Get all 10 NjS releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Then & Now EP [Free D/L], Soular Power, Now or Never (feat. Lori Abucayan), The Difference [Free D/L], Another Galaxy, A San Francisco Story, Life is a Process Remix (feat. Flow Zen) [Free D/L], FREEDOM [Free D/L], and 2 more.
1. |
Starting Fresh
04:38
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VERSE 1 (Flow Zen)
It's like I'm seeing the world for the first time//
Birds eye view of the whole earth I'm flying high//
Turf to the sky my words rise to fertilize//
Your minds when you heard my rhymes//
I'm a certified bird cuz I learned to fly//
It's a perfect time for me to traverse and climb//
Cuz for a while we didn't have our purpose lined up//
Trying to be what we weren't, just lying but//
Now we feeling accomplished that's a load off my conscience//
It's like being enlightened, mind full of knowledge//
Like 4.0s in college, or a shaman//
My third eye's open all shiny and polished//
New direction, brand new perspective//
Learned my lessons for a new progression//
Cuz the sky's clear for miles ahead of me//
So I'm letting the beats all set me free//
HOOK (Both)
新たな始まり//
Got my mind right, got my head straight//
Gotta shine bright, for the next day//
VERSE 2 (Kuga)
失敗の連鎖、不意打ちの病気//
環境も変わり、最近は好機//
正直、憧れてた今日に//
一歩一歩、光の指す方に//
進んでたつもりだったはずが//
微かにずれ、また明日から舞うから//
今日はいいやってメンタルは置いて//
全力で天取るまで諦めねー//
絶品の寿司の如く//
Flowの味はfresh, mic check, ライムは鋭く//
なにが1stステップか明白に決めて//
次なるステップの計画をたてて//
一から始める、道が開かれる//
意思を固めて、ミスを控える//
これからが、まじ本番じゃね?//
咲き遅れ、まさに俺は、大器晩成系//
VERSE 3 (Both)
Flow Zen:
Whatever we did, and wherever we fly//
We realized that we gotta reach high//
Kuga:
天高く飛ぶ鳥が見る世界//
から見りゃroad blocksなんか問題ない//
Flow Zen:
Cuz from the beginning we tried to fit in but it's not//
What it's all about, you're nothing if your pride is dropped//
Kuga:
Musicにべったり電柱に蛾//
I can see our bright futures 遠方にな//
Flow Zen:
Like looking down from inside of a space station//
Real dreams come true when you stay awake//
And as I look around at everything passing me by//
It's like I'm in zero gravity having me fly//
Kuga:
Lifeのオプションは千差万別//
どっち選んでいいのかは常に不安で//
不安定な気持ちに押され//
つつも、毎日探す自分なりの答え//
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2. |
Most Definitely
03:21
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VERSE 1 (Flow Zen)
Clouds hovering above me, it's lovely//
I must be in a day dream in a foreign country//
But sitting here I'm more than comfy//
Cuz the music’s in my ears and you just can't touch me//
Snap, back to reality//
Most of these people be living in a fast track mentality//
But if you pause just for a second and observe//
The BS is basically unheard//
Feeling pretty nice so I think I'll say it twice//
I'm feeling pretty nice like I'm chilling in paradise//
Figuratively speaking I'm permanently cheesing//
Coming up with ill rhymes the words to fit the meaning//
But I just let the beat ride from A to the B side//
Living right now never checking what is behind//
Reclined chair, 24/7 tea time//
And be free, breathe in a peace of mind//
HOOK (Both)
It's the good life, most definitely//
Kick back to a dope heavenly beat//
Cuz I love life, most definitely//
Just living with a vision, mind, setting it free//
VERSE 2 (Kuga)
Man, it’s the small things coming out calling my name//
Like a face up penny while I’m walking my lane//
On the ground just chilling like a one legged crane//
Why stress about nothing when we all feel the pain//
But it’s a dope day, I put on my Oakleys, soak rays//
smoke jays, chillax with homies, okay//
I’m feeling dope, it’s like a brand new day//
It’s like waking up to B&B with bacon and eggs//
Feeling like I just won the lotto//
The jack pot in slots, had a date with a model//
Still on the gas cuz I’m going full throttle//
Pass me the sake and I want the whole bottle//
Kick upyour feet and sink deep in the melody//
Let the bass grab you, raise up the energy//
Pump up the volume and wait for another beat//
Rap all day, spit lines even in my sleep//
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3. |
I'm Me
03:40
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VERSE 1 (Kuga)
I been singing since I was 5, they saw it in my eyes//
My fam knew one day I would rise//
Uh, my mama saw a star singing in the living room//
Dad on the couch silent, but I know he thought you'll kill them soon//
Get them on the box, karaoke box//
