1. |
Lights (Intro)
05:50
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Lights
The lights flicker in the background
Reflecting on my life
Can barely see through the crowd
But I can see their eyes watching
Piercing like they can see who I really am
I grab the mic off the mic stand
Become the person Im suppose to be
I wonder if they notice it
All of my life I’ve been working for this moment here
If only they knew half the fight
They think it happened overnight
But behind the doors the lights are out shadows of my darkened past
Depression Ive overcame and had to mask
Hidden behind a smile
A kid pretending to be a grown up I guess I never lost my inner child
He plays inside my mind seeking and hiding between my 9 to 5
At night he comes alive
So the question lies
Do I sacrifice my life for the lights?
Or let it go and let it die inside?
A question of a lifetime
You’re now experiencing The Born
The city lights shining brightly in the background
It’s a perfect silhouette
I can feel the city breathing against my flesh Mos Def
The most slept on but I can’t rest my head till I’m dead
Represent the first class of the next on deck
Unheard voices in my head just waiting to be said
But whats there left to say when there’s nothing left to save at all
Every season someones preying on my fall
But I crawl back crabs in a bucket is all we are
I heard a voice in the distance telling me to keep longer
Every day I grow stronger with the thought of living beyond words
Scribble in my mind take notes get ghost in my thoughts
The train leaves before Im caught up
But
I’m here now
Forever never last
On the road less traveled searching for my past
So I can tell her that I’m long gone there’s no going back
Im headed for the lights like I’m about to die
But Im barely even born yet and Im just getting warm up
Cold world so you better watch your karma
Comes around before you know it
But I keep it locomotive
Kept it real you haven’t noticed though
Its just the way it goes
Its called reality and I take a heavy dose
Everyday when I pray to the most
Its like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder
How Ive mad it this far
Holding the same cards Ive been dealt with
My whole life they neglected my perspective
Intercepted my message cuz my story’s worth telling
Cuz it might change yours and it might make sense
You gotta take what’s yours before the daylight ends
Reach for the lights
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2. |
Never Die
02:52
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Never Die
You’re now experiencing the Born
The abnormal from the norm
Formed from the eye of storm
April 1984
Halfway around the world
Nothing you’ve ever seen before
No amount of metaphors
Can explain my mental force
Verbal Intercourse courses to my inner core till
Over pours out my pores to the ceiling to the floors
I’ll Murk a matador for instigating with a boar
I’ll decorate your face for imitating my decor
Dedicated to the lord just in case my life is short
And If I ever die every other day Im Born
And I told them this before
But they just couldn’t afford
Whats in store whats the cure?
Nothing short of legendary when I’m stepping through the door
When I leave you dead and buried like a cemetery floor
I live for every moment every second thats in store
I get stronger everyday for every pain that i’ve endured
Been a long time coming somebody open the door
Fore I kick it all down and tell him to hit the floor
Tell em to hit record cuz Im back for more
You’re now experiencing the one and only Manila Born
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3. |
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Forever Born
They say time is irrelevant when you’re dedicated to what you love
I’m anxious of whats to come and fall victim to pressures of
Im dreaming of your Love Supreme
Sometimes I Wonder if we can Stay Together like Al Green
How Sweet it Is
It was all a dream just a week ago
I do this for my younger brothers
Just so they can see me blow
We’re all one in the same when you’re in pain
I can feel it bro
Anything is possible
You just have to believe it so
Spill my soul and speak it slow
I gotta let the people know
Remain true t o the blue skies
While I’m here below the heavens
Leave a legacy like legends came before
Fulfill what I’ve been destined for
While I dig for soul in record stores
Catch me playing Tekken 4
With my dogs reservoir
One man wrecking force
Till I enter heavens doors
Make sure that they remember me
Forever more but never mourn
Cuz when I’m gone my legacy lives on
I’m Forever Born
Reminiscing about the times
When it was just you and I
Funny how the time flies
And its only the beginning
No one ever really dies
Whether or not you believe it
The time is always now
I don’t plant to waste a minute
They say time can heal anything eventually
So when i live past this song will you remember me
I wonder could you remember me
I guess for now lets bring it back (bringing back sweet memories)
Livin through the words written
and the lyrics I been spittin
The treasure is hidden
But it shines inside the MIND I've given
All of the knowledge I can impart in my lifetime
Imprisoned by unhealthy cells but soul food'll fight crime
You better recognize life is right behind your eyes
Thoughts form reality so whatever you visualize
Long enough and strong enough eventually will manifest
I caught a vibe and let it swell up like an abscess
Mad stress kept a brotha stuck on past tests
Lookin' back I wanna relive the good and forget the rest
Of the people that trespass
They left class a little too early to learn a lesson
The audacity to passively project aggression
Overnight like One Direction
I'm a multi-dimensional entity so my progression's
Hard to follow all the hollow perpetrators gotta wallow
Inside of the inimical energy they tend to borrow
See the Legacy Never Dies
My enterprise built upon honor and honesty I personify
Why lie? I do not believe I will die
The natural path of our essence, infinite, the why
Is sometimes harder to figure out than the how
The fear of the future it must succumb to the now
Everything I thought it was dissolved in the presence of Love
Heaven is inside of you
No need to look above.
