INTRO

Art District’s gonna rip this shit, gonna flip this shit upside down
Everybody start getting down to the funky sound
you can feel the beat pound as the keys drop
rising up from the ground to the top of the ceiling
that’s the feeling you get from this mix of hip-hop, jazz and soul
it don’t stop
Drums, bass, keys, MC and beatbox
Five elements, six senses,
in the past, present and the future tenses
when the energy level is at its intensest
then it’s time to clear the benches and hop over the fences
cross the border, off the chain, off the hook, out of order
broken and smoking
Art District and we’re doing the damn thing

Art District, we are Art District, we are Art District and we’re ready to rock

My Muse

Finally it’s time to get back and rehearse
but it’s cold in the place so we warm up first
once we got a beat that’s tight
the groove feels right, then we do what we can to never let the bubble burst
like a piece of peppermint chewing gum on the tongue with pursed lips
as goody gum drop drips and drops nice hips and hops
from the ends of our toes in flip-flops it flows non-stop
drop, drop, drop the hip-hop and blues
but our heart sings bee-bop
follow no rules and it feels so good
like a less-travelled road in a yellow wood
I’m in a mellow mood when my muse returns
with her curves and turns into the intuition a musician learns
how her tradition burns like an apparition through the night, keep the flame alight.

When you feel the spirit there is music in the air
and the reason that you hear it’s cause the muse is in the air.

We are often alone trying to write on our own
to paint or to compose, to create I suppose an artist needs to know
that she follows him wherever he goes even if often times
she rarely shows her face, it’s the faith that she occupies the same space
that inspires me to create, it’s my fate to follow through, I didn’t choose what I do
I just follow the confusing clues of her ruse
oh how my muse she amuses me and her music loses me
sometimes I think maybe she just uses me to do her bidding
who am I kidding? I know I’m not alone when I’m spitting on stage
that I’m not the only one who has written the page that I recite tonight
or who placed these notes in the places that felt right.
That’s right, tonight my muse is right here.

CELL featuring GAB aka Eklectik B.

Break the fuck outta your shell, outta your cell
Illmatic said « It ain’t hard to tell »
you’re gonna go through hell
seeing that you’re meant to be free, you gotta be true to yourself my son
Break the fuck outta your shell, outta your cell
Illmatic said « It ain’t hard to tell »
you’re gonna go through hell
seeing that you’re meant to be free, you gotta be true to yourself anyway

I got all kinds of doubts and I’m still second-guessing myself
It’s all messed up, I can’t seem to make a decision about what I’m doing with my life
when I listen to beats, write and record, rock the mic
cause sometimes it seems like it just can’t be that I was meant to be an MC
it doesn’t seem plausible, but all I could possibly be and feel free
is flow a freestyle with my eyes closed, following the mystery and I feel the sound liberate me
Meanwhile, reality’s tying me down, trying to break me under the pressure
the discipline in my life is a measure of music, use it to get shit off of my chest
when I can’t relax ’cause I’m too stressed to rest
I’ve got to progress, despite the test of my will, I am thrilled and blessed
to give it my best shot

GAB:
Il faut que je me lance, que j’entre dans la danse.
Même si la confiance n’est pas mon fort, tout comme la chance.
Retrousse mes manches devant la feuille blanche qui nargue ma langue.
La longue attente du frisson qui parcoure la panse.
A l’unisson quand tous les sens sont ancrés dans le son et que l’aisance en un instant se rue hors de sa prison.
Brisons les règles! Visons l’horizon! Disons les rêves! Ceux qui nous tiraillent. Tout de suite, avant qu’on en crève!
Je sens cette muraille qui entoure ma tête. Mouroir de l’âme ou je suis fou? Peut-être.
Le doute me traîne dans la boue, me roue de coups sans cesse.
A bout de souffle . Quand le texte est en-dessous de tout, on se fout de tout et souhaite finir sa vie au fond d’un sale trou! Y’a salle comble. Bientôt l’heure d’entrer dans l’arène.
L’esprit sombre et loin d’être sobre. Sabre au-dessus du crâne.
Membranes de l’esprit dans la brume.
Mon drame c’est l’abîme ou mon rap se perd cinq ou dix fois par lune.

