Black Man in America song by Johnny Hobbes

I normally don't showcase other artists work here on my blog. But my homie Johnny Hobbes recently dropped this song called "Black Man In America", not only is it important to hear but it really is a good song. I love all forms of Hip Hop, and as long as it sounds dope I fucks wit it. The first time I heard him perform the track, was live at a show we were doing together. In Bushwick, Brooklyn at this spot called "Terra Firma".

The energy and message are strong! The timing of it resonates with the world we live in today. I provided the soundcloud link below the picture of my dude and also the lyrics to the song. Also take a drop by his website: http://www.johnnyhobbes.com/

https://soundcloud.com/johnny-hobbes/black-man-in-america-prod-by-tomas-spisak

Lyrics:

Intro:
Death before dishonor
There’s no honor
in this death
we’re hunted
that’s why so many stay blunted
not many ways
we can deal with the stress

When I uprooted my life
made it more appealing
morning i be reborn
to be dead by the evening

Steady emasculated
Can’t imagine the hatred
And the weapons you came with

To make a
History of Violence
We only found
misery silence

I gotta speak up
Turn that chin and cheek up
These wounds are deep cuts
No more that’s enough

Chorus:
All eyes on me
Black man in America
Will I try and make peace
Or return fire
And tear it up? x2

Verse 1
That's what they asking
We tried asking
For a slice of that pie
Now we die fasting

Really dying out
The well drying out
AND we’re hungry
You ain't happy
Til we inside ya house

Pardon
the incendiary comments
Life is incendiary,
Scary to be honest
Cemetery seems less scary
Or even harmless
Compared to your pipeline
Keystone school to prison

Wasn't in my my right mind
To ever think you'd listen
I just wanted heal
This whole time
400 years
We just wanted to heal

And I will
With or without you

Wonderer what'll look like
When the meek inherit earth
You're about to

bring pon dey revolution
You gave us the how to.
The manual on the ground rules

Pre Chorus

If Al Qaeda shoots, we shoot back
If the Taliban shoot we shoot back
If ISIS shoots we shoot back
But of you shoot,
We supposed to take it x2

Chorus

All eyes on me
Black man in America
Will I try and make peace?
Or return fire
And tear it up x2

Verse 2:

Here's the theme
Common motif
For Every one in the white house
Millions dead in the street
If I turn lights out
Would you be willing to speak?
If we couldn't see
Are you then able to speak

You can't fight fire with fire
But either way we get burned
Eugenics, death and destruction
Feeling our ancestors
All bled for nothing

So old self rest peace
I aint going back
to that life
Not in the least

I’m trying
Be more present
I'm tired of not trying
I don't got time
Every second
An eternity loose
Time left on this lease

Can't waste another minute
I can taste the lies
You invited as spew 'em
Out of your mouth Piece
I'm blessed beyond Vengeance

Pre Chorus

If Al Qeada shoots, we shoot back
If the Taliban shoot we shoot back
If ISIS shoots we shoot back
But of you shoot,
We supposed to take it x2

Chorus
All eyes on me
Black man in America
Will I try and make peace
Or return fire
And tear it up? x2

Bridge

I might be a convict
that don’t mean i lack
conviction
or I'm another victim
there’s bigger
schemes at work
gotta look at the root
not only the fruit
of lynched men

I used to be pacifist
But I’m feeling like I'm past this shit
I didn't ask for this
This is the world that you gave me

Chorus

All eyes on me
Black man in America
Will I try and make peace?
Or return fire
And tear it up x3

How I overcame my fear of busking in my hometown of New York City.

Not much intimidates me when it comes to being a performer. I've performed in front of a number of diverse crowds. They range from angry, loving, or blank stares until you come off stage and everyone tells you how much they loved your performance.(That one still confuses me sometimes even though I don't show it, and it makes me laugh a little).

  

Imagine this face staring at you for 15-30 min of your set. I wonder what goes through the head of a person that looks like this? "He's not Kanye, where's my Kanye???".







Here is your Kanye but he's giving me a face  worse than yours,lol. If you are an artist we have all been there to some extent. You can put your all into a set. Mind, Body, and Soul. Still..The stinkface.

