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1. |
Memory Serves Me
04:29
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Verse 1:
Born alone die alone’s what the motto is,
lived up to every word, overly proud of it,
but knowing there’s tag teams when you get to the heart of it,
for all of us lucky enough to know where our fathers is,
our father who art in the living room cracking a brew,
know where I’m attached even when I’m attached to the stoop,
thinking I’m doing more than I am ’til you hand me the news,
like “I know everything you that you on, I’m actually you”,
I grew up outside just like the rest of us did, him included,
prayer hands up for all of the ways that I been influenced,
fully loaded, one stick for the crew, stick and moving,
14 in my pop’s hands, hoping his grip will loosen,
But fuck if it didn’t, he never would so I was good on a couple decisions,
remember so and so had pulled out a bucket to pitch in,
I fell back when I would normally jump in position,
regretted it til they put everyone under the prison,
That’s like one of 100 times,
but feeling obligated to jump up in front the line,
stuck am I between a corner store and a blurried line
where the shootings’ forever and the lobster is butterflied,
Stuck am I, down for whatever, nothing rides,
but knowing how the end of the movie is underlined,
and knowing my pop starred in that movie a couple times,
I already knew the script, what a surprise
Hook:
If memory serves me,
I remember wondering what all of that work be,
Posted on the same stoop like what the word be,
But someone was always standing behind me to curb me,
From off where that curb be,
If memory serves me,
Son I remember jumping off the stoop all thirsty,
But being taught that the corner won’t ever deserve me,
And someone was always standing behind me to curb me,
From off where that curb be,
If memory serves me,
Verse 2:
I was born in Kings County, shooters beside me,
my son was born in the same hospital as Blue Ivy,
my father was 20, I was 35,
I’m still tryna measure up to the world he designed,
I’m in a world of a bind, like how worldly am I?,
to understand the corner store and the world it defines,
but comfy in Carnegie Hall like my world wasn’t dire,
a world of broadway and a world of suppliers,
Bag a nickel bag of funk on the live ’96 case,
and write a thesis on what you see and how the fix tastes,
stories that they sing when it hits and how it fixates,
my average through the roof but still grainy as mixtapes,
And po-9 see me the same as who standing next to me,
but knowing the drop due to my pop’s how I get to be
giving you all the above as opposed to a sketch of me,
and all of the should’ve could’ve would’ves that I could’ve put up,
And now I look up, red cup pour down,
walls full of murals, shit my father tore down,
all of this was thought out, whether I was thinking or not,
somebody was thinking in case I ain’t think out the box,
So stuck am I, down for whatever, nothing rides,
but knowing how the end of the movie is underlined,
and knowing my pop starred in that movie a couple times,
I already knew the script, what a surprise
Bridge:
My memory ain’t fade yet,
I came up out the same door off the same steps,
In love with in the same allure
like what is we waiting for
’Til I’m gone know that I ain’t change yet,
If memory serves me
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2. |
At Least I Got One
02:04
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Verse
My sneakers were always whatever I wanted within reason,
my reason was based on who was jumping out the BM,
seeing what we saw from the door and we still geeking,
crowd him around the store he gets to dumping out per diem,
How I see it, we were inspired by who’s beside us,
heavy is the cuts on the head, true as a line up,
be it princess or Andis, or 50 dollar stand-ins,
the weight of all 3 like I’m triple beaming the canvas,
Shoulder to shoulder, know what it costs the same way that I know my composure,
but still stood there, we good here,
easily mistook here, for one another often,
But I don’t ever mind it like I’m cutting you a portion,
Things dude hopping out the BM showed me,
added that to what my pops used to feed me to hold me,
made sense of it, played parallel, same differences,
parents ain’t married but I still could wave a ringer in,
So being all we saw, pay no attention,
seen enough already to get what all was a given,
corner stores and ambiance the world we live in,
my hands raised in advanced placement, what a collision,
blowing bud on the roof and aiming an empty clip at a cloud,
in awe of a 4 pound without a mission,
loving the aura of being part of what we envisioned,
blind without seeing it, my pops on my beeper and,
Heineken in my jeans like we were Casper and Telly,
know I’ll be right where you need yo I’ll back when you’re ready,
mad at me cause my house is a home, out where I rose,
