I Am

[Modenine] It's the Flygerian, going H.A.M with the hustle Run up on the Mode and pull a hamstring muscle If you got an old bone to pick, bury the fossil Or else , it's gonna be a one-sided tussle You can tango, I'm all about the cash, Kurt Russell Up front payment, money in the duffle, bag But over here, they desecrating the art form Lying to themselves like, Mode too hard for 'em I raise the bar, you finishing where I start from You far from a beast on the mic, you need a stronger grip I got no endorsement, no sponsorship They want a song about a silly dance, a monster hit I ain't got that, but I got bars to make you back flip Put the beat in a casket, when the Polymath spit My peers pull me down, it's like I'm rapping from a crab's pit All I'm trying to do is fill my bread basket [AWKWORD] AmeriKKKa, that's with three Ks We need a man in a cape in the land of the brave, these days Cave man cut my Capital One, for one, cause it isn’t pre-paid And summer's always here, get out the street to beat the heat wave Popped a pen, poured on paper to prove my beats slayed But when Peter Piper picked a peck, the peppers were afraid Always been the same, new ways to lynch a slave We can march a million miles, make sense but no change While bastards build a billion bars to break us with the cage On The Other Side of the River, they do drugs at a rave Seniors sleep soundly, estates safe cause a gates We on the outside like, bitch, we bend but don’t break It's like Apartheid, resist, in Mandela's six names Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, Zulu mind frame [Maka] Everything you gave me Made me who I am Today Today [Five Steez] Looking at my life, there's one constant My outlet always been this lyrical content I never turn my back on this craft Regardless of how I earn my cash on this path The industry shady, sometimes, only stress But I chose my direction and there's no regrets I love music, with the biz, I was infatuated 'Til I realized most people masquerading I do my art from the heart, hope it reach you I'm fulfilled cause my songs spoke to people Still slaving on the plantation, working to make it You can never find a verse where I fake it And yes, I know my purpose is sacred Hailing from Kingston, Jamaica, the turf of the greatest You can hear the hunger and thirst on these pages And the genius in the nouns and verbs in these statements [Holstar] An '80s baby, when Hip Hop was in its infancy Like let there be light, with open eyes they said, this infant sees An African drum beat, bare feet, the ground cracks open My ancestors can't let this vocal cords from me They can source from me, but double XL with the sorcery An African kid who wanna blast at the kid Mastered a bit, now the Grandmaster Flash faster LSK is my pulpit, Zambian rap pastor Said I'd never be the best, but the best rocking a bullet vest Spitting my verbal cannons, heart in my hand, I got an open chest I more than live it, I embody the culture Trying to save Hip Hop's carcass from these industry vultures Fiends is tumultuous, Hip Hop is in a state of emergency But they earn, you see? And they still don't see, the urgency [Maka] Everything you gave me Made me, who I am Today The good, the bad, the ugly Somehow, I found, the way [Latasha Alcindor] Dedicated to my dedication Writing out my heart in this Q Train station Man ya'll don't know what this girl been facing Keep a slight grin, but the game grim, acting Grinch with my patience Case in point, I be pointing out the cases Vicious cycles with the denominator is faceless Whose arrival making us hate us in occasion Making our fate seem like The Matrix All I want in life is to make living off a mics Keep my fam straight, keep the people outta hype And let 'em know the weight that they feel, we feel it too The pressure in the rough, makes a shorty shine through The see through, the evils, they teach you But ego is pivotal, to the ways of getting you So always kill it boo [Third Eye] My mama raised a soldier Malawian born, but shooting global 'til it's over Technology low, yo, my Internet slow, so I'm shooting every rhyme, every single time, every front line, that's a soldier The warm heart of Africa, there's never no war But then we fight against the odds just to even the score But in Malawi what's war, is adding up all these votes For these fat politicians never knowing the score They told us it's a draw, but now we celebrate the victory Somebody explain these blood stains on my history Dictators burn books, companies burn statistics We end up just another number, it's sadistic The floods are coming up, because the rain is going down Thought I was coming up, until the floods came around Malawi's named after a flame, so just imagine A flame standing over the flood, and then he drown [Maka] Everything you gave me Made me, who I am Today The good, the bad, the ugly Somehow, we found, a way [Wakazi] My journey ain't never been in a straight line No one to give me, so you know, I had to take mine With TEC-9s, no, taekwando Yes, but I was always equipped with a great mind No one heard me through the grapevine They say the best never come with a warning, so it's a great sign So fuck they talk about why I ain't signed Trust me I'll be all they talk about, at the finish line Bilingual, beasting through these mixtapes, no single Married to the game, yes and still single Sina habari na mademu labda tu mingle Getting the box, ain't never been a jackpot, bingo Mandingo, mi ndo mpingo uliona kwa na ulimbo Wananasa wakigusa nawachapa na hii fimbo Me ndo mlinzi wa Hip Hop, protect lindo Make sure everything go, smooth ka huu wimbo [The Assembly] [Lebo] Hey, yo, Mel? It’s H, homes. You back in town yet? [Mel] Nah, I'm on way back, though I'm almost at the border, had to take back roads What up with you? [Lebo] Hey, I'm relaxed, bro. Just looking for something to do Thought that you'd be back, so Back roads, what you doing that fo'? [Mel] Can't afford to be paying mad dough Bribing traffic officers for silly shit, I'm that broke You're only leaving if you flash the purple paper, can't escape 'em [Lebo] Ah, snap, I guess that's how they make 'em When the uniform's ‎the only thing that changes But I’m glad you made it Wait, you riding with a baby? [Mel] Nope, queues are crazy Same mission, lots of different faces Our people on the hustle for this paper [Lebo] Ay, and how we chase it and waste it at the same pace Lays the basis for where the fates place us But still we share space with the same races That we say disgrace us, though we wear the same skin Cause family is more than just next of kin [Mel] Damn, family is more than just next of kin [Lebo & Mel] Yup, family is more than just next of kin Word, family Family Family [Maka] Everything you gave me Made me, who I am Today The good, the bad, the ugly Somehow, we found, a way