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4. |
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Its the one and only
Filipino Homie
Rocking dope beats since 03
When Kobe had a goatee
And a Fro on his dome piece
Tell em watch me closely
Cater for the OG's
Sipping OE by the oz’s
Low key
But I’ll murk a hater on a soul beat
Blow trees
Like Hawaiian tropics with a cold breeze
Hold please Im answering my calling on the other line
I must’ve been a writer in my other life
I’m born again
Pushing lead like my life depended on the pencil
I hold the mic like a memory thats sentimental
The definition and exception to the rule
That if you drop out of school
That you’ll never be successful
Intellectuals analyze the meaning
While the other 85 can only describe the feeling so
If only some of you get it I can dig it
If your’e sheep let em sleep
That’s none of my business
This is soul music
Feel it put my soul in it
Food for the soul
Grab a bowl
While I slow grill it
Rhymes clever
Delivery better
You ever thinking ‘bout quitting nigga the answer is never ever
A fresh prince til they drop me like Trevor
Self made jetsetter keep it low on the errors
Im blowing up myself so they thinking its terror
Its rarer than female president in our era
My heads in the air like shots of flares
They aint tellin you the truth makin lots of dares
And I do it for my city like plots of mayors
Until i put my team on we was roster players, yea
Wavy i’m the nautical one
I'm back again like the prodigal son
Hate to bother you hun’
I’m bigga bud and i’m the leader of dumm
And ummm
We been seekin’ the fun
So you should speak it to none
Cuz i been thinkin we could leave it and run
I send you back to ya man when the weekend is done
Wit some soul
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5. |
You & I
05:20
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Another sleepless night another day goes by
Another baby dies another angel cries
Another love lost another living to die
Im not trying to make a love song
Im trying to make it right
Im trying to save a life from a lie that we chase every night
With our eyes wide open tell me why
We have to let the love die
Tell me one time
Do we really have to let go
And say goodbye
In her eyes I reflected on my past
Looking back like a photograph snapped
In a flash I relapsed
And I realized you and I
Were the same
And In her smile I can be me again
Since (you’ve been gone)
Nothings changed but the seasons
In search of the reasons
For this pain that I’m feeling cuz
You and I were meant to be free
Then we stopped threw the key
Into the bottom of the sea
She was looking for a lover
And I’m honored to be
And I would never a leave
I gotta promise to keep
I leave it out all my blood on the beat
Till it drips from her eyes and it falls to her cheek
Feel me out hear me now hear me breathe
You don’t have to agree
But you gotta believe
There’s more to life than meets the eye
There’ still love between you and I
Since you left aint nothing changed much
Still the same love
You’re still my little angel
So fly with me
We can take the skies you and I
We were meant to be free
And I hope you get this message from me
Cuz misery loves company and I don’t wanna proceed
Foresee the future in her eyes every time that we meet
I need you in my life she’s a sigh of relief
Wait a sec take a breath make it deep
My momma always said better follow your dreams
So I dropped out instead started writing 16s
Hoping that my little brother doesn’t follow my lead
Earn a college degree
Be the man that I never could be
Learn from me cuz the lessons are free
See I made my mistakes so you don’t have to repeat
Where I’ve failed many ways where you gotta succeed
(And since you’ve been gone)
Rest in peace to my brother Big Don
Your memory lives strong through this song I carry on
Its been a long while since
(You and I) last talked
Still haven’t played much ball at all where you left off
But i picked it up back now
And Ill never back down
Since you fell on that floor
I still haven’t sat down
And really thought about it cuz
Its hard to re-imagine
Your closest friend collapsing in a second of a fraction you were gone
In front of my eyes
In the middle of court you died without a sign
And If i don’t live my life to the fullest for you and I
Everything else would be a lie
And since you left aint nothing changed much
Its still the same love
I miss you everyday bro
Wait for me till we reunite
Imma make sure to live my life for
You and i
(And I hope) you know what you got
Before its too late to know what you’ve lost
and its gone
Cuz (you and I) is everything that we need
Anything in between is obsolete
(Since you’ve been gone) Ive moved on and never looked back
But memories of the past I reminisce
Over you my God
Making sure your legacy never dies is my job
Forever aint long cuz everyday Im born
For every page thats torn
Another day has gone by
And Another page dries
In this book called you and I
And since you left aint nothing changed much
Its still the same love
I miss you everyday
Wait for me until we reunite
Imm make sure to live my life
You and I
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6. |
Young Love
01:38
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Young Love
Do you remember?
