https://youtu.be/O9qhHYu9LLs
Chorus:
They tried to tell me that I wasn't a king
But I just woke up from a dream
And it said I wa'
I wa'
You wasn't worried about me
When I was out here just chasing dreams
But I wa'
Verse:
Momma said
I wa'
I'm living out of bag
And I'm out of socks
I'm out on the road
I'm up on my grind
I'm doing a lot
City to city we in
Every hotel got Giddeon in it
Every city a Indian casino
Might drop c note
That's my per diem
I play on Rhodes
And play on road
Took my play on road
I'm living under the theater right now
The phantom of the opera
I'm playing the role
City to city we in
Visiting men in prisons
And men and women
In rehab centers
To give em incentive
To not relapse in it
To not go back in it 
Then I'm out to the group home
Try to get em before they're given a sentence
Free that mind and then pen it to sentence
I'm down with youth
I tell em keep building
I tell em keep writing
I tell em keep growing
I tell em eep killing
Whoever would thought that I take it this far but I dreamed it I saw it I said it I did it
Chorus:
They tried to tell me that I wasn't a king
But I just woke up from a dream
And it said I wa'
I wa'
You wasn't worried about me
When I was out here just chasing dreams
But I wa'
Momma said
I wa'

Iowa (I Wa')

An animated trap-style hip-hop verse written and recorded in response to the murders of Alva Braziel, Delrawn Small, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile on the week of July 4th, 2016.  Looking for producers interested in the Black Lives Matter movement to make music for it.  

Oh God if I'm gunned down 
let it be Isis and not the police
At least then I know they'll pray for peace 
at least then I know they'll pray for me

And hit the retweet
And white people weep
And not get offended
Defensive offended by my injuries

And talk bout the good things I did like the times that teach
Not the hood things I did you know running the street
I was young and dumb
Like all us were
But some of us die
Before we get a chance to look back 
Recognize

Oh God if I'm gunned down 
let it be Isis and not the police
I'll get some inner peace before I sleep 
Knowing they'll identify him as enemy
when they avenging me
I'll be a hero a hashtag a memory eventually
Scroll down your Twitter feed
It's like just by 
being alive I made history

And all lives do matter
But stop taking our slogan
Cuz we been taken from
It's the first sin that led to this moment
You gotta own it
You gotta own it 
You gotta own it

Oh God

If I'm gunned down 
let it be Isis and not the police
At least then I know they'll pray for peace 
at least then I know they'll pray for me

At least if nots the police you can wonder like we why you wanna kill us
And I feel guilty
But I kinda feel em
The pilgrims
Did rape and pillage and
Enslaved my village too

Maybe I'd feel I deserved it
For serving the oppressor dressing
In army fatigues
Fighting his war and now I'm fatigued
Catching friendly fire
We under siege

Oh God if I'm gunned down
Let it be from Isis
And not the police
At least I wouldn't have to see all the friends that I have on FB that I have to delete
At least I wouldn't need the DA
To indict some guys that she see every day of week
The system ain't perfect it's weak
It preys on the weak
So pray for the weak
Pray for the long haul don't pray for the week
And if I die from guys that claim they pray 5 times a day 
at least I know I just didn't believe 
I believe in thee American Dream 
oh how foolish of me

Oh god
And my country tis of thee
Let me keep believing I can be free
Let me keep believe in the freedom to believe in whatever and my privacy
When I know the NSA recording my speech
And E can't even breathe 

You gon give justice to me
We gave you faith
We gave you good faith
Now we take it to church
You can hear us pray

Oh God if I'm gunned down 
let it be Isis and not the police
At least then I know they'll pray for peace 
at least then I know they'll pray for me

Not The Police (acapella)(115 BPM)

My brother Dj On1's (aka Andre Brathwaite) remix for an animated trap-style hip-hop verse written and recorded in response to the murders of #AlvaBraziel, #DelrawnSmall, #Alton Sterling and #PhilandoCastile on the week of July 4th, 2016. Looking for more producers interested in the Black Lives Matter movement to make music for it.  

https://soundcloud.com/dahlak/not-the-police-acapella

Oh God if I'm gunned down 
let it be Isis and not the police
At least then I know they'll pray for peace 
at least then I know they'll pray for me

And hit the retweet
And white people weep
And not get offended
Defensive offended by my injuries

And talk bout the good things I did like the times that teach
Not the hood things I did you know running the street
I was young and dumb
Like all us were
But some of us die
Before we get a chance to look back 
Recognize

Oh God if I'm gunned down 
let it be Isis and not the police
I'll get some inner peace before I sleep 
Knowing they'll identify him as enemy
when they avenging me
I'll be a hero a hashtag a memory eventually
Scroll down your Twitter feed
It's like just by 
being alive I made history

