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each one, teach one

by Mykele Deville

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Unify 01:21
Now, Where do we go from here? Is it human nature? Will we settle for the fear? Exchange our might to them piranhas, let them bit to bend your ear Got to squint to find the light, when the sky is so dim, it's so real. So fuck the bullshit, I'm in the pulpit, and I ain't even holy Just a sinner looking lonely want some god to come console me, only if it needs a hug too... I 'm standing in the cemetery of the buried truth. The puzzled youth consuming their lessons from a screen. The skull connected through the eyes, the eyes reflecting the obscene What does it mean when answers vary? Tarrying in the gray spot Distractions blaring, beckoning for a day trot in empty lots So let your weary brain oblige before I eat another lie, Ill opt to be euthanized. Escape into my pretty mind where all them doubts they go to die I hope it spreads like it's contagious, maybe then we'll unify, BABY.
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Mykele's Verse: I think the great story be buried within us. The one where we rescue lives with opinions. We form the universe from little spectacles of dust. Every life sports some sentient dominion. Sometimes the struggle is as simple as just waking up. I never dream so the absence is forgiven. To form a bond with a ghost that you never touched. An ancient pain from those cultural incisions. I think i figured the spirits followed me, speaking in tongues they haunted me, roaming and floating without a body-ody. They used to whisper them mysteries, them intricate histories so cryptic like hieroglyphics the signs specific. Them holy voices spoke through everything I did, especially my art they made their messenger a kid the rhythmic gibberish was prolific, dismissing the non-interesting poorly written character trimming plot, inner editor sink my teeth into secular try to keep the signal clear got tales to tell as tall as tombs sarcophagus of fears. different years, another chapter just hearing them voices chatter think they flow through me, I'm openly a vessel for the great story. (Oshwa interlude) Sid Supreme Verse: Don't despise the mind I'm just one of a kind tend to get stuck in my ways like I froze time let's redefine life let our minds intertwine coincide and take a ride like do or die lets feel imperial make this lifestyle a miracle let's remember the youth let's surrender the truth Sometimes i know it's hard to find they telling lies and left them blind but mankind's a mastermind on cloud 9 Demons chasing after me angels watching over me I pray that they stay close to me this life ain't what it's supposed to be knight at this round table loyalty and honor we shall prevail and prosper my life I'm the king and author why should we bother with missing fathers and Timmy turners it kills my vibe it blows my high shit makes me nervous Fuck handshakes make no mistake gossip and hate I can't relate that ain't the way that story can wait let's get this money to recreate and motivate we all living stories this ain't the safest place let's focus on the glory let's rebuild and reshape then strive to be great.........supreme
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(Intro) Spinning across hot street tops after curfew. The wind never looked so sweet to me then. With freedom on the line and her face on my mind..... Verse: Of course my fate was worth the gamble bluff scattering courage in front of moms, but I can handle her poppin' my last Now & Later for fragrant chatter bugs she know she got me rattled digging fingers in my matter think I'm idolizing Saturn's pretty rings and things I could give her when she gets older, slower, something to glare at, something to stare at, caressing curls into my hair naps nervously forming question marks. We met up at that oak tree, broke out a pack of smokes, sat in silence for some moments, she said " Boy, you know you're extra dark." That made me giggle but secretly felt embarrassed, such a perfect illustration of how she split my awareness, forming quiet lessons, confessing visions I had of marriage, but she stopped my slang, and then she sang: Chorus, Mykele and Drea: Mz. Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, Must stay on track, track, track, Don't need no promise, promise promise, to find her knack, knack, knack, so may I ask: Whatcha gon' do? Whatcha, whatcha gon' do? learning you can't own me, living with that knowledge boo? She passed the cig, I felt it shake in my hand, Took me some time til' i could understand, just what she meant, yo. Verse: Fast forward, we both in college grew up in an instant dispensed with, playing tag to pondering existence, I majored in fine art, I think she went statistics, ohh girl, how fitting where was it written that we would make it out the slums in one piece, and live to see the day i got to meet my little niece, and she would walk the stage to tears upon her mother's cheek I'm overwhelmed with gratitude because she spoke that prophecy directly to my blossoming, I found philosophy when I was lonely, no one had to love me except myself to keep on going, found an inner strength at that oak tree between the smoking, even though she had me open, never let me lose my focus and determination, now I'm just waiting for response, I sent a message yesterday to even up our odds, been a minute since we talked, and yes I know she's living large, saw the flashing red, her message said: Chorus: Mz. Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, started thinking back, back, back, and all our talks, talks, talks, kept her on track, track, track, so may I ask: Whatcha' gon do, whatcha, whatcha gon do? now that the love is in the distance not behind you? Before I typed I had to think on what she said, took me some time til' i could understand, just what she meant.
