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I Am Water

by Jesse Abraham

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1.
Overture 00:48
2.
I find it odd / That I’ve been awed / Ahhh shit / By and large / It’s a timeless wit that I rhyme with / I’m involved with a mindless grind that a firing squad could define as a crisis / When the mic is on minus papyrus I am your highness, I am God / Wait that’s pious, I am wrong / Try and define this virus, my that’s hard / What virus? Microsoft? / I’m on when I’m off / It’s a blanket wrapped like I’m Linus, dog / Peanuts is a childish style / You could file these nuts under bison balls slash Tyson’s arm / I’m a make you dash like a hyphen / When I write a song, go / Jaybrah Jaybrah spit that shit / Show them who they messin with / Who you think you are, who you, who you think you are? / I ain’t shit / Who you think you are, who you, who you think you are? / I'm the shit / Jaybrah Jaybrah spit that shit / Show them who they messin with / Say whatchu wanna say / Act how you wanna act / Play how you wanna play / Rap how you wanna rap / Think I expect to get props? / It’s not a total shock / Not like I’m rockin dreadlocks and drinkin soda pop / I mean I’m kinda legit / I ain’t just tryin to fit / I deserve it / It’s fair, right? / No it’s not / No guaranteeing survival / Most of y’all just feel entitled / Emcees that I know just like rhyming / They would wave a title / Diss your disciples’ idols / I will become unbridled and rival / Anyone who spits shit that’s recycled at their concert, show, recital / I’m blessed to have a mic / Lucky stars, satellites / Fucking starved, appetite / I’m hungry so I sacrifice my down time / Afterlife? Yeah now’s mine / Hermaphrodites can’t even dream to please themselves like how I’m / Smiling when I’m rhymin I’m a giant and it’s chow time / Frying up a lion throwin down a pound of Ballantine’s / Now it's mine (psyche) / I made ya look / Underground? Musta made your luck / Underground like a miner with a major, look / Jaybrah Jaybrah spit that shit / Show them who they messin with / Who you think you are, who you, who you think you are? / I ain’t shit / Who you think you are, who you, who you think you are? / I'm the shit / Jaybrah Jaybrah spit that shit / Show them who they messin with / Say whatchu wanna say / Act how you wanna act / Play how you wanna play / Rap how you wanna rap / It's type strange / That anybody listens / I'm forever grateful for a moment of your attention / I'm sittin on the subway / It's my train of thought / A token of my appreciation is all you really bought / When you copped a song or somethin / Or sung along or somethin / Or told me years ago, "Jesse man you're onto somethin" / I'm buzzin? You're buggin / Just cause your cousin's husband liked my album don't mean nothin / Maybe it does? It doesn't / That ain’t the voice of haters / Y’all go ahead with that / You’re braggin bout your haters like it's an impressive stat / Man you ain’t bein hated cuz you're innovative, jack / If you get so much hate / Maybe your shit's just wack / That's not about a artist / It's bout livin a life / The show starter / Bob Barker, tell em, how's that price? / The price is wrong, bitch / This ain’t a free show / It's a freak show / Now sing along, it's / Jaybrah Jaybrah spit that shit / Show them who they messin with / Who you think you are, who you, who you think you are? / I ain’t shit / Who you think you are, who you, who you think you are? / I'm the shit / Jaybrah Jaybrah spit that shit / Show them who they messin with / Say whatchu wanna say / Act how you wanna act / Play how you wanna play / Rap how you wanna rap.
3.
