This week’s underground hip-hop track of the week is Random’s Granny Smith. This track is one of a handful of great lyrical storytelling tracks from Random’s new album “The 8th Day,” which has a review coming soon. Granny Smith tells the story of a young boy who’s favorite teacher helps him through hardships at home, while commenting on domestic battery, flaws in the education system, and the mindstate of young people. Click below to listen:

And follow along with the lyrics after the break.

[Verse 1]
I ain’t think it could worse than last weekend/
You see my mom finally caught my dad cheatin’/
And I ain’t really know too much about it/
Until mama shouted that she found a purple rubber in his wallet/
He used to bring her to the crib/
While mom worked late night at the second gig/
First he yelled, and then she yelled/
I guess he must’ve hit her, ‘cause next she fell/
Then they started cussing/
To contain the scuffle I shut my door/
Grabbed my little iPod and put it on shuffle/
You see I was patient/
Knew it wasn’t over yet/
’Cause the pictures on my wall kept vibrating/
I never thought I would look forward to a Monday/
But you see, that’s like my only escape/
I brought a shiny Granny Smith apple for my teacher/
And I can’t wait to see the expression on his face/

[Verse 2]
Five a.m. early to rise/
I’m showered and dressed before they even open their eyes/
Usually on Mondays I get a late start/
But this time I’m just that anxious to part/
But mom’s up too and she’s rocking a shiner/
She in a bathrobe sweeping up the broken china/
I gotta love the way she makes excuses/
For her scrapes and bruises/
Though I know what the truth is/
I see dad and he don’t know what to say/
I grab my apple and my iPod and get on my way/
And then he stops me and whispers, ‘I know what you told’/
Grabbed my forearm tight and won’t relinquish the hold/
Then I say it wasn’t me, but it falls on def ears/
’Cause me and pops’ best years a thing of the past/
I grab my backpack, put the apple in and get to travelin’/
’Cause your boy’s finally free at last/

[Verse 3]
I’m on the bus seeing sights/
The city lights turning off signifying end of the night/
And see when you’re a teen everybody thinks you think you know it all/
Never thinking once in a while you might be right/
See I told pop he probably shouldn’t bring girls home/
I knew mom would catch him one day but he said leave him alone/
I never thought about them splitting up/
It must’ve been a million times mom dukes told him to get his stuff/
But at the end of the day she would retract it/
Had a lot about but didn’t have the spine to back it/
After they fight they always give me a gift/
That’s how I got this little iPod and these brand new kicks/
Can’t wait to get to school and see Mr. Brown/
He always knows what to say when the chips is down/
I ain’t even gotta tell him I’m stressed out/
But when I’m in his class I forget what I’m stressed about/

[Verse 4]
Get to the schoolyard at 6:30 sharp/
I’m mad early so I’m ‘bout to get an early start/
’Cause there’s hardly any kids around/
So I decide I’m gonna go and holla at Mr. Brown/
And give him this apple I’ve been carrying for days/
As a token of appreciation for his caring ways/
Notice the light’s off, so I give a knock/
No answer – I try the door and it isn’t locked/
So I step inside and there’s a note on the board/
Written in chalk that says, ‘Kids it isn’t your fault/
But unfortunately I won’t be able to return/
The state says I haven’t enabled you to learn/
The test scores aren’t where they need to be/
So they want me to leave you be’/
So immediately I break down/
Throw the apple on the ground/
Exit the classroom – never to be found/
Again – I quit school the very same day/
Went home, packed my bags, and then I ran away/
And mom and dad actually did call it quits/
They didn’t even leave me a gift/