Luka Lesson's 2nd Full Length Album 'EXIT' to be released Feb 2014.
www.lowbap.com / www.lukalesson.com.au


Diaspora / Διασπορά

Luka Lesson's 2nd full-length album 'EXIT' to be released Feb 2014.

www.lowbap.com / www.lukalesson.com.au

Awakening/ Ξύπνημα with Sadahzinia & Brak

Feathers / Φτερά

Executive Producer: Jordan Thomas Mitchell. Recorded and mixed at A-String Entertainment, Beijing. Original production for CELEBRATE THE STORM by ISHU. 

www.lukalesson.com.au

CELEBRATE THE STORM

Verse 1 – Luka Lesson
This is for my people who celebrate the storm
Cross borders and ignore 
Whenever they are warned

This is for my people who climb up the mountains
Never caught lounging
Who light up their lanterns

This is for my people who have fought and won
For the fallen ones
And for those who have just begun

This is for journeyers 
Pilgrims on the path
Forgetting the past 
Finding diamonds in the dark

Chorus
You don’t know when you will die
So celebrate tonight
You don’t know when light will dawn
So celebrate the storm

Verse 2 – Nahko Bear

This is for my people who are lying in their graves
This for my people who were buried there today
This is for the wolf clan 
Bear clan
Sand man
Wing Nation
Every beautiful relation
This is for the gatekeepers
Guardians and Angels
Displaced
Culturally appropriated people
This is for the old growth
Fresh-water rivers
Thunder bring us light 
To bring us closer to the spirit

Verse 3 - Luka
This is for the kids who can't even write a sentence
But police still try to get sentenced

This is for the poets and writers
Those that inspire us
Warriors of the mind
Fighting between the lines

This is for those who know the truth in their hearts
And believe it even when the world tears it apart

This is for the migrants who come in on the tides
The stars that inspire them
To leave their lives behind them

This is for the citizens
First Nations Indigenous
My respect for you is just limitless

This is for critics who said I shouldn’t dream
I know you only hate me cause you know you can’t believe

This is for the party people
Friday night relief
For the DJs who play it loud
Just to bring us peace

This is for my people who dance to this rhythm
Just to get the energy to fight the system

Chorus


3. Celebrate The Storm featuring Nahko Bear

Executive Producer: Jordan Thomas Mitchell. Recorded and mixed at A-String Entertainment, Beijing. Additional production by ISHU + James Mangohig. 

www.lukalesson.com.au

LABYRINTH

Verse 1
Born in an earthquake
I learnt fate was nothing but a cross between my search and my birthplace
Blood from Meltemi winds that speak to me
Where the mountains meet the sea
On an Island of dreams
I mean
East of where Minoans first made mosaics
West of where Jesus once spoke Aramaic
North of where Hypatia taught algebraic
South of where Athenian theories were formulated

I
Couldn’t believe my eyes when I found the Labyrinth
In the ground
Wet from clear water coming down the mountain
I’d never seen a labyrinth 
How was I to establish 
It was grounded in a battle 
Like it was a map of Nazareth town?

The Labyrinth grew from earth
From patterns in the dirt 
Heard a battalion converge 
I heard the call of birds

We’re all born into a labyrinth at birth
We’re all born into a labyrinth at birth
On a search

Chorus
Come follow me
I will guide you in to the middle
Every step you take
Every mistake you make
I will guide you in to the middle

Verse 2
Escaping execution
I ride to retribution
Two moons in the sky
A diamond in my eye
An eagle by my side
A letter from a beggar telling me to turn six lefts 
And twenty-seven rights

Assembling the evidence 
On a quest to find the centre of this 
Elaborate 
Labyrinth

I’ve been banished to the desert 
and resurrected a Bedouin 
He’s telling me the essence of why I’m eloquent 
And how I’m heaven sent

And then he let me know:
“Be as powerful as the owl that glows 
and as wise so that you never choke”

Before he left 
He gave me many letters and notes 
And taught me how to read the sand dunes 
Like a Rosetta Stone

And that was hieroglyphics
So he reminded that writers were invited 
To fight at the Olympics 
With their lyrics

He said: “The earth is made up of words;
It’s a labyrinth of knowledge 
We all enter at birth
On a search”

Chorus

Verse 3
I walked forthright
I paused
Caught sight 
Of four knighted horsemen 
Drawing swords in the torchlight

All four corners of the labyrinth were in plain sight 
So I remained calm 
Took the reins 
And got my aim right

I shot straight past
They made way and chased hard
I prayed to the grace of God to lay the path

Cobble-stones 
Had gotten so 
Grotty, still no-
Body knows
Where the Autumn snow shows 
Where our footprints go

They started shooting guns
I knew that they had won
A bullet through my lung
Just like a setting sun
And like a setting sun
My demise is my rising
When seen from the other side 
Of the horizon

So as I ate the dirt
It reminded me of church
I took Communion from the crust of the earth