And all lives do matter
But stop taking our slogan
Cuz we been taken from
It's the first sin that led to this moment
You gotta own it
You gotta own it 
You gotta own it

Oh God

If I'm gunned down 
let it be Isis and not the police
At least then I know they'll pray for peace 
at least then I know they'll pray for me

At least if nots the police you can wonder like we why you wanna kill us
And I feel guilty
But I kinda feel em
The pilgrims
Did rape and pillage and
Enslaved my village too

Maybe I'd feel I deserved it
For serving the oppressor dressing
In army fatigues
Fighting his war and now I'm fatigued
Catching friendly fire
We under siege

Oh God if I'm gunned down
Let it be from Isis
And not the police
At least I wouldn't have to see all the friends that I have on FB that I have to delete
At least I wouldn't need the DA
To indict some guys that she see every day of week
The system ain't perfect it's weak
It preys on the weak
So pray for the weak
Pray for the long haul don't pray for the week
And if I die from guys that claim they pray 5 times a day 
at least I know I just didn't believe 
I believe in thee American Dream 
oh how foolish of me

Oh god
And my country tis of thee
Let me keep believing I can be free
Let me keep believe in the freedom to believe in whatever and my privacy
When I know the NSA recording my speech
And E can't even breathe

You gon give justice to me
We gave you faith
We gave you good faith
Now we take it to church
You can hear us pray

Oh God if I'm gunned down 
let it be Isis and not the police
At least then I know they'll pray for peace 
at least then I know they'll pray for me

Not The Police (Prod. by DJ On1)

A verse modeled after Andre 3000's "A Life in The Day of Benjamin Andre" over a sample of Kendrick Lamar's "Sing About Me" and Stacey Barthe's "Me versus Me" to tribute the passing of my original rap partner and brother forever Otis Jackson Jr.

A Life In The Day Of Jackson Otis (Tribute)

“I’m living in a world with no consequences” Sacramento emcee/producer dahLak describes the cultural landscape he’s found himself in.  In rap, you can have far more drinks than hangovers.  You can f*ck with no strings attached and spend with no worries.  No health problems will ensue, the money grows on trees.  Fantasy is fun! Right?  

The problem is it’s not easy to leave; as dahLak articulates with his pre-album mixtape Of No Consequence.  It’s too fun, it sounds so good.  You can party to it, it’s sexy and seductive and it confirms what we all want to believe.   And for those good times, those great moments, those high-points, it has its purpose.  It obviously can’t last, but while it’s here, don’t think to hard about it.  After all, it is Of No Consequence.

01 Shot Goes Off

02 Search And You Will Find

05 Coming Back (Off That)

06 Step

07 Novacane

08 Face The Day

09 Spending Money

10 Work

11 Dear God

12 The Comedown

spiritrials is what happens when too many Saturday nights are blended seamlessly into Sunday morning. It’s for that time of the night when sobriety sets back in but the promise of salvation is still so far...“a dark gospel blue.” Read More
This 12-song concept album is a brainchild of Sacramento emcee/producer dahLak who has been carefully crafting this second solo LP to succeed his impressive debut Dual Consciousness. dahLak calls the album “a dark gospel blue”. As the lead producer of this project, dahLak contained himself to sampling only “spirituals”; jazz spirituals, blues spirituals, and of course classic Black American gospel. The wide variety within the genre allows for a diverse range of feels while still capturing a coherent sound and vibrancy.
Lyrically, dahLak is at his best. His gift for constructing strong conceptual songs shines throughout the project leaving no room for filler. Every track is a vital element for this visceral journey and still, commercially appealing standouts such as “Good Gawd”, “Work” (featuring George Watsky), and “Saved” (featuring Section.80 vocalist Javonte Pollard) dwell amongst them.
Beginning at the onset of “the high”, the climax, dahLak descends into the dark backlash of hip-hop’s monotonic grand narrative: greed and lust, hedonism and materialism. Through the mess, through the muck and the mire, profound glory and residues of hope find their way back into the heart of the poet.
Are we still talking about a hip-hop album? Yes. But think “hip-hop album” in the sense of art rather than a collection of disposable mp3’s. The hip-hop industry is too fast. So is the music. So is the life in the music. But as life teaches us, as Spirit x Trials teaches us, “live fast and die young”. spiritrials is for sustainability. In music and in life.

