PEACE. Whether you’re one of HHL’s daily visitors or someone who has stumbled onto HipHopLinguistics.com for the first time, thank you for visiting this website. Unfortunately, I am currently on vacation. Due to a summer filled with travel and time off, I have decided to take my first break from this website in more than five years. I will be back in a couple months, but in the meantime, check out my four vacation posts below. These will catch you up with my favorite music of the first half of 2010, as well as what I’ll be bumping during my travels:

1. My Vacation Albums
2. My Favorite FREE Album Downloads of 2010
3. My Favorite Videos of 2010
4. My Favorite Tracks & Quotables of 2010

Have a great summer! And stay up on real hip-hop! PEACE

One of the big things I love about the current evolution of the hip-hop industry and business model is the new way tracks are released to the public. In preparation for their albums, both mainstream and underground hip-hop artists leak multiple songs to the blogs and websites. It is a great way to preview an album and to get free music. The tracks below are some of my favorite songs and quotables through June, 2010. Most are available for FREE download, and many have the lyrics posted:

1. Reflection Eternal City Playgrounds
2. The Roots Dear God 2.0
3. B. Dolan Earthmovers
4. Sage Francis Best of Times
5. Bohemian Rap CD Mama Mia
6. Dark Time Sunshine Primor
7. Everliven Sound Crack and The Electric Chair
8. ScholarMan Hood Stories Vol. 4
9. Kats Rich Dad Poor Dad
10. Random & DN3 The Won Too
11. Oddisee NYC Remix
12. Luckyiam TV In The Afternoon
13. Core Rhythm King
14. Debaser Don’t Sleep
15. Little Brother Curtain Call

This track is part spoken word and part hip-hop, so you’ll have to get a minute or so in for the actual rapping to begin. Nevertheless, I picked it as this week’s hip-hop quotable due to the track’s deep lyrical content. Best of Times, which you can download for FREE here, is the second leak from Sage Francis’ upcoming album “Li(f)e” – scheduled for release May 11 on Strange Famous Records. If you like this, check out Sage’s first leak Slow Man. Click below to listen to Sage Francis’ Best of Times:

[See post to listen to audio]

And be sure to follow along with the lyrics after the break.

It’s been a long and lonely trip but I’m glad that I took it because it was well worth it/
I got to read a couple books and do some research before I reached my verdict/
Never thought that I was perfect/
Always thought that I had a purpose/
Used to wonder if I’d live to see my first kiss/

The most difficult thing I ever did was recite my own words at a service realizing the person I was addressing probably wasn’t looking down from heaven/
Or cooking up something in hell’s kitchen, trying to listen in or eaves drop from some another dimension/
It was self serving just like this is/

Conveniently religious on Easter Sunday and on Christmas/
The television went from being a babysitter to a mistress/
Technology made it easy for us to stay in touch while keeping a distance, ’til we just stayed distant and never touched/
Now all we do is text too much/

I don’t remember much from my youth/
Maybe my memory is repressed/
Or I just spent too much time wondering if I’d live to have sex/
Fell in love for the first time in 4th grade but I didn’t have the courage to talk to her/
In 8th grade I wrote her the note but I slipped it in someone else’s locker/

Considered killing myself ’cause of that/
It was a big deal/
It was a blown cover/
It was over for me/
My goose was cooked/
Stick a fork it me/
The jig is up/
I blew my chances, the rest is history, our future was torn asunder/
It became abundantly clear that I was only brought here to suffer/

At least I didn’t include my name/
Thankfully I wrote the whole note in code and it had 10 layers of scotch tape safety seal making it impossible to open/
Plus, it was set to self destruct/
Whoever read it probably died…laughing/
I wonder if they lived long enough to realize what happened/

A year later, I came to understand that wasn’t love that I was feeling for her/
I had someone else to obsess over/
I was older/
I was very mature/
I forged my time signature while practicing my parents autograph ’cause I was failing math/
Disconnected the phone when I thought the teacher would call my home/