feel the need to be proud that I won’t be out here alone, right?,
prayers up for who ain’t blessed like I,
praising a drought, my pops ain’t never left me dry,
no apologies for bringing this ringer out with me,
you get your brother?, that’s fine, shit you know where I’ma lean, right?,
Hook:
At least I got one mu’fucker
Same reason my Wrangler don’t got the top up mu’fucker,
Mega salutes to the ones who ain’t as blessed me,
I leave you the same food that he left for me,
At least I got one mu’fucker
Same reason m Wrangler don’t got the top up mu’fucker,
Never hide from that so I ain’t have to step aside,
And I’ll never hide the fact that my dad ain’t never hide
Real shit
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3. |
Turning 10
03:41
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Verse 1:
My man used to sling to his mother,
took a couple dollars off so she ain’t think he don’t love her,
I said “damn son your pops don’t care?”, he said “son I don’t know,
my father been in and outta Rikers since I was 9 years old”,
He passed me the ‘L and then continued to bag snow,
I pictured myself in his shoes and took a drag slow,
his mother came in the room with seven singles,
he gave her a bag of stones, her face said heaven sent you,
I was 14, known as a mixture of straight scheming and debate teaming,
a tug of war to break me even, I was weaving through what was intended and what was a given,
where it’s easy to jump in the rhythm and fuck with the vision,
Been forever since we kicked it, last thing I heard is he was bidding,
they got him infinity number dripping,
the juxtaposition of what the allure be,
they placed him with his pops so now gets to tell his father the story
Hook:
All my friends who got a son with their ex,
I tell them right off the deck,
Go and get your son when he turns 10,
And all the women I know who know what’s best
And the way that this shit is set,
Give that boy up when he turns 10,
I applaud you for thuggin’ it, uh,
Never wavering how you loving him,
But now its daddy’s turn to run with him
So if you got a son with you ex,
I tell you right off the deck,
Go and get your son when he turns 10
Verse 2:
I was 10 when I moved from Crown Heights to the Stuy,
took me from Ebbets Field to up the block from B.I.,
my mother said “yo you’ve hit an age where you’re ‘bout to feel a change,
and as a woman there’s only so much I can demonstrate”,
At first I ain’t get it, young and innocent, blind fold the differences,
penning and dribbling over 10/10 skinnies and bigger reluctance,
my father was always around but at 10 it adjusted,
and all the layers that it comes with,
Like a man can’t teach a girl how to be a woman,
and a woman can’t teach a boy how to be a man,
so like Tre and them, my dad made the call to moms,
she said “you wanted him you got him” and my corner evolved,
So when a block party’s jumping,
and my friends moms pulled me aside like “talk to him, maybe your aura can touch him”,
I get it, but really though I’m just funneling this tradition down,
from back when I turned 10 to the shit I give you now
Verse 3:
I know a girl who I told this all to,
homey of mine, heard it and felt it was all true,
told me her only problem is that if she can’t find him
then how can she realign him with her son like fuck is she ‘sposed what to do?,
I told her what you do, is show him what you’re down for,
keep wearing the pants and never let him take his crown off,
never let him become the mu’fucker he came from,
don’t let that define him, there’s still time to save son, but otherwise…
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4. |
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Verse:
Two cribs but couldn’t keep me inside none,
you know tryna be outside until outside’s done,
too many reasons to not be out when the time comes,
and too many dice games, so find me inside one,
Born in the 80s, raised in 90s typical shit,
dirty handed or not, you know what the gist of it is,
couldn’t duck it, so we become it, easy to fall in love with,
but young enough to not understand all that it come with,
So umm, inset parents here,
couldn’t turnaround without seeing both standing there,
still on my 1-2, same as the ones with me whenever I come through,
forever we’re one group,
and solo records could never come outta son group,
but I had a Nike bag who always sung too,
the hood like “damn Sky in the house, what son do?,
nah if you don’t see him come around then he back at his mother house”,
Word, same rules at her house, I couldn’t slip through that,
her new boyfriend’s trash, I wanted to get him clapped,
different story, but my mother was still the difference for me,
all the composure I use to get you off me is from her,
But I still got that other side that comes alive,
picture furious styles pushing a bubble 5,
there it is, raised by it over a shot of Henny,
nowadays we reflect on it til the bottles empty,
