1. |
Back From the Dead
01:17
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2. |
Coastal
02:16
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I was born on the Island but raised in Scotia
An amazing place and a maze of culture
We’re out of phase but the style is ultra
So we make waves and stay chasing numbers
Through blazing summers and long, strange winters
Paddle down the Musquodoboit River to deliver the rhyme
From the highlands to cape sable island
I roam this land but it is not mine
I retrieve these beats from the streets of Halifax
Keep it underground like the cobblestone tracks
Rich in history, but history exists in the myths
That we tell ourselves just to try to coexist
Mist and fog burns off slow
But the sun does shine along the east coast
And sometimes lights up the things we won’t
Make us deal with the kinds of things that we don’t
Live in the city but call the woods home
Got to get back when the light gets low
I go to follow and focus the flow
All four shores, mountains and coves
Around them I grow, with the rhythm of the ocean
Exposing the weakness, receive the potion
Open roads twist around the helix
With Skyline views and old folk song lyrics
You can hear it from the taverns by the water
Even louder when the system’s out of order
But if we listen there’s a different way forward
Less scorched earth, more lush orchard
In the quiet spaces off the beaten path
Out past the beaches and the dirty old shacks
Out past the reach of the present is the future
And one day we’ll wonder why we didn’t change sooner
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3. |
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I won’t say what I want to say I’m not trying to be a piece of shit
I try to rise above and recognize the uselessness
It’s class dismissed when the evidence becomes clear
Some fear what’s looking back at them from the mirror
It’s a cut-throat existence seems like resistance is futile
That’s only if we’re playing by the rules, this that new style
Let them fools wild, we stay moving on the low
Never let em know the plan or where you’re going to go
Gonna have to get your hands dirty, but you can wash em later
Toxic nature dictates there’s no patriots no traitors
No majors, no minors, just players so blinded
The eyes are all they care about, it’s selfish by design
Enjoy the shellfish and wine, time is kind of crazy, right?
You never know when somethings gonna come and kamikaze your life
Let em fistfight, we’re using stealth tactics
Hit em with guerilla shit, exactly how we practiced
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4. |
Block and Delete (Wait)
03:24
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No one wants to talk about how far we’re outta pocket
It too awkward so we drop it like it’s hot – just stop it
It’s obnoxious, it’s toxic, it’s off-topic, keep it positive
Whatever they’re rocking with, motherfucker, I’m the opposite
Doctor Apocalypse, provocative operative, Fuck You
Trying to solve the mystery with that slippery theory that you’re stuck to
Good luck, fool, but you can tell to the crazy ones
The high and mighty but intellectually lazy ones
With all that disingenuous rah rah rah
It’s all blah blah blah until the coup d’état
I ain’t with the Kool-Aid, bruh, and I ain’t on the fence
I hear you but “That just makes no fucking sense”
[Chorus]
I don’t believe what you’re saying is true (na na na)
I’m gonna leave cause I see you’ve been duped (ha ha ha)
I don’t feel a need to agree to disagree
I’ll just block and delete because Im finished with you (bye bye bye)
I don’t believe what you’re saying is true (na na na)
I’m gonna leave cause I see you’ve been duped (ha ha ha)
I don’t feel a need to agree to disagree
I’ll just block and delete because Im finished with you
Let me get this straight you went and poked around online
Went down a couple rabbit holes and that just blew your mind
Now you’re running up in mine shouting something something something
Just struttin. Fool, we all know you’re frontin’.
Kicking game that’s been played since way back in the day
I’d be embarrassed, even parrots can repeat what people say
No “Hey Wait A Minute!” No “What’s Going On?”
You just take it how they play it and then you pass it along
Qanon and on til common bonds are gone
We disarm alarms its all so nonchalant
The hardest part is that I know there’s no improvement
If we don’t talk but screw it, I’ve got to keep it moving
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5. |
I Don't Trust You
02:19
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Karens, obviously. Politicians,
Anyone who talks but never seems to listen
Obnoxious religions, people who won’t use pronouns
High strung dudes that always want to throw down
[Chorus]
I don’t need to pretend
I don’t trust you motherfuckers (Naw)
For all the reasons
I don’t trust you motherfuckers
Shoulda said cops first. Adult hippies
Journalists who misuse words. All industries.
Conspiracy crazies who are lazy with the logic
Two words: Truck Nutz. (The fuck, cuz?)