I checked the mailbox twice a day at the end of a long dirt road/
Steamed open a couple envelopes like I was in private detective mode/
If you snoop around long enough for something in particular you’re guaranteed to find it/
For better or worse that’s how I learned that it’s best to just keep some things private/
It was the best of times/
It was the end of times/

It was the best of times/
It was the end of times/
I was always on deck, I was next in line/
An only child with a pen and pad writing a list of things that I could never have/
The walls in my house were paper thin/
Every squabble seemed to get deafening/
If my memory serves me correctly I made it a point to void and forget some things/
Probably to keep from being embarrassed/
Never meant to upset or give grief to my parents/
Kept my secrets…hid my talents…in my head, never under the mattress/

Therapy couldn’t break me/
Never learned a word that would insure safety/
So I spoke softly and I tip toed often/
The door to my room was like a big old coffin/
The way that it creeked when I closed it shut/
Anxieties peaked when it opened up/
As if everything that I was thinking would be exposed/
I still sleep fully clothed/
It was the best of times/
It was the end of times/

It was beautiful/
It was brutal/
It was cruel/
It was business as usual/
Heaven/
It was hell/
Used to wonder if I’d live to see 12/

When I did I figured that I was immortal/
Loved to dance but couldn’t make it to the formal/
Couldn’t bear watching my imaginary girlfriend bust a move with any other dudes/

Tone Loc was talking bout a “Wild Thang” but I was still caught up in some child thangs/
Scared of a God who couldn’t spare the rod/
It was clearly a brimstone and fire thang/

Pyromaniac/
Kleptomaniac/
Couldn’t explain my desire to steal that fire/
Now I add it to my rider/
Like “Please oh please don’t throw me in that patch of brier!” It was the best of times/
It was the end of times/

The school counselor was clueless ’cause I never skipped classes/
Perfect attendance/
Imperfect accent/
Speech impediment they could never really fix and I faked bad eyesight so I could wear glasses/

Considered doing something that would cripple me/
I wanted a wheelchair/
I wanted the sympathy/
I wanted straight teeth so then came braces/
4 years of head gear helped me change faces/
It was the best of times/
It was the end of times/

Now I wonder if I’ll live to see marriage/
Wonder if I’ll live long enough to have kids/
Wonder if I’ll live to see my kids have kids/
If I do I’m gonna tell ‘em how it is/

Don’t listen when they tell you that these are your best years/
Don’t let anybody protect your ears/
It’s best that you hear what they don’t want you to hear/
It’s better to have pressure from peers than not have peers/
Beer won’t give you chest hair/
Spicy food won’t make it curl/
When you think you’ve got it all figured out and then your universe collapses…trust me, kid…it’s not the end of the world/

This week’s underground hip-hop quotable of the week is Mama Mia from “Bohemian Rap CD,” which you can still download for FREE here if you haven’t already. Mama Mia features dope verses from NYC underground emcees Jake Lefco, IllSpokinn, Ryan-O’Neil, Kats and Domer – and is part of a compilation CD featuring all five emcees rapping over 6 tracks created from samples of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Click below to listen to Mama Mia:

[See post to listen to audio]

And be sure to follow along with the lyrics after the break.

[Chorus - Ryan-O'Neil]
Mama Mia can I talk to ya?/
Mama Mia can I maybe take a walk with ya?/
Ooh baby you the lady I been looking for/
You good looking but, uh, can you cook and stuff?/

[Verse 1 - Ryan-O'Neil]
Goodness gracious/
You see her face and her waist? It’s amazing/
The kinda chick you wanna be chasing/
No patience, no time for waiting/
It’s blatant, can’t hide my infatuation/
I’m faced with a basic arrangement – a dame that/
Won’t give a minute of her day to get play with/
Trying to get her digits with my methods, should I change it?/
Is it ’cause I’m dark-skinned? Maybe she’s a racist/
On some KKK shit, yo that’s ancient/
She ain’t even white, she a light-skinned Haitian/
Anyway she tried many ways to escape it/
But I held her with my conversation..it’s fading/
Her defenses now my sense is I made it/
Even with her guard up, her heart I invaded/
Still going hard as she softens her features/
Mama Mia I just wanna please ya/