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(Intro) Testing Log: Day 26, 3am After finding the specimen with bullet wounds through the torso and one lodged in the cranium, an apparent victim of an altercation with police, I was able to retrieve the specimen and bring him back to my lab for revival and reprogramming. It seems to alleviate the threat the specimen places on society, one must not simply erase his brown physical existence but replace his mentality with what it should be. I shall now attempt my methods. Verse: Lightning outside my window Beautiful timely crescendo signals for the first breakthrough I'm late to Should've had results when he got a pulse but um.. Never hate never wait on progress when you're dealing with implanting knowledge gotta keep the subject solid, gotta test the wattage, gotta keep his limbs in the bondage. Because he might come to when the pain shoots, through his brain so restraints can't be loose, check the stitch at the base of his temple, where the hole that I closed would've been if I chose different brown skinned boy tryna flee away from the law ending on concrete but it seems that he fought with resiliency for his life that I fix with my new machine HOOK EM UP HOOK EM UP CANT WAIST NO TIME: screen flickers on watch his body align with the tech that I built to fill his mind to perfect any flaw of the savage kind he's an average find, but i'm on my grind "be a good negro" is what i type on the line press send but the body then shows no sign of the change i expect of the civilized type confirming my fright that he can't get right, Wont assimilate to the pureness of white don't fail, don't fail gotta prosper tonight confirm my command then the lab went bright, really lost my sight felt the lightning strike, heard a voice in my head as loud as a mic: Chorus: I am the stone that represents the earth I am that brown skinned king that gave you envy so you knew what things were worth. I am that God that you tried to capture. The one the rules all the senses that you never mastered larger than the everlasting patience you will never feel you bow to stigma of the bassest, forming truth from traces, lies that were never real. Its time to make a holy deal, your work is evil, making headless giants of my people, revenge will be equal. Verse: Woke up and I start to fret lying on the floor in a pool of sweat what was that? heard a voice, sounded like a threat in my ear so clear I'm a nervous wreck but better get back to my station just another hallucination just a little sleep deprivation playing with my mind cant waste no time so prepping up to start again, think of the fate of my specimen if I rest, he'll recover, be a threat again, so ashamed to repeat this chain of events gotta fix this mess he's a cosmic jest dark on the outside dark in his chest wont rest til I teach him to repress \his aggressive nature taunting death, TYPE IT IN TYPE IT IN GET THE MESSAGE RIGHT: what attributes will the white folks like? so strong when he jumps that it looks like flight, so meek when you stomp he'll scream in fright, clean cut am I right? Don't want to incite delusions of grandeur making him fight need him lost in the fog of an endless night Ill erase any flaw of his previous life seems divious right but Ill ease his plight Im hero in the right kind of light no regrets no remorse as I start to type be a good negro to save your life I'm a savior tonight as the lightning strikes a twitch in the boy as the lab goes bright heard a voice in my head as loud as a mic: (Chorus) Outro: Malfunction, please reset. Log lost, prognosis: death. Two confirmed, no pulse, no vitals. Please reset, the screens gone idol. All data will be lost 5 seconds power off 2 cases to delete All missions incomplete...