Back Off 03:10
“Jesse you’re a wigger / Put your hat on straight / Your pants are getting bigger? / Still in that rapping phase? / Your earring isn’t cute / Why’d you shave your head? / Is that your dad’s suit?” / Bitch, my dad's dead / They try to give me shit / They don't know what's in me, shit / A fire burnin / Smoke comin’ out my mouth / I'm on some chimney shit / Coaches had jokes / Teachers had jokes / Parents had jokes / Pack your bags folks and back off / My pants gone sag and I ain’t takin my hat off / "Yo, you look like Asher Roth" / Hilarious. Mazel tov / Should I complain? / "They're mean and rude" / Should I refrain from stayin true? / Should I behave the same as you? / What's lacrosse? / Who's Dave Matthews? / I didn't have two parents whose style I could inherit / So I cherished independence /Found merit in my spirit of rebelliousness / So listen close when I tell you this / Your opinions about my way of life they really don't mean shit / When I was a kid I ain’t never fit in / And no matter what I did people said I was wrong / But I ain’t throw a fit / I ain’t really give a shit / Only thing that I said was back off / Don't worry bout me, just worry bout you / And back off / “Jesse you’ve got money / And you’re from Manhattan / You’re probably just a yuppy who wants to try his hand at rappin / Jump off the bandwagon / You’re fake, a disgrace / Whatchu know about the struggle?” / Aright, listen up shitface / First off, life ain’t about the surface, it’s bout what’s underneath / Second, take a second, learn about me before you suck your teeth / Yeah I got dough / Wallet ain’t delgado / I work for all my guap though / Oh my God, bro / Back off / I bust my ass for everything I got, you jack off / 
“Yo, you’re probably mad soft” / Shit like that I laugh off / No point in comparing you and me / What, you mad about the UMA? / Truthfully that lunacy wasn't new to me / When I was a kid I ain’t never fit in / And no matter what I did people said I was wrong / But I ain’t throw a fit / I ain’t really give a shit / Only thing that I said was back off / Don't worry bout me, just worry bout you / And back off / “Jesse you’re annoying / Promote yourself too much / I’m over here enjoying Twitter at my job at lunch / And you just keep on yappin / Blah blah rappin rappin / I unfollowed you by accident / Oh, 
that’s what happened? / What / I'm gonna make an album and not tell heads about it? / Whisper it, not shout it? / Picture it, I doubt it / Blogs have red tape / "You should sound like Blu's tape" / "New York needs a purple tape" / Help good music circulate or back off / Lose that badge and take your journalist mask off / "It's my opinion, that's all" / Most of y'all are mascots / Ok, look / I'm an artist who is happy making art / Some websites just copy paste and in their haste they're breaking hearts / But me, I just wanna write, record some shit and share it / I don't care if I make carrots / Just want you to hear it / People ask me / “Jesse, what are you tryin to do with this music shit?” / Umm, I'm tryin to make some music, shit / When I was a kid I ain’t never fit in / And no matter what I did people said I was wrong / But I ain’t throw a fit / I ain’t really give a shit / Only thing that I said was back off.

4.
When I picture gardens / All I see is squares / I ain’t the maddest son / Cuz tragedy impaired my ability to hurt / And pain makes power / I grew up on a roof across the street from burnin towers / Now it's flowers that I see / On the ground in devotion / Can't stop to smell the roses / Not since my nose is broken / I ain’t close to jokin / This ain’t no bogus moment / I don't need some hocus pocus / Give a fuck about opponents / On this road I am the quotient / The vision I got is potent / Good riddance to my atonement / Arrogance would write an opus / But I’m not, I’m writin this / I am just a rodent deserting a sinking ship / The water is a bonus / Now the liquid is ubiquitous / I’m drowning as I’m floatin / So my mission is duplicitous / My instrument’s the ocean / My attitude is parallel to carousels / Reeling round, feelin grounded on a parasail / Find me gliding / On parallels / You can find me gliding / On parallels / I be, I be on some shit again / ABC, BBC, feel the blend / Improving the design like Nicki did with Lil Kim / And nowadays ain’t no one movin me a little bit / Their music got me stiller than Riddlin / I’m instilled with a little bit of Nasir and Jay and Em / I’m rappin the hottest and I can tackle the topic like Texas A&M / And I’m a lay to rest the rumors and the quiet talkin / Cause when they pass the batton it’s from the riot squadron / I be lying off in far away lands / On a beautiful beach front / This ain’t no Rockaway sand / Pay for everything in cash and dollars out of my hand / Now I only write for money like a government grant / Ain’t nothing but bad hoes, bad hoes and bad hoes / Bitch as flat as a flat toe / Ain’t that so / I can’t help but to act like an asshole / My attitude is parallel to my cashflow / Yeah / Find me gliding / On parallels / You can find me gliding / On parallels / Hey kid, you’re goin somewhere / Concrete and sunshine is out there / Hey kid, you’re goin somewhere / So bright, so far and so clear / It’s your life, it’s your life; it’s not theirs / It’s your life, it’s your life; it’s not theirs / I put thank you’s in a bank / You do what you can while I do what you can’t do / I pay dues when they ain’t due / So much cash under the mattress springs break like it’s Cancun / But I don’t measure money in dollars / Instead I barter with honor / It’s so much harder to launder actual bills / My thrills come to me in the form of blessings / Every day I’m feeling lucky / And the more that I am Jesse / Then the less that I am stressing / Confession / These recessions don’t cause me to feel depression / What’s essential is ascension / So what’s possessions? / I play positions / I write scripts like physicians / Listen / I’m overboard / Go to war / Shake a spear (William) / No overlords know the score’s four to four (million) / Goin door to door / There’s no remorse in my vocal chords / My attitude is parallel to gratitude more and more / Find me gliding / On parallels / You can find me gliding / On parallels.

