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Legacy Materials

by Sankofa

/
1.
The blade is rusted with blood, so fatal the clutches Day to day is aiming to make my labors something weighted with justice Endangering others, mothers evading the brothers engaging in war Playing the dozens with razorblades changing the subject Raising a sword, making the gore glorious, mi amor is conflict Sleek velour crafted by the godless I have the face a passerby will never recognize Breath arrives, weaponized upon intrepid tides, step aside, I’m supplying the pessimism, with death arisen I made my circle so small, you’ll never step within it Impressive innit, I didn’t make it to make you proud of me A treasure chest of death, it seems that they have found the key And now they’re fading faster the moments mean more Feel the undertow call you from the sea shore I am the way of the wakening making sleepers stumble Beneath the tunnels the rats are running, diseases double No grief, just rubble building a throne that I rest upon A kingdom of none when the rest are gone, select the song A wretched throng of all imagined threats, dance before me Shattered mirrors for my 7 year selfie, plans for glory A man that’s storming inside of himself, provides the hell Wear the tattered title belt, battered, I might as well No time to spare, my mind is racing and the track is gone I chase the night insane, in vain to seek to crack the dawn No magic wand, I just imagine trauma, mastodons Playing telephone by myself, a path I pass along The map was wrong I’m in the place I never sought to be Fall in a colossal heap an awful scene of loss indeed My arteries they thought to bleed upon a plaster canvas Splattered stories and categories and that’s the status I add the madness to the other pieces, start to cry Tears soak into my wizened shell, spelling the dark goodbyes A martyr vibe without a cult to spread the word of mine Would rather lose than add the blues, the vapid earth declines A taciturn tactician playing chess alone All the rest are left as bone, connect the threat that’s less a loan Domestic zones stand as homage to the conquest Onslaught of relentless inventiveness of the bomb threat Raise my hands to the sky and then my palms bled Dripping down upon the fallow ground the calm tread There is nothing but nothingness in this place that I rendered Advent calendar stuck, the eighth of December Faces disfigured, a taste that’s embittered, hastily written Maybe imprisoned with evasiveness, graves to the digger I’m made of this moment a remorseless sadist’s atonement Fate that I’ve broken, forbidden tasted the trace of a token Making a molehill out of the mountain I began clearly Signed sincerely, merely the only one that I fear, me
2.
Insecurity the platter they feed upon A buffet of new consumers who believe the song Storytelling the adhesive to complete the bond Nostalgia calling, Peter Pan to keep it beating on Ownership becomes the living proof that we belong Receiving a receipt is seen as then a breed of strong But it’s not enough to have, we got have to have more Await deliveries while looking through a glass door Somebody sitting in a broken home, throwing stones Straight to shopping carts another road to Rome Aiming lots of darts, our phones conversing often Sharing what we utilize to find the purchase option Disguising data points as natural convos Bot farmed produce, the tactical bonds grow You got those? No of course you don’t With the tears of their remorse, we then poured the throne Some rode in Broughams, but nowadays the goals have changed Teach them young to stay loyal to devoted names Gone pop, steady sipping on that soda mayne They’d rather have us pull the cart than ever hold the reins We walk emboldened in the newest shoes our soles aflame A puppet buying finer strings that he might so obtain Eyes peeled for gatekeepers who patrol the paint My man told me that he loved me and I told him same Plain paper turns to paper planes we fold away My beard skipped straight to white, no sight of old and gray While I’m dying I’m busy living, my soul to say And inspiration keeps me going in the coldest days I miss the days that I’d the patrol the stage and mold a phrase But I’m not comfortable with all the hosts at bay A new variant drops, it’s like Enola Gay Some claim dominion within, but only stole the name Direct lines to higher powers with a bogus claim Everything around is desert and I hope for rain Just a player playing in a great and coded game There’s no yoda providing guidance who overcame Some folk tell me they’re fly, I say I rode the train And I’m fine whether or not they even know the name Content to be me, not wander in a cloak of shame Flashing back to days, bolder frames and the golden chains
3.