Can you remember?
When your smile was pure
Before the world was cruel
We were just fools in love
Pain for the poet is fuel and only fools fall in love
Well I should’ve stayed in school instead of spilling all my guts
Inebriated fool throwing up
Life’s an elevator ride waiting for you to press your luck
In search of more
Were all questioning the same things
Just a different day dream
All the same Matrix
Basic instructions before leaving earth
Leave a legacy worth being heard for being birthed
Words wrestle in my mind intertwined with my memories
Dancing to the rhythm of the melody
Destiny calling falling deeper into ecstasy
Pen and pad daily next to me
Cuz I know life’s testing me
Mercy me
Things just ain't what they use to be
Consider this the eulogy
Beautifully we connected before she hit the exit
I left her this message for eternity
Hoping she’ll return to me
And thats when she turned to me
Is this what you accuse me of?
Foolish Love?
I said certainly
Even though I wasn’t sure
But at the moment it felt pure
Young Love
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7. |
Last Night
03:30
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Last night I fell in love again
Something must’ve happened
In between now and then
Since the last time we spent life
Laughing over red wine
Staring at the blue skies
Wondering when we’ll expire
Will there be enough time?
To make amends with our past lives
Timeless in her eyes so I stare till Im blinded in her Iris
Atlantis creeps to the surface
Still water runs deep
As the earth twist
But I keep strolling like a rolling stone
Pops was always gone
He was searching for a new home roaming
Landed in the stolen land back in 95
Never looked back until I realized
Who I really am
Divided by the oceans but my love keeps growing
Idolize the moment cuz the clock keeps going
Knowing no one will understand your journey as a man
Cuz God made a plan for you
Nobody else the truth
Universe seeking wisdom through the silence of the lambs
Sacrificed my own being for a scam
Working for the man trade the stage for a cube
My mic for a keyboard and a desk for the booth
Never will again
Cuz it all makes sense now
They said that one day that it will or it might
I guess that you could say last night
I fell in love again
Something must’ve happened
I Imagine
Dragons when I breath
Spit fire till you freeze
Spit bars till Im free from
Freedom in a free form
Live til I’m Reborn
Searching so I read more pages
Burn as I write scriptures in the light
Waiting for the right moment to strike
Before Midnight passes pay my homage to the Tribe
On a Quest to survive right before the love dies
I guess Last night
You could say I fell in love again
And somehow the story never seems to end
But it all makes sense now
They said one day that It would
I just never really understood
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8. |
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Alone in The Rain
He walks alone in the rain
Thoughts drenched in the pain
Begging for change
And every other day's just the same
As before
He walks alone through the rain
Lost broken in pain
But he strolls through the day
with his head to the floor
He lives under the rain
Under a bridge on a floor
Couple boxes and crates
But he praises the lord
He lost his leg in the war
So he walks with a cane
Drugs in his veins
Lost and deranged
Alone in the rain
Some are cold some are old some are broken
(Struggling for change alone in the rain
We’re all the same)
I struggle just to keep my heart open
(Struggling for change alone in the rain
We’re all the same)
I'm afraid of the pain that you been through
Afraid of what I'm getting into
(Struggling for change alone in the rain
We’re all the same)
But at the end of the day
(We all the struggle At the end of the day
We’re all the same)
We're all the same
He walks alone in the rain
Ignoring the pain
Works everyday
Struggling hoping for change
Pay mortgage and rent
Double timing again
But he’s gotta support
Cases in court
Collections knock on the door
But somehow he maintains
Through the stress and the pain
Puts food on the plate
For his family of four
See he crawled through the floors
And he ran through the rain
Jumped over the wall
For a chance to make change
An everyday Hero
And he never complains
He just walks through the rain
And fights for his name
We all struggle in our own different ways
And at the end of the day
We’re all just the same
It aint fair we share the same struggles in the fight
I know first hand exactly whats it like
To be stuck in the sand and
Nobody understands
To give a handout to you
I dedicate you the truth
We’re all the same
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9. |
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I Fell Asleep In Manila
Woke up bumping Dilla
Feeling like a new man
Since I the last time I seen ya
Ive been lurking in the shadows
Thinking about tomorrow