5.
You’re not who you think you are / Your spot isn’t singular / Like God is your signature / We’re a lot more than similar / It’s a match made in heaven / A tragic connection / Sometimes a match is a weapon / Lemme ask you a question / Have you ever known death? / You ever known life? / The answer is yes? / Then say yes twice / All flesh dies / That is no surprise / To tiptoe around that would be unwise / Your face is disguised / You're not a ghost anymore / You're not a ghost anymore / Point of no return / Return the favor / Born a fallen angel / Torn apart and mangled / With the spirit of a first-born / At the same time first-mourned / We eat drink and be merry / Cause we think leaving's scary / As if we're temporary / Not necessarily / If we just be / We cannot die / There is just we / There is no I / Awake for the sake of the game / All for the fun / Risk is the cost / All is not lost / There is just one / You're not a ghost anymore / You're not a ghost anymore / Point of no return / Return the favor.
6.
1der 2der 04:05
Yeah some people grind / And everybody hustles / That simply means you try / Just pieces of the puzzle / Some people use their mind / Others use their muscle / How're you defined? / True design or foolish struggle? / And pain seems like the theme to ya / Mind on the beat / Knew ya might let me speak to ya / Some love money / Me? I love freedom / Treats? I don’t need ‘em / I’m already too sweet, um / That's sweet meaning nice / Your mantra's fiction / I'm a contradiction / Mean and nice / I'm a pizza slice with a side of beans and rice / Bein heated up by Jesus Christ / You couldn't see me twice / Using TiVo / I'm no fiend though / I won’t go pop on a weasel for green, yo / I mean I'll go chop up a beat for some cream / Oh, the green that I speak of’’s the root of all evil / He got his hat turned back / And his sneakers untied / Headphones, backpack / And he’s smiling wide / But he’s workin / All day / And when the sun goes down / And the feeling’s right / He puts down the pen / And picks up the mic / And he’s workin / All night / Yeah, that’s right / Cuz yeah I earn money / You could learn from me / You ain’t heard of me? / It’s no concern to me / Half of the time I'm Santa Clause with a backpack / History and math facts / It's who I am personally / Me as a human / You seen what I'm doin? / 50-hour weeks I be tutoring / School’s an institution / Me, I’m independent / I think the grading is degrading and delaying true improvement / 30 kids weekly depend on me / 80 other kids are workin with my employees / And I own that company / We LLC / OK check the initials on my LL Bean / That's JAH / The most high / I stay floatin / Learnin more from teaching than I ever did as a student / That’s why I got no error in my syntax / You check for me on iTunes like my students check the index / He got his hat turned back / And his sneakers untied / Headphones, backpack / And he’s smiling wide / But he’s workin / All day / And when the sun goes down / And the feeling’s right / He puts down the pen / And picks up the mic / And he’s workin / All night / Yeah, that’s right / So just imagine it / Picture just a day / Wake up with no alarm clock consistently at 8 / Check my emails and texts like everyone in the world / Cook some breakfast for myself and my girl / Read about some new debacle with the Knickerbockers / Peep some tweets and beats then, uhp, there’s a shocker / A parent is disparaging / Gotta change the schedule / This isn’t original / Repetitive, a ritual / On my phone, at the gym / I check prospective resumes / And text message some DJ’s between sets of bench press miseries / Bathe. shave, then I’m off on my journey / Hittin five houses daily / Teaching as I’m learning / When I was in school it wasn’t for knowledge I was yearning / But now it’s my concern / Instantly earning while I’m working / Til ten o’clock I’m with these kids repairing all their grades / After that I’m at some venue straight tearing up a stage / He got his hat turned back / And his sneakers untied / Headphones, backpack / And he’s smiling wide / But he’s workin / All day / And when the sun goes down / And the feeling’s right / He puts down the pen / And picks up the mic / And he’s workin / All night / Yeah, that’s right.
7.