My mission statement, I lift the pen to blister pages Sophisticated, if I make this then I made it And since the natives spoke in tongues I’ve worn the shoes Can I kick it? Absolutely lacing tracks with more to prove Watch the cats who fell slow in that velcro The lord amused some form of smorgasbord and Jordan twos Misfortune’s groom, his cumberbun a crown of thorns Sucking in his gut to stop the bleed, the sound of war Hounds that roar, lion teeth inside of mighty jaws Moments frozen still, forgotten in a life we paused Time to scratch ourselves out of all those graves we dug Made me numb, flashing back to ‘81, a hazy sun The ways we spun as though the axis was within us all Separate planets orbiting each other until we’d fall And then we’d rise again dusting off the dirt and such Riding bikes in the rain and then we’d curse the rust Riding bikes in the rain and then we’d curse the rust Was it real? For sure it was That pair of crutches in the third grade Popping wheelings, vomiting my meds the worst taste That pair of crutches in the third grade Popping wheelies Vomiting my meds A cursive thrust, saving moments in a song Time is money but a minute saved’s a minute gone Admitted wrongs, committed taunts to memory Just to employ them later, amidst the throngs of enemies So long serenity, I fed the monster shreds of me The court adjourned, now the moms of these jesters weep No more concerned, I’m done twisting myself around Making a pretzel just to find a home that’s hell pronounced I felt my way around the darkness ‘til it’s memorized Still the packs of rabid wolves keep pulling for this scent of mine They’ve got the tickets punched with fangs that drop with giblets A splotch of red and paws a clicking, stop to toss the victim I’m off and missing, seems I’m there, but I’m off in distance Often whispers escape with hints of all thoughts I’m switching A fatal loss, even sharpies fade away So sign your name across my heart that sharpens ancient blades So sign your name across my heart that sharpens ancient blades
4.
They’re laughing while you’re fondling and firing guns Cause they’re the ones stealing all of your retirement funds The choir has sung, too big to fail and I am the one If a charge gets pressed, don’t sweat, deny it and run A new messiah has come to keep us all in line Molotov bartenders serving Columbines in these solemn times Meanwhile, some think we take a stand by hauling nines And open carry’s what we care about a polished lie We’ve got to stay alert, focused upon one another Meanwhile, the four and five year olds are taught to run for cover A justice lover bootlicker with a new sticker Calvin taking leaks on trucks, it helps them move quicker Produce scripture to justify an act of hatred Keep the sheep in line, it helps the others act complacent So January 6th hits and now the goals have shifted Whatever we do is right and that’s the whole position Semi automatics emphatically cause static It’s all tragic but we protect em at all costs School walls splattered in young blood and y’all still haven’t acknowledged the problem and whole pattern Entitlement taught from a white privilege perspective Where life isn’t respected just like the insurrection The type to feel aggression egocentric and coddled Born advantaged but couldn’t manage breast to the bottle Still Sucking on the tit of a tyrant, total dependence Wholly invested in stolen elections and globalist plots fear that keep the sheep formed in a flock Building a stock — pile of misguided motives and weapons Like a 2nd civil war the solution Then act surprised when our secondary schools full of shootin The confusion that lies breed at high speed It’s rising like yeast through the right wing institutions it’s stupid
5.
Go on and get it, whatever it is you’ve got to step with We’re only for so long, a mortal obsolescence You ought to dead the thoughts and questions if they interfere A wisdom given to us once we’re older, listen here I can speak upon it, I a not experience Succumb to thoughts of weariness, mirages losses nearly fit We’ve got distractions but imaginations lets us overcome I need the soulful vocals plus the warmth of toasted drums Approach the coast even if it’s almost never clear There is no time that is ideal, just a fettered fear I lack the courage to act upon so much that is life I take a thought I need to shout and leave it hushed and inside It’s not a case of pride, it’s self preservations gone wrong Safer to never try instead of moving on strong The swan song of Don Juans with a stunted love I seek to run the race but all I do is summon dust My hope is my that my sons can find focus And whatever’s in their hearts that, the thing that defines dopeness I got some guidance but still I had to walk the route That’s why I’d rather show and prove life than talk about Too much definition from how others react And that is how upon this bubble we sat Hoping it doesn’t burst and take us all when it pops Seeing power structures makes me think on calling the cops Frustrated, armed to gills not properly trained They take the flak for the system in monopoly’s name But the use of deadly force is a concern of mine body cam footage getting gone after murderous times The system’s a meat grinder, get in the way and you’re getting got Get too loud and soon your bodies will drop And when they hit the floor, the whereabouts are unknown Blue stories getting fabricated ‘bout some guns shown
6.
I put myself inside a prison that yet to come Now I can’t enjoy what I am doing, getting numb Between sunken shoulders, colder and my head is slumped Is it any wonder that I’m lashing out with venom tongue? The dead are done and I’m still alive until I’m not That’s how the children running in the village still are taught I go to work and work is best as play, festive days But I’m busy bleeding color ‘til I left it gray My life experience won’t show up on that resume Sometimes, it’s easy to forget what I have kept at bay But then those boats start crashing at the lighthouse And my response is all I want to do is lie down Hide away until it disappears, but it returns And here I am, amidst a list of all these wistful words I wish for worth but I am busy going nowhere A missing verse inner visions sitting so spare What is there to speak about? Is there anything I utter that can be profound? Questions that I keep on asking, telling me surrender now A walking radio, antenna down, treading ground A set of clowns cascade from this mouth of mine Nothing funny, watch them running in a drowning line Found the sign but the screws had been replaced With marble ruses and amusement, bruises in its face Mistakes repeated doomed to play that song again Greatest hits and the misses list the latest gone to friends Scaling back plans I had until my hands are empty Demanded plenty entranced with envy a cancer bending The chants are deadly, I find myself succumbing quickly Too tired to resist, they can come and get me My lungs are heavy, there’s no crown on what remains of me And right now you’re seeing just what I proclaim as free
