Listening

[Intro] Hello? Peace, baby, it's me. How's it going? Oh, peace! What's up, baby? Oh, just chilling. Just finished doing a show. Figured I give you a call before I turned in Okay, where are you today anyway? Um, we in Albuquerque right now. We heading to Texas tomorrow Oh, yeah, cool. How'd the show go? Show was going good, you know? Place was packed, know what I'm saying? Merch did good, flow did his thing So yeah, wha-what time is it over there? It's a little late right? I'm sorry Oh no, no, I'm up, I'm up. I was just writing something actually Oh, okay. Word I want you to hear it? Oh, word? Alright You ready? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kick it for me Alright, listen to this Alright [Verse: 1] [Kola Rock] I'm listening to Lonnie Liston Smith Lonnie Liston, Lonnie Smith, and Lonnie Lynn They sort of share a common sense And if you spend enough time listening to me Then this is what you'll find inside my mind's contents It reads like Chronicles 13, the Constitution, the Kama Sutra Morrison, La Ruda, Buddha, Mansa Musa, Pharoahe Monch, and Pharoah Sanders It seems I got low tolerance and high standards It seems I got questions that defy answers If you were rich while I was starving Tell me how are we crew? I'm feeling like a throwaway blue Like God's first draft of the sky He balls it up for something new And if you got something better Then I'm listening to you If you got something better I'm listening to you I let the beat ride when I'm listening to you I'm through [Bridge] Ahhh, okay So, you know, that's basically it. Just a little something I wrote, you know. So, what'd you think? Yo, I'm feeling it. I liked it a lot actually. Yo, it reminds me-it goes ill with something I wrote actually Oh, really? Yeah, yeah! Um, I'll let you hear that. Cause we talking about listening Cool, let me hear it! Hold on a second, let me find it. You ready? Yeah, I'm listening [Verse 2] [J-Live] I been listening to records I collected Records I selected and inspected Dissected on examination tables until my technique I perfected Records that have served and protected Of confidence and my own perception of the world Once the wax is reflected I found my self connected to the music like the lyrics were injected So now when times are hectic I close my eyes and listen to the words Like advice from somebody I respected when I was found ejected That saying about art and life is just the half When you realize music is math Like a true song, it's just a product on the answer sheet Life's craft is a scrap where you show your work I would listen with a smirk from irony to Ireif From Bob Marley smoking stones at the building refused My girl left me Roberta Flack said "Never You Mine" Love may lose, but at least you tried The wisdom hit me in the eyes and almost cried Stevie Wonder saw my tears and put the joy inside Sade showed me love that was stronger than pride Minnie Ripperton invited me to come inside Marvin Gaye taught me lessons of anger and time That's just the tip of the iceberg floating in my mind Not to mention all the jazz and instrumentals that's essential And the hip-hop elders that taught me to rhyme That's why I'm still listening [Bridge 2] Ahh, that was nice! You know what I'm saying how it goes with yours, right? Yeahhh... With the whole listening... And then with the whole mmmm Yep, yep, yep Okay, when did you write that? The first day of the tour, I was just- Yeah, I like that a lot. Maybe we could put those together Yeah, that would be dope! As a matter of fact, this reminds me, I have another verse that could work Okay, kick it Alright? Uh-huh! [Verse 3] [Kola Rock] I'm competent with competitions, I'm competitious I complement my compositions with lots of pictures An album full of mental photographs, assorted similes Packed between the documents of dowries and pedigrees Hip-hop is like my family On holidays we bitching like "Why you don't freestyle no more?" "I'm better written" I like to place my posture in a positive position I like to be the conduit in control of my conditions I'm sitting on the back porch, thinking And I'm listening to the Earth spinning To the trees rustle, wind whistling To the grass being crushed by the feet of small children Generations of women whose end was my beginning Settling of the foundation of the building Settling of the foundation itself Knowing that my best work has yet to be written I'll probably never press it up to put on a shelf But when problems are rock hard and money skin tight I write my love songs on the back of my battle rhymes The question wouldn't be if I sold my soul My soul's been sold The question is was it worth your dime? [Bridge 3] Alright, that was dope too, yo See what I mean? Yeahhh Uh-huh Alright, so I like the way it went together Exactly, yeah Cause the first one's really slow, and the second one's a little faster. And your's- Mine's is sorta like in between Yeah, exactly! You know what? We need to just go ahead and do a song together For real, I think so too, but we just got to find a time when neither of us is busy. So, one day One day. That's what we always say It's true though, you know? It's not like we can do it right now Maybe when were in the same city together or something Yeah, yeah. That would definitely help Okay Alright, so I'll let you go. But I'll talk to you soon I'll talk to you when you get home Alright baby, peace Peace