Yeeaaahh / And I don’t think I’ll ever come down from how I’m feelin right now / Naahhhh / Head’s in the sky but my feet on the ground / Yeeaaahh / I like how that feel / I like how that sound / Y’all think I could touch the clouds? / I ain’t never felt high til now / Hands up if you're twisted / So close to the sky that you kissed it / Your lifestyle is hedonistic / Be realistic / If you smokin some trees you ain’t a misfit / Water for the fishes / Yeah I used to get lifted / But I also used to listen to Limp Bizkit / Don't judge me / If you got the luxury of puffin trees / Grab some shrubbery and pass it to your friend and say 'twist it' / But I ain’t fucked up / When I'm on stage / I mean I get right / But in the wrong ways / Man you could get high / But I ain’t gone blaze / Keep your haze, man / I'm high cuz my song plays / I say “Mic Check” but this ain’t a protest / No it's more like a show / Let's go / Jesse Abraham / Gets high / From performing / Mufuka / Yeeaaahh / And I don’t think I’ll ever come down from how I’m feelin right now / Naahhhh / Head’s in the sky but my feet on the ground / Yeeaaahh / I like how that feel / I like how that sound / Y’all think I could touch the clouds? / I ain’t never felt high til now / Extra extra / Read all about it / You say you be the voice of the hood but I doubt it / So I’m a be the hood CNN / You know, reporting all the things the hood seein and / I’m a rebel with a cause / Mover and a shaker / Bad little emcee / Been a trouble maker / Occupying where the vultures at / All my true school cats bring the culture back / Yeeaahhh / Now how’s that for a headline? / I get it in like I had a fuckin deadline / And I ain’t never felt high til I saw a whole crowd of the fans with their hands to their hairline / Yeah / So salute to the fans / Hands to the crowd / Middle finger to the man / Nitty Scott / Gets high / Off revolution / Mufuka / Yeeaaahh / And I don’t think I’ll ever come down from how I’m feelin right now / Naahhhh / Head’s in the sky but my feet on the ground / Yeeaaahh / I like how that feel / I like how that sound / Y’all think I could touch the clouds? / I ain’t never felt high til now / In the beginning my opinion was that sinning wasn’t for me / My head spinning wasn’t that alluring / And I seen my friends grinnin / 
Makin out with girls who look like dead women / Hear the next day bout how she threw up on the bed linen / 14 when my world really started morphing / “You ever watched porn in the morning on morphine?” / No / “Oh / Yo, you wanna do blow and go snorkeling?” / No thanks / I don’t wanna snort snow banks / “Look how I grow plants! / The shit is so dank!” / I know the difference between good and great / "For example?" / Hmmm, let me condomplate / The feelin that I'm feeling's exceptional, yes / So I really wanna feel it / Is that cool? / "I guess" / Jesse Abraham / Gets high / From sex / Mufuka/ Yeeaaahh / And I don’t think I’ll ever come down from how I’m feelin right now / Naahhhh / Head’s in the sky but my feet on the ground / Yeeaaahh / I like how that feel / I like how that sound / Y’all think I could touch the clouds? / I ain’t never felt high til now.
8.
The Scene 03:25
It’s just a room / Four walls and a floor / Yeah it’s a venue / To us it’s a menu / Men who genuinely aren’t gentle / Play an instrumental / It turns to a temple / Just you wait / Adjust your fate / It fluctuates when I waltz in the door / I once was ignored / But that was just once / And I winced a little bit but now there’s jaws on the floor / When I spit a little shit I’m like The Riddler on Ritalin / No fiddling with middlemen / It’s four times four / Bars / Clubs, bars, pubs / I fill them up like jars, jugs / Chew em / Spit em / Cigar stubs / But the music isn’t mine / It’s ours, us / We is the pronoun / Cuz the scene that I’ve seen is obscenely serene how it goes down / Hey yo / Look around you / Look at what surrounds you / All the faces / And the place is / So amazing /Good gracious / Whatchu all about? / The scene / Whatchu call it now? / The scene / Whatchu all about? / The scene / Whatchu call it now? / The scene / I go to different shows / And hear em kickin flows / And in an instant go from miserable to ‘this is dope’ / The way an infant grows from the chin to the toes / From the stem to the rose, I’ve seen it all / From biblical to minimal / Fictional syllable are criminal but typical / Still I ain’t cynical / And when you hand me a flyer / Prepare to acquire one back when I unpack / Every show I’m at there’s 140 characters / Tryin to write a book with 140 characters / Tweetin on their cell phone 140 characters / Put your phone down you are witnessing a massacre / Yeah you ignore me in person but / You show me love on the internet / I hear you preachin them sermons, huh / Keep burnin that intellect / Hey yo / Look around you / Look at what surrounds you / All the faces / And the place is / So amazing /Good gracious / Whatchu all about? / The scene / Whatchu call it now? / The scene / Whatchu all about? / The scene / Whatchu call it now? / The scene / Take heed, y’all / This is for the NYC, y’all / Jersey, CT / I see y’all / Down south, west coast and between, y’all / All people / Get free, y’all / Be whatever you wanna be, y’all / Eyes closed, lean back, just freefall / I know it seems wack as can be, y’all / But be all that you can be / Whether you’re Bambi or Candide / A Camry or Lamborghini, yep / Play it however you wanna play it / My vowels are on the pavement / My fouls are always flagrant / My bowels are never fragrant / I scowl at every agent / Who’s sayin we’ll never make it / We’re makin it in a basement / So blatant never complacent / Impatient my generation / Is achin for deviation / With ancient articulation / It’s radiant so we’re sayin / Hey yo / Look around you / Look at what surrounds you / All the faces / And the place is / So amazing /Good gracious / Whatchu all about? / The scene / Whatchu call it now? / The scene / Whatchu all about? / The scene / Whatchu call it now? / The scene.