[Hook - Domer]
I wish that we could talk like you were just alone with me/
And we could be baby if you’d just come home with me/
We could be amazing if you would just only see/
That life is better once you really get to knowing me/
I wish that we could talk like you were just alone with me/
And we could be baby if you’d just come home with me/
We could be amazing if you would just only see/
That life is better once you really get to knowing me/

[Verse 2 - Kats]
Mama Mia, my Madonna was Italiana/
A stand up chick like, ‘I swear he was with me your honor’/
An air-tight alibi you ain’t gotta bother/
To double check shit, check the double Ds on her/
Freeze mama let me please holla/
I wanna blow up your phone like Hezbollah trying to please Allah/
I wanna please you baby, make you breathe harder/
And make the room ’bout 100 degrees hotter/

[Chorus - Ryan-O'Neil]
Mama Mia can I talk to ya?/
Mama Mia can I maybe take a walk with ya?/
Ooh baby you the lady I been looking for/
You good looking but, uh, can you cook and stuff?/

[Verse 3 - IllSpokinn]
Okay, I know what you’re used to/
Borderline abuse and you’re just trying to cruise to/
The next destination, baby patience is a virtue/
These so-called hey-hey players never learned to/
Speak in front of their peers/
You dropped something dear/
The convo – let’s pick it up right here/
You can tell a champion from the size of the grind/
This my third session today, my 500th rhyme/
Hmmm saying your fly is an insult/
The sky is jealous, you’re interstellar and then some/
It’s quite simple babygirl, you know what I’m after/
You fine as a hairline fracture – laughter/

[Verse 4 - Domer]
Mama Mia/
So cold but I want her on my lips like a bottled beer/
Make her make noises like onomatopoeia/
One in a million feeling like the lottery – I…/
Wanna see her all night like a double feature/
Acting dramatic like the star of Madea/
She’s sexually infectious like gonorrhea/
God I need protection, she’s getting in my mental/
And now all I can see is her shape like a stencil/

[Hook - Domer]
I wish that we could talk like you were just alone with me/
And you could be baby if you’d just come home with me/
We could be amazing if you would just only see/
That life is better once you really get to knowing me/
I wish that we could talk like you were just alone with me/
And we could be baby if you’d just come home with me/
We could be amazing if you would just only see/
That life is better once you really get to knowing me/

[Verse 6 - Jake Lefco]
Mama Mia, Mama Mia /
Andale andale mami eeahh!/
I’m not even Hispanic, got me speakin Spanish, Mira!
I want you en mi vida, treat you like a queen, I’ll take you out and feed you margaritas/
Please, I’ll even eat your carnita/
Take you to my house and make you grita/
Here’s my number, call me, let me know when I can see ya/
Holla if you ever need a Visa, dame un besito mamacita/
Your eyes intoxicate me like tequila/
Hot like jalapenos, why you being cold like Condoleeza?/
Me diga if I said something offensive to you mi hija/
I see your sensitive, so lo siento mi amiga/
Or maybe its my breath? I ate a sandwich with some scallions/
If I buy a pack of gum, will you come talk to me about it?/
Si quieres saddle up and ride me like stallion/
‘I have no idea what you’re saying, I’m Italian’/

[Hook - Domer]
I wish that we could talk like you were just alone with me/
And we could be baby if you’d just come home with me/
We could be amazing if you would just only see/
That life is better once you really get to knowing me/
I wish that we could talk like you were just alone with me/
And we could be baby if you’d just come home with me/
We could be amazing if you would just only see/
That life is better once you really get to knowing me/

This week’s underground hip-hop track of the week is ScholarMan’s Hood Stories Vol. 4, from his new album “Free Spirit Of A Troubled Soul” – which I been bumping nonstop since finally getting around to listening to it last week. ScholarMan has included a Hood Stories track in each of his last four albums, and each contains relevant lyrics and interesting storytelling. Vol. 4 is about a Iraq war veteran with post traumatic stress syndrome. Click below to listen to Hood Stories Vol. 4:

[See post to listen to audio]

And be sure to follow along with the lyrics after the break.