Every time I listen to this, I rewind at least a couple times, thinking that there’s something I missed
I recognize the details, just not the gist
it’s tough to rap with my teeth clenched or write while my hand is locked tight in a fist
or tied-off at the wrist, my mind is still lost in the mist I gotta persist to escape the abyss of a mind clouded behind depression and cannibis
and I write to find out if an expression exists to explain how my soul’s holding up
despite feeling that my body’s in pain and the state of my brain,
I gotta maintain till the end of the game
of course it’s hit and miss but I’ll never desist, never give up, inspiration’s more perspiration
than luck, keep ticking till my time is up. I’m going with my gut,
music is what keeps me going, it keeps me flowing, the feeling of dreaming
while I’m wide awake, ready to take my best shot and

SING

Sing, sing, sing, sing. Everybody start to sing (x4)

In a bar full of smoke in Atlantic City
where the women are dressed to dance and oh, so pretty
and fellas in black Zoot Suits with bowler hats
cigare a la bouche and a whiskey glass
blue crystal chandeliers and big band brass blowing
barman making sure the booze keeps flowing
a blond in a black dress trying to impress
the businessmen that pass as the crowd keeps growing
going to and fro and everybody starts moving with the music,
smiles aglow and dancing, singing and swinging
’til we all lose it, limbs in the air, footloose and carefree
couples do the charleston and lindy all night long
when the feeling’s this good then you can’t go wrong
but now it’s the last call, the bell is ringing
so everybody start singing.

When it’s time to start singing then it’s time to start swinging
song ringing in your ears, everybody hears it loud and clear in unison
just for fun, from the lungs and the vocal chords to the tip of the tongue.
we sing today, will sing tommorow, we have sung the melodies that we please
from Do-Re-Mi’s to Fa-Sol-La-Ti’s, singing like birds in the trees
shaking it like we got ants in our pants
a feeling so contagious that even the curtains dance
eyes wide open hoping we might catch a glimpse of a partner possibly
looking for romance and bliss or a chance to hold hands and kiss
the sort of opportunity that you can’t miss, to caress the happiness
that happens like this.
when I hear the harmonies I please they put my mind at ease
what a feeling that frees.

(when the music comes around, everybody goes through town)
(here is something you should know, hold up baby, ho oh oh)

OVER AGAIN

Pangaea’s population is desperately waiting for cosmic vibrations,
visions of extasy, ultramagnetic wavelengths of electro-retro-techno
go ahead and let go of the skin-tingling feeling of staring at the stars through the ceiling and
reeling in enough love to let go of, knowing that it’s flowing faster in the opposite direction across the plains and the pastures, patagonia, the Pacific, the whole planet, God blessed it
Dam, don’t block the river, let it flow
Let go, it doesn’t matter, everything is only energy and mind over matter

Over and over and over again
and I keep on thinking the same thing
Over and over and over again
but my mind’s being clouded by everything
Over and over and over again
and I keep on bringing all I’m able to bring

I just need to breathe, leave everything clouding my mind behind me, and stare blindly
into the sun, recognizing that the whole world is one
As it shines, the length of my soul, from saccrum to mind, divine
Careless, stress can’t find me in meditation
With a patient realization and my eyes closed, is that I am composed of everything,
same as everything else
The perception that the universal intersection is the point where I find myself
The particle pulsating, masculine and feminine, spiritual, material

ONE LOVE feat. MAEVA

my life according to me
is a constant struggle and practice trying to be
the being I am freeing the feeling I get when I see the light keep it bright
even in the dark that’s why I write, aiight
reciting for me and you one love tonight
this is all we got before it’s over, gotta get it right
never think twice when I think damn she’s got nice eyes
the moment that I realize it’s already too late
this the only life I got I’ll never hesitate
happiness can’t wait,
sometimes I look to myself to create it
mediate on what makes a man emancipated (creation…meditation)
don’t stress what comes next, the first step I’ma take it (break)
Any barrier, border or brick wall standin between me and my dreams
I’ma break it into pieces, cause I just need
a little peace of mind, and now’s the time in my life

One life
Is all we got before it’s over
Say it loud one love
To keep in touch with one another
This is my life, my own style with my mess
when i need to run for cover
(one life) One love
is all we got that truly matters

this is all that truly matters to me
my earth, my love, my life and my family
I try to be the being that I’m seeing in the mirror
when I forget all the questions in my life,
the answer that I seek becomes clearer,
there is nothing that I hold dearer
Than life itself, being awakened by the birds or the words “I love you”
when it’s exactly what you mean
Cause that means I ain’t even gotta look for meaning in my dreams
No longer will you catch me running for cover,
I’m a lifelong life lover
Smother my style with whatever seems sweet to me
creating a life that’s completely my own creation
wherever my hat happens to lie I find my home
I know that the sun gon’ (shiiiiiiiiine when she’s gone) shine where it shone
Even when she’s gone, cause now I know how to be alone
I’m not a grown up yet and I don’t wanna be
live my life right now, no matter what’s in front of me

