I didn’t plan to release these tracks together, but after being on the back burner since 2021/22, I decided to polish them a bit and put them out there as possibly my last J Kizla release. I was struggling to finish them and really create anything for a while. I would get it if people think they’re still unfinished but they’re as finished as I could get them. I have had creative, physical and spiritual blocks galore in the last few years. A big part of my difficulty is that I’m tired of just writing introspective lyrics but it's still what I've had to say. In a past song ‘Caught Up Pt. 2’ I wrote:
        
‘Feels like I’m drowning in the heavy shit, my minds always on
But the heavy’s starting to seem petty, it’s so overgrown
Known for that, introspective rap, but I’m so over that
Maybe if I get it off my chest then I can give it a rest’

It’s like I can feel the way I've been writing has a time limit - the energy for it is running out. I’ve been singing more, mainly other people’s songs. I’m still finding the new, mostly-sung music I hope to create and I’m not sure ‘J Kizla’ will fit it.

I started ‘Yellow Brick Road’ in 2022 and finished writing it last year. It feels like despair with some glimpses of hope and the singing is more vulnerable than on songs I’ve released before. It’s more old school and lower energy than the other two tracks.

“War of Art” comes next, it wrestles with resistance then transforms into a kind of impression of my early spiritual experience. Written in mid-2021.

And “Anger (Or When Job Lost His Shit Pt. 2)” is what it sounds like, I guess. Short and sharp. Also written mid-2021.

I decided to release the last two tracks only on SoundCloud, partly because they started as experiments in recreating other beats so they're not fully original, but also they're kind of fragmentary.

I hope you enjoy or find something in them or - I don’t know..

Thanks for listening if you do.

Yellow Brick Road

A few months ago I tried to make a beat every day for a week. These beats were the result. 

I struggled a bit at the end to stay on pace and didn't quite manage a beat per day exactly but the challenge definitely helped motivate me so in that sense it was a success. 

After finishing the mixing module of my music production course I decided to clean the beats up a bit and do a casual release on SoundCloud - so here we are. 

There is an interesting progression to the beats, the first two I was trying to create more complicated melodies, both having kind of lead lines that were more the focus. 

Beat 3 is probably my favourite beat because of the piano chords. I added them more recently when it felt a little too minimal without them and that it could something in the higher up in mid-range.

Beats 4 and 5 were my experimental phase of the challenge. I had them named on my computer 'Madness' and 'Guitar Madness' respectively. I really liked these ones too but I'd rather you just listen than try to explain them.

Finally, beats 6 and 7 were the only beats to use sample. For 6, I used a piano loop from Splice that was very atmospheric so I added some reverb to my snare that I felt complimented it. Lastly, in beat 7 I sampled a beautiful track from the beautiful movie 'Talk to Her' (directed by Pedro Almodovar). So no I did not play the divine flamenco guitar in beat 7 but I don't think I completely ruined it with my additions.

Thanks for reading.. hope you enjoy!

Beat 7

A few months ago I tried to make a beat every day for a week. These beats were the result. 

I struggled a bit at the end to stay on pace and didn't quite manage a beat per day exactly but the challenge definitely helped motivate me so in that sense it was a success. 

After finishing the mixing module of my music production course I decided to clean the beats up a bit and do a casual release on SoundCloud - so here we are. 

There is an interesting progression to the beats, the first two I was trying to create more complicated melodies, both having kind of lead lines that were more the focus. 

Beat 3 is probably my favourite beat because of the piano chords. I added them more recently when it felt a little too minimal without them and that it could something in the higher up in mid-range.

Beats 4 and 5 were my experimental phase of the challenge. I had them named on my computer 'Madness' and 'Guitar Madness' respectively. I really liked these ones too but I'd rather you just listen than try to explain them.

Finally, beats 6 and 7 were the only beats to use samples. For 6, I used a piano loop from Splice that was very atmospheric so I added some reverb to my snare that I felt complimented it. Lastly, in beat 7 I sampled a beautiful track from the beautiful movie 'Talk to Her' (directed by Pedro Almodovar). So no I did not play the divine flamenco guitar in beat 7 but I don't think I completely ruined it with my additions.

Thanks for reading.. hope you enjoy!

Beat 6

Beat 5

Beat 4

Beat 3

Beat 2

Beat 1

Lyrics:

Must admit I got a bone to pick
But what I feel seems to make no difference at all
When your works hit heavy, I fall, I fall (x2)

When the anger flows through me, I say fuck you, sue me
I say fuck you who grew me, I say fuck, you never knew me
If my life was a movie it’d be one shitty movie
Prove me wrong please or do me in, my patience getting thin

I need new beginnings again, tell me why all I see is ends
when I depend on you, after what I underwent for you
Nah.. this can’t be all that’s meant to be
Know we’ll get there sooner or later, call it eventually

Anger (Or When Job Lost His Shit Pt. 2)

Lyrics:

Lord knows how I'm gonna write this
Got a feeling in my gut like I don’t know what my right is
Despite it, Imma fight this inertia, path of the righteous
Might just, go ahead and prove my touch is Midas
Who knows just why i’m like this
With the mic gripped tight by my right fist
It’s plain to see the flames, don’t put the blame on me
I’m not an arsonist apart from on the beat
I fought the hardest just to start this shit, don’t need you to agree
My heart was at its darkest, that’s when I began to see


Lost at sea, I saw what it was
Saw the clouds like the first time, couldn’t stop looking up
Where have I been?
All of these years and years have been
Leading to this I swear I’ve been
Dreaming
Thank god I’m breathing
But I’ve lost what I believed in
Nothing’s real except my demons, and I can’t describe this feeling
Still I try to, been 7 years and months now that I’ve tried to

War of Art

Lyrics: 