Daryl’s back from the war/
Bullet wounds he’s sore/
The things that he saw/
He don’t wanna see them no more/
Fresh off the plane/
He hoping to gain some sanity/
His country tricked him/
Said he fought for humanity/
Now you can guess/
He got post traumatic stress/
Hard for him to breath/
Lost a lung through his chest/
Plus he drinks now/
Slowly killing his liver/
Bad dreams just to wake up to a shiver/
His daughter scared of him/
And his shorty worried/
Can he maintain with the strife he carried?/
Before he left/
He was far from a mess/
Church every week/
Yes his fam had got the best/
Now he can hardly hold a job ‘cause he curking out/
Seeing things, weird words that he blurting out/
So that means bills are stacked, and they stacked more/
He wish he was dead/
What he come back for?/
All he thinking bout is ‘Damn, I’m a veteran/
Iraq two tours/
I deserve better than/
Uncle Sam owes me/
I’m gonna take it/
Guarantee I’m gonna make it/
Rob this motherfucker naked’/
Now what his plan was?/
To hit an ATM/
When they came to empty them/
Playing pretty grim/
He scoped it out, an armored truck every Friday morning/
Two different guards every week is what you find up on them/
Six a.m., daylight savings so it’s kind of dark/
He got his man to help/
So new wealth they can embark/
They parked at the gas station right across the street/
Load the bullets in the heat/
Make the money speak/
Here comes the truck/
Pulling up, just a minute til/
He holding the steel/
Giddy on how rich he feel/
And he ain’t even got a dollar in his pocket yet/
The first guard gets out/
Hammer he cocks it back/
He put the piece to his neck/
‘We need this money now!’/
The other guard, ‘Lay down/
Put your face to the ground’/
Ski mask for the task/
Prevent a good look/
But there’s a third guard/
He didn’t get a good look/
Next thing you know/
A barrel placed out the door/
One shot, two shot, then come three and four/
Daryl got hit in the back/
His man got his leg/
Daryl thought he was dead/
All he could see is red/
When the shot hit him/
Reflexes had pulled the trigger/
This wasn’t planned/
So his plan had gotten much bigger/
Now he got a dead guard/
A bullet in his spine/
His boy left him to rot/
Right there for one time/
The skinny is Daryl can’t walk/
Looking like my man from Oz in a cell in New York/

This week’s underground hip-hop quotable is Kats’ Rich Dad Poor Dad, from his new album “I Can Levitate” – which is you should download for FREE if you haven’t already. The beat is by UK producer Jonesy, and the title is pretty much self-explanatory – as Kats drops verses about fatherhood through the eyes of a rich dad, a poor dad, and his own pops. Possibly my favorite track on the new album. Click below to listen to Kats’ Rich Dad Poor Dad:

[See post to listen to audio]

And be sure to follow along with the lyrics after the break.

[Verse 1]
The poor dad sparks a splif on the fire escape/
Just got home, worked a double shift, he’s tired today/
The baby’s crying, it’s late/
No time to relax/
Ate his lunch on the run, never got to sit back/
And enjoy/
So his little boy plays with his toys/
In his room by himself, and he makes too much noise/
So he snaps at him, ‘Hey keep it down in there!/
You’re getting grounded if I hear another sound in there!’/
He’s exhausted, all he does is sit around in his chair/
A blank stare, lets his sorrows drown in his beer/
His feet hurt, hands swollen from manual labor/
It’s okay, one day it’ll be from handling paper/
That’s what he tells himself, but in his heart he doubts it/
Doesn’t have the heart to say it out loud/
So many dreams deferred, he prefers no sleep/
And hopes his boy can find a better way to be/