Singing non stop like a broken record never paused//
I fell in love with the way the songs made me feel//
Made me dream of one day getting a record deal//
Heart of steel kept pursuing it but deep within me//
I know it's like a bitch so music left me feeling empty//
But in middle school, music was my favorite class//
School wide performances, I always was kicking ass//
Doh re mi fa so la ti doh//
I don't sing no more but now I'm more into flow//
And as I'm rocking these shows my soul brightens and glows//
Give me the mic, hit the lights cuz I'm ready to go, ey yo//
HOOK (Both)
True love and passion, I’m straight up romancing the beat//
I'm me, so I do me, keep rapping to feast//
Far East's were we came up we blasting//
Tokyo to Frisco now look who is laughing//
VERSE 2 (Flow Zen)
I can remember sitting in my chair//
Big bedroom dreams of me taking to the air//
In my face it was apparent, blatantly aware and//
Basically right there I was able and prepared//
And after 15 years take a gander at me//
A rapper, producer, and master MC//
From piano to bassist to disk jockey//
Trying to find my calling, but the road was hella rocky//
But climbing a ladder's hard when the rungs are missing//
But never once did I consider another mission//
Never once did I ever give up and switch it//
Cuz I was hooked from day one just like a drug addiction//
Cuz it was so appealing, I wanted just to feel it//
The fire in my eyes brighter than a fucking Phoenix//
I mean it's affected my whole life's meaning//
Cuz music is my strength but in a way it's my weakness//
VERSE 3 (Both)
Flow Zen:
J2 Debut we Bridging the Gap//
From the Bay to the J and we bringing it back//
To Square One but then we Flying Away again//
To Rock Da Building till the day's end//
And now that you up to date on Nj//
S, you finally understand we your senseis//
But a journey's not a journey without the ride//
And I intend the live it up the whole damn time//
Kuga:
For a minute been in Japan destroying the land//
Doing live shows weekly, interacting with fans//
And when we got together forces grew larger we planned//
To keep at it, Never just Settle like the name of our clan//
Criss crossing elements, cultural exchanges//
Kind of like surviving, adapting to the changes//
When we started, no doubt, we were nameless//
But true love and passion is gonna get us famous//
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4. |
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HOOK (All)
Cuz if you don't close your eyes, then you can't dream//
But if you don't know who we is, then you can't see//
Cuz Life without jazz and hip hop, it can't be//
Cuz Life without jazz and hip hop, it can't be//
VERSE 1 (Flow Zen)
It’s like floating on the notes, getting carried away//
like the foam riding the waves as they hit the coast//
Or outside under the summer sky, never wondering why//
I never want to come inside//
Following the path of those before us making music//
Those are big shoes to fill so I’m making sure the shoes fit//
But who’s this? The truth is it’s these two kids//
Taking jazz and combining it with some new digs//
Running amuck proving this jazz hop movement//
Is nothing short of dope, never making excuses//
Cuz musical combinations are endless like a Rubik’s//
Mic in my hand keeping my arm strong, Louis//
So like him, competition I’mma trump it//
Heading to the function looking fresh like out the oven//
Never bumbling and I keep my system bumping//
The real music so you know the mainstream wasn’t//
VERSE 2 (Kuga)
Have you ever heard the jazz in hip hop it's so smooth//
It makes a massive difference on them damn tunes//
It's got you moving and vibing, the movement is fine//
And when you’re holding the mic then you know that it's time to//
Press, bombs away dropping lines with volume//
My mind seeks what you seek, so I speak for all you//
Get a rush from it, sink it in like I do//
Take all the negatives and cleanse for revival//
Damn it's fresh, hotter than a summer in Tokyo//
Cooler than scope, it's dope I need it in my life yo //
It reminds me of my youth when I went to Fuji jazz fest//
5 years old still didn't know what jazz is//
David Sanborn killing it on the saxophone//
Made me stand up and enjoy every single fucking song//
So when you mix the two, it's glue, you can never separate it//
Cuz this hip hop and jazz got me hella elevated//
VERSE 3 (Funky DL)
