produced by john shrimpnose and tony the scribe
mixed by andre mariette and tony the scribe for timbral studios.
mastered by andre mariette for timbral studios.

lyrics:
one for the clouds
two for soft anxieties
three for self- indulgence and baristas who say hi to me
four for anonymity
the warmth of simple privacy
five for life on cable lines
and feds who tryna wire me
six for the apathy
seven for the practice
eight for five percenters
tryna parcel out the math in me
nine for the caffeinated
ten for the casualties
eleven for the gentleman who broke the glass menagerie
twelve for the riots shields and full metal jacketing
don’t speak on thirteen got a feelin that it’s bad for me
fourteen when i made my first track
fifteen for the nostalgia and the way it’s coming back to me
sixteen i almost died on lake street driving backwards
lost cause my first love had turned her back on me
wouldn’t have made it to seventeen
if i didn’t have an eye for navigation
and a way to keep the traffic clean
eighteen for the vividness of near death experiences
i can taste the fear like it’s happening
nineteen for when her eyes glaze over
on ceramic states of mind
like the homegirl ashley’s
twenty for the lies i told to escape
the devil’s cave
and the men who saw her spirit in its packaging
twenty one for the cycles round the sun
that have passed since i made my first tracks on this galaxy
twenty two too heavy handed fools
in my head always tryna rap battle me
i could be the new god odysseus except i’m such a hypocrite
now isn’t that a goddamn tragedy
twenty three for days
sleepless twenty fours
twenty five couldn’t tell you what the hell i’m counting for
but i’m not gonna quit cause i’m scared to stop trying
twenty six twenty seven twenty eight twenty nine and
thirty thirty one thirty thirty three
thirty eight fourty five fifty one fifty
counting blessings while i’m
hiding in the storms
getting tired but
i’m running out of doors
but i’m running out of doors

counting blessings while i’m
hiding in the storms
getting tired but
i’m running out of doors
but i’m running out of doors

doors

counting blessings while i’m
hiding in the storms
getting tired but
i’m running out of doors
but i’m running out of

...

out-of-doors

produced by icetep
background vocals by lydia liza
mixed by andre mariette and tony the scribe for timbral studios.
mastered by andre mariette for timbral studios.

lyrics:
you always said your dad gave you paper skin
it was wafer thin
look, felt tip pens bleed
away from where you make amends
i seen the way your eyes turn in sets
enough to wonder how you keep them flames burning fresh
with him it’s always gin and tourniquets
i don’t know how you think you deserve that shit
i’m afraid you’ve been growing hard to reach again
cause when we play shows, i see your shadows leaning in
glass bottles get reversed on a bit of bourbon
all your curses reemerge
all your burdens worsen
you done fell in love with a mariner
he sunk his fingertips deep in your salt weathered hair
traded in your voice for white noise and a bit of air
every story ain’t got an ever after square
on the shore he got a couple rays to share
but son turn a little darker when the sky ain’t lookin fair
he got a pistol in his closet
i’m not saying get it but i’m not saying
not yet
heard he want to put a ring up on your finger
one of y’all is gonna have to pull a trigger
i’m just saying that i’d miss you
if it came to that
if he hits you again 
you should pay him back
i can’t tell you how to purpose your pain
i just don’t wanna see you circling drains
circling drains

you always said your mom gave you eyes like a paintbrush
colors in your mind
black and white on the paystubs
rooms fulla people who don’t know where you came from 
that shit can make it kinda hard to 
make it through the grey months
i know you went distant
i noticed the friction
i know you took to smoking
just to pour it through your system
i know you was sprinting just to hold your position
black holes with a mission
tryna close you in a grip n
get you tripping
listen
i always been a scribe without a script
never found a way to mitigate the symptoms
but that being said
i only ever had to trip about the outcomes
you always had to worry bout the income
and i’m not sure that i can write to give you any peace of mind
but know i’m riding with you til the outer limits
i spent that money from my whip just to put us on a disk
if i went back
i wouldn’t do it any different
and we know the world tryna leave us with our tracks in the ash
it’s a goddamn battle of attrition
but i’mma make sure
any time they try to tell us what we’re worth
we slit the purses and we liberate the prisons
winning
we only got up in this shit to motherfuckin struggle
and i’ll never give that up because of image
so anytime you got a couple shadows in your head you gotta juggle
know i got you to the mahfuckin finish
to the mahfuckin finish

shadows

produced by icetep and tony the scribe
mixed by andre mariette and tony the scribe for timbral studios.
mastered by andre mariette for timbral studios.