My throat hurts
My flows work, that's the sole perk
My soul irks me, gets so murky
Cause when I feel so alone it's like no one could cure me
I feel fury, vision blurry
And still worried, who knows how to get back home
I'm in a hurry, but something's still blocking me
Got me like Dorothy

Still on this yellow brick road
I wanna go home
This long road is winding
Been trying to find my way

I don't know and don't know when I'm gonna
So many years I've been asunder uh
My nose under, it flows into my lungs
It's no wonder this flow's under my tongue
Cause I'm no fun
They try to tell me I'm still young but
Something tells me that I'm done
Tell me why I still think about, what I could become
Cause I still ask how many days til I see the sun and I

Find my way
Til I, til I
Til I find my way
Cause I'm

Still on this yellow brick road
I wanna go home
This long road is winding
Been trying to find my way

So tired and so sick of the same shit
Know I ain't shit
Need to express something new
Cause there's something else I could do
I know it, I feel it flowing inside me, there's something true
But I'm blue and I'm fucked up too
I've got no clue or crew, I'm losing my cool
Heats rising, bout to break the thermometers
Killing myself just to try and make the drama live

A tribute to Prodigy. The beat I use is a remake of the shook ones beat and I did a stream of consciousness thing over it. It's super rough but fuck it.. more music coming soon. Shout out to Havoc for the classic original beat, Eazy 26 for the dope remake, and Ssol for helping with the mastering.

LYRICS:

check it out now, its j kizla, pass me the rizla..

so i can get so high i'm a planet, i live life don’t plan it, don’t try to understand it, i'm a dog man i'm rabid, i spit rapid, i cause critical damage, can’t stop its a habit, i'm outlandish, weak rappers i banish, make em vanish, say adios like i'm spanish (yeah) its an emergency, burning rappers to the third degree, if you don’t run run you’re done, 3-2-1, now its over, done, and you’re overcome, shoulda chose to run, son you’re cooked, looking ready for the seasonin, maybe some cinnamon, i'm sitting on the fence again, thats when i grab the pen again, half adrenaline, and half sentimental friend (uh) i'm a living contradiction, sick of wishing, its the mission or the bitchin, this addiction got me itchin, lost in a daze, smoking on haze, its just a phase i say, as i waste another day, i pray, i pray, i pray that i will find my way, somebody save me, cuz i'm crazy lazy, jay-z raised me, baby when it was written, if you know your shit, you’d notice it, i'm supposed to spit, get over it.. the same the thought goes in when i'm out of my head, i'm everything but dead, thats what i said bitch listen, until your dismissal, or get hit with this missile, its official, i snapped on this beat, believe it or not, i'm a master of speech, so take these words home and think it through, or the next rhyme i write might be about you, son you’re shook..

Shook 1s (Prodigy Tribute) (prod. Havoc x Eazy 26 x Ssol)

My first proper single and the first part of a two song release called ‘Cuckoo/Light’. This song has gone through a lot of changes since I released a demo of it. I kept changing my mind about parts of it, even my perspective on the lyrics. In the end, I think this song is about change, and more specifically, feelings about letting a cherished part of myself go. Apart from that I’ll let the song do the talking.

Vocals: J Kizla
Original Beat: COMODO
Remixing Beat & Other Engineering: J Kizla
Mixing: J Kizla
Mastering: Coast
Cover Art: @zouassi

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/17ZOP0fwsdVGwns87UygAL

Apple: h t t p s : / / i t u n e s . a p p l e . c o m / g b / a l b u m / c u c k o o - s i n g l e / 1 3 6 9 7 8 6 0 5 2 

LYRICS:

lie down and bite down, shock him ’til he pipes down, right now, don’t fight now, it’ll only make it worse.. fuck it, make my brain cells burst, make this curse disperse, i’m the worst, guess i'm calling off the search, cuz it's hard to find a needle, when you’re looking in a haystack, face facts, fucked up like i just smoked a blunt laced with crack and some smack in the back of a shack

i’m running out of space and time (x3)

still passive but I’m actin up, the actions of the masses fucked, the lack of trust is cancerous, kicking up a fuss, but who is man to judge, when the devil’s playing double dutch and god keeps losing track of stuff, now that’s enough, and maybe i just ask too much, like who set me to self-destruct? still stuck as fuck and out of touch, cuz i’m nuts trust, so let’s switch up the rhyme before i go nuts plus (like the upgraded version of nuts.. lol) 

i’m running out of space and time (x3)
                
i’m running out of space and time, i need some space to rhyme, give me some space i’m fine.. in my zone, all alone, on my own, been scribbling down some different shit, so ridiculous and wicked, that i’m killing off witnesses, but truth is what my business is, envision this - i'd been living life but missing it, arising from the flames and the chrysalis..

Cuckoo (see description)

All written and recorded between 2017-2018 but I finally mixed and mastered everything. These songs were my best attempt to express myself during a particularly dark time. Lost my voice a while ago, trying to find it again. Stay tuned for more music..

2Sides (prod. KΛGWΣ)

I’ve heard the idea floated about that because rap doesn’t have melody, it doesn’t qualify as music. Well, actually it does have melody and if a rapper didn’t use subtle melody in their verses or used a melody that didn’t fit, you would definitely notice. Anyway, that’s a discussion for elsewhere, the point is even though I disagree with the idea, I have wanted to do something more overtly ‘melodious’ for a while. In these two songs I sing quite a lot and though I know I still have a way to go, this was a huge step towards finding my sound. Thanks to my cousin Sky CD for the awesome beat used in part 1. Part 2 was fully produced by me which was a big step for me too.

It's about being 'caught up' in multiple ways. Hope you enjoy!

J Kizla

Pinned to spotlight

Popular tracks