1. |
Turn a Mill
03:31
|
|||
Step by step the longest march
can be won (can be won)
Many stones to form an arch
singly none (singly none)
And by union what we will
Can be accomplished still
Drops of water turn a mill
Singly none.
Step ahead, step behind
only rapper two stepping with a metal spine
even in decline, still ahead of my time
Evel Knievel in his prime, how's he even alive (damn)
I dare you devils adhere to this schedule
I ran like hell for years at this level
Whole family on my back, what'd I tell you?
Even when the vertebrae cracked, I never fell through.
Never said I was invincible,
Body moving body broken from the neck down
Guess I was standing on my principles.
Luckily them motherfuckers were dead sound
Who slept sound knowing that the beds were burning?
Then fed full bellies with an extra serving.
Nothing left for the essential person
Who showed up to work knowing death was certain
Infections lurking where protections lacking
to practice murder while we speak compassion
We cut trash bags into plastic curtains
We couldn't seem to keep that mask in fashion
No visitors pass is what the Doctors say
just me, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye
between a sleepless state feeling the deepest ache
having dreams of the dead homies keeping me safe
the O.G. would say 'you need to go a lot slower,
you care too much plus you act too grown up
must've lost track of the times I have told ya
you walk like the weight of the world's on your shoulders'
Rest in peace to a tough guy
Wish he could've stuck around for the punchline
Baby boy took his first steps for the second time while the third wave
shut down production lines but I'm
Staying focused on my breath.
Drinking water doing stretches getting rest (having fun)
Letting it bang for them ones
Who can still get it cracking like some Alias drums
We ain't done. Until I get away and walk into the sun.
The homie Pip told me 'fuck it, let em come'
Keep going til' I end it on the one
Not the run of the mill, cuz for the mill I don't (run)
Yes yes y'all, you don't stop.
B. Dolan. Rock on.
Yes yes y'all, you don't stop.
Rock on.
|
||||
2. |
The Traveler
03:11
|
|||
I can't claim any ties you would recognize
I come poorly recommended and unweatherized
unprotected like a child that's been left behind
came so many miles, the conductor just let him ride
it's easier than tryna find my point of origin
standing in the warm summer rain on your doorstep
stranded in the wrong place; naked and exhausted
you took me in and made me your guest.
I try to write the symbols of my name but it's pointless
My language is strange, I point and make noises
Struggle to relate and placate the voices
Stare up into space like I'm waiting on my orders.
I'm not connected to your network.
Your password's protected; I get it. No one gets hurt
Slow walking through the middle of a traffic jam
Road hogs to the slaughter getting packed in cans
Soul coughing on the smoke from that caravan
Seems a lot of waste just to go and come back again
How much effort does it take, just to go and come back again?
I'm the traveler (the-the-the traveler / the-the-the traveler)
The one way passenger.
I'm the traveler (the-the-the traveler
Tryna find a path and make my way up out the labyrinth
I'm the traveler (the-the-the traveler / the-the-the traveler)
The brand ambassador
I'm the traveler (the-the-the traveler / the-the-the traveler)
Tryna pick a date to make my way up out the maze
I can't explain why I'm alive at this place and time
I kinda woke up in the station as the train arrived
It ain't a final destination but I'll stay awhile
til they kick me out, with a warning not to hang around
Say no more, I'm on my way to the door
Finding it hard to shake the feeling that I been here before
I get lost just like a satellite, drifting out of orbit
I tour but I'm not a tourist.
It costs more for the insurance if you fall for that lecture
but I always sort of saw it like 'that's where they get ya.'
We don't need no supervision or additional extra
Please. Gimme the keys. Where's your sense of adventure?
Beep Beep I been selected for a screening
They juggle puzzle pieces but none of them know the meaning
Below a ceiling made of glass, I was in a trap
Agents digging in my past to pin me to the map
Luckily I have a knack for slipping through the cracks
Struggle and adapt to the maze, had to double back
and leave em standing in their place where it's safe
Clinging to the past.
I'm the traveler (the-the-the traveler / the-the-the traveler)
The one way passenger.
