Brother Ali, Amir Sulaiman - Pen to Paper lyrics

I am not beautiful, I am an elegant beast
A well mannered monster, a charming barbarian
I will pillage your heart with
Language so lavishly violent
You will curse me for coming
And curse me for going
Your crying and your moaning will
Share the same sound

Put pen to paper the first time
When I was barely eight or
Maybe nine that was the late eighties
Reagan time
Put in the freshest tape rewinds, wait
Let me take my time
The entire landscape of that
Blank page was mine
Created space to climb inside
Escape the crazy times
Reshape the climate, break it down
That was my frame of mind
Thank the divine great designing this
As my sacred shrine
I made myself a place to shine, wait
Let me spray this rhyme
When I was thirteen I met KRS
He put me on the stage
Suggested I read up on Malcolm X
Y'all know the rest
So much pushing down on my chest
Both my folks got laid to rest
Loved ones wishing me all the best
I'm a ball of stress, yet I digress
I've spent my every hopeless dream
And my unspoken secret
You hear it floating through your
Speakers in my old releases
My fanbase began to grow beneath
& crowd around me
I never tiptoed 'round here shy I
Spit it loud and proudly
The US government profiled me and
The sponsors dropped me
Some of my listeners felt a way
So they no longer got me
I knew that telling that truth is costly
No one alive can stop me
I rolled that flag out on the
Ground and prostrated my body
This is more than music to me
This is ancestors
Speaking through me at the tomb of Rumi
My mic’s a rifle I’m honor bound
To fire my weapon truly
Whether they jeer me, cheer me, boo
Salute me or just shoot me let it be known
My whole life I break that
Cycle set it in stone
I'd still rather be known as a
Man that stand on my own
Rather than beg at a throne cold
You know I still honor my own code
That go down to the bone
We just want to get it
On shooting at the devil
With a megaphone till we dead and gone bOOM!