One life
Is all we got before it’s over
Say it loud one love
To keep in touch with one another
This is my life, my own style with my mess
when i need to run for cover
(one life) One love
is all we got that truly matters

One Life
Is all we got before it’s oveeer
One love
To keep in touch with one another
This is my life This is my life
When i need to run for cover
In the end it is all about love

DEFINITION

Art District is a coalition on an expedition with the mission
A magician’s suspicion, no superstition, conditional disposition
Linguistician without preposition one proposition’s transmission
the tradition of 5 musicians… definition

The intensest intuition I feel is rhythm’s recognition
That it gives rhyme and reason to time, season’s paradigm
Breathing, believing that time is being, time and time again
When we focus on zen…listening
Like we’re being licked by whispers of wind that taste like seltzer and gin
Or several sensuous sins sweetly caressing one’s skin like the sun in spring
Sing whatever comes to mind
when we search never seem to find
What we’re looking for but still can’t define

Try and define what I’m trying to find
A sign of how my mind is inclined
Try and define what I’m trying to find
To define the design of the divine

Spinning in infinity and I’m living in the wind within me
In my mind that shines from the base of spine through time and space
I know a place called “perfection’s possibility” is the ability
to be present in the present tense
No tension, relaxation plus patience of purpose
prism of pure pacifism
The entire earth’s birth vision
The ambition of this composition’s to find the juxtaposition
between submission and recognition of definition

ELEMENTS

We gotta follow the teachings of the great Mohandas
An eye for an eye will lead only to blindness
we must live righteous so injustice cannot find us, find us, find us
more important than democracy’s the spread of kindness
we need to reach those who don’t pay no mind to us
Gandhi reminded us: we must be the change in the world that we wish to see
generate peace, love, justice, equality
if we care for the earth and each other properly
we can assure that all life has quality, equality, equality, equality

in the earth,
air,
water,
fire

we have the ability to replace hostility with civility
and care for mother’s earth fertility
She’s got the capability to give sustainability
it’s now up to us to think of more than just utility
we must be willing to be a little more patient
and put in hard work for delayed gratification
the earth is fine wine that gets better with aging,
but we have been raping her, constantly racing
Misplacing our rage in this crazy space when teenagers in Asia
sew shirts for low wages, while the song birds we cage’ll
become enraged and show their outrage on every newspaper’s front page

Prahna pumpimg is the pulse of peace in each position,
powerful prime number, Pi, the circle, cycle of perfection
pleasing personal plateau, praise in pacifist pose,
the rose grows as the breeze blows
Body, head, hood, good God gives a knowing nod in our planet’s direction
indicating the intersection of nothingness and perfection
Natural selection of what is and what will be
Innocence is guilt-free love, free reign, free soul, free sunshine,
freedom of one mind. Blind like love, like love, like love
all time is eternity, eternally yours, eternally mine, eternally divine it shines
eternally it’s ours, eternally it’s in my mind and your mind and our mind
all of the time

BACK IN THE DAY

I remember back in the day
when Dunny had ways, gazelli shades and cornbraids
A little youngin’ hangin’ on the streets peepin beats and rhymes
from the greatest hip-hop of all time
to start it off it seems logical to me to rep the K-R-S dash O-N-E
BDP South Bronx act like you know MC
No MC did it better til the 18th letter, Rakim
Keep it moving and make it sound so smooth and like Chuck D,
the incredible rhyme animal to Cannibal Ox, Masta Ace to EMC
to Run-DMC to Jay-Z,
The Beasties, the Fugees, The Roots
Scratch take it back so Doug E. Fresh
in lights on the Biz Markie like Rahzel

Back in the Day before we stepped on stage
Back in the Day to rap’s golden age
Back in the Day, rockin hip-hop,
takin it back in the day, b-b-back, back in the day