I'm the traveler (the-the-the traveler
Tryna find a path and make my way up out the labyrinth
I'm the traveler (the-the-the traveler / the-the-the traveler)
The hunter and the gatherer
I'm the traveler (the-the-the traveler / the-the-the traveler)
"You see my face and I'm gone..." -Guru
|
||||
3. |
Fantasy Baseball
03:06
|
|||
Too many styles for me to engage or debate y'all
Ain't in the same league; don't keep the same score
I seen the legends rock. I seen the greats fall.
I watched em turn it all to fantasy baseball.
Fantasy baseball, fantasy baseball
Fantasy baseball but I ain't come to play with y'all.
You never rated me, but then I kinda hated y'all
You never made my team in Fantasy Baseball.
The greatest freestyle of all time was not recorded
Somebody's battery died; somebody's mic distorted
In any case they never played it back but fear not.
It lives deep in the heart of everyone who was in ear shot.
the weird part is when the beating heart becomes collectible
Now they're making charts about your vocab and your revenue
Statisticians wishing they could round you to a decimal
Place you in a playlist or hypothetical festival
One for your favorite two for Biggie and Pac
three four naming me your Top 5 Rappers right off the Top
I've got so little patience for this form of conversation
My source of inspiration don't need your evaluation why not
Just keep my name completely out of that rotation
I'm still perfecting game and running bases in the vacant sandlot
My hand is hot but I am not the one to shoot you down
Respect is due and I've accrued enough to move around
But when you get there I just find it mad amusing how
the hall of fame is just a tourist trap in Cooperstown.
Too many styles for me to engage or debate y'all
Ain't in the same league, don't keep the same score
I seen the legends rock, I seen the greats fall
I watched em turn it all to Fantasy Baseball.
<Chorus>
The greatest rap song in history was not released
They couldn't clear the sample. Had to remake the beat
The perfect reference full of purpose and intention
So it's cool you've got a preference but I've formed more of a core belief.
The war machine will have us gunning for the pennant
and standing for the anthem of the fandom we defended
when tables turn toxic, they follow where you're stepping
and Stan in the place where you were, to spread the legend
The competition sells the tickets and you get your paper
They get their verses with a Z and then it's 'see ya later'
But here's a bar that you can keep and then remember later
The game was never played for the sake of spectators
Too many shows for me to engage or debate y'all
Ain't in the same league. Don't keep the same score.
I seen the legends rock. I seen the greats fall.
Don't let em turn it all to Fantasy Baseball.
<Chorus>
"Come on everybody do the baseball. Come on everybody do the baseball..." -De La Soul
Rest in peace to Plug 2. We in the outfield, picking daisies for the whole crew.
|
||||
4. |
The Rock Cried Out
02:20
|
|||
Lyrics:
A thought formed before time on the surface of space
Split apart the lonely mind with a purpose and shape
Lit the dark with an explosive shock in bodies that shake
Break apart and smash together keeping orbits in place
I became: the definition of 'solid' and learned to hold the trauma
Coated my surface with an armor hard as molten lava
You crawled up out of the water and started growing larger
I gave you coal and harbor, later gave you gold and copper
Who gave you warmth? Who gave you tools? Who gave you power?
You tunnel through. You dug a tomb. You move a mountain.
Your bloody rule and sudden moves, running my jewels
Combustible. You guzzle fuel and hunt for food.
You took it all like it was yours, and once removed
I felt a force begin to course and buckle through.
I saw the truth but I could never understand
How everything you touch becomes a weapon in your hand.
The Rock cried out.
The Rock cried out.
The Rock cried out.
According to the legend you're the masters of the earth
But perhaps some missing chapters might have clarified the verse
You grew in dirt. To disperse. Mutant germs throughout the universe.
Justify the violence of your mind no matter who it hurts
The wounded earth recalls the deposits you have made
and the names of stones you laid in place to mark the graves.
Gaudy monuments to glorious dead that might stand
At least until the elements compress your lifespan
Desert sand would love to cover you. Sun has seen enough of you.
Air whispers to smother you but Ocean wants to come for you.
Wonder who you running to? Same as it ever was.
Building bunkers underground. Caves with electric plugs.
Never learned the lesson, huh? Never saw the common thread?
Never learned to slow it down. Never learned to calm your head.
Now you need a solid friend to talk to, til the quakes are over
But I am not immortal I'm just breaking down slower.