The jukebox aficionado the serenity of Monte Carlo//
Jazz in a bottle - twist the cap off and take a swallow//
Drunk like a wino from the cocktail, bring the bravado//
Hip-hop is mine yo, leave the bar a tip for tomorrow//
Made on an impulse handing over a blue note//
Stepping away with prestige feeling like I got kudos//
Take a stroll down the riverside like I got verve, Marcus D//
On the beat and NJS and D on the words//
The other side of the Atlantic – bringing you the semantics//
How Hip-hop and jazz live together//
The advantage is lavish and so demanded, upstanding like we are bandits//
33 and a 3rd revolutions on this planet//
Like Dammit, it’s so organic - it’s a natural vibe//
That’s gonna resonate from now until the day that I die//
So I’mma be-bop, wearing my Kangol and my Reebok’s//
And keep this jazz and Hip-Hop moving even
when the beats stops//
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5. |
Your Smile
03:42
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VERSE 1 (Flow Zen)
Like a fireplace going in the middle of a storm//
Just a smile on your face could make me feel warm//
Like a cup of tea after a long day//
That damn body you got could chase my problems away//
Can't leave your side is how you make me feel//
Cuz it must be something bout the way we deal//
With each other, got me thinking that this may be real//
Chase you sea, air and land like a navy seal//
Cuz you can't spell lust without us//
And like a building we solid from the ground up//
The one, maybe I found one//
But you want to give it a try? I mean it sounds fun//
Like small print you're hella fine//
I got your image in my head on repeat like a vine//
And the clouds all disappearing I call it a sign//
So I'm showing you I'm praising you just like a shrine//
HOOK (Both)
Chase the clouds//
Away with your smile//
That's why I want to roll with you//
Treat you like a man's supposed to do//
VERSE 2 (Kuga)
Yea bored at home daydreaming//
Remembering a chick from the past straight cheesing//
It was a walk in the city on a summer day//
You could do whatever, have fun in about a hundred ways//
She's hella cool, I'd like to get to know her better//
I could leave my raps aside for a moment with ya//
Cuz time with you’s hella musical//
I don't need a pen and pad I'll freestyle it all//
Then we can groove with the beat and we can throw it on repeat//
And while we're shuffling our feet, I be thinking about the sheets//
Ha… but she really got me active//
When the only thing is rapping on my mind she got me laughing//
She's the type to flip your world around//
You looking good, let me see a little twirl around//
Nice figure with a strong mind //
My kind, you make me smile when I'm with ya let me holla at ya one time//
VERSE 3 (Both)
Flow Zen:
When you smile your face glow just like a rainbow//
Saying "hey yo!" Through the clouds when the rain goes//
Away so I'm never sad, in fact, forever glad//
Toes in the wetter sand, you made me a better man//
Chasing away the opaqueness//
Making this otherwise dire life painless//
And we still got the rest of the day left//
And you cleared my sky so I never need a rain check//
Kuga:
She gets me every the time with that smile hella fine//
Turns my gloomy ass days to a one of a kind//
Mesmerizing like the sun rising from the ocean’s edge//
I need it in my life, like the homeless folks be needing beds//
You got me good, and I know that your feeling me//
Super tough times, she came through and she was feeding me//
The whole scene changes when you’re by my side//
My cloudy days flip just by looking at your smile//
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6. |
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VERSE 1 (Timeless)
I ain’t checking for them presidents, my notion I reply//
Stay flowing like the ocean, kicking rhymes from the sky//
A blessed road, about to climb, mythologic mind of shine//
Eternal, forget the time, infinite spitter of rhyme//
Connected through these cables peep this interface I boast//
In a galaxy drop, I slide off from the coast//
Moving in a plane of separation, ain’t no sign of hesitation//
Living what I’m kicking in my written, that’s my motivation//
My inspiration is a different realm//
I become Excalibur’s owner, Round Table, posted at the helm//
Escapist flow got me reaching for another land//
Pen in hand, elevate in ways that you can’t understand//