Let the monkeys out for the funk doctor spot
Red better any competitor on the block
rockin with the Method Man, how high hip-hop
get your hands high and keep your hands high
for the Mi-mi-mighty Mos Def
keep the microphone wet with the new world water
Bussa Bus spit fire like a live wire
who got the vibe? It’s the tribe y’all, we’re live y’all
Like Dre at the Up in the Smoke, dope like The Hill
De La is still ill and Nas the Illmatic is stillmatic
skills are automatic like Guru and Premier
GZA at the head. When the MCs came
Snoop Doggfather of the game,
Common, Kool G. Rap and Big Daddy Kane
Tupac, the Wu, Jeru and JD
Cali Agents and Talib Kweli

The top three Mcs couldn’t be more evident to me
Evidentally. Essentially, the meaning of MC to me
Boils down to the big three. R.I.P.
From the Boogie down BX. The best motherfucker to flex
Was Big Pun cause a Boriqua who get it done was destined to come
And Pun did it particularly well
Throw your thumb perpendicular to your finger in the air and yell like hell
For your man Big L, comin straight from the 1-3-9 with the rhyme in the danger zone
Whether he write it or recite it off the top of the dome
Like in the great freestyle from 9-8
From day one son be diggin in the crates
No debate that the greatest of greats was a heavyweight bastard who mastered this rap shit and that’s it
The bad boy from bed-stuy who handled his B.I. so gloriously
Notorious B.I.G. Gimme the loot, a boot’ll kick in the door
Niggas bleed, somebody gotta die and now you dead wrong
Respect Big Poppa, who was ready to die
No warning of the machine gun funk
Unbelievable, Biggie biggie biggie biggie Smalls is the illest
Aiiiiiight !

Live in the Streets feat. DJ NELSON

When a people is oppressed and pressed into a corner
until the only way out is for them to rise up,
then the commander-in-thief of the nation’s time’s up
pull the plug on the secret police and government thugs
fight the brutal beatings by nightsticks with love and hugs
hope for a job paid more than a dollar a day
while the dictator’s putting 40 million away
with help from his friends in the CIA
the USA changed its stance only at the last second
breaking with a decades-old foreign policy
of supporting a system keeping people in poverty
for the benefit of the American economy
or an ideology the people don’t believe in
leaving it all on the line and hitting the streets
screaming their demands everyday for justice and peace
fighting for freedom is endless and it shall never cease

the revoltion will not be…televised
this revolution will be live in the streets
get up, stand up, speak up, rise up for your rights
don’t stop ’til the dictator’s defeat
demonstration, time to…testify
this revolution will be live in the streets
all the martyrs of resistance: rest in peace
don’t stop ’til the dictator’s defeat.

he’ll be defeated if he robbed and cheated his people
using violence to strike fear in the hearts of peaceful protestors
killing them, torturing and arresting
then every 4 years holding phony elections
declaring 99% of voters his supporters in a police state
without any trace of law and order
nor human rights, now he’s got nowhere to hide,
cause those who rise up will never be denied
the basic human dignity to which we’re all entitled
no meglomaniac can stop us even if he’s homocidal
though, solidarity and unity remain vital if the global community ever plans to rival
tyrants’ military / monetary force
though of course people united will never be defeated
even if the battle’s heated, the revolution must be completed
every criminal in power must be unseated.

Inside 2 Temples

Inside of illusions we are lost in confusion
the illogical image that is illumination
not in the sense of the illuminati
more like a light so bright it bathes everybody in white
in other words every single color of the spectrum
connecting all cerebral circuits to the circus of the cosmos
inside the Electric Church, designed by Hendrix so we know it all works.
From the cradle to the hearse, throughout the universe
it hurts the ears at first, but once you hear the melodies and words in verse
then the chorus sings bringing you bursts of creation
it’s the birth of sensation, the soul’s exhalation, sound’s the exhileration of a good vibration
emitted, received, listened to, shared, breathed and believed all over the globe
reap the seeds we sowed in a couple generations, gotta learn to be patient, delayed gratification
passion, purpose, perspective, perseverance, a proper attitude and perspiration
to come close to the state of unification of the spiritual with the physical and the mental,
travel intergalactically inside your two temples
in a cloud of confusion listening to life’s tempo,
find the time to see differently and let go.

