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12 (2014 Edition)

by G.I. Magus

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1.
My heart shed a tear today/ I shed a tear/ Yeah my heart shed a tear.. Hoop dreams as a teen, wanna be Jordan/ grown man, worst fear my sons the next Jordan, Davis/ only famous for his death/ while the shooter's walking free with no regrets/ now Tell me that right there don't make you want to ride/ with your pistol out, contemplating homicide/ conversations forsaken except to talk to God/ -lord of you don't stop me then its going down/ it seems as if the spread of ignorance is going round/ and all the news can talk about's Ebola/ remember when bird flu and mad cow, had everybody walking round with masks out/ getting vaccinated/ the whole nation watching- fascinated/ scared for the life of their child/ seems that's been the black man's plight for a while/ even the president probably has thoughts of lunatics sniping him down/ then they balk on the indictment/ the thought alone frightening/ I'm caught alone at night when the blue lights are lighting my rear view/ where can i steer to/ when the only one to call is the law/ and they enforcing they own rules/ protect and serve/ more like reject and swerve/ pull out the tech and purge/ aim at the head and neck then leave em dead on the curb/ and that ain't over-hyping man its real life/ some times i feel like, some times i feel like/ I'm a stranger in my own land/ a visitor when sitting in my home stands/ these cowards trying to silence all my seeds/ yeah, they trying to take my heir/ yeah trying to kill a king/ Yeah they trying to take my air Sometimes I'm feeling like I can't breathe/ I can't breathe/ Yeah, I can't breathe/ If death's waiting at the corner, hear the last word of Eric Garner man I can't breathe
2.
New Day 03:47
Alarm clock, another morning, what a blessing/ getting dressed, hear the news, so depressing/ more murder, more war, more recession/ what are we fighting for anyway, but anyway/ as I search for a matching pair of socks/ my mind ponders the paradox/ 2 things made as mates, never wind up in the same place/ funny how we struggle with that same fate/ lost souls/ mind at a cross roads/ do I stay or do I toss those/ deuces up, who to trust in this world gone Alonzo/ every day, training day, give you blues, feeling like a puppet on a string, thats gonzo/ But you got to stay on point for the green that's that Ron-do/ yeah, just let me hit reset and get my new day on - So Chorus: Top of the morning (Sunshine or not doc, I'm going in) Alright, Alright, Alright Let's get on top of this morning (If I get props or not, watch, I'm going in) Alright, Alright, Alright Its gonna be a - a new day (A New Day) A New Day (A New Day) A New day (A New Day) A Brand New Day Alright, Alright, Alright A new day (A New Day) A New Day (A New Day) A New day (A New Day) Brand New Day Alright, Alright (Ba da ba ba ba) Its the horizon of the rising of the sun/ retirement of night before my fight is done/ -and I need it, been praying that the light would come/ shine down on me/ recharge 'fore I'm found on E/ These scars make a brother feel less but the fact that I made it make a brother feel -blessed/ they found body off Greensprings a block from where I rest/ I don't think you know the stress/ feels like the weight of the world on this shoulder press/ I wear my heart on my sleeve, feeling overdressed/ but its a cold world is getting colder yet/ No pretending I ain't been a saint, been a straight shooter though/ passions keep me warm the world feeling like two below/ tuba low/ grabbing life by the horns/ trying to fight thru the storm/ maneuver slow/ Chorus: Top of the morning (Sunshine or not doc, I'm going in) Alright, Alright, Alright Let's get on top of this morning (If I get props or not, watch, I'm going in) Alright, Alright, Alright Its gonna be a - a new day (A New Day) A New Day (A New Day) A New day (A New Day) A Brand New Day Alright, Alright, Alright A new day (A New Day) A New Day (A New Day) A New day (A New Day) Brand New Day Alright, Alright (Ba da ba ba ba)
3.
