1. |
Black Spaces
04:24
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Black faces in black spaces, in the dailies they reflect no light.
French money man is begging her to show their eyes.
Black faces in black spaces, on the daily, darkness whisperers.
French money askin: “Ou sont les yeux?"
She ain't trying' to be that girl.
Don't walk her on with “Glory".
She ain't trying to save the world.
It’s enough to tell a story.
Black faces in white spaces, collect art with your aunt and absorb the light.
Black faces in white spaces, daddy’s little spies.
Black panic, white panic, confessor black, tesseract, daddy’s little girl
Hop from planet to planet, she gonna save the world.
Money talks, so you keep talking.
You still broke but you keep talking.
It’s your masterstroke that you keep talking.
Cuz they think they woke but they sleepwalking.
A black girl is gonna save the world.
Black faces in black spaces
It's a jail, it’s a cell
It's the road to Hell
Paved with good intentions
It’s the hull of a ship
It’s a footstep, it’s a bridge
Will you sink, can you swim
Whozit Whaztit and Which
Fight a might, make a right
Paint with celluloid and light
It’s the promise of life
It's the promise of life
She was raised on the promises of life
It’s the promise of life
In your heart, in your heart
It’s the waters of a march.
Keep on tryin to tell our story
Wild nights are your glory.
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2. |
Blacker
03:48
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Lord, make me bigger
Where I need to be bigger.
Make my hair bigger.
Make my lips bigger.
Make my behind bigger.
Some days
I must be everything
I must be everything
All things to everyone.
Lord, make me blacker
When I need to be blacker.
My my hair blacker.
Make my lips blacker.
Make my behind blacker.
Some days
I must be everything
I must be everything
All things to everyone.
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3. |
The White Album
04:30
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PART ONE: "Rules and Thangs"
They don’t want: “It’s like...”
No similes. No metaphors.
They want the thang, baby.
They don’t want: “I remember....”
Memory’s just personal fiction.
They want the thang, baby.
These are the rules of engagement.
They don’t want: “Tell me why... I wanna know...”
They did not come to you for questions.
This ain't Jeopardy, baby.
They don’t want: “I feel...”
No one gives a damn about the way you feel.
Everybody's feeling feelings all the time!
It's the All-American Crisis of Empathy™.
Everybody be like: “But what about me?”
These are the rules of engagement.
They want the thang.
Give 'em the thang.
For the poetry and prose of it
You can't get too close to it.
For the path of real resistance
When you find gold, keep your distance.
PART TWO: "The Center Cannot Hold"
Another night, I'm all alone.
Just documentaries and chill.
And I recall how in old photographs
She stood so very still.
Malibu cool.
Arms akimbo.
Han Solo patio.
California limbo.
But now she’s moving y'all.
She is moving!
She's like a prizefighter
Swinging at the carriage of a
Typewriter.
Swinging an arm with every syllable
As if her words ain't enough.
She be swinging them delicate arms
Like the conversation has come to fisticuffs.
Uppercuts in uppercase
And italics and a giant font
And boldface
And I'm feeling like I'm on the benzadrine
Cuz her arms be reaching at me through the screen.
And I wanna know what it all means.
And I wanna know what it all means.
I try to take her hand; she takes a swing at me.
And I am down; and then she sings to me
Words of wisdom while standing over me.
Like a prayer. Like the rosary.
Standing over me, she is scolding me,
With no effs left to give
She be sayin it like this here, y’all:
“We tell ourselves stories in order to live.”
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4. |
Master Teacher
05:18
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A beautiful world I'm trying to find
I am known to stay awake
A beautiful world iI'm trying to find
I've been in search of myself
It's just too hard for me to find
Said it's just too hard for me to find
I am in the search of something new
Searchin' me
Searching inside of you
And thats fo' real
What if it were no n****s
Only master teachers?
I stay woke
Even if yo baby ain't got no money
To support ya baby, you
Even when the preacher tell you some lies
And cheatin on ya mama, you stay woke
Even though you go through struggle and strife
To keep a healthy life, I stay woke
Everybody knows a black or a white
there's creatures in every shape and size
Everybody
(I stay woke)
Everybody, stay
(I stay woke)
Get everybody
(I stay woke)
Everybody body baby
A beautiful world I'm trying to find
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5. |
Woke (acoustic)
02:33
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Jennifer? I'm back.
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Bryan Thomas Albany
Nippertown’s Greg Haymes says Albany soul rocker BRYAN THOMAS's "writes smart, and he writes from the heart, balancing
intellect, passion and politics.”
The Times Union named him“Best Male Singer-Songwriter” shortly after he released his acoustic hip-hop debut Radio Plastic Jennifer in 1999. The follow-up soul rock epic Ones and Zeros was Metroland Magazine’s “Album of the Year” in 2002.
... more
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