9.
Effort / Effort to grow and to improve / To progress / I’ve tried to, to be excellent / With no regrets / That shit’s not easy / They say a lesson’s more impressive than a blessing / I've tried to learn by sweating / I’m just guessing that earning is more deserving and worthy of your attention / Never trusted my senses / It’s a justified sentence / My two sense is try adjusting my lens, it’s defenseless / Now I can see better / Heavens have sent me to breathe letters / So keep your green cheddar / Given nothing but reasons to quit / Not talking bout spittin / I’m talking bout slittin a wrist / You getting the jist? / But I'm fin’ to persist cuz I love to exist / Give a hug and a kiss to my mother and sister / And on the seventh day God took a rest / But I'm not into resting / Life's just too interesting / And I ain’t made a universe so what am I restin for? / Rest assured I think the best's in store / And I'm a test it til my chest is sore / They say that less is more / Then they invest in wars / They stay obsessed with oil / I'm dressin warm and when we storm the pentagon with weapons drawn / To settle the score I’ll revel in awe / Pepper my sweater with veteran thoughts / Quotes from Emerson and Jefferson represents rhetoric in how to be better than flawed / I've tried my best to become a beloved righteous man / In the dark, holding the torch to the violence that's in my heart / (It's the spark) / To start a revolution of the mind / But I find that I am more of an animal type / With a knife swipe that'll have you bleeding by pints / (Most nights) / I fights with my inner self / My sinner self / My Eddie Vedder Jeremy better get some help but I am somewhere else / (Where) / Lost would be too small of a word / I sort of preferred / Philosophers once told me that my death has been greatly encouraged / 
But I submerged / My sin is the curse / With administers courage / I swam to the depths of hell where my corpse had once furnished / Burning in the furnace but my spirits surfaced / Thus acquiring skeletal wings that could not be purchased / Destroying enemies of the art form became my soul's sole purpose / Once my words are transmitted / The core of the earth is shifted / The orbiting worlds tilted / The curse of my verse lifted / Your neck is so exposed I slit it / Committed to spittin venom through time continuums / Rippin the voice boxes of the lineages of those who don't rhyme legitimate / 
I plead innocent / Wickedest citizens / Is it my imagination figment / That I could tear a motherfucker’s bones through his ligaments? / Minus the cheap bravado / Big Chino with the deepest styles / That run wild like bulimia in Victoria's Secret models / You feel it? / You feel it? /You feel it? / You feel it? / You feel it? / You feel it? / You feel it? / Yo / Feel that water inside? / I ain’t got nothing to hide / You could end up in hot water when you skatin on thin ice / That separation divides / We needed both of those sides / I ain’t got nothing to hide / Y’all got nothing but hype / When the water starts to boil / Why not keep the fire on high? / I ain’t got nothing to hide / Y’all got nothing but hype / I'm not bluffin or lying / I'm not puffin with pride / I write with ink so permanently / Y’all are pencils bein led / We / Feel that water inside / I got nothing to hide / The goal's the journey and I'm learning all the time / God knows that I've tried / All I know is survive / I ain’t got nothing to hide / Y’all got nothing but hype / Your mind is fine / So just unwind / Stay unified / I am water / You are wine / There ain’t no reason to whine / There ain’t no reason to cry / I ain’t got nothing but time / I ain’t got nothing to hide / I ain’t got nothing to hide / I ain’t got nothing to hide
10.
