When I wrote this song everyone was performing a bunch of free shows and completely undervaluing their talent. As all of these artists sold immense amounts of tickets for opening slots without getting paid it made me realize how much we all must really love this music shit to keep doing it. The song talks about the life of an underground artist performing for free and releasing free music just to satisfy the hunger involved in wanting to express yourself while you chase your dreams. It speaks to the current state of radio and of mainstream rap and electronic music and how its strangling the underground hip hop scene. For me though, this song will always remind me of DJ Zuki. There's a line in this song that mentions Moscow. Now, I'm pretty sure I only used the word "Moscow" because I like the word, but I performed this song with DJ Zuki as my DJ and found out he's actually from Moscow just before I went on stage.
lyrics
I bet you weren't expecting something chill from this ill kid
I felt like kicking something real for little bit
but this whole record it could kill with their realness
smooth like the burb shots vanhoof bought up in the village
can you feel it?
as my voice talks to you through the download when its finished
keep it on the down low, I'm sipping on that crown gold
cheating on that Jack Daniels bottle like "I'm down yo"
It's not easy when it's day in, sun rise, day out, done rhymes
pleasing of the ears, it's the reason why I'm hear
please believe me when its clear
I won't stop, I wont veer from the top spot
I wont disappear on ya
I felt me loosen sight of everything
so I switch genres and this hip hop it let me sing
pushed the vox (vocals) to new limits and the love it brings
folks I really live it, no jokes or funny business
its just me and my crew
doing what we do
don't give a fuck about what you say
cause' at the end of the day
musics here to stay
with or without the pay
Writing rhymes, it can really drain me
when it's all I think about and no body pays me
going no where with some thing that you care about can make you lazy
that's why I keep the moves coming and the tunes blazing
if I'm not doing something musically I'm going crazy
see me heavy pacing through the room, mind racing
and I hate it when my spot in lines taken
by some auto tuned robot faking
come on face it, shits messed up
there's some great artistic lines wasted
cause the radio wont let us be real
they're tasteless mofos, they steal drive
from theses people trying to keep this art alive
in the basement with no deal
We need some legends blowing dust up off the mic
make some new shit without the new shit and get it right
show these people what their missing
when they're out at night dissing underground
this is where it started, this is where it's living
its just me and my crew
doing what we do
don't give a fuck about what you say
cause' at the end of the day
musics here to stay
with or without the pay
diamonds, pearls, girls, money, fuck the world attitude
and these dudes get the chance, to hit up any latitude just to dance from Canada to France, Moscow they got the crowd up in a trance
there's one thing in that list that I could hope for
that's fans on the dance floor, screaming for the folklore of hip hop
where nobody wears a wrist watch, cause all we have is time
make em sweat let it drip drop and call it rhymes
set the clock, let it tick tock and call it mine
cause now it's my time to shine with these heavy lines
keep in mind I'm not a fool for the jewels
the tools that I use, to get the grooves
my muse is trying to prove my tunes will be the best
and that's news to these crews who cut the deck
when they threw money down to lose half of their checks
my moves will set examples for the rest
I'm up and Adam, they're still making their beds
its just me and my crew
doing what we do
don't give a fuck about what you say
cause' at the end of the day
musics here to stay
with or without the pay
credits
from Mood Swings,
released February 21, 2014
Produced by Scarecrow Beats