lyrics:

so i was standing outside at the back of this show
tryna catch a little breath, with timb tracks in the snow
passin ghosts in the air from the back of my throat
there’s a couple boys out back, stoners passin a roach
red shades on they souls, half packing a bowl
i’m like, half worth notice til it’s ready to smoke
then they on some
you wanna hit this?
we got a couple minutes til the next act plays
throw some clouds in your vision
i’m all
i’m tryna make a living off this voice
every hit i take of smoke
gets it closer to destroyed
besides, i rarely smoke marijuana anyways
couple hits of ganj and my brain goes renegade
they laughed, looking like a hyena pack
eyes glazed, minds half detached
a man i hadn’t seen stood up in the back
rockin all black everything with pentagram tats, like
son i know what your bidness is
dropped a lil disc now you tryna go infinite
i can see your future, dead insignificant
your voice ain’t deep enough to grab rap dividends
i got a pack of camel lights
that’ll never run dry
you could smoke em all night
and them a get your voice tones right
the only price that they take a couple years off your life
slippin on that black ice, shiver in my bones
knowing that my next words giving up the ghost, like
fuck it, i would die for a pulse
looked him in the eye spoke
gimme gimme smokes

coughin never seemed so intimate
gimme gimme smokes
get me closer to the infinite
from the ash to the dust to the track marks
whats a couple years to a mahfuckin rap star

whats a couple years to a mahfuckin rap star
whats a couple years to a mahfuckin rap
whats a couple years to a mahfuckin rap
whats a couple years to a mahfuckin rap star

This is rap divination
chantz and i talkin bout the future in his basement
tryna get the fanbase spread like we satan
the beats and the candles
the black innovations
he schooled me on his body of work
said it’s human sacrifice to embody the words
when you sip out the goddamn bottle it burns
til you vomit words
you know you putting pain in the verse
there’s no restraint if it works
it only bangs when it hurts
no containing the curse or escape to faith in the works
you doin alchemy 
equivalent exchange in the worst way
sacrificing everything you had in the first place
i’m sitting there, asking if it’s worth it
to bring all that pain to the surface
i reached in my pocket for the pack of the cigs
lit one up like 
it is what it is

coughin never seemed so intimate
gimme gimme smokes
get me closer to the infinite
from the ash to the dust to the track marks
whats a couple years to a mahfuckin rap star

whats a couple years to a mahfuckin rap star
whats a couple years to a mahfuckin rap
whats a couple years to a mahfuckin rap
whats a couple years to a mahfuckin rap star

----------------------------------------

coughin never seemed so intimate
gimme gimme smokes
get me closer to the infinite
from the ash to the dust to the track marks
whats a couple years to a mahfuckin rap star

coughin never seemed so intimate
gimme gimme smokes
get me closer to the infinite
from the ash to the dust to the track marks
whats a couple years to a rap star

sing it

coughin never seemed so intimate
gimme gimme smokes
get me closer to the infinite
from the ash to the dust to the track marks
whats a couple years to a mahfuckin rap star

transmutation

produced by icetep
mixed by andre mariette and tony the scribe for timbral studios.
mastered by andre mariette for timbral studios.

lyrics:
they say the devil got a chess game
better than fischer had on his best day
set stage, he leads, first pawn to c3
left a white queen open just to try to check me
so let’s play
i’m wilin on my castling
switchen up positions on that gotta keep her traveling
off balance, i’m jaw slacking and off rambling
tryna get her grin to stretch tighter than taut canvas 
been on that couple years a game shit
livin in my mental,
might as well’ve made her pay rent
spent a summer living under latex
ain’t a damn thing like some unsafe sex
blank checks
living on that fourty-nine moves shit
got a couple knights, can’t find a way to use em
i’m no kasparov, worried I’m see through
livin in between them mean reds and deep blues

checkmate
checkmate
every pawn thinks he king on his best days

checkmate
checkmate
makin moves through the ranks and the chest pains

checkmate
checkmate
every pawn thinks he king on his best days

checkmate
checkmate
but even kings get deaded

players had us lookin like fool’s mate
i could see the future in the moves made
now we could move straight or we could watch for the hook
you know there ain’t no such things as halfway rooks
i’m halfway shook, tryna keep that nice act up
on that dark horse riding
while my knights act up
on some fuck a bishop, they ain’t never seen a black square
how they gon tell me that i gotta keep a path clear
thought i had that shit on lock last year
tryna lead a charge
bet they only taking cash here
wish we had a strategy to get behind
i’m done with living balanced on a mahfuckin credit line
tryna play a couple moves in advance
on some
pull a piece back, remain true to the plans
catch a black king leanin
tryna get up out a chess game
open to the queen,
that’s a mahfuckin checkmate

checkmate
checkmate
every pawn thinks he king on his best days

checkmate
checkmate
makin moves through the ranks and the chest pains

checkmate
checkmate
every pawn thinks he king on his best days

checkmate
checkmate
but even kings get deaded in the end game

checkmate

last year, on november fifteenth, jamar clark, an unarmed black man, was murdered by the minneapolis police department.

in response, we occupied the fourth precinct police station.

on november twenty third, white supremacists shot five of us.

we didn't leave.

on december third, the police removed us by force and bulldozed our encampment.

in total, we occupied the fourth precinct for eighteen days.

this is a song about that time.

written and produced by tony the scribe
guitar by lydia liza
mixed and mastered by andre mariette for timbral studios.

