Last weekend, the shitty-ass Vault in Long Beach managed to host a Detroit takeover with some iconic artists such as Phat Kat, Guilty Simpson and a host of others. But in the following morning, a different kind of takeover was taking shape among the abandoned warehouses of downtown Los Angeles.
Detroit’s Invincible, one of the best MC’s you’ve been ignoring, shot the video for her first single, Sledgehammer, of her debut album Shapeshifters.
The album, which is available directly from Invincible’s own independent website and imprint, will suprise many who continue to pigeon-hole female or political hip-hop. If nothing else, this is good music. Invincible approaches every subject, flow and concept with a focused intensity that is missing from most music period. you might be seeing more of her on here soon…
recollecting when we first met
friends of yours advised me come pursue ya
hypnotized by your spell and smell
sprung by your perfume
i flew over- no delay or run ins with the steward
yeah, our love was younger newer then
when we were honeymooners
now our days w/ sun are fewer
nights are numbered lunar
eclipse glitter and glitz
hate to admit
Dismissed a hundred rumors
as imaginations figments
spread like tumors
diagnosed malignant
radiation patient hunting for the cure
you’re so immature
unreliable, never liable
blaming the entire globe
and call em evil doers
but i’m sure
there’s no reparations
for sweat and lost energy
considered best comrades
become my worst enemy
hurtful abusive
blood curdles and oozes
under the surface of epidermis
the purplest bruises
truth is-
ya gorgeous
but hunger for power gorges
with armed forces
contorts ya slim figure to enormous
OH BEAUTIFUL
With ya spacious skies
I wanna love u but u hide behind a fake disguise
OH BEAUTIFUL
planned your birthday party for july fourth
I was dis-invited
ride your high horse-to a black tie affair with your peers
who can apply force
oh beautiful
really wanna make this fit
promised me to change ya ways
But keep on repeating the same mistakes and slip
blow your candles make a wish
erase the taste
in meltin pots
blood on auction blocks
now felons caught in cells I seldom thought
we’d 86 relationships
obsolete like laser discs
jealous thoughts possessive so in
self defense I’m raising fists
still u fail to hear
the trail of tears
and broken treaties
Border Walls we
Wrote graffiti
Tag it like your Toe
You’ll go alone and greedy
even though u know u need me
No pretending we Co-dependent
u killin in my name I get the blame
Your co-defendant
so much arrogance its an embarrassment
go see a therapist
for your paranoia of terrorists while terrorizing
analyze the flaws in ur character
Do u really love me-or just lust- for power, America?
Legends aren’t legends til they pass away
Do you wonder why we have to wait
Til we bury they caskets or spreading they ashes
To be more than a half awake
Sleep on genius ahead of ya time
Style they could never define whether given credit to shine His competitive rhymes battle shit protagonist role
Movie scripts had the actors flipped His canvasses splattered with soul
Ephcee legacy hasn’t been told And they called in the morning chasing the scoop
No time to mourn him late no excuse Brought us together blessed us with beats Rhymes live forever flesh obsolete
A mourner’s poem to the cornerstones
2 pillars Proof Dilla
so support ya own
When a momma gonna get to mourn her son?
The Reporters gone and recordings done
In this industry that extorts they young
ask em for a fraction they short on funds many obstacles still with payin hospital bills
now Who could possibly steal
From an ancestor?
I’m givin em everyone’s favorite hand gesture
(fuck u ) Shady dealings made the millions try to buy the catalogue For less than what ya label’s willing
Lowest bidder for the path you paved with brilliance
Skills and passion city gonna stay rebuilding love ur killer too- hating won’t bring u back
stained ya name and covered up his dingy tracks
lied u had an outburst n shot first
If we don’t stop this jealousy it’s bout to be a lot worse
No more moments of silence
we’ve been quiet for too long
that’s the same as betrayal
more than Bare witness
to struggle Speak out
or be complicit
to these fake portrayals
in the D Hold u a jazz funeral
March down Woodward in mass numerals
But its like the levees breaking
they coulda prevented it
Not ya death but the premature event of it
Instead of prepare for the storm
We stare and ignore em
Cry in despair and just mourn
I’d rather repair and transform
recharge your battery pack
but now its After the fact
so wut we want a pat on the back
For the courage and compassion we lacked?
If it stays the same,
ur whole life was in vain
Love u in the mourning
By inciting a change
not really a new song (sue me) but an alternate version of some Jay verses heard before, but this time strung together over the Dilla beat that became De La Soul’s Verbal Clap.
so i can’t lie, this was originally not going to come so soon after “Big Money Heist,” but technical difficulties, blahzay blahzay blah, enjoy your Jacko.