[Chorus]
Rich dad, poor dad/
Take a bud and a scotch, now switch and pour that/
A do nothing know it all/
And a dude who knows so and so/
A huge bankroll to go and blow/
You know how the story goes/
The rich dad plays the market, the poor dad says ‘Mark it’ when he bowls/
It’s all just a game though/
We complain to the refs, sure, but in the end have to play ball/

[Verse 2]
The rich dad had a power lunch that lasted too long/
Downed a couple martinis that were a little too strong/
So by the time he got home/
He was a little bit drunk/
The driver opened his door, retrieved his bag from the trunk/
And off he goes, leftovers cold in the fridge/
Wife at some social function, nanny watching the kids/
He lights a Cuban as he takes in the view/
From his balcony, finally nothing to do/
He should talk to his boy, tell him about some grown things/
How he should own things/
But then the phone rings/
Back to business, stocks moving ‘round the clock/
One has gone through the roof, another’s down a lot/
So much as stake, he takes another sip of his drink/
A deep breath, not even a minute to think/
The nanny tucks in the boy, daddy is bound to run/
Hoping one day he’ll find time to be proud of his son/

[Chorus]
Rich dad, poor dad/
Take a bud and a scotch, now switch and pour that/
A do nothing know it all/
And a dude who knows so and so/
A huge bankroll to go and blow/
You know how the story goes/
The rich dad plays the market, the poor dad says ‘Mark it’ when he bowls/
It’s all just a game though/
We complain to the refs, sure, but in the end have to play ball/

[Verse 3]
What I learned from my dad, I learned without him teaching/
Without him talking or preaching/
I was just watching, his speeches/
Had no effect on me really/
I didn’t do what he said/
I did what he did instead/
The good and the bad/
How could it be that as hard as I tried/
To be so wildly different, I ended up the same guy/
So I can try to pretend like I get to chose/
What type of dad I’ll be, but we know the truth/
Same as I had, and I had one so I’m thankful for that/
And wouldn’t trade time spent for a bank full of cash/
The ups and downs, good shit, forgettable stuff/
No cash to speak of, so I’ll settle for love/
Nobody’s perfect, mistakes were made/
But almost nothing is worth a dad being taken away/
A rich dad or a poor dad, as long as he stays/
Is what most kids need today, and need it always/

[Chorus]
Rich dad, poor dad/
Take a bud and a scotch, now switch and pour that/
A do nothing know it all/
And a dude who knows so and so/
A huge bankroll to go and blow/
You know how the story goes/
The rich dad plays the market, the poor dad says ‘Mark it’ when he bowls/
It’s all just a game though/
We complain to the refs, sure, but in the end have to play ball/

This week’s underground hip-hop quotable is Ryan-O’Neil’s The Way The World Is, from his new EP “Hyphenated & Apostrophed” – which I’ve been bumping all week. If you haven’t downloaded the EP yet, I highly recommend doing it for FREE here. The Way The World Is is a dope track about all kinds of conscious shit. Click below to listen To Ryan-O’Neil’s The Way The World Is:

[See post to listen to audio]

And be sure to follow along with the quotable lyrics after the break.

[Verse 1]
I can see the future in the eyes of a child but through the smile/
I see tears ’cause my fears are enough to make this man cry/
As I stand by and watch I see drive-bys and cops/
We can’t do a thing to make it stop/
Unless they busting shots at the innocent/
God what’s the sense of it?/
In Washington they talk about censorship/
While the real problem is the mindset/
Look at them, the people need vision but they blinded/
How can I help ‘em open up their eyelids?/
Make ‘em all see again/
Who knows? Maybe they’ll believe it when I say it/
Life ain’t a game, their ain’t no players/
So when the whistle blow kiss ‘em goodbye like mistletoe/
If they won’t listen yo I can’t make ‘em/
If they mentally asleep then I can’t wake ‘em/
Can’t take ‘em nowhere like the old folks say/
Hopefully we gonna keep growing like Rogaine/