[Chorus]
I don’t need to pretend
I don’t trust you motherfuckers (Naw)
You believe what you believe in
I don’t trust you motherfuckers
Fuck that. Fuck that. Fuck that. Fuck That.
Whoever’s at my door. Folks who talk in dollar signs.
Angry whites on Fox News. All of my ex-wives.
Ok that’s not nice, I’m just playing
Also, I’m, like, not. Jussayin.
[Chorus]
I don’t need to pretend
I don’t trust you motherfuckers (Naw)
You believe what you believe in
I don’t trust you motherfuckers
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6. |
Scotian Slang
02:52
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Everybody knows - Stay off the black rocks
Don’t swim in the harbour or your bits are gonna rot
If you’re by the Citadel at noon, you know the deal
Boom will scare the bejesus out of ya for real
Sorry bud, Imma sneak past ya right quick
Get them storm chips before the storm hits, “yep”
Don’t be taking trucks up on the Old Bridge
Keep some Brothers pepperoni and some Olands in the fridge
I still put a smidge of clip in the joints I twist
With a flick of the wrist I can filet a whole fish
Yeah bish, that’s what’s up, OG Haligonian
I grew up drinking Great White and causing pandemonium
Rolling with the homies in a stolen Harbour Hopper
Rename Mic Mac Mall, that shit is awkward
We’re the ones who know the words to Barrett’s Privateers
Scotian slang, man, shit gets weird
No lettuce on donairs, bro, don’t even go there
We’re only twenty minutes from the middle of nowhere
Oh, Rest In Peace to the Shubenacadie Tree
Maybe we can put Woody there and let him be free
Cheap cruise, let’s all sneak booze on the ferry
And tell every tourist about the new library
Doing sociables, Scotian potent potables
A motorboat is just a motor hooked to something floatable
Notable spots where TPB was shot
And those who like it like it a lot
Apples in the Valley, scallops down in Digby
Pizza Sauce from Pictou County is just okay, forgive me
Sydney is Sydney unless you’re talking about Crosby
And we’ve got Mooseheads if you wanna watch hockey
Coast stays rocky, ocean stays choppy
Scotian slang is the whiskey in the coffee
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7. |
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[Paollo13]
I ain’t give up on my dreams, they just changed, fam
What’s the word, y’all herbs playing hangman
I’m a baller, I’m a monster on Space Jam
Wasn’t long ago from now that I ate Spam
Y’all play the king, but I bring the ace, damn
The way I’ve been known to flow can even break dams
Head spinning, just like a breakdance
On my MTV the way I make bands
[bRavenous]
Lay the table out, meeting the format
Mean, I mean, blow a kiss you’re a floor mat
Dreaming in the windstorm
I set the bar high so I win more
Whole kit and kaboodle, kitchen sink
Big boss, red bird, Mr. Bobolink
Every ventricle form the deadliest tentacles
Documented by the illest intertwined individuals
[Squiggy White]
Now let me take you on a trip that feels like memory lane
The shit is deadly but you crave the serotonin for your brain
It’s like I’m plugging in the aux the way the stereo bang
And my melodic way to talk is Rey Mysterio’s chain
Cause I’m crossing while I’m flossing, never scared of a thing
A mic killer, crushing bones of the inferior brain
Here's a tip, it’s like Twitch, but the shit ain’t no game
Cause when I hit em with the rhythm they’ll be dripping from the veins
[Essay Read]
I get it going like Mull River Shuffle
Got nothing on my mind creeping up to the crepuscule
I take a minute let it shine and only answer em:
Motherfucker, ask the manager!
Cause I don’t make the prices
I got NPCs acting all divisive
Want my opinion? Gotta fight for something more impressive
Something akin to an economic system that’s even a shred progressive
[Unko Catfish]
Know that flows back
Hold that note that
Kodak couldn’t see
Where I went
I just peed
On a tree down the river you wish
you could handle this
I don’t understand why you grabbed me
I’m gonna mangle this
[Hermitofthewoods]
Yo, the manuscript... wisdom of the sages
A different dialect translated from the pages
We play with heavy gauges, the rhythms and the pheromones
Resist the algorithm – Overthrow the terrordome
Like GMC FOSHO Im da besss
Stay fresh to def when I step, who’s next?