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Hair 00:42
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Pick your style Pick your clothes Pick your music You got free will dont let them tell you how to use it, Yup, you know its beauty in the choice since a boy I'd explore how much my thoughts weighed Never forced to wear the M.A.S.K Thats heavy baby, too much to handle competing with the expectations of spiritual vandals only motive is a school scandal gossiping cannibals your difference looks like greatness then they're all up in your mandible whoa, now you're a talented show without competing sleazy I rocked some moon boots, a black guitar, some pokemon cards, an african dashiki covered in graffiti id even try to brush my hair when I was feeling dreamy so, this simple fact is you dont have to practice defy the definition not a right way to be black to be whack to be cool to be you just be true to yourself represent whats inside inner wealth baby. Hook, Mykele: not here to fulfill your urban myth wasnt born to conform to what you're comfortable with lets take these old tropes down so we can reinvent Yo, Im not the Monolith No, we're no the Monolith HOOK: JOVAN Not a monolith, no we're not the monolith! And you should really know this by now, it is really common sense! Not a monolith, no we're not the monolith! And you should really know this by now, it is really common sense! Not a monolith, no we're not the monolith! And you should really know this by now! VERSE: JOVAN Don't fool yourself to think I have some monolith behavior Like candy, people comes in different kind of flavors I favor the ones who ain't afraid to be themselves I know it takes a little time, and it takes a certain kind of help Don't listen to the enemies, just tell them kill the noise Like how we tell them in the streets within the state of Illinois Remain to stay poise and confuse 'em Diffuse 'em, with kindness, 'cause that's the way that you have to infuse them And lose 'em, cause one day you will laugh and this and laugh at 'em Quirky & creative, chewing on your favorite bubble gum The world is just so troublesome, Remember you're the brightest one They always looking at you hard, because you replicate the sun! Don't taketh who you are for granted They contemplate all the time to be planted Our purpose's not to vanish Although we black girl magic establish, just who we are, just who we are and dream far, within the stars Trig's Verse: Sister told me I should be myself, so that's what I teach and In ya soul is gold and inner wealth, so that's what I preach Don't ever fall because they talking down, Just make sure ya reach to the top, and soon enough all the nonsense will stop That was the truth If I ain't never heard it I took this truth up to the booth , and knew I had to serve it To the youth so they can know exactly what the word is When they out and making everyone around them NERVOUS! but that's life, people hate what they don't understand but let them hate, just elevate and keep the upper hand remember that your melanin is not some sort of brand Your an individual that's pivotal across the land God made me lyrical to spit visual miracles for the little boy and girl at home that's trying to reach there pinnacle Stay original, that's the principle its critical It's now traditional to think that we are all physical, So typical to think that we are all criminals All those thoughts are minimal, we remain invincible Thinking that we are the monolith became habitual Let me be ya doctor, break ya habits with medicinal We Are Not The Monolith We Are Not The Monolith We Are Not The Monolith We Are Individuals!
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(Sol's verse) Chorus: When your lows make you fly (You can trace every star in the sky) When the drama shifts the tide (You can feel every wave when you're dry) When everything is all disguised (You can sense all the curves in the lines) Mykele's Verse: *Stimulation coursing through every cell Forming incantations like a spell Separate points equal ends where it dwells let it ring in your body like a bell* Breathe it in, breathe it out impulses from the holy ghost, a gift from down south where you caught the light beams from the lord to your mouth ask your great granny, she still her in the ether every nook and cranny but you gotta train yourself to see, the aura round the earth, yes we call it energy, connect connect connect the spots our vibes will interlock in tandem, receiving, depleting, excreting all emotion phantoms took some time for me to tell between the loss and the gain, until i went ahead embraced the voodoo in my veins, I really cannot feel the same cause now I'm open and hoping you'll start to train yourself to be focused while coping through the universal static erratic patterns be wanting you to bleed some dramatic sporadic chatter be coming from them rings around Saturn but you can channel just sit and concentrate, never over contemplate, let the essence dominate, ashe ashe ashe (Chorus)