ONLY WITH THE MOUTH

We on award tour with Rhum One my main man
and as long as he got his, I got a mic in my hand
we don’t need no turntables, just two mics and like
a couple hundred hip-hop heads getting hype tonight
this beat has been produced by Rhum One’s esophagus, throat,
tongue, vocal chords and two apoca-lips
only with the mouth is he rockin this, non-stoppin it
go and find a sound that’s more hip-hop than this
This the elements of hip-hop on Elements Records
Back in the day like Das Efx some microphone check
(mic check, mic check one two)
Remember this
We do it over again by definition
AD’s like a Tribe Called Quest that’s on a mission
de la soul, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll
this one’s going out to hip-hop originators:
graffers, DJs, MCs, beatbox and breakers
(five elements of hip-hop)
the movers and shakers more than any moneymakers
and the poets that persistently preach for peace like quakers
The Marleys, the Wailers, the Melody Makers
One love, people get ready to rise up and rock steady
raise your hands high if you’re feeling the vibe
This is AD acoustic, unplugged and live!

MOZ’ART DISTRICT

We rock rocksteady funky samba bossa nova
Flamenco and afrobeat Balkan rhumba
Country salsa electro manouche
Hard rock ragga rap the bucket slap at the chicken shack
Kickin that Nashville country western expression
I digress less R&b but rhythm and blues
Gospel preaching the good news of go-go grunge and groove
Something sweet and smooth like soul jazz rock and roll
Old school hip-hop stride piano bee bop
Alternative chanson française and pop
Soca tango bongo banging la musique congolaise
Axé forro battucada màs que nada ese samba que é mixto
De maracatu e la musique classique.

Rock me Amadeus
Roll over Beethoven   (x3)
Schubert, Chopin, Handel, Liszt

This song is a list of all of the classics
From the baroque beats of Bach to broken beat, waltz to rock
Recycled in a sample recomposed as hip-hop
Cause an artist never really stops being influenced by everything around
All the beauty he ever found in every sound
Words weren’t found but understanding remained
The remainder of what’s left to do lies inside of you and it’s itching to explode
Inside the moment of creation
an instinct of the collective imagination.<

Usual

People call me verbal cause I talk too much
I don’t walk with a crutch, just a limp
You might say that I’m a cripple or a gimp
But I’m just a simple criminal
A stick up kid, usual suspect
I got busted for extortion
Went upstate and did a bid with Dean Keaton
Now I’m back on the street and
Tryin to eat up every scrap on the plate
Lookin for a scheme to get cream
I won’t hesitate, I got nothing to lose
This the life I choose or it chose me
There’s no mystery about it
5-0 wanna expose me
Clothe me in black and white stripes
Despite the fact that crime is never black and white
I did my time, fuck a 25 to life
Once I get released
I’m a find a job that really fucks the police
New york’s finest taxi service get nervous
Hockney, Fenster, McMannon, Keaton
And me, the man with the plan
To expose corrupt cops in the NYPD
Alert the press, grab the jewels
And get away scott free
To LAX to meet Redfoot,
Law low, stay put and wait for the next
Job to collect cash and checks
With my team of 5 live usual suspects
That nobody expect to roll up on ‘em
stick a tek nine to they neck
it’s about time
you show some respect
to the verbals of the verbal Verbal Kint
(just a little bit)

I’m the Kaiser, nobody wiser, fiercer, stronger
Feared and despised more widely yet respected
Well connected, I’m the man pulling the strings
Willing to do things nobody else has got the will for
Ask yourself are you really willing to kill for anything
I murder at the drop of a hat, my gat go plak point blank
Blow your brains right out the fuckin back of your head
You heard what the sole survivor said? Kaiser Sozé
A Hungarian with burns over most of his body
walkin up from his coma in a hospital bed
in san pedro county, bounty on my head
but mr. kint’s best guess is that is after this
no one’ll ever hear from me again, but then again
there’s no telling what I might do, light you up
cause I don’t give a fuck, and that’s gansta
and I quote: “there’s no dope, you heard me you dumb fuck there’s no coke
you’ve been in every fuckin room and in every fuckin boat”
Like Dean Keaton, let you in on a little secret, I’m cheatin
Just him and me left, and the gasoline’s leakin in a line
Light but my piss hits it just in the nick of time
Out of 5 faces in a line up,
The chance of you pickin mine is close to zero
I’m a villain but a hero to
Godfathers and gansters
hittin’ politicians and well-positioned bankers
For their pesos, euros or for the gusto
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled
Was convincing the world he didn’t exist
And like that,
He’s gone