You can't hold your tongue? / Well I'll hold it for you / Bite me / Use your swollen gums / Lookin like Mick Foley / Open with some broken teeth / But what'll you use to bite my shit with? / Hopefully you notice the potency / I know it seems I flow with ease / But most emcees they imitate / It's a gross disease / Them I ate on a dinner plate / They groceries / Do they innovate? / No siree / They throw at me some curveballs / I could set em straight / No degrees / No angles / Poetry / What's funny / Y'all wouldn’t even change if you could / Y'all do impressions like, “Yeah, man that was good.” / Damn Jaybra's so cold / Yeah Jaybra’s so brrrr / I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong but sometimes it really does seems like heads are straight up jacking my shit / When you wake up in the morning it’s a quarter to one / And you just want to have a little fun / You brush your teeth / You brush your teeth / When you wake up in the morning it’s a quarter to two / And you just want to find something to do / You brush your teeth / You brush your teeth / Whatchu know bout sweat? / I’m up in the spot with my hoodie on / Hot as motherfuckers get / And it ain’t gone stop til my tanktop ain’t got cotton left / As I pop this fresh bottle of seltzer / Yes I got finesse / I got expression in my flesh and chest / You know it’s rocky roads / I ain’t stoppin growth / There ain’t an obstacle impossible / It’s lock and load / I been told that I got to mold / Cuz writin prose is all I know / I’m callin all / The nominal, phenomenal / I melt ‘em like a tropical popsicle / What's funny / Y'all wouldn’t even change if you could / Y'all wish me gold? / I wish you would / Damn Jaybra's so cold / Yeah Jaybra’s so brrrr / I mean, I’ve been inspired myself, but sometimes you gotta realize what’s you and what’s not, man / When you wake up in the morning it’s a quarter to one / And you just want to have a little fun / You brush your teeth / You brush your teeth / When you wake up in the morning it’s a quarter to two / And you just want to find something to do / You brush your teeth / You brush your teeth / Why you actin like you don’t know? / Yeah we both you know you crackin on my promo / But yo, yo, holdup, you’re slackin on your promo / Cause the name of one song of yours is something that I / Something that I / Something that I don’t know / Knuckles, fists / Swing, connecting that’s one thing I must admit / That I ain’t got on my bucket list / I must’ve missed / That interest, but instead I’ve got a fuck it list / And it goes a little something like this / What's funny / Y'all wouldn’t even change if you could / My brain’s a rain of complaints / This track’s a flood / Damn Jaybra's so cold / Yeah Jaybra's so brrrr / Sometimes it seems like cats are scared to be themselves, but that’s the end of art right there, man, keep it real / When you wake up in the morning it’s a quarter to one / And you just want to have a little fun / You brush your teeth / You brush your teeth / When you wake up in the morning it’s a quarter to two / And you just want to find something to do / You brush your teeth / You brush your teeth.
11.
It seems I got a problem / I'm too honest / My rhymes are my life / My life is a promise / Catch me eatin tapas / Wearin some pajamas / Around here we like roaches and we call em papas / But my mama is my heart / My heart is my conscience / My spirit is a criminal my mind’s an accomplice / It has one thought / ‘Jabraham, you got this’ / My therapist says it's a superhero complex / Yeah I got it / Sorry if it’s rotten / If I was wack I would say I’m flyer than a comet / Put it on Facebook and beg for a comment / ‘Please click like!’ / Stop it / Never have I fronted / My style, yes you want it / I never ice the shooter / And no I've never punted / Call it confidence, cocky or some nonsense / I take charge / You flop / Chris Bosh shit / When I was a kid I did like anything I wanted / Broke a lot of rules / I'm just keepin it 100 / Never got caught / Never got punished / Outgrew all my habits even though my growth was stunted / Felt like I was hunted / Always got confronted / People stopped me on the train / “Is that your chain? Run it" / Beef it was abundant / My city’s kinda rugged / Never felt that a gun’s somethin that I must get / Get it? Must get/Musket? / Mustard covered custard / Stuffin Warren Buffet in a oven cooking muffins / That wasn’t on the subject / But fuck it I'm above it / I love it / Now let’s get back to what I was discussing / By ten I was disgusting / Erupting with disruption / I played the drums twice / Call it repercussions / Eventually adjusted / Detention got redundant / The tension took a plummet / Did I mention that I run shit? / Pardon my importance / I’m wearin new Jordans / Beatin up the Jazz / Scorin with some Mormons / Had some bad fortune / No dad, half orphan / I became my own father / My childhood was shortened / The concept of incapable was foreign / I was Van Gundy vs. Alonzo Mourning / Ask the 47’s, I was something of a sportsman / Played one instrument / Reproductive organs / Setbacks, yeah I had a portion / Never crybaby / Tears had an abortion / Moved to Atlanta / I could be a Georgian / Supposed to take some courses / Instead I’m takin corsets / Came back north and gave rap more of my attention / Beats turned to corpses / Every time I rhymed it’s like I should do some more of this / So I’ll do some more of this / And more of this.

