Purity

(album: The Mind Of A Saint - 2023)

Head bloodied but unbowed
Mama guessing how long she gon' see her son around but know there's only one crown
That's rhetorical, Arm & Hammer? I became the oracle
The way my family bleeding thank God there ain't no more of you
Let's get to all the issues at hand quick as we can
To my uncle who allowed me to take a big enough chance
Know my hands will give applause up to you at any given
Wool over my daddy eyes, you became the vision
For the book of Saint, auntie read through it and never looked away
Told her take a page to wipe her tears and give that book a break
She did me one better and wrote a page of her own
And kept writing 'til her book was the same weight as my chrome
To Louisiana Louie who became a South Central beast
Never forget who helped you to get a seat
Ambition as big as me, shoulders broad enough to let the city sleep
But you can't Jenny Craig responsibility
This shit gets heavier than the thought of Reed potentially not
Being who he say that he is when we cop, I'm in a spot where my spot
Is diamond coated with a red dot on it
And you fighting like if that red dot's calling to take you head on
Well Louie you can have it
I'm gentleman enough to let you do what you imagined, I'm through with all this baggage
Back when this shit got active, the wizard called it "baśe"
And at the base of it you know what I gave

So I'm expecting purity
Just keep everything pure
No steps to it like what I measured for y'all
Just gimmie purity
More than ever before
With no steps to it like what I measured for y'all

One day I met a brother named Dawit
On the corner of Crenshaw and Slauson with his kids
Teaching them black pride and about owning where we live
I overheard the talk and went and told him who I'm is, minus the coke of course
I said "I'm Franklin, I own some properties all over town
And yo I admire the way you giving your boys crowns"
He said "man I'm just doing my job, being encouraging
This is my son Sammy, and my little one is Ermias"
I reached out, giving them dap, hiding my nervousness
Hoping they don't pick up the que of me or my services
One had a smile of gold, the other had hair like he was Jesus
I looked at them both like "the city needs them"
Pistol on my waist but my Lacoste was draped over it
Thank God, this ain't what I want baby Jesus noticing
Fiends walking by that I knew from my grand opening
Feelings came over me I pray don't never come over them
My reputation walks in front of me like it's security
I hide behind more business cards, less jewelry
Dawit doted on his kids until the day was done
Sammy was maybe four, Ermias maybe one
With a soul full of guilt and a trunk with product stocked
I downplayed my car and told them "you can buy your block"
And as Dawit and his family made their way up the street
I saw that what I did to this corner's bigger than me

I need purity
Just keep everything pure
No steps to it like what I measured for y'all
Just gimmie purity
More than ever before
With no steps to it like what I measured for y'all
Just gimmie purity

The spook who sat by the door while you in the driveway
The game come with money as loud as Irene Abe
Snowman knock on that door fresh off the highway
Duffle bags for me and mine, and you know how I play
Took advantage of it through all of its disadvantages
Saints over everything 'til the prayers from the family get
Shown for what they were
Down on bended knees but what you spoke of was a blur, and all that I preferred
Was your loyalty, same way I treated you
Jumped in front of every bullet every time I needed to
Seems when you was tryna find a back door I tried to find distance
Unc' should've left you home fighting side bitches
And I'd never look for love from a plug who kidnapped me
Where anytime that he should love felt trigger happy
The quickest on the draw to get me out, to get me more
To get me rooted deeper in like the trees we was hanging off
So to Louie and Jerome
To Peaches and that 5 mil' he took when shit it look like he's truthfully full blown
To Teddy who was tryna be more than he really was
And to Alton reappearing to cover me with his blood
To my mama with her heart on her sleeve, she did her best
But 73 mil' will turn all this shit into death, and I digress
My comeback was my calling card
Be sure to tell everyone in this bitch Au Revoir, man I'm outta here man...