Stop The Press

Another one of them long ass breaks.

Damn, Brother Ali where the hell you been? What, you disappear?

Stop the presses, give me couple seconds

Let me tell my friends what's up with big brethren

New year new beard a new record

Made a few adjustments I want to discuss it

In a life of pain and sadness

Never would've guessed that a taste of success

Would've been the first time I ever got depressed

I know I'm blessed, I just couldn't adjust

In life all I ever knew how to do is fight

Scrapped on the playground, fighting for the mic

Trying to build a life with an insane wife

Fighting for a little bit of time in the light

Then I got a daughter, a car and house

No one left to fight with but myself

Gained a lot of weight, wasn't thinking about my health

Maybe the music that I'm making could help

I can't drive 'cause this albino sh*t

Told you I was legally blind, that's legit

I ain't want Ant to have to come scoop the kid

So I bought a crib a couple blocks from his

That's the greatest friend I ever had

Like a brother to me, a borderline dad

Maybe making a record will get me on track

Help me fix whatever's wrong with my head

I jumped back in the basement at once

Made the album Us in a couple of months

But I can't lie to y'all, I felt lost

Energy I brought might've been a bit off

Couple great moments though of course

Babygirl, Puppy Love and The Travelers

I toured two years off that album

Was on the road ten months out of one of them

Did the globe with my brother BK

My life coach slash DJ

Literally been with me since day one

Had a lot of hard times, had a lot of fun

Long story short he got hell of a wife

Catastrophe damn near ended her life

Brought our wifeys out to Hawaii

These f*ckers got pregnant on Waikiki

He said "I need to talk to you Ali

This is what you were born to do, but not me"

So after Soundset two thousand and ten

Say goodbye to my Deejay but not my friend

My career ain't stop it just grew

I rocked the bells and Glastonbury too

Close enough to smell Beyonce's perfume

But it just ain't the same without dude

Couldn't slow me down no lord

Stayed on the planes and the buses and cars

Brought a young DJ into the squad

Sucker quit on me cause I toured too hard "Wahhhh"

On to the next one

Then me and Ant had trouble connecting

If I was here then he was always there

Touring or recording with Atmosphere

What the hell's goin' on with my career

Within a year my team disappeared

Got a phone call on the 4th of July

My dad died, he committed suicide

Sh*t, I should've been there for him

Had to fly home from Europe to bury him

I'm sorry, I need a minute

Bismillah... alright, listen

Trying to hold this marriage together

But me and my baby barely see each other

I'm in France with the fans taking pictures

She's with the kids making dinner doing dishes

She ain't got to worry bout me screwing other b*tches

But that ain't enough to make a woman feel precious

If we don't start to intersecting

We got no choice but grow in different directions - damn

I got that phone call again

You know the kind you never want to get

Mikey's mom couldn't get a hold of him

And found him dead in his apartment

Just drowning in tears

Probably won't get over that in all my years

I'll remember forever

A day later boarded a plane for Mecca

And the next month changed my life

Listening to God in the holy sites

Inklings I had had all my life

Suddenly presented themselves in plain sight

Any doubts I had about the mic

And whether or not what I write is right

Fell out of sight like tears on the floor

Now I'm going harder than I ever did before

Got a couple of beat tapes from Jake

Genuine dude and his music is great

I told Zach to hold my tour dates

Roll the tape, I got something to say

So, I'm gonna go make this album.

Let me start it off right though