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Lyrics: Shine bold Shine bold Shine bold Too bright for em Too bright for em Too bright for em Shine Bold Shine Bold Shine Bold Too bright for em Too bright for em Too bright for em Chorus: (4x) Deep in the night There's no fear, no fear, no fear Verse: If everywhere I go I'm otherized who am I (huh? huh?) Boldness tends to permeate from my colors everyone recognize squint from sunrays, sunblaze, some days too bright gotta close your eye talking bout the third one, maybe even fourth if youre feeling fly Peacock living in the daily monochrome treetops giving freedom outside of the home Living in the blackest of blackness you see Predator teeth hunting hungrily, don't fear, don't quake, don't shake, never runaway little renegade, Spectrum be your pride pride dare to stride stride any any place, yeah yeah Chorus Verse 2: Color faucet flowing from the source flood the earth with it use the force-field that your ancestors planted in your cells with a prayer picking cotton by the well take it further, back to the cradle culture interrupted, greatness was our label science language music born to innovate praise the soil from where we all originate indicates why they really try to implicate you in crimes of the hate kind give them any power they will exterminate you haters, fakers, soul takers, leeches, all eating pieces of that sacred energy best believe your intuition chase them inhibitions redefine that ancient term "free" seed blowing in the breeze please feed the whole earth you can topple tyrants strike with self worth never bow to serpents flirting in disguise break the temptation lurking in the shrine you've survived plenty, whats a bit mo? you can handle any silly obstacle in the rainfall never seeking cover you'll remain safe living in your color. Outro Poem Child, you must walk. Head tilted Shoulders kissing the heavens Spine aligned with the galaxy The gravity of our collective guilt will try you child But you must not falter Hold communion with your color Yes The one they tell you is synonymous with evil. Yes, they lied child. Yes they did. But now you know, Now you are bold. Follow your rejuvenation in the face of them all be an everlasting endless Rained Bow.
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West Side 00:28
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(Verse) Preposterous conclusions, my mind's perusing through gritted teeth, how can I love the law when law ain't once respected me? I took a peek into the inner seams, history books of evil schemes, no wonder why my self esteem started so low, so low, lower than the dirt beneath a boot I never felt it leave my neck, how the fuck am I supposed to swallow truth with a broken tooth? checking my ego, I gotta graduate for ma dukes and see my brother free though, no buts, if, and's, maybe's, or what the fucks' I walked to school today right through them blocks that got shot up just like a soldier on patrol in battlefields, this post-traumatic paranoia got me ready to kill before the bell rings (Mykele Deville are you present? Please repeat the lesson. Don't be a space cadet you'll fail the standardized testing. Why are you crying? Whatcha need? I got no time to babysit so please don't make a scene See me after class....) I took a pass and rushed passed him in a hurry, scurried straight to the bathroom to vomit out my nervous worries collapsing in that corner stall, praying to myself, feeling it echo off the wall, because: Chorus: My mother, The Teacher, My brother, The preacher, they ain't really understand when I told them. My mother, The Teacher, My brother, The preacher, they ain't really understand. (repeat x1) Verse: Am I a target? Brown skinned marked, deadly barrages, threaten my body, searching for tripwire sabotage. cause it ain't hardly how it seems, I'm swatting at the vultures spinning circles in my dreams, until I wake, to tempt fate and scrape the crossbones from plate the cryptic signs in the mundane compound the pain. Why am I shaking, what's it mean? I'm talking to myself and no one even heard a thing, in fact: (chorus)
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Mykele's Verse: Two cogent truths separated at birth, the first one was a condition, second one was a curse. Their mother sang and she screamed with her womb full of dreams, they gave her drugs for the cuts, and then they sewed her back up, they stole them. And when I say that I really mean us. Theiving kids of yesterday's prophets dollars looking like Jesus. Please us or risk looking sacrilegious. Don't insult my indigenous tinge, I think you're starting to sound treasonous even. Fistfighting heathenous demons locking eyes with my freedom. Sychronize the time to free them, pay them pennies it's still currently currency in my book. think I'm bout to go full crook just take a bit of what I need and pack my pockets with what I want. that's what this country's bout don't gotta front. claiming the wilds of dead America, shiny bones be scaring ya, whiffing the funk of your own musk, them watery eyes don't know who to trust this mighty sorrow packs a punch staking out to find free lunch it might be you so best to think it through. that same dream that made you wealthy made me human stew. yelling "indictment!" from the gallows as the pigeons flew. a noose was formed with the umbilical, this country knew, to strangle you & you & me too, ya dig? chrous: in the scheme we're all just kids leaning slightly towards the light of where the punctuation ends. you take a knife for your beliefs. I take a bite to fill my ribs. we're just a pauper & a patriot wondering where the safety's at (Malci repeats chorus) Malci Verse: I got the diesel with me like I'm d wade in 05/ I'm so fried Plus the liquor keeps my tongue tied/ I wonder why I make the time to make my mind stutter/ Faded in the morning, trading spliffs with my brothers/ And they all drilling like we playing dig dug/ Red rum to the fox anchors painting us as thugs/ Pass drugs to the whole block and come back with hand cuffs/ Then shoot when our hands up/ Now if that ain't fucked up/ Keep the cycle spinning like its ghost rider/ I said I'd stifle the venom-- I pulled the rope tighter/ I seen the homies caught up-- all the feds' is spiders/ If Peter Parker lit a spliff, bet he'd get a write up/ Stuck in dots and loops like a prisoner of Mars/ Crooked 12 ain't scared to shoot so it's in earth or bars/ And the judge saying life like we ain't fucking people/ Same reason I'm blowing on this diesel/ evil.