Suplex off the top rope ch-ch-boom
Attack the wack they all CAP like DOOM
[Expedyte]
You said you want to come get it? Well, here’s an offering
I’m going through where you’re headed like a lobotomy
I’m here to set it better than sunny horizons
It’s night time, bud, the temperature is rising
I’m here to spit it and you ain’t wearing a visor
You’d get less wet sitting in front of a geyser
Better stop worrying about catching the virus
And start holding hands with someone that you can die with
[Bo Gus]
Mostly pissed, trying to decide if I pay bills
Or get everything on my grocery list, I convey chill vibes
But, bet it’s unsettling
This hopelessness I notice with
Every person that roams within this invisible cage
We call a liveable wage
Leaving us crippled in ways financially
Despicable displays of individuals who take from people and cancel dreams
Shapes of people dancing on your chest
Take the needle to handle all the stress
The hole gets deeper, your soul, the reaper
The broken dreamer that grows beneath the surface
I chose to create a purpose but life broke my face
and I'm dope for days and off dope always
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8. |
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[Chorus]
Fridays when the sun sank low
Down Bilby St. – If you know you know
IMF in effect, catch wreck in the cipher
Boom baptism – it’s Friendly fire
Like 52 pairs of shoes by the front door
Place is straight packed and there will probably be more
Beats got the place shaking, all the ladies swaying
Step in the kitchen like Whaddup whatchu saying
Put the drinks in the fridge, roll weed on the record sleeves
Emboss and EMC are acting out a movie scene
Cubb brought the 40s, Kimber brought a book
Demikz brought the punches, Nolely brought the Babadook
Took a shot and said listen up, all you suckas!
Raise a glass for Intelligent Motherfuckers
[Chorus]
Fridays when the sun sank low
Down Bilby St. – If you know you know
IMF in effect, catch wreck in the cipher
Boom baptism – it’s Friendly fire
Party moves to the front room, we move to the back
And, yo, just like that, the whole crew kicks raps
From the four-bar pass to sixteens off the dome
To murking whole tracks all alone, in the zone
On and on to the breaka breaka dawn
Get E to freak a beat when the speaker’s blown
No writtens, no microphone
But like Ice Cube said, “Once again its on”
And if you’ve got nothing, you can battle Young Diagoro
He’s always hungry, though, so bring the Tiger Flow.
Just feel it, let the primal instinct come through
Like Sun Tzu
[Chorus]
Fridays when the sun sank low
Down Bilby St. – If you know you know
IMF in effect, catch wreck in the cipher
Boom baptism – it’s Friendly fire
Juluis! Stop biting on my pants.
Loud and whisky, passing hand to hand
Rhymes reach deep, styles advanced
It’s like Townes Van Zandt meets the Wu Tang Clan
God damn. Everybody here got skills
Everybody battling just to sharpen the steel
Its all love but bareknuckle cause real respect real
Spin the wheel and let the chips fall wherever they will
When it’s over, gotta stop at Silver Dragon
Ginger chicken with pineapple – that’s got to happen
Go back every seven days, that is the way
IMF. Keepers of the flame.
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9. |
Kick
02:44
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Back in effect catching wreck on the regular
The beats will break your neck – Dialect sick, etcetera
Better than competitors and yadda yadda yadda
Hotter than the hot sauce you put on enchiladas
The prodigal son returned to kick rap
Snares snap like a backhand slap
Like a massive attack on the wack and all the losers
The rubes up in the room who aren’t seeing through the ruses
Illusions in the shadows like movement
The blueprints don’t exist so fuck it, I’m coolin
Ruling. Life’s a movie, kid.
Tonight’s the night, right? Fight for your right to live
Show em how you show and prove
And do that dance until it don’t move
Drop the needle in the groove like whatchu got to lose?