It’s metaphorical, lyrically rhetorical//
No answering the future that I’m scribing like an oracle//
I put my shit up to the edge of my depths//
To keep on spitting when reality is stealing my breath, ya feel me?//
Hook (Kuga & Flow Zen)
Take me away to another land, you don’t have to understand//
It’s right across the cables//
I just close my eyes and I take another step//
And I go inside of this place with no regret//
VERSE 2 (Champlu)
I'm facing this life with a mic I took flight//
Call these aviator rhymes when I sit down and write, might//
Bring light to the blind just stuck lost in my mind//
Broke the shackles of time cause music’s timeless//
Rhyme just, to have a better life and//
Enlighten, my people hope it's righteous//
So don't fight the feeling it's realer than money, power, respect//
Flowers blooming even if you have regrets//
So do the same and let nature take its course//
But of course you can't cause you been trained since birth to hand over your soul//
In exchange for gold bitches and what not//
Some robots I found my path so I rhyme to invoke thoughts//
Yeah, this microphone saved my life//
And this studio became my home//
With a rich community of artist I consider family//
When actually my fans to be is all I see//
VERSE 3 (Flow Zen & Kuga)
Flow Zen:
Through the speaker box and I want to let go//
Want to let go, want to just know//
Where my words go after leaving the pencil//
Where my thoughts go after leaving my mental//
Cuz at the face of it, it ain't nothing//
But when I say something it takes me away from it all//
My brain running far through the sound waves from//
Today to tomorrow, every song making it all//
Kuga:
Well worth it, better yet call it hella perfect//
When the notes drop down, and it sinks beneath the surface//
Every drum beats like the steps I be taking//
It keeps me in check with every move I be making//
On the road I’m walking got the instruments talking//
I'm in sync with this journey, and I hope Its never stopping//
So I let my ear go, free so I can hear all//
Clear my mind, and let my bad thoughts free fall//
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7. |
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HOOK (Flow Zen)
Grew up in the SFC//
So you know that's where I gotta be//
The one place that keeps me believing//
City life's like dreaming//
VERSE 1 (Kuga)
Born and raised in the city where the mix is dope//
It’s like a dream watching the Golden Gate from Twin Peaks when we smoke//
The city skyline, the view of Market//
On the left you got the Richmond, on the right’s where Barry Bonds hit//
661 home runs they went flying//
Black and Orange still stay killing on the diamond//
Right down on Polk’s where we get our drink on//
Freestyle with Schiffy, sip cups till our drinks’ gone//
Go back to the avenues, check on the fam’s biz//
Pops cutting fish, fresh cut like our music//
We serving hot plates, sushi on a platter//
My everything’s here, now nothing really matters//
The city lights expanding, cop lights flashing//
But to the sound of sirens I just can’t dance//
This the city that I found my dream in//
SF natives always keep believing//
Verse 2 (Flow Zen)
Bright light cityscape view from the bay bridge//
Usually pushing 90 but I'm trying to appreciate this//
Top down with the fog cooling our faces//
OG stuff lit up, we getting faded//
Ain't no place that I'd rather be//
San Fran savages, that's my family//
It ain't that lavishness, but it's where I have to be//
Fast life in the slow lane keep my sanity//
Bumping that bass so loud inside my own car//
It's like a dream when you're basically living in a post card//
We go hard from the streets to where the boats are//
And so far it's like a movie and I'm the city's costar//
My Warrior mentality is Giant, 49ing//
Until the day that I'm dying//
Cruising, we driving making the rounds and getting hyped up//
Living the fuck out of this city until the night's up//
VERSE 3 (Equipto)
To the city where the tourists chill//
where the natives have lunch and can’t afford the bill//
Unless you make a quarter mil a year, it’s a struggle for a resident//
Harder for the brothers, the Filipinos and Mexicans//
Mission to Potrero, Ocean, Divisadero//
I recall when none of y’all were players on O’farrell//
Us cats just want to kick it, steady hustle for that ticket//
So we can stay home and not trip of getting evicted//