It happens to the best of us. Then there is the angry mob. Which I have to say I enjoy performing in front of. That to me is a Hip Hop crowd, those are the types of crowds I came up through. Just absolutely no mercy! Haha! And I loved every minute of it. I know, I know, I'm a masochist.


If you don't drop a hot 16 nigga!! You in trouble!! 

Now I don't want to stray too far away from the main point of this blog, but what I've mentioned above has given me some ideas as to what a future blog will be about. Namely being dope, in front of a non reactionary crowd. or any crowd for that matter that gives you the opposite reaction you were expecting from your music.

Back to my main point. Busking was one of those things, for some odd reason, scared the shit out of me. Only through out the years of doing music have I become more extroverted and it really has given me the courage to exploit talents I never knew I had. So it's safe to say that feeling the way I did about it was frustrating to me, and I was ready to change it. So I made a post on Facebook, putting the word out to anyone who wanted to join me in doing it, figuring that a group effort would ease the pressure of not having to do it alone. 


An artist by the name Johnny Hobbes reached out to me saying he wanted to join forces. So, cool it wasn't a group but I had someone else on board which eased my mind. He also had to work up the nerve to perform in public. Checkout the videos below to see our first time out busking on NYC trains.

You can probably see how nervous we were in our first outings, but as we progressed, maaan!

We would just walk into train cars and start rapping. The nervousness was gone and we could see a greater power in doing what we were doing. We even broke off and started busking individually. I will admit it takes a bit more energy out of me than being on stage but the liberation is completely there!

Even Bruce Lee knew about that Henny On Ice

So the other night I'm watching the movie 'Big Boss', on the El Rey Network. It's the second feature film from martial artist legend Bruce Lee. In the movie there is a scene where he gets promoted on the job he's working, and the hireups ask him to join them in a small celebration of his promotion. They bring in girls, food, and a bottle of Henny. which my man Bruce proceeds to kick back like it was nothing. Hahaha. Bruce died way before I was born and the movies were old when I was a kid

so at the time I knew nothing about the reputation Hennessy has in black neighborhoods nor it's affects. Now is a whole other story. After Bruce gets drunk he follows suit by flirting with one of the women his bosses brought in the room. He takes her back to her spot and they handle business. It's really comical. Because when he's leaving her spot in the morning he runs right into the girl he has a crush on.

Oh well, she'll get over it, and he'll get over his embarrassment too. Just another case of the affects of that 'Henny on ice'. Just to further my point I got a pic of Bruce and Alcohol.

The Henny got the master twisted! Time for that Drunken Fist!

With that being said I thought it appropriate to post the song that I wrote titled 'Henny On Ice', from my album 'Gone Is The Illusion'.  You can also take a look to the right of my blog and see my full album available on bandcamp. Checkout the lyrics written below the audio track as well. Peace!

Verse1

Our. Sexual Positions are literary descriptions

You think my name was Charles the way I lay the Dickens

Seeking true religion put your faith inside my denim

I make 50 shades of gray 3 colors on a pigeon

you chant vagina monologues louder than a riot squad

So trojan man made a condom that could fit my lightning rod

we tried standing doggie and my thrusts collapsed your quads

These magnums are a opus of my commanding charge

pour my henny down your throat now we percolating

you call my cell, to hear my voice, it helps your masturbation

I bare my fangs, wag my tongue, you got me salivating

Through osmosis your oasis in the desert my salvation

Head over heels, heels over head tripping LSD

She must a popped a molly, cause now she sweating me

PCP, oh my god, now I got you biting me?

My game is “G” no one ever gets you high as me!

Hook

Plasma in the frigerator I’m so cold blooded

carpet with rips in it yes I’m so rugged

Fuck it, flow so hard her dams went & busted

Diamond in the rough & no you can’t touch it

Rock in her soft space & no you can’t budge it

From Cambria heights all the way to Nantucket

I need a bitch & Hennesy & the heat that comes from it

What? Hahaha, I know you love it...Henny. On. Ice.