12.
Hurdles 03:55
I learned at a young age / That just cause you're young doesn't make you safe / I was putting dirt on a grave / Before I had grown old enough to shave / Man, I could barely lift that shovel / Was a struggle but the trouble that I felt soon doubled / My dad died was I ten / He was healthy and young and had a new girlfriend / My mom never made amends / Then six months passed, I'm at a funeral again / My uncle wasn't healthy like my father / But the good die young, and the old die harder / Wasn't a martyr / I ain’t sacrifice a thing / Might’ve been smarter to let myself feel the pain / But instead I learned how to function / Smile for the people who expect you to crumble / And now I know / That a hurdle hurts more / If the hurdle is yours / Let it go / The hurt’ll hurt a little bit more / Little bit more / The hurt’ll hurt a little bit more / Little bit more / If the hurdle is yours / Let it go / I had always seen on TV / What it's like to be weak / That wasn’t gonna be me / I tried to be strong for my sister / Our dad was gone and Mom didn't seem to miss him / It was wrong how he left her / Was it wrong how he left us? / I didn't ever consider it / That's just what death was / Fast forward two years / My mom sits me down to talk but it's just tears / She tells me that my best friend Shaun / Got hit by a car and he's dead, he's gone / She cried and hugged me and I felt / Nothin / I was shocked / I was scared / I was 12 / "So this is what my life is bout to be? / I can make it / I can take through these bouts," I believed / Did I grieve? / No, not really / Too hurt to feel pain / So I pretended I was healing / And now I know / That a hurdle hurts more / If the hurdle is yours / Let it go / The hurt’ll hurt a little bit more / Little bit more / The hurt’ll hurt a little bit more / Little bit more / If the hurdle is yours / Let it go / Scarred but not scared / 14 and fearless / Nervous bout nothin / Terrified and tearless / Never cried / Never shied away from tryin / My motto became ‘if I'm not cryin, I'm lyin” / Cause pain woulda been real / But my strength wasn’t / A man allows himself to feel hurt / A child doesn’t / So when another friend died the next year / Cuz he jumped off of a bridge / I allowed myself to feel / I knew the meaning of temporary / The cemetery was my secondary seminary / And that’s how I feel in February / Power is helpful but pain is necessary / To grow is to develop / Develop can mean to break / To break can mean to struggle / And struggle can lead to strength / So the lesson that I learned might sound strange / But the real strength’s ingrained in the pain / And now I know / That a hurdle hurts more / If the hurdle is yours / Let it go / The hurt’ll hurt a little bit more / Little bit more / The hurt’ll hurt a little bit more / Little bit more / If the hurdle is yours / Let it go.
13.
Hi, Heaven 02:53
And I make cents move / Dollars will fall / Babies will drool / Toddlers will crawl / Oh it ain’t cool? / Would y’all be enthralled / If I download new / Double click install / Ain’t parta no clique / Aint parta no squad / I don’t take shit / I’m a urinal stall / I wrote that shit when I was ten years old / Four feet tall / Minute like Bol / A spice like cinnamon woulda been cool / Cool like chilly / That’s a spice too / But all that I knew as I grew was truth / The truth was blue / Don’t be confused / Blue as in mood, not the dude / Blue as in who’s gonna leave next me or you? / Hey, you tryin to smoke some resin? / Pass the L to a peasant now he’s pleasant / True / You make me high / Head’s in the air / I know you got soul / If you didn’t you wouldn’t be in here / Tweetin with Talib / Sittin in the air / From DJ Whoo Kid to DJ Who Cares / I’m the heir to a bib / Cradle to a thrown / Throwin caution to the wind / Cuz that shit blows / I’m Sherlock Homesick / My destiny is to rest in peace / That’s the least I know / On over the hills / Through the woods I go / I ain’t over no hill / I be buried below / I was born via reincarnation / You mock as I walk saying, “We a car nation” / I’m a cornea / Dalmatians couldn’t spot my dilations / My eyes are a cadence / And I been beat up / Then got beat down / And since I been both / Now I’m even / Treason is what I be screamin if you claim that I ain’t been bleedin / Jesus / You make me high / Head’s in the air / I know you got soul / If you didn’t you wouldn’t be in here / Daryl strawberry blond / Not Barry Bonds / Check my juice / All genuine / Minimal baggage / No carry-on / And I love my life / Yes I’m very fond / No Evian / Backwards, naive flow / Drink tea til I’m native / Yo yo yo yo yo / No I don’t buy bull and I don’t tie bows / And I read the bible while doing Tae-Bo / High? No / You make me high / Head’s in the air / I know you got soul/ If you didn’t you wouldn’t be in here / You make me high / You make me high / You make me high.