The Rock cried out:
"I can't hide you."
|
||||
5. |
How to Rob the Italians
02:29
|
|||
The rep grows bigger over time and distance
the myth gets passed on the lips of misfits
A lot of people got the whole history twisted
Addicted to the cinema and same old fictions
You sippin on vino eating shrimp and lobster
a Kingpin killing wise guy battalions
Now everybody John Gotti wannabe mobster
but nothing could be easier than robbin Italians.
Them family ties are thinner than they seem
peak rivalry and petty jealousy
you find the weakest link and work it like Play-Doh
First thing to know is every family got a Fredo.
Get up on the payroll
Let em take you home and introduce you round the table
Chicken scallopini fettucini with tomato
once you breaking bread it's like defenses get disabled.
Put the poison in the wine
if you feeling doubt, flattery will get it every time
cater the ego they won't even know what happened
nothing could be easier than stealing on Italians
crosses and medallions, flashing what they got
marble on the countertop, diamonds in the watch
tryna play the part got em looking like a mark
always selling wolf tickets
ain't no bite behind the bark
Plus it's way past the heydey
Closer to the vibe of how Carmella was with AJ
Gucci this, Prada that, hand me down furs
type to play the fiddle while they watch it all burn
Look how it made em lose focus
Tryna flip their little street fame into showbiz
Every single Caesar with his back sliced open
on the colosseum steps told you 'don't do like the Romans'
But still you want an empire
Bragging like you're tryna dry snitch on a wire
Hurry up quick before the side chicks retire
Cash em out early in the deserts where they hide ya
Take it as a heads up
or take it as a challenge
Take it like Columbus
and kill em while they're captive
Take it all in stride
Take it up with the Vatican
Take it as a metaphor
Take it as it happens
Take my advice
there's a price for the arrogance.
You'll never take it easier
than robbing the Italians.
|
||||
6. |
||||
You woke up
Feeling like you'd been crushed by a boulder
scratching at the fleas and another day older
Roll up outta bed put the kettle on the stoveplate
wait for the cobwebs to go away
It seemed like yesterday was gonna be the one
you were bout to hit the road and you had em on the run
here you come
talking about your new plan of attack
but you may have made a few wrong moves in the trap
so where you at? at the open mic, hoping for gas money
supposedly promoted by one of your rap buddies?
everybody's gotta play the fool but it's clear
that you been doing that for 20 years
and the bills pile up, and the heat don't work
and you never see your kids, and you're eating like a jerk
and everybody's a hater when your feelings get hurt
but one day you've gotta face it: you'll never eat the bird!
You're a glutton for the punishment
Addict for the poultry
Look at who you're running with!
How is it you don't see?
You're hungry for the wrong thing
That's why you're known to be a natural born loser
Wil E. Coyote.
And you don't stop... and you don't quit....
But maybe you should.
You woke up
Feeling like you got shot out of a catapult
Take a look around, pick yourself up off the asphalt
surrounded by girls, you probably wanna catcall
but you won't get no love like that y'all (that y'all)
back to the drawing board, back to the lab
and the phone never rings in your bachelor pad
but you the mack, so you treat em like they're all inferior
can't no woman meet your criteria
She gotta be a freak and she gotta be a virgin
She gotta be ambitious, she gotta be earning
a cooker and a cleaner with a body that's perfect
She gotta feed your ego, and let you know you're worth it
But right before you meet though, you may wanna ask
Why would she ever date your sorry ass?
Pause. Do the math. Take a look at the trajectory.
Acting like a predator ain't really in your pedigree
you glutton for the punishment
Addict for the poultry. Lookit who you're running with!
How is it you don't see? You're hungry for the wrong things
That's why you're known to be
the bottom of the food chain
Wil E. Coyote.
<Chorus>
You woke up
Feeling like you got shot out of a slingshot
Looking at this rope, thinking how to tie a slipknot
And that's a scary episode. If you've never seen it
then you've rarely ever known.
Watching your last hope go up in a puff of smoke
Feeling like a mutt and the butt of a bad joke
Cupboard full of nothing, disgusted by dusty roads
But maybe there's a better way to satisfy your soul
and maybe there will come a day when you pick up the phone
and cancel that delivery, and realize your worth
and stop buying ACME. Cause ACME don't work!
