Verse 1: This the final straw, the guns are drawn. The wound’s too deep to scar No triumph songs when we’re mid-war. Blood red, white feather, black tar Cherokee, Choctaw, Blackfoot, Seminole On a trail of tears to a new frontier, Black cowboys - Yeehaw We’ve been here before. Sailed the seas guided by the stars Gatekeepers, opening doors. Tomb builders, ancient explorers Black sun. Gold daughters. Cell blocks new slave quarters Jailbirds and Black farmers planting seeds on block corners Scared crow call the beast on us, put the heat on us but we alchemists Stir in they belly - won’t feast on us, nor sleep on us. We spin gold from this And platinum, this for BLAK and them. Born Lord And King is the acronym Black, Black, Black and all its synonyms. Sea salt, cayenne and cinnamon I sip righteous rage with my juice and gin. Burn the sage, uncap the pen Tattoo the page so I can free my kin. If it ain’t forward it’s back again Black/Black again on the track again. Jackie Joyner for the race I’m in Black Panther in a world of mice and men. Stay awake for Breonna ain’t no sleeping in Transcription from Nikki Giovanni In Conversation with James Baldwin, 1971 JB: And it's very hard to recognize that the standards which have almost killed you are really mercantile standards. They're based on cotton; they're based on oil; they're based on peanuts; they're based on profits. NG: To this day. JB: To this hour… It's when you begin to realize all of that, which is not easy, that you begin to break out of the culture which has produced you and discover the culture which really produced you. Do you see what I mean? NG: Yes. JB: What really brought you to where you are… What it's all about is the attempt now to excavate something that has been buried. Something you contain and I contain and which your kid contains… Something one has to hand down the line for the sake of your kid and for the sake of future generations, and even for the sake of white people, who have not the remotest idea what this means. Verse 2: This for liberation like Passover. Remembering all that’s been passed over Step forward. Step closer. But learn from the past - that’s Sankofa This invocation of our dead soldiers, fire light when the griot’s spoken The blade charged when it carves the totem. This the fear of God like the preacher told us This for constellations and quilt patterns, for pig guts and bread batter For light beings and dark matter. This the Afro future on Mars and Saturn So saddle up, time to settle up. Chop it down ‘for we level up Burn it down now to ash and soot. This for fertile soil turning underfoot This for old ways under new moons. Planting seeds when the blood moves Record players riding deep grooves. This for Howlin’ Wolf and the Lightnin' tunes This Blacks and The Blues. These raps for the wounds. This herbs for the brew Ain’t no “Rest in Peace”, ain't been restful sleep since we napped in the womb The Christ is risen. The lotus blooms. From pitch black, muddy roots This for back doors lead to back rooms. We’ve forgotten more than we ever knew This for making way, for making do. With a washboard and a pair of spoons With a plot of land and a pair of mules. Trauma transformed and we forging tools

Chorus: Light Light Lightwork Light Light Lightwork Light Light Lightwork Light Light Lightwork VERSE 1: I’m not the one to play with, get caught in my cadence It’s all in the phrasing, I’m Charlotte in this web of a matrix. I duck the jab and Satan hates it, I dab in these haters’ faces They sweet n’ low, I’m no replacement, let’s face it I’m an assassin, move in the dark, remain faceless, Some no name but I’ll still give your favorite rapper a facelift Bravado flow that lets me know y’all listening when I say this: The Lost Tribe is the high vibe been missing from your playlist I chose lightwork, pay the bills to make the lights work Rather that, the path chose me, talking bout my life’s purpose, my life’s service Spoken word but I first heard it, ride the wave, I control the current Revved up like she said she purring and the sacrifice is more than worth it Feel the spirit surging, if it’s toxic then I purge it Demons hiding in the dark, I pull the curtain Sometimes, there ain’t no time for no rehearsing So to stay ready I grind heavy and keep putting my work in Chorus: Light Light Lightwork Light Light Lightwork Light Light Lightwork Light Light Lightwork VERSE 2: When there’s pain in my heart I don’t know where to start But I figure it’s art so I paint it, whether taking Shots in the dark, taking walks in the park I am sharpening darts cuz I’m aiming (yeah) Past the clothes and the cars, past the moon and the stars Won’t settle for Mars, I want Uranus I ain’t the one to play with, these cats are fouling flagrant ain’t wanna but it seems that I’ma have to go and take it, (yeah) Like the last of the Mohicans, I’m the last of the MC kids Never tweaking over sneakers, I’m just worried about my speakers And however far they’re reaching. Refine the words I’m speaking To define me as a beacon for all that we are seeking Cuz when I’m on the mic I’m sharper than Einstein Leave all these MCs square while I push lines Every rhyme I drop is complex They bars is suspect, my bars say success. It’s Chorus: Light Light Lightwork Light Light Lightwork Light Light Lightwork Light Light Lightwork Outro: Scared crow call the beast, put the heat on us but we alchemists Scared crow call the beast, put the heat on us but we alchemists Scared crow call the beast, put the heat on us but we alchemists but we alchemists but we alchemists but we alchemists but we alchemists