But times change, mom and pop stores they not around//
And those who paid dues, they had to move up out of town//
And rappers love to claim the city really just to make a penny//
Off us, and labels worth a penny any offers?//
Now, we got some cats that carry on tradition//
And others that don’t ever give the city recognition//
They cross game, then they owe the OGs a payment//
So take pride in the home you were born and raised in, Frisko//
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8. |
Going In
04:14
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HOOK (Both)
Ah shit I think I did too much//
No breaks on this thing only gas and clutch//
Man, I think I played too much//
I never gave a flying fuck its my samurai blood what//
うわっ! I think I did too much//
Still gonna keep going and that's not a fucking bluff//
Yeah, that's why I do so much//
Cuz I'm going in, full force, what//
VERSE 1 (Kuga)
Going in hella deep, penetration of the music scene//
I'm gonna make that bitch moan, make her shake and hella scream//
I'm no helmet, riding this beat//
And you talk about rest you know this scene never sleeps//
I be popping red bulls, cuz I got my head full//
Of ideas, right here it's like a fucking cesspool//
Of info, I'm dope, It's been told, I smoke that indo//
I roll with kinfolks, who know how to bend flows//
Still broke, but I ain't tripping though//
The cash finna flow, like the white waters, rapidio//
Gotta get it, it's a bad habit, hard headed//
Can't quit and won't until I'm fucking grabbing it//
Choke holding the game, making it gasp for air//
I'm like that monster, 6 stars I'm hella rare//
Catch me if you can, in Tokyo they understand//
I kill shows, I'm gold, do you get the fucking picture man?//
VERSE 2 (Flow Zen)
When I'm rapping you fasten your seatbelt//
Hands choking the microphone, Latrell Sprewell//
Cuz I'm moving, cruising, hollering, choosing//
Ain't gotta be bruising when your rhymes are proven//
Engine revved up as I steady the road//
With even less than 10 bucks I'm ready to go//
Express the best stuff, every enemy knows//
Not to test the Zen, bustin heavenly flows//
Going in, incredible concept//
Exceptional content whenever I get in the mindset//
Never forgettable, make sure it's set in your conscience//
Impenetrable sentinel, venerable, complex//
Going in head first like I'm diving//
While y'all going to bed first, not surprising//
As I'm closing the second verse, got you jiving//
Set in motion our next words, got you realizing//
It's game on//
VERSE 3 (Both)
Kuga:
Flows so retro, and yea we touched electro//
Gave it a little nibble, now we back on the 8 yo//
Ready for whatever and my spot I won't let go//
From the streets of SF to the Tokyo metro//
Spitting hella ill on this Marcus D beat//
We heat seek, your mind with this lyrical G speak//
Street sweep the haters and the wack MC's be//
Like my shit’s better, yeah right in your dreams, B//
Flow Zen:
Be easy we not keeping it PG//
Leaving you bobbing your head, knocking this weekly//
My brain's configured for first place, a winner//
My phrases simmer to keep it blazing winter//
Till summer days begin we're like a babysitter//
Protecting the game we in for the sake//
Of taking it to another level, crazy spitters//
The way we emerge to maintain the energy//
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9. |
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HOOK (Maico)
全ての物が//
輝いて、見えたあの景色は今も忘れない//
言葉じゃない心//
満たされるまま生きて、そう今もずっと変わらない//
VERSE 1 (Flow Zen)
I remember like it was yesterday//
Out in front the house looking for a way//
To turn the planter box into a jungle for my toys when I//
Play, that's how I thought it all would stay//
It's like worries hadn't been introduced yet//
Like my innocence hadn't been removed yet//
Back when I was still trying to find a way to prove that//
I was the next Michael Jordan, busting moves and//
Patty cake, truth or dare, I'll show mine if they show theirs//
I ain't even tripping man, I don't mind if they gonna stare//
Or at the bus stop playing snake on my Nokia//
Scoping out the fine girls with the dope sneakers//
Cuz you knew that you was dope if you had the newest dunks//
And you were cool if you were a stupid fuck//
And if you knew enough in school you were a loser huh?//
But that's just how it usually was//
VERSE 2 (Kuga)
On the couch just chilling, reminiscing about the past//