Throw away the jetpacks, birdseed and rollerblades
Try a vegan diet. Buy a ticket. Go away.
Find a better climate. Maybe find some slower prey
You may find there's no shame and focus your aim
cuz you were tougher than the punishment,
better than you hope to be
If one day you up and quit,
knowing what you don't need
that's the day we all win
That's the day you go free!
A super genius.
Wil E. Coyote.
|
||||
7. |
Selfie Sub
03:58
|
|||
I've walked the hall of mirrors
with a heart that's made of glass
I've fallen toward reflections in the water
and been trapped
When this director needed cast
I played an extra in his crew
on the set, where they work and sweat
to make the cameras move.
With angles used to draw the viewer through the picture
That's where I crossed paths with this bad Influencer
looking sexy by device, she made an entrance in life
the man said "Let me introduce you to
who's playing your wife"
Ok alright, I kept it polite.
Entertainers better know
the default is Shut the Fuck Up and Be a Professional (still)
She rubbed my arms to keep her warm between takes
I said some shit that made her laugh
She's looking all in my face. Gave me the longest embrace
Now I'm beginning to wonder... she took a pic with my phone
Texted it to her number. I heard the thunder
when she gently took a hold of my hand
Whispered "let's get another one"
and passed the phone to her man.
She said:
"Take it again.
I look bad in this picture. Where's the bag I left witcha?
Use a flash and a filter and
Take it again
Aim it up with the lens wide. This one neeeds a fresh eye
Get me from my best side
Take it again
I look good from this angle but my hair's getting tangled
Be a doll, be an angel baby.
Take it again."
And he took what he was given like the picture of submission
that my whole life had been missing.
Chorus:
Go. Post. Don't disturb me again (She had a Selfie Sub)
Go. Post. Don't disturb me again (A Selfie Sub)
Go. Post. Don't disturb me again (Not no Ordinary Love)
Go. Post. Don't disturb me again
So it's like... you and your man got a three way relationship
You're in love with Fame. He takes the pictures and pays for shit? (Yeah.)
What level game is this? Parasitic bait and switch
She said "I train a simp. You should join my mailing list."
But interest faded once she saw me push the button
Director hollered 'Cut' now it's a wrap all of a sudden.
That's when I saw her Selfie Sub standing alone
I simply had to guess the code to try unlocking his phone
I told him:
"I couldn't help it but notice you manage talent
you rolling with a pro and you should know I'm not the average."
He looked me over quick, then turned around to face a wall
and motion in my face like he was taking a call
Yo hold up.
I need a Selfie Sub to see me from the perfect view
to be the lens my imperfections can be filtered through
Where is the selfless love to document my very best?
Destroy the archives of hard drives and burn the rest
to share the love my future followers have yet to find
and never question when I tell you for the seventh time
"Take it again.
I look ugly in this shot. I need more than what we've got
All aboard, we on the Yacht about to
Take it again
To exotic destinations for our photo shoot locations
Where your private jet is waiting and we
Take it again
Aim it up, with the lens high, this one needs a fresh eye
get me from my best side.
Take it again"
And he took what he was given til she motioned to dismiss him
and his focus never shifted.
<Chorus>
Yah Ra:
Beauty is traded as a form of currency
certainly heightened when the world's in a constant
State of emergency when
Pornographic stimulation becomes as common as courtesy
and courtesy ain't common
Dreams of covergirl queens and nightmares of the bottom
Are we tail or head? Innocence we have robbed and no
Problems have been solved just made more complex
I digress.
As I'm cashing the next check....
|
||||
8. |
Ice Cream Wars
03:26
|
|||
The news reports a gruesome slaughter in the morning
Tawdry rags report the morbid facts, poured in your coffee
gory details overfilled and spilled in coffee table silk
Hungry people mix the sugar with some milk
Quick to place the guilt.
The wars inflate the price and raise the cost of daily life
Doors are shut the crates are dry
We scraping by on flavored ice
I always aspire to be a good driver, remain in the light
When only the gangster's are hiring you're liable to take their advice
Trained in taking flight, we scavenge in flocks and imagine riches
Flashing carats in a tacky gold watch could attract some pigeons
Two bit kingpins slinging grams, hand to hand out rented vans
Fam was warring, bringing bricks and shivs to carve up stolen lands
While the owners hid their hands and planned the routes we came to drive
All we had to do was pull up right outside and play the chimes
Chorus:
To show the world who controls the world, control the world.
