Pressed

(album: Word? - 2021)

(Get things straight once and for all)

It goes truth to power to responsibility
Mama trying to put the whole litter out their misery
If you can feel me, lick shots at the ceiling
Until the 'bots come back from the future to try killing me
Nah dude, I'm just saying it's true
And you naming me and blaming me for hating on you
Pssh, I got way better things to do
Never forget this is America, banks rob you
Raise your hands up and pay that ransom
We made this anthem over breaks that Ant brung
You caught a bad one and bought you a handgun
Moved to Montana, now you rocking a man bun
And I ain't even trying to clown it or clone it
It fits your persona, it's sick, you should own it
No bones to pick and no stones to kick
Just the leftover microphones blown to bits

I decided to scribe this today
Eight times outta ten
It's suicide inside of my mind
Image of lying to side with one eye showing
Close it, it won't blink, still open
All the emotion I felt for it, I poured in the felt and fell forward
Even if it felt foreign
I thought that I would be scored historically
As one of the best doing it, now I'm not pressed for it
Shed tear for it, I sweat for it
Cut up until my flesh porous
A mesh, I bled for it, a mess for it
I lost homies yet
You don't wanna flow toe to toe, that's a death warrant
I been definitely outta your depth, I etch torrents
'Specially my delivery, I was dep on it
Just keep the shit, I got nothing left for it
I'm heavy while you rubberneck me like a fucking tourist

I been in this for life, you just cheat on your wife
I'm the type to a take a chance, you just take the advice
You been window shopping this, I been paying the price
They call me BlackLiq, and listen, you can love it and like
Only time I ever stop is when I'm taking a pee
You take an L, I get a fee, you been spitting for free
I'm the type to build a lock, you just asking for keys
I go online and look at you while you looking at me
I'm what it's like to see the thing that you'll never be
Do the thing you'll only dream since you choosing the sleep
I'm up and performing, my presence is global
Warning a warning that's so abnormal
It's normal to keep ignoring I'm hot
Matter fact, I'm the reason you're heated
And if you can't stand me, we got tickets for seating
They wanna play for a quarter, but I'm here for the season
So if you wanna stop losing, stop competing

Picture me impressed by an IG flex
Roc'll strongarm the mic and exercise these pecs
With breath control ironclad like a knight getting dressed
I'll pull a biting rapper's card and call it ID check
See, I don't chase clout, but I'm still a track star
Shine on every beat like a black eye 'til I leave that charred
You gon' need your shade to keep you warm when I go flash, bwoy
They lapping up these DC origin stories like it's NASCAR
They want me to cool down, they say I'm too fired up
Been having some episodes since they lit the pilot
Y'all gon' get this clenched fist raised a half a mile up
'Til Breonna's killers in a penitentiary lineup
Said I gotta show some skin, keep 'em interested
But I bare it all in every stanza, every measure drastic
Work them fingers to the bone 'til the digits fractured
To show the difference 'tween the real ones and the manufactured, Roc

Haph the magi who moves matter like Black lives
Same energy for the enemies of my allies
Have nots, underrepresented, disenfranchised
Past due, we ain't through with you by a damn site
High caliber, diaspora time traveler
Pen with more torque than a Wildcat Challenger
Vice chancellor, fine manicured mic handler
All in my bag after the Benjamins like Banneker
No biz like showbiz until COVID
Opiates stole our hero and left no Prince
All this drama makes it hard to stay focused
It's still fuck 12, 45th, and his four kids
True believer since DMC rocked them loose Adidas
Sprinkle voodoo when in the stu' like a brujeria
Lucid dreamer, grew up pissing off the music teacher
Guess I won at life, wife looking like the new Aaliyah

Making a million exploiting your fellow citizen really isn't the same as giving people medicine
Regardless of feelings, imperialism will only benefit a few, the rest are on the receiving end
So when you witness this loveliness that we're hustling, just know that it isn't an ad or photo op for Benetton
It's a solution in action, independence
Longevity prioritized over everything
Let's start assembling people with some togetherness
Let's hold a rally and introduce them to special guests
The master of ceremonies in effect
And when it comes to mics, he's a specialist
Terrorist from the West, blessed with the weapons in the flesh
Bombs he's constructed with the alphabet
I suggest listening to lessons that address the proper progressive thoughts that'll have you pressed