As a young boy feeling like this day will fucking last//
Forever, watching all my favorite shows//
On TV even some special shit from way out in Tokyo//
They got the illest cartoons, I meant anime//
Super fresh graphics, action packed like my Saturdays//
From Samurai Champloo to DBZ//
Kamehameha blow, now you rest in peace//
Kicking it as a youngster in SF I wondered//
Why do all the grown ups never relax in comfort//
But now I know I'm living the real life, it's bummer//
When I was a kid everyday was like summer//
Not a single fucking care, stress free like the winds breeze//
But now I'm in the system trading labor for cheese//
I want a time machine to go back//
To the days in the past when it used to hella crack//
VERSE 3 (Both)
Kuga:
As I wake up and wipe away my eye crust, yawning//
I think about my yesterdays my past keep haunting//
Don't get me wrong, I never had it bad young//
But then I grew up and seen the world different, where'd it come from//
All of the innocence, turned into fright//
It's a fight to survive, so baby I'mma take flight//
And for them hard times, spark that blunt//
You feel stuck, all you do is stress, start from one//
Flow Zen:
Back in the day I//
Used to flip if I made eye contact with a chick who was//
Way fly, both look away at the same time//
Shaking in the knees, can't walk in a straight line//
‘Cause back in the day we//
Used to use our imagination and make believe//
And I make damn sure these memories stay with me//
Every time I slip away into a day dream//
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10. |
||||
HOOK (Flow Zen & Kuga)
M - bodiment of all of our soul that//
U - need when life takes its toll//
S - cence of what makes us whole//
That lets my I C it's y'all I gotta show//
VERSE 1 (Kuga)
Rolling through the crowded streets, vans on my feet//
Not a thought in my mind freestyling to this beat//
It's called life, we all got our separate agendas//
Hella different views, and some emotions get pent up//
But hit the Buddha, Music’s been holding me down//
It's got me more than free, flipping up my frowns//
I'm openly speaking, wings broken but healing//
Stay hella tatted but don't twist up the meaning//
Music got me focused, though times seem hopeless//
I wanna share this message with the world as I know it//
I'm tired ORZing, I'm needing a doctor to stop my bleeding//
Music was the gift, now I'm back and breathing//
Moving to the beat through this life I'm weaving//
And every time I'm feeling out of my shell //
I let em know through my tracks that you can do it as well//
VERSE 2 (Flow Zen)
Ever since I was a kid it was my whole life//
If I ever felt like exploding I'd just go write//
Notebooks filled with more than words they containing//
My energy and feeling all surge in the pages//
You're gazing at the hard times and the struggles//
The anger and sadness, the pain and the troubles//
The happiness and excitement, embracing and cuddles//
The passion and drive to get up when I stumble//
My shelf full of lyrics is my DNA//
The building blocks of my existence you can see the way//
I live and breathe this lifestyle, it's how I'm keeping sane//
Arm steady, cuz you can't hit your target if you can't even aim//
But I'mma pass it on, cuz music has more power than an//
Atom bomb, it's bigger than a mastodon//
And it'll outlast us all//
Cuz art is timeless, everlasting songs//
VERSE 3 (Adikkal)
First it’s expression, help the stress lessen//
Next it’s obsession with constant progression//
Flows oppose threatening foes and chose heaven//
Rose above crippling lows and oppression//
With those methods I’ll gross the most lessons//
Expose the blessings and toast to my essence//
In those seconds I know there’s no questions//
It’s the essence that drives my procession//
She’s instrumental every time I rock an instrumental//
She appears in the way seemingly accidental//
I ain’t being sentimental but it seems//
The energy is bursting at the seams//
And what I mean to say is I’m not the creator of my music//
I simply step aside, hitch a ride upon the movement//
Music is looking for a way to come alive//
And if it can happen through me, I’ve done alright//
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NjS San Francisco, California
Japanese-American jazz hip-hop rapper duo reppin' San Francisco, CA and Tokyo, Japan
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