[Chorus]
Pops left ya, moms on a stretcher/
Broke? You betcha/
But that’s the way the world is/
It’s a recession, I’m outta cess/
And I think I’m quite obsessed/
We gotta lot of shit to be concerned with/
Blue versus red while you the worst fed/
And your future is dead/
But that’s the way the world is/
My clothes lookin’ bummy, I’m feeling hungry/
Africa is not a country/
We gotta lot of shit to be concerned with/

[Verse 2]
I’m all about the lessons/
I’m trying to teach ‘em I gotta test ‘em/
Make it so my people won’t have to reach for the Smith & Wesson/
Too many preachers blessin’, too many lives endin’/
Too early too many girls wanna prove they fly women/
So then they try sinnin’, look at them growing up/
They showing off their bodies, they bangin’/
We call ‘em hotties while hangin’ on corners/
They daughters to mothers so that make ‘em sisters/
Yet we call ‘em bitches and get pissed when they don’t wanna listen/
My ni**a, that’s another trigger point topic/
Al and Jess want us to stop it but it’s making us some profits/
So why should I change my vocabulary?/
Rather take aim at my adversaries, maim them if necessary/
But peace is the way – I know, that’s what Jesus would say/
But sometimes violence is the easier way/
But I hope that I would never have to load a clip/
‘Cause then I’d be in a load of shit/
Be in the same boats as all them hypocrites/

[Chorus]
Pops left ya, moms on a stretcher/
Broke? You betcha/
But that’s the way the world is/
It’s a recession, I’m outta cess/
And I think I’m quite obsessed/
We gotta lot of shit to be concerned with/
Blue versus red while you the worst fed/
And your future is dead/
But that’s the way the world is/
My clothes lookin’ bummy, I’m feeling hungry/
Africa is not a country/
We gotta lot of shit to be concerned with/

[Verse 3]
There’s a war going on in a sandbox/
Leaders acting like they big dogs, it’s a sandlot/
The world’s in a mess but yes we can stop/
The hole in the ozone so it ain’t so hot/
No stop I’m not trying to be your next president/
Ain’t on the ballot, not quite legit I’m not valid/
‘Cause I wasn’t born in this country/
But if I wanna go to war they take me promptly/
Situation’s comfy, immigrant’s a scapegoat/
If you want a job done but don’t want to pay for it/
Why outsource it while we got a source of workhorses/
Right here in the workforce?/
And it’s growing like moss on the North side of trees/
Of course I can see how some folks just can’t cope with ease/
Well let’s face it, when we get down to the basics/
None of y’all are natives/
We all on vacation/
I’m wasted/

[Chorus]
Pops left ya, moms on a stretcher/
Broke? You betcha/
But that’s the way the world is/
It’s a recession, I’m outta cess/
And I think I’m quite obsessed/
We gotta lot of shit to be concerned with/
Blue versus red while you the worst fed/
And your future is dead/
But that’s the way the world is/
My clothes lookin’ bummy, I’m feeling hungry/
Africa is not a country/
We gotta lot of shit to be concerned with/

I’ve already featured a couple tracks from Brother Ali’s spectacular new album “Us.” Yet last night while I was writing a review for the album, I decided that I had to feature just one more track. Tight Rope is a lyrical storytelling masterpiece in which Brother Ali talks about the struggles of people forced to live multiple lives, dedicating verses to immigrants, children of divorced parents, and homosexuals. Click below to listen to Brother Ali’s Tight Rope:

[See post to listen to audio]

And be sure to following along with the lyrics after the break.

[Verse 1]
Frigid, frozen, Minnesota/
Chip on his shoulder/
Six sleeping on a pissy sofa/
Unwanted visitor in a different culture/
Missing home and can’t go, they civil warring/
Listen soldier, forget getting over/
Prison sit around the corner/
Homelessness even closer/
Kids with similar skin color still don’t want ya/
Spinning in torture, ‘cause they been her longer/
You leave the crib it’s guaranteed the pigs approach ya/
‘Where you going? Where you from? Any weapons on ya?’/
Your family is stressed out, you’re getting older/
You don’t live the way they did back in Somalia/
It’s extra difficult to be a daughter/
Trying to keep it modest, the sin is all around ya/
Wear the wrong garment, your parents get an ulcer/
If you wrap it up the other children picking on ya/