Old Knicks and Ralph Lauren and Spike,
and all of my catalog and the songs that get him hype
and he laughs like “you know how many shoot outs I was in”,
for him to be your hero off the movies I done lived”,
but still, he understood all the glare in my eyes,
you never think that a hero can be where you reside,
And I ain’t never turn an eye, never took it for granted,
but it was everyday so I ain’t have to understand it,
He said he was joking, I poured him another shot,
knowing he wasn’t joking ‘bout everyone that he popped,
trained me the same way, that I truly understood,
and I ain’t have the same reasons but I shoot it just as good,
Me and mine got a story or two,
nothing that needs to spoken up over the loop,
just know that it all makes sense when it’s hindsight,
my mother told me “be like your father when the times right”,
my pop told me “your mother’s here to give you emotion,
and I’m here to give you the aim to blow shit open, fully loaded”,
recollecting shit til the song stops,
a green Nike duffle bag’s still my soft spot, for real
Hook:
Saw it all but that wasn’t the only thing i saw,
Corner store said “I promise we can get it all”,
Momma taught me through it all just to stand tall,
And poppa taught me if they reach blow their hands off, blow their hands off!
I bet you I can fit a whole weekend in my duffle bag,
I bet you I can fit a whole weekend in my duffle bag,
I bet you I can fit a whole weekend in my duffle bag,
I bet you I can fit a whole weekend in my duffle bag, .
My duffle bag, duffle bag, duffle bag..
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5. |
Eyes Wide Shut
03:19
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Verse:
Yo the time was wasting, but we saw it as ventilation,
call it what you wanted but we just called it a day spent,
shit you couldn’t learn in the crib but was always saved with,
or saved by, so say bye and hit the pavement,
Rules of engagement, don’t ever rule out the amazement
of better dreaming from never sleeping due to a grave shift,
boats in abundance, shipments in corner containers,
locally funded, literally foreign exchanges,
Know the occasion, on occasion I had to stay in,
but most of the time I was outside where the play is,
difference was, I understood what all of the issues was, s
ame way I understood a pistol run,
such a dichotomy, all on the sides of me,
wasn’t much room left, so nothing else got to me,
from John Coltrane to Danny Simmons to Richard Wright
to friends with a brick of white, nothing was outta reach,
but fuck it be proud of me, this could’ve went wild left,
the key to it is never leaving it where denial’s left,
I knew what I was gunning for, and who was fixing my aim so when the gun go off,
shit’ll be one shot, told there’s only one top, but that the bottom got wild space,
regardless of how many people is on that ground chase,
circling around base, opinions in the kitchen how they circling around base,
way too many cooks, but I was raised by a crook who found his way through a book
and another one and another one, and changed the way you look
at his son and at his two other sons, my brothers and me,
swear to God I put my arm up over what they could see,
So may Jehovah or Allah or Buddah bless us,
or whoever else you’re calling like “par can you protect us?”,
I zip up my Colombia jacket while my man is beeping Colombians
like “yo this shit ain’t locking at all, fuck it I’m done with them”,
contracts voided over pay phones,
I’m there for moral support but need to make my way home
My pops got tickets for “Bring in The Noise, Bring in The Funk,
and BBQs after that yo this shit is a jump,
all my men’s in the front as we load up inside the Wrangler,
same one like the one I went and bought where the roof change up,
And all of that do change us, could’ve been a different view,
never know the bags under your view until they stick with you,
but sleep is the cousin of the death, so never sleep,
my pop said “I’ve been up since you was born, best believe,
best believe you’re gonn’ believe it all when you get to be”,
and I been up since December 20th, 2017, do believe
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6. |
||||
Verse 1:
Understood it back then but even more now,
it’s easier to feel it when it’s your child,
when forever is the only thing you want now,
middle man with the baton, pass it on down,
Pass what he gave me to mine in due time,
from how to put a fist in the air to shooting five,
to how to not give in to fear when the blues arrive,
he said “my only job was making sure you survive”,
Duly noted, all the direction that you were throwing,
I might not have known where it led but I knew the motive,
so all the conversations that might’ve turned into more
was to keep me from writing from the other side of the wall,
my friends never had their pop so you became it,
yours died when you were a child so you related,
taught us that everything you are and what becomes of you,