Verse 1 This ain’t bout cars or the clothes This ain’t bout silver or gold It’s a groove with a sexy soul So take shorty hand and move to the floor But just keep one ear on the speaker You and your fam, I’m trying to reach ya Not reach you like trying to teach you But like reaching out in a manner of speaking Consider this an invitation I couldn’t be more blatant We’re all descendants of The Lost Tribe of the Imagine Nation Yes, I imagine nations That are free from the war and the hatred I let me music state it Mindframe it and maintain the sacred Chorus Maintain the sacred Maintain the sacred Maintain the sacred Maintain the sacred Verse 2 Om Shanti Shanti Om Check the timezone, ET phone home This mantra not poem Get into my zone, I’m both here and gone That’s word to my moms Ishtar on the mic, these not hands these claws And I don’t spit just because Hock it, cockpit then we taking off Are you even here right now? Put your name on sacred ground, stomp loud Let these be the vows I got us in mind when I write it all down And I got half a mind to tear all this shit down Rebuild, realign with my tribe, sing out I won’t silence the war chant or stifle the rain dance cuz all this joy is sacred In the face of these haters, in the face of the demons, these accusers, these slanderers: we maintain our positive energy, we keep our heads high, we keep our smiles bright and we laugh in the face of that, that energy HA HA HA HA In the face of haters: ha ha ha ha (HA HA HA HA) In the face of haters we tell em: ha ha ha ha (HA HA HA HA) In the face of haters: ha ha ha ha (HA HA HA HA) In the face of haters we tell em: ha ha HA Maintain the sacred Maintain the sacred Maintain the sacred Maintain the sacred Maintain the sacred You joy is sacred Your pain is sacred Your rage is sacred Your love is sacred Your body’s sacred Your sex is sacred Maintain the sacred