december third

written and produced by tony the scribe.
mixed by andre mariette and tony the scribe for timbral studios.

tony the scribe is releasing a new ep.
it's called mixed messages.
this is the single.

the release show will be held the day after valentine's day, february 15th. tony the scribe will be directing a one-time-only performance installation for it.

it will also feature performances by sarah white and andrew broder, and djing by minne blanco.

music starts at 10 pm.

tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door.

https://www.icehousempls.com/events/2018/2/15/tony-the-scribe-mixed-messages-ep-release-sarah-white-andrew-broder-dj-minne-blanco

lyrics:
when i told you that i loved you
i was sure i meant it
i told you i would always have your back
if you were weighted down and drowning
feeling breathless
so why the hell am i
the one to pull away this time
i was reaching for your belt
and you were moaning
but i wasn’t 
i was breathless

i’m sending mixed messages
i’m sending mixed messages

i had to call you cause
i been up tossing and turning
and finding it harder to sleep
think i’m just rotten with all of the thoughts of the
alternate future we promised to be
i keep on checking my phone
but the minutes just keep ticking on and
demolishing me
light from the screen getting harsher
the rest of the room getting darker
and harder to see
never adjusted to see in the dark
(no)
i never adjusted to see in the dark
i guess that’s the problem with me
my pupils get larger and darker
and swallow the whites of my eyes
when you’re talking to me
i keep on waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting 
for you to text back and acknowledge to me

that you’re sending mixed messages
you’re sending mixed messages

tell me this was not an accident
this was not mistaken
this was not for practice
this was real as you could make it
tell me i was not just something on the side for you
to play with
i gave all I had to give
i hope you did the same

cause i know this was not an accident
this was not mistaken
this was not for practice
this was real as i could make it
you were not just something on the side for me
to play with
i gave all I had to give
i hope you did the same

we were sending mixed messages

mixed messages

written and produced by tony the scribe.
additional production by amati.

lyrics:

spend my days on your timeline
spend my nights on your blog
i can tell that you're lonely
i can tell that you're longing
why your words are so cryptic
i'm not sure who's involved
but when you no one wants you
i assure you you're wrong

and i think every picture you take,
you take for me.
and i know every word you say,
you say for me.
it's why i stay awake and wait for calls waiting.
i know it's about me.
baby it's always about me.

now we only touch through glass.

you got me sayin
(ayo) i'm so tired of using technology
emotions runnin strong in me
(ayo) i'm so tired of using technology
just tell me what you want from me
(ayo) i'm so tired of using technology
i hope this isn't wrong of me
(ayo) i'm so tired of using technology

cause we only touch through glass.

glass

written and produced by tony the scribe.
co-production by icetep.

lyrics:
you always had the leverage
you always knew the words to speak
you always knew the right place to touch me
to make me go weak
and i can feel your fingertips clutching at me
all full of need
i wish that i could help you
wish you could help me

don't tell me that you miss me
unless you really miss me
don't tell me that you're with me
you were never with me
with me

you're so transparent
these days i can see right through you
i understand it
goddammit
it aint my job to move ya
cause when the going got tough
then the tough got going
you got on the road
didn't say you were going
but every time i exorcise your ghost
it keeps coming home

don't tell me that you miss me
if you don't really miss me
don't tell me that you're with me
you were never with me
with me

i know it's pathetic
i know it's obsesive
i know i should stop overthinking your messages
there ain't no meaning hidden in the lines
you just pass whatever cross your mind secondhand
but if it's all in my head
tell me what's in my bed
cept the scent of your sex left as residue
don't tell me you miss me
unless it's the truth
the last thing that i want is to pressure you

you miss me
well i hope you fucking miss me
you tell me that you're with me
you were never with me
with me

miss me

written by paper tiger and dessa darling.
production by tony the scribe.

lyrics:
you come to see me
to say you're leaving
but i don't care for long goodbyes
i've always known you
to come and go, you
pass like a ghost through all our lives.

so here's to you
and all the walls you're walking through
i bet its all that you can do to get away
and here's to me
when it's all done i still believe
that i was one of too few reasons to remain
(to stay)

i hear you're leaving
every party
before the dinner course is served
(you leave, you leave, you leave)
you give your reasons
and beg your pardons
and they all pine for your return
(for your return)
i'm sure you're restless
and i know your methods
i bet you're taking off tonight
i don't expect to
be taken with you
you only ever travel light

so here's to you
and all the walls you're walking through
i bet its all that you can do to get away
and here's to me
when it's all done i still believe
that i was one of too few reasons to remain

so here's here's here's to you
so here's here's here's to you

so here's to you
and all the walls you're walking through
i bet its all that you can do to get away
and here's to me
when it's all done i still believe
that i was one of too few reasons to remain

and the camera

artist. organizer. warrior monk. 1/2 of @killstreakmpls with @ICETEP. tonythescribemgmt@gmail.com.

tony the scribe

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