Greydon Square - Ascension lyrics

Flash of light the flash of life
Where am I? I’m confused in a big room
All by myself, walking around it's been too
Long since I’ve seen anybody
What’s goin’ on?
Right then, a beautiful woman walks in
She says her name’s Amina
"Come with me" she said
"The council is ready to see ya"
I complied as if I didn’t have a choice
I couldn’t even say nothin’
It’s like I didn’t have a voice
She led the way and we started walkin’
Down this long bright hallway
That kinda sparkled
Silence, only footsteps it was kinda awkward
It wasn’t before a minute
When she started talkin’ she said
"The first thing you need to
Realize is you are dead"
"This is the first stop you
Make when it ends" i froze up
‘cause I thought I had lost Pascal’s Wager
I spent my whole life
Making music after greatness
She said, "We all die where our passion lies"
"It wouldn’t make sense for
Any other afterlife"
"You are a rapper, a backpacker an emcee"
"So you should only be
Judged by other emcees"
Besides the shock of being dead
This gave me mixed feelings
What about injustice, and people like Hitler?
The whole thing was off the
Richter made my mind wander
Now who was on this council?
And how many were on it?
Amina led me to a big set of double doors
I didn’t know what to expect
Was I in trouble or?
Could it be alright? Would I get a pass?
If they judged me as whack then
Would I get it bad?
With one swift motion she pushes
The double doors open
And it was then I realized
That she wasn’t jokin’
It was a smorgasbord, a buffet of emcees
A courtyard full, some friends, some enemies
Some of them were dope
Some of them were tired
A lot of cats were whack while
Some of them spit fire
We kept on walkin’ ‘til we ran
Into a cypher where these
Two cats were battlin’ and one
Of ‘em was a biter
Amina said, "This is how we kill time"
"Waiting for judgement we be
Still kicking rhyme"
"But this kid’s a biter
I’ve heard him kick it before"
"I’ve even heard him spit
Somebody else’s lyrics before"
"Let’s move on" we started walkin’ this time
Towards a building
But not before I heard a bunch
Of oooh’s in the distance
I guess the kid got the
‘biz with the quickness
‘Cause we all love rhyme and
We all love spittin’
We made it to some steps of
What looked like a courthouse
Amina, "Now when we get in
Watch what comes out of your mouth"
"Show the judges respect
Speak only when spoken to"
"And if they ever ask you to
Spit you better be open to"
I swallowed hard, I wasn’t prepared
I still didn’t know what was goin’
On or who would be there
Amina looked me over
Started straightening my gear
Got up real close to me
And whispered in my ear
"It’s gonna be ok, you’re gonna do just fine"
"I got yo back baby boy
You’re gonna be alright"
I realized that I’ve heard this before
This was Candice
My girlfriend who died when the
Compton Effect hit the planet
Do I tell her I know who
She is or should I wait?
Until the council already has
It’s decision made i started walkin’
She saw the look on my face
The look I was willing to take
What they put on my plate
We up in the courthouse, pacing in a lobby
Almost 20 minutes ‘till the bailiff
Came and got me
We walked in a courtroom, and I saw the gavel
The judge seating arrangements was laid
Out in a 6x4 panel
That's 24 seats for 24 heirs
24 Hip-Hop gods all sit there
"All rise" we all rose
The judges trickled in in
All black long robes i kinda froze
These were the gods of Hip-Hop
About to judge me and call in question if
I served Hip-Hop honorably
Amina stands and says, "You’re honors
By your leave I request that my
Client be judged a dope emcee"
‘Pac looked up at me from behind his glasses
He started slowly shaking his head
As he read my jacket
KRS brought his face in the light
Rakim to his right he asked
"Ms kaplan am I reading this right?"
"This is the institution Hip-Hop
And we have bylaws"
"And clearly you’re client hasn’t
Written enough bars"
I could see the other judges unconvinced
But, I sat there quietly while
Amina made my defense
"Your honors with all due respect
What about quality?" "What about his depth
And lyrical complexity?"
Snoop nodded his head and sparked up a blunt
Took a couple of tokes then passed it to
Dr dre who was just taking notes
This wasn’t going so well
So I decided to stand up and speak for myself
"Your honors I can see that you
Don’t think that I’m great but
I can also tell you aren’t
Fully convinced that I’m fake"
"If I may offer a solution send me back"
"Let me earn my extension⁠ prove to
The council I ain’t whack"
The council members erupt in a whisper frenzy
Some shaking their heads
Some of ‘em agreeing with me
There was a call to order
Then a cascading silence one judge said
"We’ll take a short recess
Until we’ve decided" so we back in the lobby
The minutes felt like hours
But, I had Candice back⁠ I just
Wanted to be around her finally a decision
Would they judge me as whack
Or grant me my ascension
Or would they just send me back
And I don’t know if what the
Council will decide is final
But this may be the last time I’ll
Be in front of this panel
I’m ready, here we go, my women at my side
24 Hip-Hop legends about to
Decide my afterlife
"Mr square, after careful review"
"Of your complete body of work
And your character too"
"It’s the opinion of the court that
You’re not ready for ascension"
"But we have no record of
You being whack or pretending"
"So after much deliberation
We’re sending you back"
"Give you a chance to solidify
Your position in rap" he said
"Don’t be so quick to thank
Us because we’ll be watching"
"And we’ll hold you accountable if
You get out of pocket"
"We’ll see you when we see you, Greydon"
"This court is adjourned"