Come through, mic check 1, 2, 1, 2
The dopest on the whole East Coast, that’s ‘Fax
Y’all know, when Hermit snap on tracks, that’s that
Grab the Hazmat, Jack, I’m straight up radiating greatness
The flow is ice cold smoke rolling up the basin
Amazing with the way I kick knowledge
Beatboxing when I walks through the halls of the college
Or rhyming in my mind by the side of a lake
Taking time to refine the design of the break
Beat. Eat with elite MCs
Master bodhisattvas who rap for inner peace
What happens to the least of us happens to us all
The writing on the wall says yes, yes, y’all
Keep the bass bumping, always into something
Jumping up and down when the beat stays thumping
Hey DJ – hit em up with the needle rub
We need a little love, turn the speakers up
With so much drama in the HFX
Hermit of the double U, double O, D, S
Reset the switch, shift the situation
Destination: unknown location
Kick it where the wind blows, see where I can go
Kick it like Grandmaster Flash in a Kangol
Kick like kung fu flicks and bad habits
Don’t be a dick, give the Trix to the rabbit
Kick ballistics, all the right angles
Kick kick like that sick Alpha Flight sample
Put the disc in, let the drums rumble
We speak with unique techniques down in the jungle
Kick up dust when I bust like fisticuffs
With the bass in ya face like I’m Mistachuck
Kick kick snare put your hands in the air
Wave em all around like a solar flare
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10. |
A Beagle Named Goose
02:23
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Many years ago on a little Valley farm
The sweetest little beagle that you’ll ever meet was born
She was raised in a place where they grew a lot of corn
I knew that she was special when she crawled into my arms
She never really barks and her ears are the floppiest
Her farts are the stinkiest, her kisses are the sloppiest
I think her favourite hobby is rolling in disgusting stuff
She likes running in the grass and sniffing buttercups
She likes go for walks down by Long Lake
Scritch her belly in the right place and make her leg shake
Goose rides shotty with her nose up on the glass
And they call her Professor when she joins me in a class
She sleeps right next to me I’m the leader of the pack
I’m the one who feeds her, I’m the one who gives her pats
I’m the one who gives her slack on the leash for exploring
With a beagle named Goose my life is never boring
Goose the beagle is more regal than most
The greatest pup-a-lup along the whole east coast
I swear she’s made of magic I’ve never seen it fail
She can make smiles with a wag of her tail
Dash down the trails, chasing after squirrels
Snoop was right, It’s a Doggy Dogg World
She’s my closest homie and I’ll always show her love
Even when she’s throwing up all over my rug
A beagle hug is Top 5 All Time
And there is not another beagle who gives better hugs than mine
So shine on Goose, go splash in the puddles
She’s way too cute and I don’t mind a muddy cuddle
A nuzzle with a freckly muzzle, she can snuggle in
Always picks me up when she notices I’m struggling
She would want me to say that there’s a lot of great pups
And there is no shame in being runner ups
A beagle named Goose is number one for me
The greatest dog that I ever did see
A beagle named Goose is number one for me
The greatest dog that I ever did see
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11. |
What Did They Expect?
03:18
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I ain’t trying to floss, [redacted], I’m broke
You can save it for the rappers in the fur coats
Cheque to cheque type debt’s now the regular
Cost of living’s rising got me eyeing up the register
Just like the weather we’re fucked up. We’re all a bunch of animals
The problem’s pretty obvious but we can’t get it handled
Cause the man has got to make a fucking dollar
If you’re speaking up then someone’s saying “Why you hollering?”
Spin doctors run blocker for the laziest of liars
Who we keep choosing to abuse us ‘cause we’re crazy and we’re tired
Acting like a [redacted]
Didn’t flip us on our ass. Yeah, let’s just forget it
Everything is expensive and that total sense of dread
That’s been keeping you from sleeping isn’t all just in your head
You’re just not one of the ones who can afford to ignore
The chaos and the horror that the rest have got in store
It’s a storm on the horizon that could go a lot of ways
And you can clearly trace the danger to all corners of the maze
Eighty-five percent of people need to shut the fuck up
Mouths stay running, but the information sucks
Conspiracy season.
Nobody is hearing anything they don’t believe in
Im just saying – we’re all affected
It’s all a hollow flex until it gets corrected
Yeah the deck is stacked, and that makes things hard
But we do get to [redacted] the ones who deal out all the cards
Its like no one has the patience
So the power remains with the geriatric generations
And the ones who play the game, deranged and ambitious
Media trained and suspicious
Or its just the opposite and they’re howling buffoons
All craven bluster that panders to the room
We’re doomed – We don’t trust the science
We don’t trust education, we don’t trust people trying
Everybody’s lying in this bed that we have made
Jaded and afraid that somebody’s getting played
“Not me! Not today!” We all say
Take our ball and run away, ok.
It doesn’t solve a thing, but I know we’re hurting
Paying no attention to the man behind the curtain
So certain that the next season of something will come and save us
Living off of content and sub-subsistence wages
Or maybe you’ve been caking and the struggle isn’t real
It’s just another headline and not something you feel
But lots of people feel it and I know I feel it, too
We’re all kinds of complicated with room to improve
What have you got to lose?
What are you going to do?
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hermitofthewoods Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax-based rapper, producer, musician and hip hop activist. Keep rap weird.
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