[Chorus]
Living two worlds with your eyes closed/
Tiptoeing on a tight rope/
Holding on for survival/
Nobody to blame, that’s just how it goes/
Living two worlds with your eyes closed/
Tiptoeing on a tight rope/
Holding on for survival/
Nobody to blame, that’s just how it goes/

[Verse 2]
Holidays and you know what the business is/
You get two birthdays and two Christmases/
Older you get, you resent how sick it is/
They’re trying to cover their guilt with the gift they give/
Bounce from his house to her house/
To bad their marriage didn’t work out/
Now you don’t have a your house/
Daddy fighting mommy, they both tell me they love me/
If I get too close to one, the other one start acting funny/
Mom went and had a baby by a different dad/
You act happy to please him, but you’re really sad/
Seeing firsthand the family that you’ll never have/
Plus you ain’t no real brother, you’re just a half/
Gotta pick up the pieces and move on/
Bedtime stories they read ‘em on the phone/
Live in two houses and neither one is home/
Wishing you were grown had the freedom to get gone/

[Chorus]
Living two worlds with your eyes closed/
Tiptoeing on a tight rope/
Holding on for survival/
Nobody to blame, that’s just how it goes/
Living two worlds with your eyes closed/
Tiptoeing on a tight rope/
Holding on for survival/
Nobody to blame, that’s just how it goes/

[Verse 3]
Daddy was a preacher/
Mama was a Sunday school teacher/
Big brother football squad leader/
Now far be it for you to disappoint or displease ‘em/
You’re just being what you feel you see in/
The mirror every time you peer in/
Swallow the tears inside that empty feeling/
Her boy terrified to let the world in/
He has girl friends but doesn’t want a girlfriend/
He retreats inside himself where he lives life itself in secret/
Daddy says people go to hell for being/
What he is and he certainly believes him/
‘Cause their ain’t no flame that can blaze enough/
To trump being hated for the way you love/
And cry yourself to sleep and hate waking up/
It’s a cold world y’all shame on us/

[Chorus]
Living two worlds with your eyes closed/
Tiptoeing on a tight rope/
Holding on for survival/
Nobody to blame, that’s just how it goes/
Living two worlds with your eyes closed/
Tiptoeing on a tight rope/
Holding on for survival/
Nobody to blame, that’s just how it goes/

Brother Ali’s new album “Us” is probably the best album of the year, and I’ve been bumping it nonstop lately. Pretty much every track is dope, and it was mad hard to pick just one to feature. Babygirl is a song about a woman who was abused as a child, and how it will continue to affect her for her whole life. Click below to listen to Brother Ali’s Babygirl:

[See post to listen to audio]

And be sure to follow along with the lyrics after the break.

[Verse 1]
There’s big pieces of her life she can’t remember/
Her mind shuts down, it’s trying to protect her/
Might be for the best to forget/
But it seems like always reappear when she least expects/
Late nights we lay awake/
Drowning in the lake the pours out of her face/
Years later she’s still not safe/
Memories leap out any time any place/
The way he smelled, the way he smiled/
The evil she even recognized as a child/
Hand on her throat, the sting of a fist/
Instead of her first kiss she got this/
Shameful feeling, painful secret/
Lonely knowing that nobody would believe it/
Every wound that escapes her time capsule/
Hurts like the day it was born and it’s brand new/

[Chorus]
I wasn’t there babygirl but I’m here/
I don’t know what to say, I just hear/
If there’s one wish I could make true/
I would shoulder that pain and take it all from you/
Don’t run babygirl don’t run/
You gotta face what you’re fighting head on/
Only one thing I can say in truth/
Gotta deal with the demons before they deal with you/