Get Down 04:24
Snap ya fangaz to this, let me see you snap ya fangaz to this Chorus: Sometimes I get down, I get down, I get down, I get down, I get down but you can help me to- get down/ Sometimes I feel like this ain't how life was supposed to go/ boxing with my inner demons trying to hold my own/ Ali Ali oxen free, I'm trying to rope a dope/ til I find enough room for my dreams to zoom- now hold up/ ya see it feels kinda funny when this money getting low, but I find cash for this liquor in my glass, praying praying I don't overdose/ holding close to this edge feel my feeling growing comatose/ hope I don't/ fall into that Drake, Kanye 808 heartbreak sad song type of brother/ But if I ever did then I hope you know the biz, I'd be calling you to come help me to recover/Cause sometimes I get down, I get down, I get down but they don't feel it/ drowning out my poor inner child, it take a village/ To raise and we gone bathe in the rays until the sun sets/ and keep on grooving to we see what comes next - get down Chorus Ok, I'm guaranteed to get it/ ignoring all the talking from these Pharisees and critics/ took their words and a gallon of the kerosene and lit it/ whoosh/ watch it burn, yeah i know you fellas feel the fire/ then turned and looked into the mirror said "you still the guy"/ turn that Kendrick up, never let em kill the vibe/ never let em see me sweat/ so little doe but still I riiiise/- baby girl just be my yeast/ say this life was khakis then- baby girl just be my crease/ so on point with your beauty I just hope you need a beast/ And pass on them Gastons/ see life is love, love is war, hoping you can be my peace/ peace peace peace/ my Isis in the iris of/ all these storms that this life has brung/ cause I'm so close to the edge, but still so far from the ground, but I know u can help me get down, so help me get down
4.
Chorus: It's highs and the lows in life that make you like you on a roller coaster ride/ I'm holding tight/ but I might let go tonight and just float away/ aye/ To a place where my dreams never sleep and my soul never lacks/ imagine that/ close your eyes its the Infinite black Uh-floating on a cloud/ while in hell, highs and lows seem to balance me/ Get a grip with my toes on this balance beam/ yeah my situation shaky at best/ but Imma take these regrets and this hand full of hopes/ and keep stepping til I manage to cope/ far from perfect, my whole life been cleaning up my own messes/ brush it off and keep living, that's my whole message/ lot of madness but there's no method/ tried to block a lot of sadness in my old records/ my homie told that's the reason they can't feel you/ held the tears so long until my heart was growing mildew/ i felt that showing strength was best and yes and I still do/-but tell me what is weaker than concealed truth/ so I think its time to let it show, the whole truth, the highs and the lows Chorus Black man, brown man in America/ slight tan raise brows at your character/ man down now family structure tearing up/ hands down, no questions from the crowd please/ Don't ask why, just pass by, an every day scenario/ we need more Terrance Howards and less Terrio/ seems that we believe the hype/ the more we feed the type the more stereo/ (and I I I know) what the lows feel like/ work ya whole week, spend it all in one night/ taking shots to the face like collagen/ swallowing regrets the thoughts of a disappointing life/ (and I I I know) a little something bout the highs, Friday,pay day, holiday, vacay/ that moment in the morning when you look into your own eyes/ - and you can say i survived/ riiiiight Chorus
5.
Its the wake up session/ 12.1 They say if you- knew better you'd do better, who better than me/ to en-lighten ya mind, yeah them two letters, its g/ I the icon, my god what H-E double/ living in sin city but we in a world of trouble/ double double murder suicide/ them feelings on the shelf hurt/ told my lady if she thinking similar go kill herself first/ come haunt me, sometimes just living daily can be daunting/ hatred for your neighbor maybe you just prove your self worth?/ go tell Kirk, we still in need of revolution/ restitution/ resurrection from the desert/ evolution/ rebels cruising/ cops is watching/ know to pray/ hocus pocus, holy chains/ Jesus pieces, rabbits foots, hopeless soldiers blown away/ dang, Please explain how we aiming pain at each other then bang/ hurling blame when defendant and the plaintiff is one and the same/ we all guilty/ maybe crime is different/ used to thinking similar, maybe my mine has shifted/ maybe maybe time inside of this ward has made me warden/ or due to my good behavior, reduced to a minor sentence/ some dudes round here kind of timid/ they tell me that I'm a menace/ I am, Mr Wilson get prepared for this sling/ i got my scissors but these dummies here prepared for the strings/ tell them fellas that's chasing honeys just beware of the sting/ its kill or be killed/ fight with a heart of steal or be still/ leave your blindfold homie free your tho mind homie yo! Kelz: Black and white, smoke and mirrors, probably just some tokens here/ Middle Earth battle got me feeling like I'm Tolkien Here/ Truth will set you free, so I'm guessing that its spoken fear/ Part of the struggle, that's reality we copin' here/ What's the bigger picture? Have some Marvels in my britches/ Now a days, they be younger, moving traffic from the trenches/ looking for the first down like converting over inches/ Now this world is kinda backwards like converting over Christians/ So let me run it back, got me feeling like I'm Emmitt/ Or catch what I'm throwing, Michael Irvin on you killas/ Ever heard the old phrase, man it probably take a village?/ This booth to me's a lab, listen brother I'm a chemist/ Not a scholar, yet a menace/ not a product of the gimmick/ In my world, its a series, wasn't followed by a pennant/ It was followed by an image of hard workers and teens/ Bloods with no clots, no vamps, I'm out of here, yeah
6.
We Are 03:31
Chorus: I see the light, and I see the brighter day/ I see a change coming, I know that he will make a way/ we are we are/ (the seed, the tree, the fruit, the hope for the future) / we are we are/ the dream, the light, the vision, the hope for the future/ we are I close my eyes and I envision more/ I see a better life beyond the prison door/ They tell me the best way to elevate is when you really learn how to talk less and listen more/ hear the wisdom, read the signs/ clear ya vision, redefine/ we provide the room for dreams to take flight, every dark night has a dawn, free ya mind/ and the rest gone follow/ I know its en vogue to forsake the thin road/ its easy to implode when your chest so hollow/ lackin' heart/ but practice the mackin' arts/ -so they attacking what they lackin'/ but you see what's really the tragic part/ -its all a cycle, if we ain't leading the way/ we teaching them how to come but we ain't teach em to stay/ Chorus Wish I could bottle up the sands of time/ they say each moment was a grand design/ but all I see is destiny slipping thru my finger tips and that's an empty feeling that I can't define/ -was a lazy boy now I can't recline/ cause if I ain't working, what type of man am I?/- analyze/ see clearer/ -seize the opportunities then maximize/ I see who I can truly be and can't deny/ my future bright, really hope that ain't a train coming/ Sam told me there's a change coming/ So I'm patiently waiting and I ain't running/- Country boy big city dreams/- trying to live life outside the margin/ the words of Malcolm ringing in my ear, go and get it by any means/ Chorus
7.
Follow the River and Get lost in the wind Could barely believe when I got the news that you passed away/ the pastor prayed and I asked for grace/ the lord had other plans, who am I to question/ but still wondering why as I stare at my reflection/ thinking back on conversations/ he said "if you can dream it then achieve it"/ my adolescent mind still allowed me to believe it/ and as I grew the words stuck with me, plunged deep in my heart/ and over time it would creep into thought/ as those thoughts became manifest, destiny spoke/ spent a life dreaming just to be woke/ to the same dream/ now I'm teaching these people to do the same thing/ lead on young leaders hold your head high/ dream on young dreamers keep the faith/ and living life like its bed time/ - this is my lullaby/ pray you drift to a land where the dreams never end, let you sails get lost in the wind/ Chorus: Follow the river and get lost in the wind/ Feels like forever, I don't know where it ends/ so much behind me, thank the lord for my sins/ cause you don't know where you're going, unless you know where you've been Dying with out trying, couldn't think of a worse death/ a thousand mile journey, all starts with the first step/ now move/ the destination and destined for you/ you choose, and them choices lead to the path/ I heard em say u was off course and I proceeded to laugh/ -if you know where I been you would think different/ my struggles created changes, I'm using the ink different/ status quo wasn't working, decided to pink slip it/ was tired of just barely skating by/ readjusted my role, now I'm using the rink different/ but, is there a road map for the trailblazers/ is there a heaven for the hell raisers/ is there a compass for the conquerors, redemption when the sinners need a savior/ focused on the finish while I'm waiting for repentance for them critics that considered me a failure/ sentenced me to similar fates as them/ crying while they drowning but really hate to swim/ they got my patience thin/ as sweaters from H&M/ -but I face the wind/ let me me take it in/ and just - Breathe Chorus
8.
Choose 04:14
Whether its gang or drug related/ thugs with silly hatred, loved to kill each other but why? No reason/ and judging by the pace that they're going, ain't no signs of them slowing they're roll up, look baby just hold up/ take six, we gotta keep spreading them more love/ before they feeling lost rejected and more blood/ spills into the street/ I still can feel the heat/ the hatred that boils over and spills in to the beats/ beef becomes the meat of the masses/ the meek shall inherit an earth soaked with tears/ and stained with the blood of they peers, should we abstain from the fight, and see the land covered in caskets/ cause love is like a phoenix, that's laying there under the ashes/ waiting for a chance to rise and reek havoc/ conquer all the hearts and minds of all the people, lets stand in one accord, unite as we chant it/ This one for Mike Brown, this one for Jordan Davis, This one for Trayvon Martin, This one is going crazy/ Its like the purge when we headed in the streets/ its the year of the hunger games/ haves and the have nots/ All I do is save souls, never will I ever stop/ More murder in the Chi, then in the Middle East/ So let us pray for peace, that's what we all need/ Trust in the Lord with all our heart and we shall succeed/ gotta believe bruh, cause that's a better way/ instead of breathing death in my lines I breathe life/ so shorty make a choice, right or the wrong way/ I live for Jehovah, Imma stand on the right way/ ganstas, hustlers, ballers, stand up/ we gotta make a choice for the kids that's behind us/ where do we go from here/ only God knows/ praying for a better way and hoping for an outcome/ Chorus: Gangsters, hustlers, ballers, listen, before you pay the cost, pay attention/ you gotta choose love (Choose love), choose life (Choose life), stand strong (Stand Strong), unite (Unite)/ they coming from the east, west, south north/ no matter the hood man you still got a choice to choose love, choose love Them crabs in the barrel got the barrel aimed/ new pyramid schemes, that's that pharaoh game/ while we worried bout Hoover and Homewood/ the ghost of Doe B saying to watch them brothers in your own hood'/ them backstabbers is back at it/ that's just another cut from the OJays/ so run it back/ ain't no faking the self hatred, sipping from the cup of their own rage/ destructive in both ways/ what doesn't heal me, kills you/ so I don't feel I get to still get to choose- love/ so I'm in love with death, happy Valentine, funeral bouquets/ With the same hatred that put the Lord Jesus on the T up./ They tee off 'fore they can get they tea on/ Turn the T on/ they claim to fame put Cain to shame/ no names that gang bang, either they slang or slain/ my sixth sense spit gets gone with the quickness/ you gotta watch where you wear them 6s/ bad choices ruin good times/ like lives ruin good rhymes/ I ain't gotta imagine the young boys with his pants saggin'/ he used to wanna train his dragon, now he chain draggin', chains draggin'/ He just high off them hallucinogens/ we just turn a blind eye and throw a deuce in the wind/ dudes you used to be cool with, went to school with/ see him on the news, Po's caught him with a tool kit/ life imitates music/ or the other way around/ still weighin' the elevator down/ just a slave to ya rage like Solange and Ray/ but run up on a A-K and turn to lingerie/ we can keep mowing each other like some lawns in May/ or put the heat down, press up ya palms and say, I choose life Chorus
9.
Way Out 03:49
My fingers on the small of her back, feel her skin tingle, sensations, sin waiting- there/ but we don't pay no mind to that/ its less bout your body now, more bout where yo mind is at/ -can I get a peak inside of that/ them chambers you been chaining up/ conversation strip us naked, feeling like we making love/- yeah,Sipping from the mental juices mixed with some Jamaican rum/ whew, intoxication from her cadence/ mixed with the concoction of her fragrance/ cocoa butter brown skin smelling sweeter in the heat of the night/ a brother risking diabetes just to be in her sight/ Sweet/ lullabies she whispers/ And I can't seem to keep myself from slipping/ (caught in a trance)/- swimming in a sea of love, and I can't seem to keep myself from drifting/ Chorus: I'm going way out/ I'm tryna find my way out/ I feel I'm in too deep/ Whoa I'm in too deep Whoa I'm in too deep Way beyond my comfort zone, the current pulled in, won't let me go/ always told myself I'd take my time- when I fall it'd probably be confetti slow, no/ I just hope that I don't mess up/ mind sayin no but body is screaming yessuh/ i fess up/ i'm just a/ man trying to manage my mannish ways/ madness i can't explain/ Ben, Fred, randy, Randy man I'm having a savage stage/ having to balance the thoughts and habits I haven't controlled/ -and I ain't even trying, got me feeling like a man on parole/ my morning mimosa, the sweet intoxicant/- tossing in my sleep at the thought of it/- can't wait to wake so I can find you here up in my arms again/ look into your eyes and get lost again/ Chorus
10.
Be Humble 03:57
Peace to the struggle, peace to the kings/ peace for the hustle/ let freedom can ring/ yeah peace to the struggle/ peace to the kings/ peace to the humble/ They turned that block into a murder sceeeeene/ lets yellow tape it/ hello hatred, hello vacant hearts/ make it hard for a mother just to sleep tight/ older son in jail, younger still out in that street life/ - We can't control it, raising soldiers someone really tell me what's the war/ -who's winning, who's losin', tell me what's the score/ - what's the point? you can bet them hollow points spread/ -hoping that they hit em all, that's a parlay/ the cats out in DC got your head twisted man, that's that Wale/ that ain't dissing, man listen I ain't got the time/ passing laws- hoping to trap us all -and your sons still out there pushing Knicks, that's Amar'e/ They steady lynching Obama, castrating the Cos'/ toss you up on the pedestal waiting for you fall/ assassinating the greats, they degrading them all/ click bait and coonery/ mix tape buffoonery/ I- know it's a symptom, sickness that's systematic/ the way I'm living is criminal, pencil and pistol packing/ - speak your mind, free your soul at the same time/ speak your mind, cleanse your soul in the same line/ They say aspire greatness, but when you finally achieve/ - They try to force you back to your knees and they tell you be humble Chorus; Kingdoms fall and idol gods, they all come crashing down/ Jealous eyes, they're always trying to come and snatch your crown/ They tell you be humble yeah, please don't shine too brightly, you gotta be humble yeah They say the strong move in silence like a mime/ the weak cause commotion, only producing violence like a mine/ get ya mind right, don't step wrong/ they headstrong/ and vipers in the vine/ the providers of the virus to the kind/ the dividers of the viable violating the vinyls for the shine/ pimpin' the game, can't you peep the limp and his chain/ living's insane when the same folk/ that saw you at you at the bottom, see you on top and they can't cope/ ain't that how the game go, swimming for the shore and then they try to drag you down with the same stroke/ swinging for the fences, try to crown you with that same bat/ -Canseco hit McGuire with that same act/ Benedict, Judas, and Brutus- all of them the same cat/ jealous eyes, zealous pride then downfall/- them traitors that hate to see you succeed, and try to force you back to your knees and they tell you be humble/ Chorus I've been trying for so long to hold on/ can you help me/ Oh Lord, can you help me/ Oh Lord, Oh Lord can you help me/ I just wanna fly away, I just wanna fly away/ I just wanna fly away/ I just wanna fly away/ I just wanna fly away/ I just wanna fly away/ I just wanna fly away/ I just wanna fly away/ I just wanna fly away/ I just wanna fly away/
11.
Graffiti 04:22
Blood on the streets, blood on the walls, blood on the hands of witnesses, listen as/ mother's crying over babies bodies lying, dying, crying for help/ trying to cope/ clinging to hope/ silhouettes only thing seem thru the smoke/ we can't reverse I need you to breathe/ we can't rehearse, this life is imperfect and easy to leave/ but I'm giving exit exams, loading up letting blam/ lesson to learn, feel like a king with this tech in my hand/ my retinas burn/ sleep ain't an option and I can't escape/ death on my mind when I ain't awake/ that is the reason I'm letting spray/ makin' sure all of you telling my pain, BANG Chorus I spray the walls like graffiti/ I feel the world with my pain/ I'm leaving my mark, can you see me/ Its Graffiti Leaving my mark, can you see me/ its Graffiti, it graffiti Masterpiece, masterpiece, this right here gone be my masterpiece/ blood that I'm spilling's painting this picture you have to see/ the color is red/ the color is read/ mixed with tears and dirt all around is giving you colorful dead/ loading the clip, hundreds of rounds/ spraying these shots, gunning them down/ the misery's music to me, the cadence of death can't you hear how my drummer sounds/ providing the score/ they crying for more/ they hurting, they begging they dying for more/ -they pleading for me to return to finish the job/ when will it stop, never/ well at least not until I finish this piece/ all of these bodies around, the only one missing is me/ wait let me reload, got to put end to this grief/ all if these bodies around, the only one missing is me/ Chorus
12.
Repeat 04:23
3 deep in that two door, my Homie speeding, doing 85 on 85 South down headed to 'Skegee/ steady flexing/ You'd have thought that cavalier we Rollin was a Lexus/ the way we bending them curves lord protect us/ we adolescents don't learn lessons/ we turn blessings into reasons to continue our foolish ways/ bullets sprays outside the party hardly phase/ even the ricochets from the rooftop of that coupe parked just two spots down/ only served as a portal to show us that we were mortal/ we ought to be thanking god but instead we playing hard like (You was scared huh? Don't be scared, um um don't be scared) Stupid/ we don't value life til the life's gone/ insanity the prison and the sentence is life long/ run on/ fast forward another weekend that we tried to enjoy/ the ques and Kappas got the fighting at Foy, party over She was only 25, 4 kids by 2 different guys/ one was a set of twins, neither dad stuck around/ Still no thoughts of using protection/ the more she seeking for love the more she loses perspective/ Think she's- using these dudes with moves producing erections/ but- that's what he came for, she just wish he would stay more/ its an endless cycle, just can't stop/ but that's a ready made family, just add pop and he ain't feeling it/ called her on the phone like stuff I'm dealing with can I swing by/ she said I guess, trying to seems shy/ hung up the phone tucked the kids in the bed -blasting Shawna's getting some head/ maybe its the love that she seeking, she can't tell that from the sex/ all she knows she's missing the feeling, him kissing the back of her neck/ his hands on back of her dress/ she said lay back on the couch/ she gave him 10 minutes of pleasure, after that then he bounced..again

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released December 24, 2014

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G.I. Magus Birmingham, Alabama

G.I. Magus is known for his electric stage presence. Sometimes joined by his band, he brings nonstop energy and interaction to crowds ranging from youth in churches, to clubs and events.

His thought provoking lyrics and messages have led him to focus on positivity, uniqueness, and leadership.
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