I kick your monkey asses is my f****** self

Yeah, yeah
Ayo, listen up, it’s time (Time, word)
Yeah, it’s time now (Alright, begin)
Straight from the places that raised us
Where bad lessons travel faster than hope
I don’t know how to open this, so I’ll tell it straight

I learned my cadence from the cracks in the pavement
Old men talk tough, masking fear as patience
House full of echoes, anger in rotation
Every rule I was given came with contamination
I write from the spine, not a pose for attention
Pain handed down like a family pension
No saints in the frame, just survival traditions
Where silence was praised and rage was permission
I watched pride ruin brothers before money did
Watched fists speak louder than apologies ever lived
I’m built from warnings I was told to ignore
From “never show weakness” scratched into the floor
I carried weight I didn’t earn by choice
Inherited tone, inherited voice
Every night felt sharp, every day felt tense
Trust was a rumor, love was expense
So I sharpened my words where I couldn’t defend
Turned damage into discipline, scars into pens
If I sound cold, that’s climate not ego
I came up breathing storms, not windowed condos
This is testimony, not a threat or a flex
Just proof of what survives when it’s raised in neglect

State of the bloodline
State of the mind
What gets passed down
Doesn’t stay behind
State of the bloodline
State of the mind
Break what you’re given
Or repeat the design

I had dreams where I’m calm, no armor, no guard
Then I wake up defensive, gripping the dark
I was taught that respect comes wrapped in control
That love keeps score and forgiveness is sold
So I question my reflex, my temper, my stance
Every impulse trained by somebody else’s past
I seen men win loud and lose everything quiet
Seen pride turn homes into personal riots
I don’t preach clean paths, I walk with the doubt
Unlearning the language that violence taught
Confidence forged in a furnace of blame
Toxic heritage branded deep in the name
But I’m breaking the chain link by link, not fast
With accountability heavier than the past
I choose presence over posture, truth over threat
If I fail, I own it, I don’t deflect
This is strength redefined, no fists, no fear
Just standing with what’s hard and staying right here
I don’t sleep easy, my thoughts still grind
But I’m rewriting fate with a clearer mind
Nothing clean grows where it started in smoke
But roots can be cut, even when they’re old

State of the bloodline
State of the mind
What gets passed down
Doesn’t stay behind
State of the bloodline
State of the mind
Break what you’re given
Or repeat the design

The Beast (includes Chinese restaurant skit)

Fugees

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skimbo

David Howell

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