusted name And that may be news to some of you, but once you do get the picture, then listen, I will up and bust the frame Rock your world view, this is for the girl who Helped me comprehend what men who have courage do So I encourage you to work hard and tell the truth There are people on this earth put here to help you through And I am one of them, even when it’s thunderin’ Come into the fold, and you will find the love within And when the hungry fins circle and you can’t float I’ll be on that lifeboat, come on grab that tightrope You know that the Serengeti’s filled with wildebeasts But I’ve seen killa bees make jungles of village streets Workers get the honey and try to protect the hive But when it comes to money, few make it out alive The frontline does work that’s often most commendable But sadly they’re the ones who are also most expendable Pawns in the game just trying to be kings When they reach the other side, so they keep moving Not knowing that the rules don’t allow it, in the palace There’s a court with a jester who knows the most about it But he can never shout it, so he must pretend to be The clown who is down… to share it all in simile Chorus Blake is like a visionary sight The revelation hits you like a cemetery might Cuz dust is our destiny; love is all we have Only what remains after everything has passed So everything we grasp is fleeting - ephemeral We can only read and start a fire - kindle Often guns are drawn by soldiers… with pencils Words aren’t my weapons, they are my utensils Blake is like... a knife through illusions Trimming off the fat, and clearing the confusion Blake is like a fork in the road of your life The light there to guide like a star in the night Blake is like the spoon that feeds you when you’re weak The voice deep inside that inspires you to speak Blake is like... nothing that you’ve ever seen Grow until I die, call me emerald cuz I’m evergreen And a rock, I can tell by how they pine for it I love this world so I went and wrote a rhyme for it And will that fix all the problems? I doubt it But I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing about it I can only show you the path, point to the moon Even though I’m young, it’ll still all be over soon But I thought this message was long overdue You’re my equal forever, I’ll never be over you. Chorus

Chorus: This is the education of a generation Complacent, not patient, no determination I don’t know where to go from here TV says that we’re livin’ in a world of fear But that cloud’s got a silver linin’ If there’s a future, I’m gon’ find it Open my eyes and take a stand The power to change the lies, it lies in our hands Yo I let the hammers fly, build a life that’s glamorized Multiply the choices and forget when forms are standardized Way below my reading level, way above my pay grade Education and success often bear the same name But the passion plus the academics is the only way to finish Plus the only kinds of limits are those self-imposed Road-blocks, don’t stop, even when the light is dim And once you reach the top, then you invite a friend Cuz we can never do this on our own, if nobody’s home Then it’s that much harder to be smarter and avoid the chrome I loan the facts, till they’re critically amassed And there’s no test-osterone that we can’t pass When we let the tech blast, that’s the science we advance Who the livest in the lab, who the drivers in the van Guard the future, guard the present, ‘til the hate is history I don’t worry now, cuz I trust the synchronicity Chorus If experience is a teacher, isolation’s ignorance And I guess that failure’s the professor of ascent Cuz we can only rise if we fall, fly if we all Jump off into the abyss, risk to be at fault And I don’t wear a wrist watch, cuz I never check the time Never watch the wrist, cuz the present I accept as mine And I mine the mind, for the permutation that’s creative That’s how I achieve – when the frequency is unrelated That is how you make the innovative in an oversaturated Environment, tireless we strive with no complainin’ I find souls are waitin’, mired in the boredom When we said the sky’s the limit, didn’t mean Air Jordans Cuz it’s time to step up, I appoint guards To rebound, stay centered and never take a charge Those who shoot and hang could really learn from shot clocks Cuz life’ll break your backboard if your lid pops off (What) life’ll smash your glass if your rims pop off (What) life’ll grab you fast if your Tims pop off (What) life’ll often pass you if you do not try to tackle When the ball is in your court and the moment’s lookin’ at you It’s a crapshoot, nothing easy’s worth doin’ Except to make it effortless, but that is just the first movement I’m never truant, cuz I show up, and show out Enough with theatrics, it’s time for the showdown Chorus Up in life’s lab, kids are focused on the chemistry Whether drugs or love, sayin’ it was meant to be But I believe the structure is the product of a rupture A disconnect to get respect and figure who is tougher Of course this is measured in a crooked flask They are always cookin’ fast but so afraid of the looking glass And when they bring the heat, yo it’s not a Bunsen burner Cuz by the time they five, they’ll have seen a hundred murders Actin’ like electrons who bring the negativity But they’ve got momentum so it’s hard to stop the energy If there is an enemy, it’s woven like genetic code Deep inside our history, so we can rarely let it go But I’mma let it flow, rap osmosis High concentration till the membrane opens We can make a pro-team, if we learn from every play I came here to replicate messenger RNA Chorus