is usually everything that was be front of you
Hook:
Believe it,
Youngin’ do believe it,
Super hero dad, capes on, you know how we get,
And this one is a song for my father, let the radio repeat it
A song for my father, let the radio repeat it
A song for my father, let the radio repeat it
Like everyday is Father’s Day weekend
Celebrate it, celebrate it, celebrate it
Verse 2:
The day that the baton came to me,
heart started jumping when your mom came to me,
And said that you were cooking, I was overlooking Brooklyn knowing we had to leave,
‘cause I wanted you to see more when you repeat after me,
You were born I was torn, a feeling never before,
but I knew the world waiting for you is forever more,
every cop that’s outta pocket with his rep in his in his hand,
And every word thrown at me to make me less of man,
Was all fully aligned here for you to take part in,
so put your whole chest in whatever you put your heart in,
I put it on the table there’s nothing that can surprise you,
keep you the wiser before they try to Korey Wise you,
Miles the miracle, every part of your breath,
doctors told me my only hope was IVF,
so know that everything that you are and what becomes of you,
is usually everything that be in front of you
Verse 3:
If there was ever a man who was generous, gracious and good,
that was my dad, hollow tipped his way out the hood,
shot through it and showed me how to hop to it,
like “never let nobody ever say what you’re not doing, unless it’s me”,
Same rule apply to the one that I made,
only one I’ll give it to if he wanted my lane, all yours, nothing that I won’t provide,
from the first time that you saw the world and you opened mine,
My pop made sure that I was all the way fine,
even when him and my mom were saying all their goodbyes,
so shout out to my mother and all the mothers for their comforting,
the best ones got a father that’s in love with them, right,
So this is for the father’s support,
the ones that you couldn’t pay enough to walk out the door,
and the ones who know that everything you are and what becomes of you,
is usually everything that be in front of you
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7. |
Duly Noted
04:05
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Duly noted and taking notes, even when I ain’t realize I was doing so,
didn’t realize I was just remembering while I was figuring
what all this was supposed to mean, and I mean,
the meaning behind it was what he said all this was worth.
All this was just so that there’d be some kinda meaning when mentioning me,
or mentioning my brothers beside me, ‘cause you see,
this all could’ve went another route, this all could’ve just turned into “turn on whatever”
and see the same turn that was predicted for when it was my turn, so I turned.
Turned into what I wasn’t supposed to,
turned into what everyone around us said we’d never get close to,
but I ain’t turn ‘cause I chose to, I turned cause yo I ain’t have a choice,
because a choice was made long ago
that being something other than who and what was around us was the road I was taking,
They called it the road less traveled, I called it the only road I knew,
Cause I knew what my day ones didn’t,
call it privilege or call it blessings from the ceiling but it all was a given,
without taking for granted what I was given, I was driven to a rhythm
that said these mu’fuckas is waiting for you to lose your position, so watch how you pivot,
Watch how you scrimmage, watch who you team up with and what’s their vision, you get it?
Got it, and I ain’t really do much I just, took a baton and ran with it
the same way I ran with who was shoulder to shoulder with me,
same view, same motive, same reasons for anyone to look our way and feel they know us,
but the only difference is I had someone to tell me when to hold up,
when to slow up, how to never let anyone speak on you before you get to show up,
You lead the dialogue, you’re the leader, so always look people in the eye,
and never be afraid to ask or inquire unless you wanna run blind
and never respect anyone who don’t feel the same for you and your kind,
celebrated, never tolerated, they’ll either love it or hate it,
So this is about me doing the same, me knowing that if I can do for mine what was done for me
then I can sleep comfortably, because nothing won’t be able to undo what I done did,
same as it was for me,
And nah, this ain’t about putting down one, just lifting up another,
this ain’t about knocking those who ain’t have who I had,
this is more about all them never forgetting what that was like
and never wanting to repeat that type, never wanting to be that type, right,
This is thanks to mine before me
and aiming to do the same for who came from off me,
hands folded together to make this shit work,
that and more, but nothing less. Duly noted.
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