歌曲歌詞
How should I begin
This is the story of a boy named Lonnie Lynn
As I said it the spirits enwhip me
He was raised in the belly of the city
Chicago
Discovered by du Sable
A Black Frenchman
That I had to mention
Extensions of a young man raised on a low end
47th and Michigan lackin' a little discipline
Grandma Mable did the best she could
You know how young brothers want a testy hood
There he stood taller than most Black boys
One of the best ballers out of Illinois
Collagen Ohio this is like his bio
Talks that we had man they was never idle
He talked about readin' the Quran and the Bible
He talked how he smoked dope and sold it for survival
He talked about the ancestors in our lives they're vital
He said y'all boys love the bang 'cause you tribal
Spiral of life Chicago to Denver
Anywhere he went of attention he's the center
69 big heart big mind
He spent his lifetime wantin' to be big time
He did in a way he made to the ABA
And the things he say on my record
When I was a shawty he bought me
The Message
It was his messages in life I would step with
Didn't see him much spirits are connected
Father creates it the son can reflect it
His perspective sometimes seemed crazy
His perspective sometimes seemed brilliant
His perspective somehow it shaped me
His perspective undoubted I feel it
He'd walk around in them Air Jordans I gave him
I said Pops them from Mike man you better save 'em
The fight that he had with cancer was a brave one
Took Dr Sebi's herbs instead of medication
Breathing heavy he talked reparations
He said
Son we live through our generations
Offspring coughing Gene Ammons was playing
In the background he was talking I was praying
Our Father take care of my father
As far as he went may I go farther
May our dreams and legacies live through our children
Though I can't touch him I can still feel him
You know the other day
I got a phone call
I got a message says pops you been gone from home too long
So I set my bags down and headed to 87th street
I was just back in the neighborhood ya know cruising the same street that
I used to cruise in my long black Fleetwood
Listening to the Minister and Dr King
And my beloved brother Malcolm
First thing is see I'm boundless with spiritual energy
I wanna talk about the moral necessities of human justice
The power and the action of God given dignity
One can not enter the gate if you hate
You gotta take the lead for the rest of the world
87th is the street of knowledge
The streets of knowledge are all over the world
We got a possibility again of leading the world