BLACK PREVAILAGE I been knocked so low I’m just bracin’ myself for the next blow Bracin’ myself for the next blow I been knocked so low I’m just bracin’ myself for the next blow Bracin’ myself for the next blow I been sick so long I’m just waitin’ for the next thing to go wrong Waitin’ for the next thing to go wrong I been sick so long I’m just waitin’ for the next thing to go wrong Waitin’ for the next thing to go wrong I been treated so bad Peace might be somethin’ I ain’t ever had Peace might be somethin’ I ain’t ever had I been treated so bad Peace might be somethin’ I ain’t ever had Peace might be somethin’ I ain’t ever had I been tryin’ so hard I’m only good when I walk and talk wit’ God It’s all good when I walk and talk wit’ God I been tryin’ so hard I’m only good when I walk and talk wit’ God It’s all good when I walk and talk wit’ God So I pray I pray I pray I pray (Humms) Mmmm, Hmmm, hmmm

THE ROADS, CH. 1 Chorus (4x): Down where the roads are paved with good intentions... Verse 1: Down where the roads are paved with good intentions: New dimensions, I jump through, Runnin’ hot pursuit, from some henchmen, Sent by the emperor’s mistress, while the empress Was out protectin’ the devil’s interests. Scalpin’ tickets at heaven’s entrance, My past made my present tenses. Bad karma, second sentence. I’m respresentin’. Back when all seven seals was manufactured And the beast wasn’t born ‘cause the dragon hadn’t hatched it, I asked mom and pop Creator to give me classics. They wrapped it in this handsome and beautiful black package, Said the point was to practice And become a master of many magics For kindlin’ the empire’s ashes. That’s why them henchmen wanna feed me to the maggots, Show up brandishin’ hatchets To keep me from teachin’ classes. I ditched’em, discarded my jacket, Donned a hat and glasses And disappeared into oncoming traffic. Chorus (4x): Down where the roads are paved with good intentions... Verse 2: It’s less oxygen for the earth’s occupants. Real laws ain’t documents. So I don’t need a juris doctorate to tell me what my options is. With dope I’m synonymous, but I’m in this Police state where the prospects is ominous. I done enough scholarship on the politics Of oppression to know that freedom ain’t the opposite. The earth is paradise but the human populous Got parasites with appetites that’s bottomless. It’s mind boggling, But they’re scared, the world ain’t big enough to share, And teach acolytes to follow this As justification for subjugation and dominance. I’m not convinced. It don’t make lots of sense. I guess that’s why I was sent to do reconnaissance, Develop competence, reach a level of prominence, Then shatter the lies in which they place confidence. Chorus (4x): Down where the roads are paved with good intentions... Verse 3: Woke up and did my Chi Gong stretches, Took a shower, told the mirror on the wall who the freshest! Made my baby some breakfast. She woke up, left me breathless. Leave the house 10 minutes late and drive to work all reckless, On my way to give Smokey a message: That we them stones the builders left in the wreckage, And tell him I found scrolls filled with thousands of lessons On how to search, seize, sabotage, contain and collect us. Look: some jackals lyin’ in wait at the intersection For stray wildebeests without the herd’s protection. Soon as they start sniffin’ in my direction I dip left into Smokey’s vegan delicatessen. Chorus (4x): Down where the roads are paved with good intentions...

BLOODY WORLD Introduction: You live long enough Think hard enough Grow wise enough You learn that the devil is neither whom or what you thought it was: It's that part of yourself That doesn’t believe in its own power, It's own divinity And therefore goes around trying to diminish The power of everyone else...to feel good. Chorus (4x): This bloody world These bloody men I know it’s written Lawd (Lord) Will it ever end? Verse 1: Threats on my life don’t cease I’m scared of the po-lice Drive-byes, stray bullets... I’m scared of my own peeps So I carry my own piece ‘Cause that give me mo’ peace But not really, ‘cause I ain’t bullet proof And I can’t blast what I don’t see I ain’t nobody’s OG But now I’m up in my for-ties Left Babylon for a different land Where I still don’t get no sleep ‘Cause the devil that made the ghetto Is here too: he got a long leash So when I dream I’m still a teen Getting’ gunned down in my old streets Where doctors don’t care to heal us Poison is what they give us When the coppers bullets fill us Grand juries protect our killers I often hope hell is real More than I care about seein’ heaven ‘Cause I want my oppressor to feel The pain that I feel, and countin my blessin’s Is hard when I want’em sentenced For their wickness and vengeance Is mine, sayeth the Lord But am I—not in his image The Lord’s apprentice? Executor of his business? But who am I kiddin’? Am I a descendent Of the God of death Or the God or the livin’? It’s my decision So do I dig into my remembrance Of being the giver of all life From who life is freely given? Transform the chaos Of this existence to fit my vision? Or just get in where I fit in In the cycle of blood spillin’? Chorus (4x): This bloody world These bloody men I know it’s written Lawd (Lord) Will it ever end? Verse 2: Proud boys, ya’ll bein’ played By a rich man and his rich friends Who gon’ walk away unscathed While you locked up or in the grave. They was rich when you was unemployed, Rich when you barely made a wage. They let you think it’s Black and Brown people fault, But the rich keep getting’ paid. They need you all riled up On the front lines of their brigade, Blamin’ human rights and women rights So they can keep getting’ paid. It’s a game, that can only work If we separated and afraid. So you makin’ America great, So that you can be a greater slave! A greater slave than the lesser slaves While the rich keep gettin’ paid. They tell you to be proud of culture That steals, kills and rapes. But that ain’t your culture At least it wasn’t your culture back in the days When your ancestors was humane And they practiced indigenious ways Until the church enslaved your papas And burned you mamas at the stake So the empire could be great And the rich could keep gettin’ paid. That was the beginnin’ Of your sinnin’ and your rage. Don’t be ashamed. We the same. Our separation, it was staged. Our life force came from the same flame From the same Earth we sprang We was both made To shine brighter than the sun’s rays But we grew estranged We was taught to be of little faith, And see each other in each other’s way, And you was trained That for your light to shine brighter, Mine must fade! But that’s a lie That keeps us blind In a underdeveloped stage Less than alive Less than fully human Less than fully sane So that we’ll forever remain In a wicked and perilous age And our kids will inherit the hate, And their kids will never be safe In... This bloody world These bloody men I know it’s written Lawd (Lord) Will it ever end?