We exit a labyrinth at death 
It’s the same one we enter 
At birth
On a search




2. Labyrinth featuring Hailey Cramer

Lyrics // EROS

Τwo palms grow hot 
like steel to flint 
two hands touch 
sparks start to glint

she opens the door 
and leads him in
he closes his eyes
and lets the dream begin 

Outside the sirens
call to the apartment 
screaming in the gutters
winding in the darkness

An explosion hits 
three blocks away
and it hums        
like a reverberating prayer

the city wakes up 
calls the fire brigades 
as he runs his hands
through her hair 

Their hearts start to burn
as they turn in their feelings
not thinking of the gas bottles
in the bottom of the building 

Or flames catching the foundations
the water pipes growing hot
her bedroom will be ablaze
but for now - their eyes are locked

She’s on top
he’s on top
she’s on top

She peels off the last layer
double checks the door is locked

He holds her spine
as she breathes him in
he admires her lines 
and the desires they bring

their faces are exactly both 
grimaces and grins
their souls 
start to crossover
from the limits  
of their skins…

Level 1 catches fire
a window cracks
ice melts off the roof
and it drips like wax

They didn’t notice
when the floorboards shook
the first waves of smoke
or the falling books

Or the fire that flickered
because their eyes did the same
he spoke her name like a mantra
on his tongue was a flame 

He opened up 
forgot where he was 
she closed her eyes
and got lost with the gods…

And outside another Molotov
lands on the pavement
a cop car 
tries to make its way 
through the mazes 
a kid in a tracksuit 
and full balaclava
holds his crutch to the police 
in their full riot armour 

Bottles fly as she bites on his shoulder
her hair stuck with sweat 
as his touch feels older 
and known
like home
like a wayward soldier
returned after years 
but knows how to hold her

She touched him
way better than he touches himself 
Sex is a language unwritten
but eternally felt 

She whispers: 
“You really are a poet
you speak without speaking”

He whispers: 
“You really are a pilgrim 
you seek without seeking”

She grabs the nape of his neck 
as their rhythm increases
their one breath
collapses the past 
How beautiful    
to fall in love together
as the world

  falls     

       apart

They catch their breath
stare out the window 
as the room fills with smoke

Though neither is suicidal 
or thinks it’s a joke 
they both thought of dying 
in that moment 
what a fucking great time to go.

He says: “It’s time to go”

They put back on their clothes 
break out the window
climb down the outside 
fire escape to the road 

The steel balustrade is hot 
but they hardly notice
the tear gas 
already makes it hard to focus

A petrol-bomb bangs  
against a bus on the block
it burns like the sun 
right in front of the cops!

Lyrics// Luka Lesson
Music // James Humberstone
Mix // Jarrad Salman

Eros

Antidote

Anonymous

ANONYMOUS - CALSKI REMIX

L to Z

A to K

Words written by Luka Lesson
Recorded by Julez Gregory at Living Music
Piano played, composed and recorded by Meena Shamaly

May Your Pen Grace The Page

Written by Luka Lesson and Candice Monique
Recorded by Motley at Motley's Yard
Produced by Motley

Killing Time ft Candice Monique

Written by Luka Lesson and Rafaelle Persichetti
Recorded by Julez Gregory at Living Music
Produced by No-one Beats 

Face The World

Luka Lesson's first full-length album available for purchase www.lesson.bandcamp.com or through www.lukalesson.com

Scars

Jah's Interlude

Fresh from 5 months spent writing and recording in South America, poetic rapper Luka Lesson returns with ‘WELCOME TO PARADOX’ – a brave new ode to the paradoxical nature of our current political climate. Recorded in Brazil with Chilean producer Pablo Molina, the song rolls on with a soulfully smooth tone rarely heard from Lesson until now. Lyrically it delves into the hypocrisies that arise from living in countries like ours:

“We are surrounded by beautiful natural views, bordered by the ugliest of political landscapes. The poorest people got the biggest hearts, beautiful drives with the most horrible road rage, First Nations fighting to protect land that in the long-term will be the very same land that supports and feeds those who attack them. It looks like paradise, but is more like a paradox”

Welcome To Paradox

The Light - Luka Lesson ft Omar Musa

Luka Lesson x the Institute of non-violence present 'A Letter To My Daughter'.

www.lukalesson.com.au | www.ionv.com.au

Written by Luka Lesson
Music by James Humberstone
Mix + Master by Mike Stavrou

A Letter To My Daughter

Luka Lesson cuts through the bullsh*t with a chilling new piece of spoken word that reflects on the part we all have to play in the future of our planet. Performed to the orchestral compositions of Sydney Conservatorium mainstay James Humberstone, 'What Will Become Of Us?' is a piece of art that crosses the boundaries between rap, poetry, classical and electronic music. 

Lyrics: Luka Lesson
Music: James Humberstone
Mix + Master: Mike Stavrou

What Will Become Of Us?

Luka Lesson is a poet and rapper of Greek heritage born in Brisbane, Australia. His work crosses between the history of his family homeland, the fiercely political and the vulnerably self-reflective. A former Australian Poetry Slam Champion (2011), Luka has featured at the mecca for slam poetry: the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe (NYC), performed with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and toured with respected UK rappers Akala & Lowkey.

Luka Lesson

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