Verse2

It’s Funny just the other week you was wearing head wraps

I never knew you liked being choked while I pull your dreads back

The weave & extensions I really don’t mind that

The natural I can pull it hard though no stocking cap

You invited me over we smoked weed on your sofa

Then you leaned on my shoulder pulled my pants down lower

The fellation always starts out cool

Then its demons head Ras Al Ghul

Alpha females in the workplace your competitive

around me your submissive like your on a sedative

nerds, tomboys, even all the artsy chicks

share my enthusiasm for life and intelligence

we be into mindfucks, teeth marks in her fat butt

magic beast with mad lust, savage in a mat truck

leather & lace a nice touch, candle wax & handcuffs

henny for some back up, pour that shit in my cup

Plasma in the frigerator I’m so cold blooded

carpet with rips in it yes I’m so rugged

Fuck it, flow so hard her dams went & busted

Diamond in the rough & no you can’t touch it

Rock in her soft space & no you can’t budge it

From Cambria heights all the way to Nantucket

I need a bitch & hennesy & the heat that comes from it

What? Hahaha, I know you love it...Henny. On. Ice, ice, ice, ice, ice.

Too close for comfort.

No, not too close for comfort like the T.V. show from back in the day.

Man! I mean those hairstyles and photo coloring are just screaming the 80's. TV Guide flow!

I mean, people all in your space who have no idea of what personal space means. It's usually the most undesirable people you can think of  that do this. Sometimes you gotta wonder if you're attracting this type of person.

Like dude, we talked about this, and you're still doing this crap!?!

Not only that, but it's like there are variations of the person that keeps being all up in your business. So I decided to write a song about it, conveniently enough, called 'Radius'. Below is the Bandcamp link which you can play right here on the site. In addition to that below are the lyrics to go along with your listening experience! Yeah, I'm good aren't I? LOL.


Let's add a few more images for emphasis on the subject, shall we?

I mean got damn son.

Intro

Longer than a tightrope, aim of a snipers scope

Wrapped around a building, like a line for jordans

New methods of exploring, new masters of exploiting

from the range of it its a radius.

Verse 1

I walk in all nonchalant, then soak up the ambiance

In venues I’m a stomp, hit- the - stage- so- prompt

Thoughts I provoke, I’m - beyond your scope

Beee honest most, theeeey try to sculpt

Something just as dope, well the answers nope!

Only your ego bloats, for a seagulls gulp

Try the belly up approach, didn’t say I told you so!

You well outside your radius, only left complaining bitch

oh looky heres a bench, sit down you’re missing strength

an inch? when you’ve had enough, bags packed enter bus

bad bitch “incubus”, only in my ink you trust

rappers 20 40+ swear they good & blowing up

In 4 blocks staying stuck, same henny, same cup

different dutch, same sluts, 20, 40, 60 up

Diddy fiddy signed you up? Still a bunch a lying fucks

16 bars not enough 2 more verses going nuts!

Hook

Shhhh, I can hear them creeping in, all around the radius in an on the outside, outside, outside

Verse 2

Brainstorm pouring in, more my thoughts are in

opens doors again, think Jim Morrison

I am accomplishing, with my immortal Pen

Fight I’m sticking in, because of self discipline

puts an awesome spin, on how to chalk up wins

take it on the chin, I’m a monstrosity

awe in symmetry, of authenticity

But your brains in gear, controlling eyes and ears

Judge the hemisphere of where have I appeared

Thinking I’m other rappers well I’m nothing like them

White, Brown, or light skin, weight class titan

All my shows tight then, Lockes of a viking

Where did that come from? Nigga it’s been here

your a passive listener, try to pass as good ears

I’m not a  Jordan shot, I won’t fade away

Too many small minds, not enough bigs today

Hook

Shhhh, I can hear them creeping in, all around the radius in an on the outside, outside, outside

3rd Verse

High & Mighty Hitlers, I’m like a trickster

poison your elixir, emerge the victor

Not a great pris’ner, my limbs too limber

make you remember, you  face the enigma

seething contender, who sees through your center

you’re more like a vortex, gripping tight forceps

try to trap my light in, event horizon

I even the odds on, events on horizon

all up in my space & shit, encompassing my radius

leech & a parasite, symbiote maggot bite

I’m a bunch a dynamite, blast everything in sight

no more psuedo friendships, blown away don’t exist

never revolutionary when you’re really capitalists

Yoga and your chakra you can have all that bullshit

talk like a tough guy when you’re  just a jealous bitch

Your body language says more than any of your words did

Hook

Shhhh, I can hear them creeping in, all around the radius in an on the outside, outside, outside