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(easy) but hard labor for the victimized, (easy) and mind control still in full supply (easy) we wash, rinse, and commodify, repeat until we're outta lies replace it with the basic desensitizing a generation subtract the substance they'll debase themselves for product placement we'll add a pinch of prone addiction breed some self hatred so when they're hooked they'll start to celebrate just simply for the sake of celebrating it's easy-peezy perfect equation a bait and switch a trojan horse filled with fake elation the left hand controls morale, the right controls the nation. Man lady liberty can scream and I wont hear a thing unless its packaged like a talent show for silver screens, material means, my only goal or so they told me, single track for stacks, searching for happiness inside the face of a gold rollie.... wait lets break it down a bit frankly im too caught up in it, suffering for that paper trick busting my ass for what, couple more drops inside my cup just to fake like i got enough playing that competition bluff with the tables turning who am i serving? my own greed can't compete with whats beyond my reach it lies behind the memories, masquerading as imagery, of a time gone by, when the country was in its infancy stuck in the 1950's and promised a picket fence. Homie fuck that shit dissolving the walls of the dome is on my bucket list I must not quit resolving the laws of self to stop this government my utterance is more than enough to prove i'm not some puppet with corrupted fist forming the lore of history that's poisonous, ill take the risk, fly too close to the sun just like I'm Icarus magnificence, reserved for the one who go out and just get that shit no witnesses, dodging the masters whips while in the thick of it running until I'm stranded escaping from being branded, yo. They take advantage cause it's (easy) They'll hide the damage cause it's (easy) They'll make you vanish cause it's (easy) Man lady liberty can scream and I won't hear a thing (easy) but hard labor for the victimized (easy) and mind control still in full supply (easy) we wash rinse and commodify, repeat until we're out of lies..
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Verse: 2 Amerikkka's but 1 me, Now where you think they making safety a priority? Never where my majority lives, that is, if they really ever get to live, for real, the cops hunting me this season like it's time to grill. Just a friendly pat down with intent to kill. A little pressure on your neck so you'll admit the guilt of living and breathing, put a top to that by squeezing, slave catchers run amok, fraternity of chosen heathens... Ponder: An organization built to catch me, to trap me, by any means deemed necessary also wants my trust, empathy, and to humanize their right to continued existence? even as they murder me for fear, stay silent when I scream, they demand to be seen as the protector of my dreams? FUCK THAT! You can take a step back, one time. Don't need that type of protection that be coming with a catch. If I obey what you say, just abide, Im reaching for my registration, partner may pop me on the driver's side. Do they police like that up in the valley? Had me running from intimidation, now they got me chasin' rallies. The only pavement that I'm seeking is the highway, stopping that Lake Shore traffic coming my way. The bodies, wrapping around be screaming "BREATHE" simple fact i forget in a city lined with thieves of life so sad, have to justify my right to fight, extermination while you're stalled at the street light. So pay attention. You see my people down there on a mission. You may be inconvenienced but just stop and listen. We want justice for the innocence that died, it's a question not a battle cry, not a battlecry. (Chorus) Verse: Now I'm scared for real who do I tell? Can't call the blue and red's they probably throw me in the jail and that's just if I 'm lucky. Didn't do the crime but i'm black and my hair is funky. Lil' boy you fit the profile living in the wild like beasts unidentified by civilized eyes you're target practice for aggression growing bolder with time. Grab the guns turn the body cams off no one will ever see the shot the ones that took his head off so lets high five... Ponder: Are these killings of black and brown bodies more prevalent because of the current state of unknowledge in this country or has it always been that way? Is it normal to think about this everyday walking to the store, or at the movies, or passing a squad car? We are far from normal. Never great, never great, never was. How can you when pumping communities full of drugs, sic the dogs on, put the law on em, long arms protecting the privileged inside their bubbles from the harm. How sweet, sensibilities get maintained. Status quo, white fragility and black pain, man I swear this happened before, just want to make sure this don't happen no more, I put my body on the line in solidarity. Try to control the perception that i'm threatening and mass produce, media blackout of the coverage trying to falsify a truce, forming a noose and only pulling tighter, can't speak if I cant breathe, now this protest starting to look more like a riot and you wonder why. We won't be silenced any longer by your lullabies. We want justice for the innocence that died, it's a simple question you should answer not a battlecry, it's not a battle cry.