Everybody wants to
Rule the world I know you heard the song before
Soldiers headed off to war
Ain't nobody laughing now
Talking smack or backing down
Every street we travel down
People run to catch the sound
Made a living out the wrecks in the scrapyard
A way to paint em up fresh in a back lot
Cut a deal for the product, conceal our own markup
and carve up the market with that part.
Chop ice with the sharpest blade
Lead pipe by the freezer case
They put a brick through my front windshield
I was back in the field slinging treats when the evening came
Known as strictly a pro so they sent me in solo
Follow directions, befriended the locals
They hear me coming and run for the money
I serve em quickly and run up the totals
Pockets got hopeful of holding a million and building
a ladder up out of this shite.
I sold my soul in the summer to run with them hustlers
and battle my brothers at night
Business is personal, egos are certain to flare up
When that sort of damage gets owed
We went from slashing up tires to faces to
burning a family alive in their home
to show the world... who controls the world, we sold the world.
Everybody wants to
Rule the world I know you heard the song before
Soldiers headed off to war...
Some gave their life and were melted like ice
in the light of the hot summer sun
Moments we burned in our memory
the burden was heavy
a darkness came over the judge
As he speaking the verdict uniquely I heard
through a window that someone had cracked
Kids in a tenement scream for attention in fact
they were begging their parents for cash.
Musical notes could produce a hypnosis in rodents
and over those children at play
But when the village is empty the bill is presented
the piper will have to be paid.
Patsys will hang. Triggers will bang.
Predators watching will sharpen their fangs
Criminal slang, chiseled in graves
Fortunes we made and destroyed in a day
We came of age, chasing them songs
Learning the legends of crooks they involved
Shadows grew long. Winter came on.
When it was done all the sweetness had gone
We sold the world.
|
||||
9. |
Modified Warrior
03:29
|
|||
Let the preacher say Amen and the choir say 'Gloria'
You give it all and they still want more from ya
Chasing the high or the feeling of euphoria
But this pose is called "Modified Warrior"
I lift stones to build a foundation strong enough
I spit flows and got a couple more to offer up
There's more of us but we too afraid of rocking the boat
to ever govern by the popular vote
Is our apocalypse slow or is it time running out?
Without a second to spare, without a shadow of doubt
He get the hands in the air, and known for grabbing the crowd
Dead lift them 10 inches off the goddamn ground
When rappers were laying down
I was fighting to stand up
The walk to the cane to the pain drugs can't touch
So you playing it tough just ain't do nothing to phase us
I make them all hush introverted and anxious
And plus I let the devil live long enough
Lay out the cards on the table cuz I'm calling all bluffs
Reconstructed the stance to stand taller cuz
the new shit is called "Modified Warrior"
"Modified Warrior... Slightly Modified..."
I'm reinforced by a source I'm a part of
How many frauds did this industry prop up?
But see the thing is that I never been star struck
I need to know what you can bring to the potluck
Too many fans jam packed in the hot sun
Too many hand stamps, too many want one
Too many artists, too much product, too much gas
I'm here to tell you not to start that podcast
Unless you really got the passion to do so
I used to grind til the force went through bone
Just like a parent who would bring the abuse home
It's heavy lifting walking round with a tombstone
Tied around your neck, the child of that neglect
was wiling for respect and while defying death
I found a way to rep for lives that I protect
forgive but don't forget
it's bigger than mic checks (mic check)
Cuz things will never be the same as before for us
I let the strange winds of change fill up all in my lungs
Transform to stand strong & never forfeit cuz
I roll up with some modified warriors...
"Modified Warrior..."
I realized what a violent word 'normal' was
Got torn down the middle, got sawed and cut
Got fused with some screws and reborn to run
So this one is called "Modified Warrior"
|
B Dolan Providence, Rhode Island
Road-tested hip hop poet handling life, liberation + a body full of trauma. Makes beats and lyrics late night.
Visit IAmBDolan.com to read the full artist bio.
Streaming and Download help
B Dolan recommends:
If you like B Dolan, you may also like: