Bom stiggedy bom stiggedy bom, huh / who’s wanting to test this hip-hop soldier / calling all of the shots like la Costa / Nostradamus / the prophets in the house and it’s over / coloring you purple like Oprah with the crane and the cobra / my spit is similar to Tyler Durden’s words / hugging on your bitch tits, we misfits like murderers / mash down babble smacking laughing ass clowns / in the last round cashing in with a mack hand down / and my intelligence is more than all 5 elements and if you need that sentiment / I’ll stick a middle finger up / so you can take that sentiment and stomp it into sediment, take pictures to remember it / just turn your fucking speakers up / Vital vindictive vernacular vicious vendetta vicissitude / classy as mad budussy on a business suit / I grab the microphone and let ‘em hang like toe tags / so you can taste the fury placed purely in my gonads / then again it’s in the genes, and that’s what she yells / calling VITAL sicker than the lowest count of t cells / now that there’ll have your ass walking on egg shells / living in the black and white, cuz VITAL’s in the details / it’s why the poetry’s fluid but incongruent to the rest of your ethics when it’s the madness in the method / the last independent bout to blast into remnants / serving ya’ll a splash of piss if you’re fast to get offended…I’m back / It’s not the method, it’s the message / so when we walk through life heads up and respect it / it’s not the method, it’s the message / we get hot like fire or get colder than a deep freeze / it’s not the method, it’s the message / so when we walk through life, heads up and respect it / some people them run in the streets just like savages / try to get diploma with gun off street colleges / I’ma walk through these streets, God bless, it’s all in God’s hands / some people live like crab in a barrel marching on sinking sand / we think ya plan / selling out for the source of money in them hand / stay strong, them the kinda earnings never last long / it’s just the last days, plus we live up inna Babylon / join as one, lets come together so we can stay strong / undefeat the plan, VITAL warm up the band / the people, them lost looking for direction / And when we puts it down, we know ya’ll live it up / because we put it down further than the devil’s cut / and when we keep it low, we know it gets you high / like angels falling from the sky trying to test God’s hands /

Now can you track this track list / the fact is that we’re building a beast so we’s the beast masters / freaking this heat in linguistic street accents / with asterisks on Optimist beats cuz he’s massive / with these classics / bringing the guillotine scene till these bastards lay in green pastures / watch ‘em fall like the nephilim wiling, the rest of them dying to sleep in deep caskets / and it’s madness / split the vertebra / murderous style / direct the next merciless profile / ravenous cabin fever cabaret / cleansing all the mad inhabitants up out my rabid brain / taste the acid rain / watch the ambulance lights flash after I strike like the wrath of Cain / Overlook Hotel masquerade / and quarantine the caretaker with the axe that decapitates / C: And that’s when we go off with their heads / just cuz we know, there’s art to their death / hearts dismembered and scars on your flesh / thoughts that haunt ya and that’s how you’re left / Yeah I’m like that knife that I plant right in your back / spinal collapse times the flat lines I connect / mind absent navigated telepathic attacks / of a mad Frankenstein who’s time has elapsed / yeah / now children, rest and come hither / your creepy Uncle VITAL wants to teach you omnipo- / -tence, innocence corrupted father figure / the killer in the house calling up the babysitter / and the chase is better than the catch up / better than the face of the devil in your basement to catch ya / get ya, cut your soul apart, and then possess the / exorcist text messaging the next dimension / testing, sending out a morse code / even more so when he sees me pull apart a martyr’s torso / (whoa) / I’m in war mode / and these bloody corpse clothes add a hint of color to my wardrobe / Break Chorus B: And I don’t think you’re ready for the take back / needle in a haystack rap / that I make to replace that / outta whack stay strapped rhyme looping 8 track / formulaic fake that I’m shaking up ASAP / cuz VITAL Em is hard core / rough, rugged, and raw / running down the underground to the top floor / chopping bodies underneath my shoddy lawnmower / on tour to bring to you the art of war’s encore / Chorus And this friction written for splitting atoms / finds me doing fifty convicted of twenty stabbings / twenty dead cadavers all disposed in mystic patterns / in a big sadistic fashion in a midst of instant passion / like Ted Bundy’s on the microphone / Manson on the ones and twos / and Jeff Dahm eating up you sucker crews / watch the news, just this evening there’s another two / emcees disappeared like I ain’t had enough to lose / see I’ve already lost it / call up the coroner to come and autopse the whole mosh pit / half the bodies burned, the other half frostbit / as the Grim Reaper takes the lives I’ve exhausted / I stomp right down to the Hospital’s offices / planning malpractices acting as Doctors / lining cowards up like the showers at Auschwitz / calling the cops cuz I chopped up the hostages / Chorus

Prepare, cuz I got my glasses off and I’m wild for the night / beware, cuz I got a bone I’m gonna pick and I’ma sick it on the mic like / everybody wanna claim to be a baler or a thug these days so I get ‘em with the Splitscreen / like a trip beam, bringing Maylay to the balance, hip-hop hijacked and attacked with the blitzkrieg / Now black gloves and mask and black beanie to pull over my naps / plus a duffel bag full of nick-knacks to sabotage traps / told my lady ‘fore I left this be the last lick / and if I make it back, you know the hideout so meet me there / Romping, stomping in my big black boots and bailing back over PCH / I give a call to Optimist for a list of the vics and the blueprints laid over the beats he makes / before I sneak in the gate and get ready / lock and load, gotta keep control and remain steady / paging Maylay for the ricochet staged engaged to break the levee in the getaway Chevy, and now / Gotta make my move, Johnny splits, and he’s in position / as I slide through the kitchen, cook hat and an apron / this club got any and everything you can dream of / big balling banquet for mob figures behind curtains / Well, I better get my ass on / 11:35, I get inside and put this black ski mask on / where my eardrums pick up the insidious filth of bigotry in some perpetrator’s rap song / but that’s gone now, and I’m hearing a commotion going on above as I run up the stairwell / through the double doors to the dance floor where the crowd lays in a panic when I empty out a gun shell / don’t move, put your hands up like you’re praising the Lord, we got hip-hop for ransom / and if any one of you cumquats wanna catch a buckshot, we’ll be giving ‘em out like assassins / so, I know it’s sad we had to come to this, but I’ll be leaving you with some relief / cuz when the rain comes down, it’s gonna pour hella hard like Death’s running things and he’s coming in threes / freeze / Nobody move nobody get hurt / stay down / we came to jack back the sound from you corporate clowns / Jig, you’ve had it for a long time now / but hand the culture over ‘fore I put this tool in your mouth / Now we gone, Maylay grabs the backpack as we turn around, checking out the time we got left, running out the doorway like a track meet / hit the alleyway into the getaway / Optimist drive / and we grab a change of clothes in the back seat / speeding through the red lights, swerving past stop signs / popo on are tail cuz Jiggy Goblin called to drop dimes / but I got mines (hell yeah), and you got yours, now we gotta take it back to the archives / Everybody throw your cell cuz it’s a tracking device / shaking the Ice Mob and Jig in the nick of time / headed for the freeway pass, underneath change rides / Moses T. stashed the van so we hopped inside / rolling through the underground to escape the ghetto bird (right) / 405, sound surprised, thank God no one lost their life / pay the local PD so we can sleep at night / cuz even the sheriff’s daughter’s a fan of Seekret Socyetee /

I. Now Jenny was a girl without a worry in the world / 8 years old, bright blue eyes, and yellow curls / cuter than a button and always inquisitive / innocence in the flesh, but in a sense, ignorant / to the whole predicament that began her ninth summer / followed by numerous other summers once her father's brother / touched her every time that he would come to babysit / swearing silent serenades through incestual relationships / and she never said a word / always kept the secret, cuz she trusted when he told her this would help her grow older / and over years, all of the salt inside her tears would smear and mix within the sweat upon her Uncle's shoulders / it's that real, numb to the world cuz now she can't feel / the pressure of this anvil leaving her at a standstill / 16, pristine, so just imagine / that by 18 she was faking multiple orgasms / as her living cuz nothings ever given / and this she learned quick once Uncle was sent to prison / leaving her stuck inside her own distortion of a lifestyle / coveting her anguish behind an inviting nice smile C: Life is like a boomerang / fill your void with her new pain / from emptiness / sorrow flows / we're all together now, flocks of a feather now / deceitful as a ricochet / aim for the gut / infect the brain / and now her pain's as dead as yours / we're all together now, flocks of a feather now / II. And Johnny was an ex-drifter / now turned 9-to-5er / a starving musician on the side / and the first time he saw her he thought she was beautiful / so he'd watch her everyday, caddy-corner from his cubicle / wondering, summertime heat wave sweltering / as she was sheltered in stranger's arms / he wouldn't ever take it wrong / to pray her safe from harm / and every night the lonely shadows would hear him play his song / written with the melody of the thoughts of her walking / and the harmony embedded in all of her soft skin / and he waited, timed it till the day that he approached her / swallowed his pride and came closer / told her she was the prettiest thing he had ever seen / in his intricate dreams if ever there was a queen / spent the night with her and promised her everything / knowing in his heart that he would have her heart by any means / Chorus III. So 6 months go by and Johnny don't know why / Jenny can't seem to show the love that he shows / night after night when she comes back from the street lights / as her last trick rolls by, he finds her so high / and so he joins his lover in the place where they don't cry / and she don't lie, making love till he's bone dry / but he don't know she's killing those emotions that choke like / a vice so he's debating with a nickel plated 4-5 / torn up with a needle in his arm, keeping her warm / and too far from where he started from / he'd ask her if she loved him, all she did was give a smile / and that sufficed for a while / then one night she found him sitting naked shivering with his guitar in a trance / playing her his song as he asked her to dance / and Jenny wasn't gonna pass up on the chance / but before she could reply she saw the blast from his hands / and not a second later, Johnny's body hit the floor / and Jenny hit her knees, vomiting from what she saw / scattered brain mater, blood sprayed across the wall / on the note that read that if she loved him there was one more

And all the kids say, the President’s got one / the cops they got one / my favorite rapper got one / you need to put down that gun / you need to put down that gun / and all the kids say, the President’s got one / my teacher’s got one / my favorite rap star got one / put down that gun / you need to put down that gun / bang, bang, bang / I done seen them preachers in pulpits / heard rappers with full clips / who pull quick and teach the kids to believe in this bull-ish / the heart of the city beats for these thieves and these culprits / while their leaders run around for their facetious indulgements / it’s a vicious cycle, I just sit through it and observe / like a live Doppler scanning from helicopters / I’m hearing mausbergs, 45s, and 22s / ain’t got no kind of clue—monkey see, monkey do / but monkey what monkey who / I hear you’re quick to brag on pulling triggers, but who’s the one that’s been pulling you / young minded so your lack of experience has up tightened, now you run around the streets like you’re bulletproof / but uh-huh that’s two shots past your spinal column / now you’re dropping, calling on God cuz the sky is falling / so ashes to dust, Earth back to the universe comes in thirds / and you’ll see that Father Time was watching / Chorus And bang, bang is how it goes / some blasts from an assassin creep to crash through your windows / and all your boys drop or dash as fast as the wind blows / and you’re the only cat to see the last of your kinfolk up in thin smoke / and you say you’re a menace God / a heat seeker sweeping streets, bent on some vengeance God / the kind of cat who’d bring the reaper to a renaissance / until you’re caught up feeding that devil exactly what he wants / now, it’s like 360 degrees / and the future’s predetermined by futures previously / and you can see this story on any TV at 3 / immediately as the media sees it to be / in the same old cycle / repetitive psycho kills his wife and kids and then himself with a rifle / and that’s why I’m holding close to mines, cuz when I go / it’s gon be on both feet, locking this mic like a maestro / Chorus

Hiding from your reality, just a casualty of insanity / idiosyncratic addict automatically running and ducking from any kind of a sized problem / we all got something / Never lived a day in the ghetto / used to visit / seen ‘em slang and harassed by 5.0 / tossed on their back, kicked with a steel toe / on my way out, so I’ll never go back / a motherfucker had to learn the hard way and relapse / on 7th and San Julian / looking for the cavi, straight pipe, and heroin / copped a few balloons for me and my dude Andrew / a couple of young troops acting the fool, deep in the scandal / two of a kind, a straight flush / dishonest, intent to bomb your wish / seek and destroy the innocent civilians / at night was best, that’s when we crept / while ya’ll was sleeping comfortable in your nest / snatch your ATM cards and crack the pins / but we ain’t finished, we’ll be back again my friend / Ay yo, 3 nights of cocaine binging / to fill the void created by somebody with no name, listen / need a zanax just to balance out / trying to keep my eyes open to the real like a talent scout / cuz I’m about to break when I take anything to tempt fate, Heaven’s gate self-administered / mass dissonance / past innocence / last Mary Jane’s dance cuz I can’t stand ignorance / hypocritical, mastered my physical, but mentally, I find excuses just to justify my wondering eye’s visual perception / up Heaven’s stairway / mixing up the fix for kicks that I can narrate / so, don’t even think I’m V.I.T.A.L. anymore / with every war I fight inside of me, the sight of me is Skeletor / grim reaper strapped with a scythe and a cloak, blowing smoke, targeting everybody like the Predator / An addict’s hell defines my padded cell / when strapped with this angst, I cast spells like Azrael / crafted wizardry, we sip the Sang Rael / and degrees equal 360 down the abandoned well / like a dual archetype tipping the balance scale breaking even / the pattern projects in scattered lesions / scarred by the numerous flawed, facaded paws of God that molded Adam and casted him out of Eden / I’m filled with adrenaline / oxygen is settling / igniting the flames inside the veins of my brethren / I get permission to listen to the writtens spitten, we getting ridiculous cuz our style don’t have no limits / what is this / animosity, analyze philosophy, dropping product on top of the musical community / hip-hop unity equals immunity / speaking truth, while we preaching and flowing it fluently /

Yo I’m sick of these savages coming up to our campuses / showing us how to handle shit, preaching on what the average is / I am my own man, I make my own plans / so I don’t need you people messing up my home land / that’s why I came to stop hate / so you can go ahead and tell your crew how I feel abut prop 8 / some lines are not straight, some folks are cold hearted / that’s why I got faith to get your soul started / it’s kinda funny how a black man’s president / but equal rights for same sex partners is irrelevant / there’s nothing relative / it’s in your melon kid / freedom’s so free that you might as well be selling it / I made the decision to hate the division / so tell me how we’ll save our kids, when we take what we’re given / listen / follow me on the road to equality / with Optimist, Chapter ONE, and VITAL Emcee / I don’t wanna be right / cuz if I ever was then I’d probably buy into the lies the system’s selling us / am I wrong to hunger—no never that / lord, about someone else / so baby run it back / I don’t wanna be right / cuz if I really am then you better run cuz it’s about to hit the ceiling fan / take it to the bank and to the grave with Billy Graham / cuz a change is coming, show us where you really stand / And I don’t even know / cuz seasons change, but at this point in time it’s freezing cold / when everything I been believing been defeated by demons, even although you need reason, you still done label me heathen / but anyway, the higher you building your barrier just got your boy becoming taller everyday / equal individual, and you’re the one’s that’s missing out / not even worth a drip of the liquor that I’m pissing out / huh / so keep your minds closed and I won’t even hesitate to discriminate back / how can somebody even say that / in God’s eyes we’re all the same yet you’ll take away our rights and make us stay trapped / believe homier don’t play that, so I’m represent it / cut everything I do’s unprecedented / combating ignorance like any yes on prop 8 so all your fears can take that to the prostate / Chorus I stare deep, my thoughts creep / most nights escape sleep between sheets / thieves got a hold, I think I’ve lost control, I must have / I just had enlightenment / but it often end in resentment / trying to skip to the ending / but each turn leads I the wrong direction / I made an honest attempt, guess the truth hurts / spent round the clock trying to question the perps / course my actions remain silent / try to put them in words but mums how I cope / to the point of being punch drunk / and so to move on I slump over and sip hate / sort of like moving forward to diss 8 / till my love dissipates / and as I think now of ways that I could have made it better / I ask for one more to get me through the next for when I get there/ Chorus

Yo, a black cat just crossed my path / only yesterday as I portrayed sanity’s mask / as in a smog induced horizon provided by man’s wrath / or is it progress, though it’s obvious who laughs last / because this disguise has Machiavellian eyes / and the loving kiss of Judas in embracement with Christ / if life’s a gamble only known to those who’s shaking the dice / I’m hitting snake eyes twice like it pays to be nice—shit / another day at the races with rats / ace from the stack placed at the base of my Kangol cap /cuz number one’s on my dome piece / mixed with a little Mickey’s 4-0-O-Z / and hopefully it nullifies those ignorant boastings / like every one is equal ‘cept for faggots and gross things /and if most beings were looked at as three-fifths / belief would be facetious and we’d all be in deep shit / A black cat crossed my path / I think everyday’s gonna be my last / C: And the tectonic plates still shake in earthquakes / sunshine and real estate, Hollywood’s birthplace / crime rates and MySpace, and God it’s the best place / but I still stand apart from that plan / and the redwood’s guide the ocean’s high tide / on a moonlit night for the westerly winds flight / ‘nif you wanna fit in, then you can come for the ride / California goddamn, I rest in ya’ll hands / B: They’ll tell us everything we should think / till we break off in the ocean and sink / (2 Xs) A black cat just crossed my path / only this morning I was the one to cross it back / as the wildfires purged the earth from Autumn’s grasp / the drought would last longer and man’s thirst would pass / so I could dish a half a glass of piss and have a laugh / since we’re running out of time on a half a tank of gas / and as it stands, I’d rather be labeled as half a man / then lose my soul, relinquishing control to some master plan / outta my hands / so what I’m taking, I’m owning / and spending every moment studying my opponents / I’ve walked a million miles and now my feeling is homesick / on some California dreaming in Bohemian Grove shit / so what if, I did something so big you couldn’t stomach / something that’s so repugnant as it shows our growth is stunted / and you say I could die from thinking and speaking of it / well I’d say try your might, cuz I ain’t even running from it / you’ll see / A black cat just crossed my path / I think everyday’s gonna be my last / Chorus

Live and direct, worldwide and ya’ll want it / we rollin’ like the Daytona 500 / so if you’re dead sober, hella drunk or mad blunted / turn the music louder, act the fool and crash your whip / Well, oh my God, here we go again and it’s / VITAL Emcee coming, tearing up the sediment / revving up, engines up like what / and just for the record, LD’s on the cut and if / you haven’t figured out the style by now / you can tell the sound guy to go and make the mic loud / I got that octane, thousand miles proud / so bang it on the dash until your back cramps out / C: We got that whiplash / drive your whip fast / and flee the scene if the cops is dispatched / it’s that whiplash / yeah, that whiplash / the kind of rush that keeps you hungry to get cash / B1: Drop the top, hit the gas and accelerate / we at the speed of sound, bound for the interstate / now make your vertebrae shake like a heavyweight / and tell the DJ on the cut that he can turn this one up / Pro flow / original / get ‘em with the pick and roll / trigger throttle down the open road like a criminal / and top gear is critical / so I could never pump the brakes on an uptake when passing up a vehicle / and people always scream slow down / so now I’m in the cut with my middle finger up when I roll around / straight strutting (whoomp) cooler than frostbite / shift into fifth and you can glimpse my exhaust pipe / Chorus Bridge 1 And by now, now, now you ain’t passing us / cuz we too slow for death, too fast for love / and if ass, gas, or cash starts adding up / it’s probably due to my foolish ass backwards luck / and I don’t give a mad—naw baby forget that / I’d rather take that risk strapped with a six pack / and you can catch that ten inches of limp slap / at 90 miles an hour plus a bottle to twist back / Chorus B2: Now pump your brakes, baby shift your gear / and… yeah / pump your brakes, baby shift your gear / and…yeah / pump your brakes, baby shift your gear / and…yeah / pump your brakes, baby shift your gear / cuz objects in the mirror are closer than they appear / Chorus

I’m never gonna dance again / guilty feet ain’t got no rhythm / though it’s easy to pretend / I know you’re not a fool / should have known better than to cheat a friend / a waste the chance that I’ve been given / so I’m never gonna dance again, the way I danced with you / Started off strong, then you became my weakness / fiend for another one of you into sickness / gave you the code to push all my buttons / halves on a home with plans for a future / mastered your heart and art of Kama sutra / but then you call me, caught up with the way you’re creeping / look me dead in the eyes, I know your lying / what happened to us, what happened to the passion / screaming I should leave this time, I hope you mean it / you’re more open than a book that’s read in public libraries / I should have known better / jacked you from another brother four years ago, he didn’t see it coming / thought it was butter, now we just cut buddies / pieces of a soul erased, you still say you love me / but you can keep that / I’m trying to find another dance with a new Goddess and no strings attached / C: Though it’s easy to pretend / are we lovers, are we friends / is it love or is it lust for our sins / victims of temptation, my patience runs thin / through a circle of emotions, never knowing when it ends / though it’s easy to pretend / we’re going through motions again / old souls spinning whispers in the wind / is it innocence or is it blinded ignorance / in the sense I’m seeing us in every fake relationship / And I’m so wrapped up in denial as of late when fate / signifies my empty eyes, purified by my cynical mind state / and I know that I could handle this better / but then I tend to self destruct every time we’re together / cuz girl you know that I’m a stranger to this aspect of life / a tangled web I weave inside and you’re asking me why / well the problem is there’s someone else inside of my subconsciousness / in minuet and tragedy, so when you dance with me, the chance is that my heart is not in this / so I keep you at distance / either vague or presumptuous and there isn’t much difference / between the two in my world—I deserve this game of solitaire / swaying by lonesome on a dance floor that wasn’t always there / because if ever I could still never tell you why when I don’t understand at all myself / but if you still feel my hands grip you down by the hips and I dip you, just know I’ll look at you and hope for someone else who’s got my soul the same / Chorus I got the blues VITAL / Maylay, tell me why’s that / because this girl I gave my all ain’t giving it back / already got another victim before I even moved out / about to blow my brains out, this ain’t what love’s about / right, but I’m the last that should be giving advice / checking my wrists before I’m slitting them twice / I never understood this energy / but people call it chemistry / yeah well, I ain’t asking for any of their sympathy / cuz they’ve been through it probably more times than us / we break each other down to test each other’s trust / love ain’t but a word but pain we all know / when rushed to live once / but lies don’t help us grow and so / I’m never gonna dance again…

Take a break from all morality and / heave ho / run around until you’re rabid taking smacks at all normality and / heave ho / fuel the blood in your anatomy and / heave ho / reveal your vanity as you remove your mask of sanity and / heave ho / We bringing back that boom bap / so who’s that too cool cat called VITAL, move back, feel the menace / I’ve been ripping up shit ever since Brotha Lynch had a baby in his grips, dancing with the devil in the darkness / heartless like an empty coffin after grave robbers remove the carcass / leaving carnage similar to Hamburger Hill / left hands never catch when the right hand’s in the till / still, you run the risk of being out of line / out of sight and out of mind / and massacred on Valentine’s / passionately, cuz Hochii and Castor’s crimes along with mine are bordering on obsession like Calvin Klein / so bring the yellow tape, watch as the clock ticks / and seeps into your system like a toxic shower took in Auschwitz / nauseous, choke until you vomit / from flipping with this triple somersault karate chop shit / Get ‘em with a dead leg, can’t miss at point blank / if you slip in the mix you walk the plank / homie looking cross-eyed, now your homie caught in the crossfire, separating sinners from the saints / and get ‘em with a flat line (something like a phenomenon) like a mack dime cuz your rhymes shoot blanks / and phony rappers killing it, retaliation imminent, cuz you think you know what it is when it goddamn ain’t / Ya’ll play spin the bottle, we slipping the bottle in / flesh wounds are foreplay, flesh stew for din din / hello children, why don’t you come in / shit is helter skelter like duck down and Manson / who knows where these hands been—could be a tragic story / maybe a spoiled shit who just thinks life is boring / or a religious nut who’s sick of these kids whoring / while Uncle Chester’s having his way with young Lori / righteous murder in some cases can be rewarding / golden calf prayers, flesh tears at ceremonies / candles keep burning while screams reaching nobody / tracheotomies with mics is my hobby / a doctorate in dismemberment with a bit of perfectionist and the OCD has me cleaning up everything / no trace of visitation, victims never located / just another cold case on the hands of these pig pagans / Chorus Gather around the sacrifice begins / the remains of old bones still hang in the wind / where crucified men have crows picking their skin / and women are abducted and forced to grave dig / children are chopped and sold on the black market / or traded for spices and pounds of copper / where the sword of oblivion aligns with the Voldras / and the sounds of hoof patterns of the Mithrodin haunt ya / blood flows through the mountains and valleys / tainting every stream and river that it encounters / lost souls afraid of the black day / burned villages await for the black plague / pale soldiers impaled by their torsos / swept from existence by unexplained forces / God’s hands are never to be spoke of / or suffer the consequence of three headless horseman /

Hey, it’s amazing, the ways you got me blazing these trails / the ways you’ve taken me through when I was afraid of myself / to show me what I ain’t seen, to tell me what I ain’t heard / you’ve put your hooks inside of me so, honestly, I’ve gained worth / cuz I don’t hide no more, and now I know that I can / be the man that I’ve planned to since you found who I am / and fell in love with me, the part of my life that I was once missing / and now I see it clearly, fearfully and wonderfully / no truer two, timeless like an empty hourglass / pissing against the grain to twist this ignorant system’s coward ass / whatever they deem as normal, fuck ‘em, we’ll just go around / hand in hand, and if I get too crazy baby, hold me down / hold me close, hold me tight, and don’t let go of me / becuz I love to feel the motion of your body’s poetry / in rhythmic excellence / synchronized in breath we spend / the best of many nights sweating, blessed to set the precedents / now / It doesn’t matter what they want / it doesn’t matter what they need / it doesn’t matter what they say to me / becuz our eyes is open to what they’re afraid to see / it doesn’t matter if we cry, it don’t matter if we bleed / it doesn’t matter if we fly or we fall / becuz it’s you and me baby, us against ‘em all / and if we hold on / through the night before dawn / it’ll never be the same old song / know that / and if we keep our cool / together we’ll see it through / until the end cuz we believe in me and you / and that’s why / Yeah, there’s times where we can’t stand each other’s guts / argument’s ringing louder till we fear our number’s up / once the thunderstruck, but when you get down to the root of it / moment’s like that can’t compare to the truer feelings in our inner being, destined deep and down to fight for it / so I’ll let go of anger if you let go of your pride a bit / it ain’t facetious if you believe this / baby, you and me and Queefus-prestigious / in league with the universe’s blessings calling out to give us all if we can hold on / through the night before dawn / I’m willing to spill my blood and be a martyr for your honor if you’re down to go to war and fight for everything my heart can live for / yeah / so show me first and don’t tell / becuz the action speaks louder when it’s more than yourself / in that the sacrifice: two souls equal on the middle ground / and I’ma be there, through thick and thin, I plan to stick around / Chorus Would you follow me regardless where we end up at / and would I follow you: I think I’ve finished proving that / see my word is my bond thus I’ma take yours as oath / so what we know above all else can encourage the growth / between us both / cuz I got you physically and mentally / and know that I got you back spiritually and sexually / though only time’ll tell, we can plan to take advantage of it / this unorthodox relationship, shit, you have to love it / cuz we compliment each other like the sun’s touch across an endless sky / so semper fi if temper’s fly / see, no matter how close we come, we can have it all if faith and action’s taken, thus my admiration never dies / and we can go further than that / one step at a time with two lovers in tact / no lies and no proverbial knife in the back / because love’s an evolution if we’re down to adapt / for real / Chorus

And so it goes, and so it was, and so it’s been / and so it passes, hourglasses frozen / it’s been written by the elders forewarning those who cannot learn / in preludes and nocturnes / so I’ve been chosen in the ancient skies to take this exodus where it ain’t ever been / like a fallen cherubim bringing the terror in / booming systems tuning into pirate frequencies / terra firma seized reverse polarities—west and east / rest in peace to the western seas / and the eastern skies been in jeopardy / terrorism threats in threes / and so the mission’s to mash past the prophecy / and dance beyond the scheme / of man’s monopoly / trust, you ain’t seen crunk before this / thirty-three and one-third orbits / the calm before the storm hits live performance / and we touring with the four horsemen’s endorsements / BOOM, we marching through this impending doom / feel the earth shake and vacate the room / party like December 2-0-1-2 / and throw your hands up when the sun eclipse the moon / BOOM, we dancing through this impending doom / the prophecy fulfilled, get back and make room / party like December 2-0-1-2 / and the clock stops, but we’ll still rock till time’s through / And so it goes, and so it will be / dusted over karma with a breeze, 40 below lose sight / burn stars like bridges without roads to cross and ends meet / advisors televise us while our last hours are passing by us / verse them / we seek shelter and all them do is deny us / who amongst you can eye us and curse the whole of our existence / the hands of time they tick slow / we march through streets and remain with no quarter / they can’t stop how we was brought up / indulge in chaos and won’t stop till we caught up / we keep ‘em raised high till Deuce-0-12 / we gon raise some hell before it’s all said done / we at the top of mountains like the ancients / with burnt offerings, but they ain’t taking what I’m offering / Chorus The itsy-bitsy martyr came out to bomb the crowd / down came the flames now watch the people shout / out came the blood and it killed off all the pain / so the itsy-bitsy martyr started it again / Chorus

Look I’m so crazy that they gave me a special coat / I spend my time memorizing rhymes that I never wrote / and you don’t need a stethoscope, tune into the episode / sync yourself into the beat LD put to the metronome / I’m Daeda Se7en just a man on the edge / cuz I’m trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents / if you think I’m crazy you should listen to them / nurses bring that jacket, Se7en’s lost it again / Ay yo, Mexican-American psycho, the homie liable / kurst with the vital daeda then just kill it on the microphone / for real I got that type of flow, skill lines’ll mangle ya / California’s very own chill side strangler / for real I know crazy and his older brother felony / so you gon do you—I do what the voices telling me / compelling me to write chaos as my soliloquy / Gang Starr with a verse until everybody feeling me / C: Like this, something for the fanatics / slip into the madness like a strait jacket / and it goes left (HEY), right (whoo) / and we sticking and moving like voodoo / yeah, psychosomatic / loony-sporadic like a strait jacket / and it goes left (whoo), right (HEY) / loosen your screws and go crazy / I plan to leave insanity but gradually it always seems to be pulling back at me / and actually my faculty cause casualties to anybody that’s fucking with the family / not to be pushed, I’m close to the edge / screws loose in my brain, not right in the head / biting all the nurses that be hiding all the meds / cuz I’m fighting all the urges twisting mine like a dread / Or am I country as old grandma / homies that hold hammers so you don’t want no drama / no manners and really it don’t matter / less it’s time to pause and pose for hoe’s cameras / I’m so hammered off the liquor indeed / you couldn’t be sicker than me with a liver disease / shit that I speak is a kick in the teeth / ridiculous spittin’ heat cuz you’re a victim to me / OK, OK you see now first off, I done been fingered as a fugitive / who’s been amused with self-mutilating rudiments / bruises and multiple contusions prove I’m losing it / woozy influenced movements from soothing hallucinogens / it’s why I’m topsy and turvy / and hardly a nurse can discern me like RP McMurphy / tread soft, cuz if you start to disturb me / you’ll be wearing your heart on your Marc Echo jersey / Chorus B: We tripping like we oughta be / stomping it dominantly / and even a lobotomy couldn’t ever silence we / yo, do the step and creep left to the right / rep to def and bring Death to the mic / and we bombing like a Molotov / till the wheels is falling off / crazy with the devilry we hailing in this holocaust / yo, do the step and creep left to the right / get your breath and catch wreck for the night / Chorus

I dedicate this to everyone who went and made this / number one on their playlist / A-List made, VITAL Emcee's the secret / and he's spanning the gamut from class to beatnik / cuz metaphorically, I bring the sorcery to your spot until you're roaring, drunk, and disorderly / put your hands up, hold 'em for ransom / and scream like I'm flashing a massive handgun / yo / cuz now I'm feeling like I've needed to / so baby either or / I'm 'bout to touch like three to four meteors / and you can count on the love jones coming home to you cuz I adore mi amor / no doubt about it, I'll learn it so I'ma live it / B-Boy stance cold locked and monolithic / so everything you've ever heard before's now truer than it ever was / serious with the promise and it's all love / And from Long Beach to Louisiana / up to Oakland and back, I plan to / keep my sights set on the goals I'm after / like a dreamcatcher so I have to man up / and in the process fall in love all over / the man in the mirror, world's weight on his shoulders / but a gifted misfit could hit the lick quick / once he figures out that he was the ish to begin with / and again it's all about action taken / no talking / have faith and proceed with caution / the road ahead narrows, homie, know your options / and don't get down on yourself so often / see, the literal spirit don't limit living in miracles / from inside when we decide to come together in spiritual / one of us / both of us / all of us to the pinnacle / and you know when we reach it I'll meet you there cuz it's called love / So one love, one life, one selfless vision / one more puzzle piece bound to fit within / the constructs of these Mondays to Sundays / whether 5 to Valley View or 880 to Broadway / cuz living in the moment is what's universal now / beyond the awareness of what this world allows / but we can play by the house rules, I'll strap on my house shoes / and embrace the dynamics of individual values / so one more 'gain for the energy spent / to center all men and make enemies friends / and if some die by the sword then let it be them / who chose to be unfocused wherever they went / so in a sense all I can do is pledge myself to you / and you can trust in what I do, I'll trust in what you do / it's foolproof, and there's just one way to roll / and that's ahead, beyond horizons, and we've made it cuz we got love /

Oh no, it’s Optimo and VITAL who got you moving again / influencing a movement in self-improvement so bring you and a friend / plus two and that’ll add to the math of us, we, you and them / tuning in to the music brought to you by two elusive men / and ya’ll should know my name by now, it’s more than a pseudonym / it’s soothing like the lubricants ya’ll use to get the smoothest trim / who is him, well that is I, I’m an adonai to you hooligans / a dueling iron mic whose bringing le coup de grace accoutrements / C: Sometimes I feel like a motherless child / that’s why I’m raising my fist / sometimes I feel like a motherless child / cuz if this system gets you crazy, we gon spin a big 180 like this / sometimes I feel like a motherless child / and I’ma have to insist / (sometimes I feel like a motherless child) / that through the thick and thin to whomever been listening, my mission’s been to make my namesake great by taking these risks / Now please be seated eagerly and freeze as I decrease degrees / you’ll see we lethal like the HIV from ninety Eazy-Es / and vis-a-vis, twenty-seven Pacs couldn’t stand these shots and breathe / if he was bulletproof and Suge had that Michael J. Fox disease / I said it—I get ahead of my better whenever / and mom dukes is like you ever gon get it together / (Oh Yeah) / cuz all I do is what I’ve known from / Spice 1 to Bone Thugs to being fully grown up / Chorus Hello, how ya’ll do today, let me hit the microphone up like a true sensei / better get up out my way with the rhyme clichés /cuz I resurrect the evidence all up in three days / like the savior, major or minor / if you’re really a contender, don’t be scared if I find ya / blind ya with the ministry and it’ll be honesty, cuz I’m bringing the epitome of a true headliner / DJ… Chorus They call him VITAL, when you hear it, ya’ll like uh-huh / cuz now he coming, running with the distant thunder / and ya’ll amazed in a daze of wide wonder / cuz when he tears the track asunder ya’ll like thumbs up / they call him VITAL, once you know it, ya’ll like that’s right / controlling darkness like incendiary flash lights / or a match to a crack pipe / even if he’s sinking knee deep into the freedom of the fast life / C2: Sometimes I feel like a motherless child / that’s why I’m raising my fist / sometimes I feel like a motherless child / cuz if this system gets you crazy, we gon spin a big 180 like this / sometimes I feel like a motherless child / and I’ma have to persist / (sometimes I feel like a motherless child) / cuz through the thick and thin, no matter who been listening, until we meet again just remember whose the sickest at this /