[Verse 2]
How can she find peace in her mind/
When love means returning to the scene of a crime/
I can feel it inside/
We reopen wounds every time we intertwine/
Such an evil design/
When you can’t even enjoy the sweetness you find/
Trying to see through the tears in your eyes/
And rebuild your shrine one piece at a time/
Made it all fade away/
Colors don’t burn no more, it’s all grey/
Can’t find heaven from within that shell/
But it’s enough of a blessing just not seeing hell/
Constant inner-dialogue/
Say just end this roller coaster ride you’re on/
Only one solution seems final/
Slide into a hole where your pain can’t find you/

[Chorus]
I wasn’t there babygirl but I’m here/
I don’t know what to say, I just hear/
If there’s one wish I could make true/
I would shoulder that pain and take it all from you/
Don’t run babygirl don’t run/
You gotta face what you’re fighting head on/
Only one thing I can say in truth/
Gotta deal with the demons before they deal with you/

[Verse 3]
She said if I was meant to die, he would’ve killed me/
There must be a reason that I still breathe/
I don’t have the tools to rebuild me/
But I still believe that one day I could feel free/
And my body can be mine again/
My eyes can learn how to shine again/
My inner child won’t have to hind and then/
And then when I’m stronger love can be invited in/
Sweet God that’s all I ask of thee/
I’m willing to give what you demand of me/
I’m learning to embrace the reality/
That life doesn’t always turn out how it’s planned to be/
I didn’t deserve what was handed me/
Only one who can grant happiness is me/
What it takes for her to face a day/
I can only hope to be half that brave/

[Chorus]
I wasn’t there babygirl but I’m here/
I don’t know what to say, I just hear/
If there’s one wish I could make true/
I would shoulder that pain and take it all from you/
Don’t run babygirl don’t run/
You gotta face what you’re fighting head on/
Only one thing I can say in truth/
Gotta deal with the demons before they deal with you/

This track, Same Story (My Dedication), is a new leak from Vinnie Paz’ upcoming solo project, “The Assassin’s Creed.” The song is about Vinnie’s step father, and is a real heartfelt track about love, life and death – and is currently available for FREE download here. Click below to listen to Same Story (My Dedication):

[See post to listen to audio]

And be sure to follow along with the lyrics after the break.

[Verse 1]
You came into my mother’s life at the right time/
More than a stepfather, more of like a lifeline/
She ain’t really had happiness since my pop died/
She was living, but living is always not alive/
And my mama should be treated like a queen/
You gave her every thing she ever needed like a queen/
Probably the most gentle G I ever seen/
The love y’all shared I never seen in human beings/
Y’all were together twelve years, never no fights/
Not even a little argument, that was so nice/
Three of us eating dinner together most nights/
Working seven days a week, that ain’t no life/
But never once did I hear you complain/
Even when they let you go, never here you would blame/
It take a real man to walk through the rain/
It was a real man that got sick and fought through the pain/

[Verse 2]
I walked in that morning, I knew something was wrong/
I tried to talk to you ‘Roc you didn’t respond/
I called 911 and then ran for my moms/
Waited for the ambulance and I tried to be calm/
Moms went with you, I stayed and held down the fort/
I was nervous, I was crying and really distraught/
I was alone by myself, just left with my thoughts/
Mommy called told me that you had a stroke at at four/
I ain’t seen a hospital since my father died/
I don’t like it there, memories is locked inside/
When I walked inside the room, we started to cry/
I was just so happy that you was alive/
And you told me how much that you hate the hospital/
And that they thieves and trying to keep their pockets full/
I think I hold myself a little bit responsible/
When you was smoking all the time, I wasn’t stopping you/
Never the less, you came home and that was real/
A lot of therapy and doctors gave you lots of pills/
You couldn’t drive anymore, you had to stop and chill/
And that’s too much for anybody, that can stop your will/
But you never got back to your norm/
You was proud didn’t want any help from my mom/
I left for tour and you asked me how long I’d be gone/
And I could see inside your eyes you knew something was wrong/
I got back, mommy told me you was sick again/
Couldn’t believe that we was going through this shit again/
I love you ‘Roc and I’m always going to miss you friend/
And for me it’s just the same story, different pen/