7.
I Apologize 02:28
You ever hear a beat that tugs at your soul? Too far above to see the buzzards below Too late to convince that friend he wasn’t alone That path less traveled with the dust in the road The sort of temper that just doesn’t explode I wish I had that, or at least a muzzle to close My mouth, sometimes I’m feeling flustered and blow But the ones I love around me are the ones that it shows I hope they understand I don’t intend to scare them all Air too thick to cover up with aerosol Sometimes, I lack the wherewithal to show restraint We all have different mechanisms used to cope with pain A house of cards, my opponent with the poker face And now it’s ours, write devotions in the hopes it stays I appreciate what I have and where I go I guess I need to a better job of saying so So this is me saying thank you And I apologize for all the times So this is me saying thank you And I apologize So this is me saying thank you And I apologize for all the times So this is me saying thank you I love you Sharing moments with with my sons growing so fast And that’s the way it goes, I know that we can’t go back I suppose that’s why I’m looking at their photographs When I’m done writing songs, a mode of vocal maps Maybe one day they’ll listen to the songs that I made And recall all the times the beats would just play I feel like a failure more often than not Too busy in my world to stop and offer them props As for whether it’s true, that’s not for me to call It goes so fast, feeling like I need to stall But that’s a mission, there impossible as time itself Timelessness raging against this dying shell Shel Silverstein, pondering a severed tree Got me thinking of my dad my sons will never meet I hope if they have kids I have a chance to meet them But emotion stays fighting with my reason So this is me saying thank you And I apologize for all the times So this is me saying thank you And I apologize So this is me saying thank you And I apologize for all the times So this is me saying thank you I love you
8.
It’s been a while since you’ve heard a sappy song from me Cause life, it has a way of spinning so constantly It sounds corny, but it’s easy to take you for granted Cause life is busy and we’re stuck in all the modes of traffic Every now and then, I pause in shock and take stock Look at where we are within this world, a great plot Never figured that it would have happened this way Seems I don’t know the future and I’m happy to say That I don’t have the skills to predict it all Cause it’s unfolding better than I ever could call Sure there are days I wish that would pass by faster But there’s no abra cadabra just a soulful rapper Not golden stature, I’m holding my fam And my fam includes friends so you know we’ll advance This is me being grateful mixed with disbelief And I hold it down for mine when I rip this beat My pen jumped from my hand then it kissed the sheet The note pad so glad for that it lifted peeps It’s been a while since you’ve heard a sappy song from me Cause life, it has a way of spinning so constantly If you don’t take the time to raise the people around you Then what exactly does your life amount to? I want people to feel fulfilled, for real it’s ill Want Covid gone I meet for meals and chill Cause things have changed in these days, we’re isolated Beyond work and home, I’m feeling mighty gated I’m trying to watch out for me and mine, variants Two sons, their beautiful mom, there it is Support my peeps in their endeavors and we’ll all shine No trying to be what are not, believe it, all times Let the tall tales duck between the legs and go Cause I’ve had up to the here with the desperate droves Who is it we seek approval from for what we do Fitting a mold they’re ready to sell us, that’s a sucker move They bleed us dry, we smile and believe it is fine Now we’re just another victim at the scene of crimes
9.
Got my fill at Denny’s, late nights in the SLO days Something about a skillet, Sponyfield and road rage The green chair he’d kick around whenever the Eagles lost 10 burgers for a buck without the secret sauce A roll of pennies rubber banded just to make a buck They told me go and see and see the bank, cause making change is tough I guess they preferred their payment in the paper format Landlord lady smoking Tareytons that graze the doormat Studio gear was set up in JON?DOE’s room Recorded Obese America there plus plenty dope tunes Recording sessions afire, I had to pause that We lived in a townhouse right by the onramp Sometimes the tow trucks or cop sirens interfered Showing up on my vocals tracks and that’s a bit of weird We had Braille swing by, we played him Angelina He told us Cuz deleted every beat he planned to scheme up That’s the way that Dave goes, truth sings fine You may know Cuz better name of Moodswing9 Had Ceschi and his bandmates crashing for the night Drove to San Diego with iCON, for sure the times Recorded a track over the Diamond D Soul on Ice remix Medicine balls