[00:43.35]I reach beneath the skin of the street with each step
[00:45.97]Walkin' closer to my final destination of death
[00:48.67]When I'm layin' to rest, I'm only savin' my breath
[00:50.96]The Northwest fills the lungs, heals the pain in my chest
[00:53.98]Take six quarters out of the pocket
[00:55.87]Drop it in the box
[00:56.79]Hop the 48, off to pay homage
[00:58.95]It stops often, I jot my observations, watchin'
[01:01.86]Citizens walkin' off of the Joe Metropolitan
[01:04.65]Proletariats and wayward sons
[01:06.54]With old Filipino men speakin' in they native tongue
[01:09.45]And the day is just begun
[01:11.35]Greeted by the scent of a bum
[01:12.11]Smelling something like beer, barf, and dung
[01:14.96]A brother in repose in the back all alone
[01:17.36]Marinatin' in a pair of half-broken headphones
[01:19.62]Mumbling rhymes
[01:20.69]Same time begin to pen mine
[01:22.34]Appreciating God's design
[01:24.34]Rewind sister
[01:24.86]Reminds me of a smile in the back of my memory
[01:27.61]Wonder if I'll see her again
[01:29.19]Will she remember me?
[01:30.38]"I'm not tryin' to holler, I swear
[01:31.73]I'm just weary of the way we hop a ride and just sit there and stare."
[01:35.50]Prepare for my nine o' clock work meeting
[01:37.73]A couple pale folks slide right by with no greeting
[01:40.53]But the people with my phenotype follow with a head-nod up
[01:43.30]Because we acknowledge that the shit's ****ed up
[01:45.18]North of Martin Luther King, a straight war zone
[01:47.87]Detours through the concrete, cranes, and bulldozers
[01:51.18]No, the Hill is not over still
[01:52.64]Every block got a coffee shop; it's overkill
[01:55.07]Focus, know the deal
[01:56.32]Dope to see Kalil back, the medicine is good again
[01:58.34]The feeling of leaving and coming back to your hood again
[02:01.62]It's priceless, I write this, our lives are in crisis
[02:03.54]Most talk, but don't walk, the path of the righteous
[02:06.24]Despite this I measure each step
[02:08.68]Walkin' closer to my final destination of death
[02:10.99]When I'm layin' to rest, I'm only savin' my breath
[02:13.76]The Northwest fills my lungs, heals the pain in my chest
[02:16.32]Clutch the moment, a transfer in my hand
[02:18.15]Still listening
[02:19.41]Lookin' out the window to the gold and the green
[02:21.57]And the sun might be shinin' but it's colder than it seems
[02:24.09]'Cuz the weather's dialectical: there's no in-between
[02:27.72]In walks an old soul
[02:29.74]A First Nation native, cat's chiseled like a totem pole
[02:32.27]No words, as he stands and looks over us
[02:34.40]He gets off and says, "Have a good day, you foreigners."
[02:37.79]I, crack a smile one time for the acknowledgement
[02:39.93]Northbound, now we start to pick up more college kids
[02:42.62]They try to study on the ride
[02:44.38]To make up for the fact that they probably kicked it hard last night
[02:47.33]And I ponder if it's time to save up and get a car
[02:49.84]And pay for the gas that we're takin' from the war
[02:52.40]I'd miss all the colorful faces, the places, and spaces I've embraced with
[02:56.27]The faith that I can rest and raise kids here even with these cats set
[03:00.07]Trippin'
[03:00.17]Bringin' '95 back again, same old conditions
[03:03.05]From Reagan, to Bush, to Clinton, to the Bush the second
[03:05.47]No matter the neighborhood in the city you're reppin'
[03:08.12]It's gettin' serious y'all
[03:09.29]You can even hear the rebel call
[03:10.79]Gettin' off, leavin' hella pieces on the walls
[03:13.17]Seen it all, sittin' sideways with my townmates
[03:16.26]Only place left where majority is brown-faced
[03:18.52]Now we headed downtown to trade our labor for cash
[03:21.64]I thank the navigator once and walk fast
[03:23.38]I walk past the next round of cats to jump on it
[03:25.95]Locked in deep thought, we ride around in silence
[03:28.55]And cross Rizal Bridge
[03:29.95]I watch each step, walkin' closer to my final destination of death
[03:33.71]When I'm layin' to rest, I'm only savin' my breath
[03:36.25]The Northwest fills the lungs, heals the pain in my chest
[03:38.94]I remain blessed, steppin' on rain with each step
[03:41.79]Eyes heavy from the lack of the cousin of death
[03:44.07]When I'm layin' to rest, I'm only savin' my breath
[03:46.64]The Northwest fills the lungs y'all, you know the rest
[03:49.88]You know the rest, you know the rest, you know the rest
[03:51.87]It's like that y'all, that y'all, it's like that y'all, that y'all
[03:58.36]And that's all...