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(intro) Some people fantasize about what they saw. But I have no illusions about it. I saw death. He was nut hulking, he was small and patient, and had long eyes in the summer. He enjoyed company and rumors and strolled in semi-circles around the empty lots, flaunting his patience, showing his face proudly in the naked light. He looked at me once with a grin of half-knowing, then sauntered on his way, to do his work. (chorus) Violent lights, Noise pollution, Violet, Violet, Lights, Noise pollution Violet, Violet Lights... Never told me what the lean does. Never told me what the fiend does. Never really told me bout my kingdom. Just out here trying to chase a buzz. What you expect? Terrain made to devour us, afraid to empower us. Man, I'm feeling powerless. And thus informing my ability, deformed agility to ponder critically, acting out of futility. Under them incandescent street lamps, false masculinity, you what's the remedy? Sirens blaring, my souls aglow, staring at stains, scarlet blood fades to indigo, blood fades to indigo, blood fades to indigo... (chorus) Verse: Yo, can we find love here? Is it underneath the back porch swept between the cracks of a trapped choice, I want to see my options clear, If there's only negativity and violence, shit I'll live a life of silence, exchanging my love for non-compliance, a quiet shift, I went from city to secluded island, inside myself, no one could reach me, lost the teaching touch, we're all identical, fading diamonds lost in the rough, becoming minerals, sirens blaring, my souls aglow, staring at stains, scarlet blood fades to indigo, blood fades to indigo, blood fades to indigo... (chorus)
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The Sky 01:09
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Verse: You feel the pale blue dot spinning again Rotations of a marble free floating on the cosmic winds. Its scary ain't it? Maybe a better word's "exhilarating" careening through the cosmos with a lasso round our last hopes for real I used to feel no bigger than an average anthill in the face of the vastness of space a bad deal cruel existence trick, noticed cause Im sentient, can anything have purpose when the earth just seems so purposeless? Then bang, not big but a small change started reading books by Carl Sagan round the 10th grade They were strange and shed some light gave me size like overnight internalized some quotes that gave importance to my life (Chorus) Drea: Crashing through the universe, Looking for your space, Madness written in your veins, Searching for the proper words, to write about your race, madness written in your veins.... verse 2: Everyone of us is precious, Even the ones you disagree with still contribute to the cosmic perspective Lets elect to respect this Well get to watch each other flourish feel the tendrils of the universe be nourished the weight of kindness tends to tip the scales theres not a hint that help will come from elsewhere in order to save us from ourselves as below then so above we have to know its up to us for small creatures such as we this life is bearable only through love as the cosmic dust calls to us remain curious to its wealth we are the universe universe experiencing itself trust imagination like a rocket ship go beyond your own wealth (Chorus) Verse 3: life flight perilous sight fright might stare at us tonight like hi from the sky who are you? who am i? we be we so dont cry utilize yours is mine laid to rest then we rise in distress so am i we be we internalize that fact what was that another butterfly effect stay calm no alarm with my arms ill protect you stars thats forever we be we fading clever in this ultimate endeavor secretley each others treasure like a baby or the fossil not benign never hostel just indifferent like our father we be we ever larger utterly the same martyr (Chorus)