14.
I was born in the city / I aint talkin Berlin / Ballin as a kiddie / Shouts to Pee-Wee Kirkland / I was always ready / I met a lotta girls, man / Most of them were pretty / Some coulda used a Merlin / Wasn't scared of Freddy / Never scared of hurtin / Wasn’t feelin pity / Always feelin certain / Confident and steady / Nonchalant and heading / To a constant onslaught / My mantra it was already / A medley of passion and pain / Every single thought was a blast to the brain / Squeeze my fist then relax it again / Laughing, crying / That is the same / There’s this girl / This girl I know / Who’d probably say ‘Pain’ if you ask for a name / But at the same time she encompasses life / Beauty, truth, compassion and change / No we never gonna change / No it’s never gonna stop / No it never even had a start / Cause before we ever met / And before we ever knew we existed we shared a heart / I remember from the moment that I met her / It already was forever that I’d known her face / From toes to legs to shoulder blades / I’ll hold her hand when I’m blowin away / We’ll die holding hands / Two cold bodies next to each other / Obsessed with each other / We could just rot and I’d bet we’d discover / Some way that we could be texting each other / Perplexed and sexed and vexed with each other / Shit, have we suffered? / Yes / Spite and junk / Fightin drunk / Bitin chunks from each other’s flesh / We’ve taken breaks / Made mistakes / Been poisoned / Lived with afflictions, addictions / Face to face with our fate’s embrace / When it’s gone we’ll miss the friction / I know one truth / The course of love never did run smooth / Of course I knew divorce and feuds / Before I grew to worship you / Who? / Who is this person? / My urban urchin / Curves that swerve like a serpent / So perfect that it’s disturbing / Lettuce and bourbon / Medicine, vermin / A combination of calm and drama / Baking cookies while cooking bacon / Exclamation points and commas / No we never gonna change / No it’s never gonna stop / No it never even had a start / Cause before we ever met / And before we ever knew we existed we shared a heart / I remember from the moment that I met her it already was forever that I’d known her face / From toes to legs to shoulder blades / I’ll hold her hand when I’m blowin away.

about

Jesse Abraham has presented himself as an artist of multiple facets, an articulate wordsmith whose dedication to the craft of emceeing is as apparent as his penchant for wittiness and unbridled candor. On I Am Water Abraham fearlessly explores the balancing act that is his life, combining the storytelling prowess of Nas with the lyrical dexterity of Andre 3000, and what emerges is a powerfully compelling narration, unparalleled in contemporary hip-hop. Though the soundscape of the album is reminiscent of his previous work, soaked in classic boom-bap assertiveness and innovative sonic exploration, Jesse Abraham uses I Am Water as an opportunity to explore his ability to adapt to multiple production styles. Recent Kanye West collaborator IllMind paints a third of the album’s production in a coat of pugnacious drum patterns and synths, while European producers Paul White (Danny Brown, Black Milk) and Tommy Black (Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q) contribute equally galvanizing backdrops on this, Abraham’s third, and perhaps finest work. Joining JA on the album are superb features from Chino XL, Emilio Rojas and Nitty Scott, MC, with whom Jesse seamlessly meshes, standing strong as a remarkably talented lyricist in his own right. Abraham’s previous mixtapes and albums have been available for free download, yet he chose to make I Am Water a sellable entity with 100% of the artist's proceeds going towards a worthy organization, Charity Water. Charity Water's impact is unquestionable. All public donations directly fund water projects in developing countries, and all it takes is about $20 to get clean water to an individual who previously did not have access to it. To make a donation towards JA's campaign please visit mycharitywater.org/JAWater.

credits

released January 29, 2014

Mixed & mastered by Alejandro "Sosa" Tello Jr.
Recorded at Ampliphonic Studios, Queens NY.
CD art by Megan Richards.
Cover art by Fresh Daily.
Fat Beats Records.
Copyright 2012
Jesse Abraham.

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Jesse Abraham Brooklyn, New York

UMA Lyricist of the Year Jesse Abraham was born in NYC. His debut LP, One Day, spent weeks on DJBooth’s Top 5 & was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2011 Underground Music Awards. In '12, HipHopDX declared him their “DXNext” artist, right at the start of Abraham’s push towards his next full-length LP, the project entitled I Am Water, scheduled for a 1/29/13 drop via Fat Beats Records. ... more

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