wordplay, the days of Double Helix Even chilled with Robust when he came out west Busto the Wonder Nugget, and the name’s now kept I took the Greyhound from Scribble Jam to Los Angeles Sitting next to twitchy cats with gats I planned to live Another dude I met, plastic bags and banded cash He said he gambled on sports, I didn’t plan to ask, crowd begging Kweli to play them Manifesto Said he didn’t have the beat and then the chanting echoed Saw Gift of Gab at house of Blues, running out of breath I really didn’t appreciate what I had found I guess Big Daddy Kane playing the El Ray, goosebumps I knew the mic drop was coming, but that dude stunned Showmanship unparalleled So many hands waving through the air, was like a carousel An arid spell hitting Spitkicker in Vegas Guru marching back and forth, pause with Tims upon the stages Afterparty, I’m chilling with security They’re telling me ‘bout breaking into businesses, for sure it’s deep Something to do with corporate espionage I tried to listen, but in later nights my mind was drifting, guess it’s gone Just some glimpses into timeswe creatively made Before I hit the Appalachian’s my way to escape
10.
My suit of armor is a super fortress, boost endorphins Yall the type that need that extra inch and use the foreskin a troop of mormons seeking youth in some pursuit of fortune On stage with my twigs n berries- find no cuter foursome test the true endurance you'd sooner canoe with orcas Cue the Morphins- our power range is such they'd choose abortion and now, it ain't enough, they're sending David Duke to corporate When it comes to eating comp the crew gon sup in super portions too enormous, buffet won't make it to the morning Eliminate the parents first then just abuse the orphans sending dad jokes to Bruce Wayne, the way of using Gordon Brains are disproportioned but he's such a rube, endorse him the brooding brute, a tourist, the tortoise pursuing Porsches At the ready, slow but steady- quick to move the force in black machete vocals deadly sick but smooth assortment We drop it heavy like we been the cause of Newtons torsion Hey DOE? Yeah Kofa? Are we done with this beat yet? Nah man we gotta keep on repping for respect Hit them with that classic back and forth To bust the raps galore You thought we disappeared? C’mon! See we’re stacking more Hey DOE? Yeah Kofa? Are we done with this beat yet? Nah man we gotta keep on repping for respect Hit them with that classic back and forth To bust the raps galore You thought we disappeared? Nah, never! See we’re stacking more Penmanship is mastery majestic with the dosage here We’re the ones that they approach in fear...While ya folkers cheer Lubricate the ball bearings, keep the holy rollers clear hold my beer, holy scriptures on a gold brassiere behold the beard…They say Sankofa’s near and foes' the deer While DOE appears…...rocking an amulet made of cobra tears denoted as a vocalist a magnum opus revered Lock it down behind the bars no dropping soap in here Even if u think the coast is clear...forget it get the ghost and steer maybe mistaken for facetious, see we're so sincere ...Mic jaegers, light sabers and jedi cloak's the gear The whole nine, but what's the use of closed minds with open ears from bovine, the growth appears, a grossness on a noble tier begging for a moment of my time when I bestowed them years This duo's doppler doppelgangers slangin dope to peers so true hip hop work lava drank the language stoked severe Gone fishing for piranhas in the heels you’re rocking Long distance got the fishing cable reeling often They claim to raise the roof but find the ceiling dropping Somehow we knock em out the box and also seal the coffin evolution of the snake, I'm seeing gila goblins Silversmiths taking it way back, we T La Rock them Won't let em steal our tuppence, won't sign a deal for naught when We kept it Indie and a Jones for realer schpiel's the option nail gun and packing bubbles, man we keep it popping Dibiases with more drip than leaky faucets Known for going Gonzo widdit so creep with Kausion Y’all shoot a brick like Lego, man then say you feelin awesome swallowing pride, cannibal lion, creeping vomit we're eating veal and ostrich, speak it calmest real atomics They hurting, drawing back the curtain to reveal an Oz man Maudlin... while we the heels who make em kneel to off them

about

The Illustrated One reached out to me about the possibility of working on a project and Legacy Materials was the result. I tend to listen to beats for guidance and follow my feelings accordingly. As such, this work marked my turn into reflecting upon parts of my life (childhood, fatherhood) which have stuck with and deeply impacted who I am. I suppose a lot of it is coming to grips with the knowledge I will only be here so long.

Legacy Materials marks the second this year with artwork from someone I've met via the Fort Wayne scene, this go round Jason Rowland (@r6d4 on IG) came through with the amazingness.

No microphones were harmed during the portions of this album Sankofa sang.

credits

released March 25, 2022

Produced entirely by Illustrated One
Mixed and Mastered by TaliRod on behalf of rescued animals in NC
JON?DOE appears c/o Beat This! Productions and Indie Pennant Records
Chuck Brown appears on behalf of his daughters who gave him space to record
r6d4 came through with the crazily dope artwork
Undefeated by Matt Plett is the official colorist

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Sankofa Fort Wayne

My rhymes kick in like a turbobooster.

Fort Wayne.

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