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(Intro) Verse: Hey lil Vaniya, how you doing? Whatsup? I know the stuff I talk about be kinda sounding so tough, but so what? You can handle it! You're smart enough, the world is rough, but you can manage it, just lead with love and you can lean on your family. Don't be embarrassed, ask for help when you're panicking still learning myself, some things are constant not a fantasy like my support and love for anything you stand to be, such is life I'll tell you some things you probably don't remember Like when you were two i played guitar for you in cold December. You cried so much but when you heard me pluck them open strings them tears would dry, them eyes alive with thought and hopeful things. I knew right then I'd never let you face this world alone without the knowledge that the art can heal a broken soul. Ill teach you know so maybe later you can teach me so here's a lesson you can learn that we can both sing Chorus: Never listened to what the television told you, Never let another person control you You're a queen, everything that you dream you'll receive if you fall ill be there by your side Ces't la vie... (Vaniya repeats) Verse: Hey ladybug, you know you getting so big, I know they tell you to grow up but have fun being a kid, the television is just fiction turn it off so you can listen to your heart that speaks with diction hope you practice your addition and subtraction make your mother happy pick up a book to see the world inside your brain and map it. Ill be right here for any questions that may puzzle you. may not have all the right solutions to what troubles you. But Imma try, such is life, you know I got your back, Ill tell you stories when i'm bored you know I'm good at that. Sometimes you scare me when you speak because you learn so quick. I know the world will try to mold you to adapt to it. But be a leader, take the harder route and carve your path. Stay open hearted, it's cathartic when you get to laugh. I teach you know so maybe later you can teach me, so here's a lesson you can learn but we can both sing: (Chorus)

about

Conceived of in 2 months and created in 1 week, Each one, Teach one is an ode to my 9 year old niece, Vaniya, a powerful and smart brown girl growing up on the West Side of Chicago. Often the world can be an excessively cruel place and in times of great struggle or numbing comfort we tend to accept that fact as a peripheral futility. But when young, all is new. When young, all is lesson. Adaptation is key and without proper guidance, later in life you may find you have grown into something that resembles a world that contorted you.
I refuse this fate for my niece.
She is worth a chance in this place.
Her vulnerability is her armor.
She is an empath.
She has my sister's eyes.
I may not be able to give her lots of things in her life.
This is my gift to her for all of time.
It may take her that long to decipher it, but i doubt it. She's a quick one.
Through this process, I have been the student.
I've learned not to underestimate the power of curiosity and dreaming.
I've learned that I don't need that much sleep.
Neither does most of my friends.
I want to give a special big thank you to my producers and friends Chris Lee and Colin Mulhern who made this fever dream possible in every way. I love you guys for this gift. I am lucky to know you.
Thank you Bianca Xunise for this lovely album art. I bugged you so much because you are worth it. thank you for this gift.
Love to every single person who collaborated and taught me things while simultaneously learning. I love you for stepping up in a week to create this.
Thank you to anyone who has let me crash on their couch, sleep on their floor, or hung out with me as I was creating this. (Im looking at you Erin Delaney, Micheal Egon Schiele, Aaron James Stephenson, Kristen Mann, Dina Saur, Emilee Modaff, Emily Esperanza, Trigney & Sidney Morgan, and anyone else whose offered me love in these last months) Without your love and time and space this would not exist.
Thank you Nanny. You told me it could be done. This is for you too.
Ok, world, meet Vaniya.
Listen close.
Love the 9 year old in you.
Love you now.

credits

released August 27, 2016

Produced by: Chris Lee, Colin Mulhern, & Mykele Deville
Engineered by: Chris Lee
Recorded at: The Foam Palace

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Mykele Deville Chicago, Illinois

+Poet Rapper+
+Chicago +

I was born.
A pebble.
A pestilence.
The sickness
in the rock,
it formed
a skeleton.
Crystalized thoughts,
adorned,
with melanin.
The sands
in the clock,
They tick
and they tock,
ya dig?
... more

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