Installin’ red linen and things like a Communist regime Puttin’ black marks on dreams like the Stazi behind the scenes Kamikaze with the red dot, axis of triple beams I’m rap’s Martin Luther; y’all are just missing kings So bring the Reformation to the Great Chain of Being Bottom to the top like a Lambo’s wings I could shine a light like a lamppost brings To the street, beat a sword till the anvil sings Make the puppet dance when the hand pulls strings Digits busy workin’ so I can’t hold bling I like my wars cold and my ammo green And my curtains made of iron so my camo’s clean Hunkered in my bunker while they try to rock my proxy Until I let the napalm flash like paparazzi Yo I’m not a Nazi, but I rule like a fascist And my base jump for me like the rise of the masses Ask the middle classes why they call me Bougie B I rep the proletariat until they truly free Forget class action, I’mma bring a class war To they back door, cuz it sound like what they asked for I’m pressin’ fast forward, blast from the past Yo forget the fightin’, put the cash in the bag Democracy’s nice, but it’s only a tool Cuz we need a corporate sponsor for colonial rule But I’m more gazpacho than Gestapo A little less Congo and a little mo’ Morocco A little more Rothko, put you in a red square So what if the social fabric’s lookin’ threadbare I don’t need a J.D. to know you got it bad But hey, if nothing else, at least you got a lotta swag I stay swagged out, if you live in a glass house I’d be careful when all the tear gas is passed out Watch ‘em ask, ‘Why’d it happen to me?’ Banality of evil while you’re tappin’ your feet Rappers say they killers and they always droppin’ bombs But they spend their whole life trapped in the Panopticon Chorus: Keep your eyes closed, just focus on the beat It don’t matter what you think, it don’t matter what you read Act like it’s a game till the tank’s in the streets Cuz war is the thing that we do not see (x2) How can you not see, sittin’ in the hot seat Six o’clock coverage? Better chance of rollin’ Yahtzee They say to not speak, no time for dissent No money in the budget till it’s time for defense Huh, cut the schools, cuz an educated populace Is the only option if we ever plan on stoppin’ it That can’t happen, so bring on more draftin’ More scholarships turn minorities to captains More hollow ships turn minorities to captives More hollow tips make minorities inactive More borrowed gifts as the sorrow shifts From the killed kids to the killers’ life by the time tomorrow hits Ask the Parliament, they can take a vote We got a gulf to bridge, so we better make a rope Cuz while we’re hangin’, boys are out bangin’ But we focus on the slang ‘stead of fightin’ all the slangin’ Everything is spectacle. We need a pair of spectacles To keep us highly skeptical cuz we are all susceptible To all the professionals who tell us what we need to do And it’s all acceptable, except we all will leave confused Don’t drink the Freedom Juice, it goes bad quick Half the Middle East got a taste; now they’re mad sick I wouldn’t take a sip unless it was home brewed Domestic always better than imported, home dude What’s new, better yet what’s news We’re all playin’ chicken while the fox is in the coup Got ‘em with a scoop, but that just means better lies So the revelation won’t be televised Chorus

In the beginning, there was a man in the garden And the first transgression would’ve become the first pardon But the other end of the bargain was the knowledge of self And ever since that day we’ve been callin’ for help After that morning there was Eve in the scenery The core of the problem was a seed of indecency Or so it’s been reported, even more so recently Morsels of judgment growin’ with increasin’ frequency But please, consider for a moment If two straight parents are the only one component That could help a kid in foster care, or even adopt The debate’s not between havin’ straight or gay pops It’s between havin’ some parents or none at all Social care sittin’ there, make a hundred calls New family needed who will both love and feed him But the same folks who beat him also claim to love freedom Except when it comes to the parentin’, arrogant We’ll take ten divorces, but no gay marriages What’s the definition? We already changed it To be about love, not a property arrangement It used to be the property of daughter turned to wife No legal protection and a poverty of rights But thankfully it shifted from the black and the white To include two adults who just want to make a life Together, whether they have children or not Are monogamous or callin’ friends to chill at the spot Whether tolerant, religious, or a bigoted knot No matter how they configured, they still gettin’ it got I’m an ally – I’m allied with the truth Labels are unstable when applied to a group So friends stay strong, we reppin’ your cause Until all the laws will allow us to pause

When the factories closed, Dad went to middle management It was just a 9-to-5, but it felt like abandonment Just to feel alive, there was the knife handle gripped Gently stroked the thighs before she started panickin’ Sold all her life, lookin’ in a cracked mirror Everything fuzzy – lies makin’ that clearer She was airbrushed, but longed for a brush with air Price of living on the top: saw that there was nothing there Stayed in the suburbs, but lived sub-urban Purred when she posed, but still lacked purpose Though looking at the servants, felt better by comparison Second child worse off – family’s the embarrassment Not a case of parentin’ that failed to stop the trouble More a case of starin’ in the face without the struggle The open field appeals, but you always need to hold a fence Cuz without gravity, there’s nothing you can grow against Chorus: This is for the struggle Dedicated to the struggle Everybody’s gotta hustle Now for the challenge: ‘Discover who you are’ But maintain the balance: ‘Don’t go too far’ Cuz the other side is greener, but that is just a lesson When the food that doesn’t feed you seems to feed on your depression Everyone is guessin’, but the few with certitude Always seem to want to lead the rest of us in servitude And if you ask for further proof, they always pull the weakest link Everybody’s done a study – tell us what the people think So she starts to reach the brink, ‘bout the time she reached the sink Never wakin’ from the dream, though she can’t ever sleep a wink With the razor poised in air, feeling all the poisoned air Tears streaming down her cheeks, wonders if the boys’ll care But she shaves her arms and legs, beating back the throbbing dread Wishing she could do it, but she’d rather be a mom instead So she puts the blade away and lies there numb Pain locked in the closet for another day to come Chorus Everybody hurts, but we overcome Though not everyone knows where the hurt is from Way I heard it from him, that was her choice Way I heard it from her, that was God’s voice They observe relative to their prospects Whether suburbs or the projects Yo, we all project from our background So it’s always hard to let the past down And I’ve been let down hard in the past Two-sided story when we sawed it in half Not a magic trick, just a tragic mask We could all use a hand but we’re too scared to clasp So we gotta hold out, hope we hold on Through the triumph and tragedy we go on So long, till we meet again And if you believe, this won’t be the end. Chorus