3. Good Gawd!

6. Trying (feat. Siaira Shawn)

7. Work (feat. Watsky)

92 BPM.  Originally written to Jay Electronica's "Flux Capacitor". A song for the quarantine.  Producers have at it.

I’m sitting all alone
In the middle of a global pandemic
Me and _____ get a long so we set to make a song
Make it sound anthemic
I hit refresh and refresh 
To see thee next thing
On msnbc cnn and cbs
Bbc espn they all saying that 
The scientists they can’t end it
And my friends are conspiracy theorists
I read on my IG they say they see BS
Meanwhile I’m netflicking and binging
On narcos
Please  one more season no they can’t end this
And I’m so invested that I’m not even thinking
The economy sinking
Or the odds that I’m sick or that
I’m probably gon get it
Like  I’m not even trippin
I’m just distant

I mean ain’t this is what I do on a me day
Anyway

You too
You too
You too
Me too

Must be a sign of the times
Millennial that’s what we do
If I wanna turn up
I take my shirt off
Roll one and burn up
Turn on a turner classic movie mystery murder
I concern myself with nothing
Shutting my blinds I shut the world out 
If it’s important New York times sends an alert out
Just to get the word out
Just to get a blurt out
About a school shooting
Or black people looting
Or why I shouldn’t be eating gluten but I can’t do it
I’m so distant




I tune in then tune out
Zoom in then zoom out
I use to poo poo you
Cuz this is what you do
But channel 2 news
Got me acting like you now
Avoid the issue
Distract the mind 
What’s wrong with you
I’d ask you say I’m fine
With long distance
A little bit can go a long distance
Emojis in your good morning sentence
You think ain’t notice your emojis ain’t blowing me kisses
How you still too busy they done closed every business
Your tone shifting it been pissing me off
So we ain’t even spoke since the world was so different
Yeah we distant
distant
distant

Distant (Acapella)(92BPM)

I’m sitting all alone
In the middle of a global pandemic
Me and Spence get a long so we set to make a song
Make it sound anthemic
I hit refresh and refresh 
To see thee next thing
On msnbc cnn and cbs
Bbc espn they all saying that 
The scientists they can’t end it
And my friends are conspiracy theorists
I read on my IG they say they see BS
Meanwhile I’m netflicking and binging
On narcos
Please  one more season no they can’t end this
And I’m so invested that I’m not even thinking
The economy sinking
Or the odds that I’m sick or that
I’m probably gon get it
Like  I’m not even trippin
I’m just distant

I mean ain’t this is what I do on a me day
Anyway

You too
You too
You too
Me too

Must be a sign of the times
Millennial that’s what we do
If I wanna turn up
I take my shirt off
Roll one and burn up
Turn on a turner classic movie mystery murder
I concern myself with nothing
Shutting my blinds I shut the world out 
If it’s important New York times sends an alert out
Just to get the word out
Just to get a blurt out
About a school shooting
Or black people looting
Or why I shouldn’t be eating gluten but I can’t do it
I’m so distant




I tune in then tune out
Zoom in then zoom out
I use to poo poo you
Cuz this is what you do
But channel 2 news
Got me acting like you now
Avoid the issue
Distract the mind 
What’s wrong with you
I’d ask you say I’m fine
With long distance
A little bit can go a long distance
Emojis in your good morning sentence
You think ain’t notice your emojis ain’t blowing me kisses
How you still too busy they done closed every business
Your tone shifting it been pissing me off
So we ain’t even spoke since the world was so different
Yeah we distant

Distant

In 2008 Dahlak released Commencement, a mixtape to celebrate his college graduation. The project presented remixes of Kanye West songs, as well as new music produced by Dahlak.

Reach for the Sky

Commencement

Do it

Sweet 16

Get Far

So Uncool (ft. iLL-Literacy)

Glory

Let Me (ft. Plush Lush)

Hood Life

Love Lockdown (Interlude)

Never Know (ft. N.I.C)

New Morning

Black Genius

Take it Away

Outro

Dahlak is a multi-faceted hip-hop artist that maximizes his abilities as musician, actor, poet, and educator within the transformational space of the theater.   Since launching into the national spoken word scene by winning the Brave New Voices international poetry slam (as now seen on HBO), Dahlak has performed on the Tavis Smiley Radio show and the past two seasons of Russell Simmons’ present Def Poetry Jam.  Dahlak has worked with Broadway veteran and Rockefeller fellow, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, by writing and performing in his critically acclaimed plays Scourge and Word Becomes Flesh.  As a member of the organization iLL-Literacy, Dahlak has showcased his seamless, blend of hip-hop, theatre, and spoken word throughout the U.S. and overseas.  From 2007 to 2010, Dahlak has released three musical projects, which includes, most notably, his full-length album Dual Consciousness.  Currently, Dahlak is crafting a multi-dimensional project entitled spiritrials that will be released as an album, book and movie, and performed as a one-man play.

dahLak

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