Plotting my escape from this black cloud that follows
Rain drops wherever I go
Drenched in my own thoughts
Soaking in the pain
Hoping for change
I pray to God
She tells me what I need to hear
Shows me what I don’t
Tells me theres no need to fear
It doesn’t mean I won’t
One day ill be gone
I contemplate what might be said
Might be too far ahead
You’ll know never know
It could be less
I could be next now who’s to say it is
I hope to live
Whatever’s left of me
Complete my destiny
Before my Exodus
You’re now experiencing the Genesis
Beginning of Foreverness
Embedded in my skeleton
Where heaven lives
This is my testament
And this message is for you
Before the sunshines gone
I hope it shines through
To You
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10. |
Jus Breathe
03:18
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Mello beats banging summer breeze blowing by
Got me thinking about my life and I’m sitting wondering why
But today I don’t mind and I don’t really care
Cuz its something in the air and its got me feeling high
And I feel good I can feel the change coming
Grinding working for my money
Cuz you know I’m just a country boy
Manila Born to be exact
And I’m always dropping that
Im trying to put us on the map
Usually suspect the usual
Wake up like the Truman Show
But today theres something kind of beautiful I know
If I work hard enough with whatever I have
Everything else will grow and my grandma told me that
Back back in the days when I was young
Im not a kid anymore but some days
I sit and wish I was a kid again
Back in the days where I was from
We were living it poor
And one day I’ll give back and make a difference
Instant classic when Im rhyming on the jazz beats
Got your mind running when my words and the track meets
Im so deep the underground Sac scene
Can’t figure out if Im top tier or Im not here
Well its a little bit of both
Keep it low pro but I’m postal when I push the envelope
Delivery is free like the bars I wrote
Cuz I don’t touch the paper anymore I take mental notes
Fresh off the boat like Im Eddie Huang probably said it wrong
But never mind lets set it off
I mean lets get it on
I mean lets bet it all
Before we fall asleep
But for now just breathe (breathe)
Hello good morning Sacramento
Woke up to instrumentals
From the night before I met you
I should’ve never left you
But I had to from the get go
But I came back just to say that I never really let go (go)
I catered served em with the first course
Elevated from the first floor
Resurfaced on a surfboard
Reverse regurgitated medication
For my homies impatiently waiting on my return for me to make more
This here’s is what I’m made for
Sacrificed and slaved for
The OG’s told me take yours
And I’ll be honest I’ve been on it
Since the problem's
Your reconnaissance
Cant find me in my conference
Since Common Sense
Dropped the sense
I’ve been sick
Anonymous
They’ve slept on my accomplishments
Consider this the consequence
Call it real call it dope call it consciousness
I call it how I see it even if you feel the opposite
You’re now rocking with the best kept
Rocking till I’m breathless
Mobbing by myself yes (yes)
I overstand so I tend to stress
I know you know homie don’t forget
Jus Breathe
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11. |
Coming To America
04:26
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This is the story of
Life and Love
Growing Up
Manila Born
Imagine me packing my clothes ready to go not knowing if I'll see this place again
My life hasn't been the same since then
I was only ten and innocent without a cent or sense of what’s about to begin
A journey that can never end
Im jumping on a plane the American Dream
A place I’ve only seen on the TV screens
I remember leaving knowing that I won’t come back
The kids from my block asking for the clothes on my back
Cuz they know I got a chance most people would die for
Grab my passport and say my goodbye
Fast forward 16 hours later I can see the lights of
San Francisco my new home my new life
Imagine that
Couldn’t believe it
Even the breeze that evening smelled so brand new
Imagine what that could do
To a kid like you with nothing to lose
And everything to gain
I jumped off of the plane feeling like a king
I think i made it
I met my parents for the only very ever second time that day
They’ve been away slaving away for us to make that plane -ride
And everyday I do the same to make it right
To make sure my kids one day will never have to face the fight
That we did, if that aint real then what is
And if i don’t care then who will?
Ive been dying to live grinding hustling for bills
So fuck a deal Im just trying to make a living
Im just blessed and thankful that you actually listen
Its life
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MBorn Sacramento, California
Manila Born and Raised. Sacramento Bred. Soul Influenced.
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