She’s been touched and not by the hands of God, She changed, felt shame and nobody saw The demons unleashed behind closed doors. And still, under His eye, in the house of the Lord She got crept up on and felt up on, Girl child with a boy twice her age, that’s wrong. Creep underneath the pews where they sing them songs, Basement staircase where he debased they psalms. She couldn’t face her moms. Thought cuz she played along It was her that was wrong, she held the guild like a bomb. Only a matter of time before it got to her spine Rounded her shoulders and infected her mind So many “me oh my”s and “why oh why”s, she set fires An S.O.S. in every tear she cried and meanwhile Her screams fell silent, the pain was compiling, Still had to go to church Sunday morning suffering and smiling./ She turned to food when she need to be soothed, Sweet tooth hollowed out the root, a deep groove What was left, a dark tomb and a changed mood Young brain, broken frame before the blossom’s in bloom And that’s not even the half, More pain in the aftermath The sacrifice of the calf caught ablaze in the backdraft. And it turns out the pastor knew, so what’d the bastard do? Nothing! Lead Sunday school in the afternoons and she starts to brood like, “Fuck all of y'all and fuck God too!” Rage flames in her veins but remains covered up like the dark moon Cuz her mama said, “You can’t keep crying in your room, Just pick up the rug, grab the dust broom and keep moving.” Suppressed, compressed, no rest, depression. Teflon pressed on, kevlar, the vest’s on Her soul’s armored, heavy plated, the gold’s tarnished She asked her father, “Why’d you betray your sole honor?”// Protector? Protect her? Nah that’s all varnish. Now she barely hug her papa when she’s headed off the college And she’s angry at her mama, that’s the consequence of trauma On the whole tribe, now let me rewind this whole saga Don’t wanna miss shit, gotta tell her whole story. The internal battlegrounds are the ones that’s most gory, She worried. She poked and prodded herself She ate to gain weight so she could hide in herself. She lost pride in herself, apologized for herself. Thank God she chose to write what she felt But she couldn’t right it herself, the anxiety didn’t help It took time but she’ll find she owns every single part of herself Resenting being a target, she turned into a marksman. Reaped the harvest of a rotten seed planted too often. These devils breed in the silence and darkness While little girls are taught to lean into their softness./// But instead, her edge sharpened. Hawk eye, night vision on the thieves and the vultures. Mean-mugging so they think twice before they approach her Older and wiser she saw it’s ingrained in the culture. From the Wild Wild West to the Hip-Hop heads, Brutal stories glorified in the eyes of men. She idolized her big brothers, tried to get like them But just like them, it’s performative, it’s all pretend. She loves jazz and the blues and that boom boom bap But even the most “conscious” was misogynist in they raps. She was scared to chase her dreams, she almost fell back Tho she’s an artist so she carved herself a place on the map. A well springs forth. Telling her own story is the healing. Finding the chords on the keyboard to say what she is feeling. She speaks for women and femmes found dead and unreported. She is the picture of strength in a world meant to distort it.//// Warrior Spirit.

Verse 1 Cooking in the stu, say “Fraze, throw the beat on!” The scene ice-cold man, we finna turn the heat on We on. Go below, above and beyond Lightwork, shine bright, loud like neon Mama mia, it’s time for a re-up Need the dough, flip a pie, pizzeria We-a, need the cheese and the guac, quesadilla See I rip the mic, cast a spell, brujeria B.S. don’t float, I rock the boat like Aaliyah Hush your mouth or you’ll miss my demeanor Bang it through your speaker cuz you know I need the Real love like Muhammed and Khadijah Caravan through the desert just to see ya Not macking señoritas, I’m rapping for the bleachers Rhymes come twist a lime, margarita Bitter truth turning all the doubters to believers Chorus I’m in my bag Can’t jack my swag I’m not like this or that Don’t boast but I’m might brag I’m in my bag Can’t jack my swag I’m not like this or that Don’t boast but I’m might brag Verse 2 This ain’t about a double-tap no mo’ I’m blind to the haters, I don’t see no foe I slow mo hoes that’s tryna block my flow I dead the heads that turn red when my green’s on go So, like it or not this a bop, steady rock For the fiends, bend them knees, make it drop Make it shake, make it clap, make it pop But all that capping in your rap homie please make it stop I only spit that real real, no deal and no fear Kush and water flow, this that loud and clear So handle with care or beware, oh dear, My mind sharp like the head on a spear No joke, this beat knock-knock like, “who’s there?!” Ha ha, nah these dummies don’t dare compare Yea these guys patronize but couldn’t wear my pair No side-eye, flow Medusa, make ‘em stop and stare Chorus I’m in my bag Can’t jack my swag I’m not like this or that Don’t boast but I’m might brag I’m in my bag Can’t jack my swag I’m not like this or that Don’t boast but I’m might brag (Just bop to this) I’m in my bag (Just bop to this) Can’t jack my swag (Just bop to this) I’m not like this or that (Just bop to this) Don’t boast but I’m might, I might Fraze: One two, one two Get your light feet going One two, one two One two, one two Get your light feet going One two, one two It goes, step step one two two Get your one two two Get your one two two One two One two In my bag too One two One two In my bag too

No Fear Verse 1 Sometimes the work ain’t fun. Sometimes the stress ain’t real. It ain’t all glitter and gold when you get that deal. If you ain’t have “it” then you ain’t gon have “it” now. I’m not talking bout paper, nah this ain’t bout clout. The grass not always greener, the truth’s not always told In a world full of illusion, it’s the lie that’s bought and sold. Tear the smoke screen down and bare what’s on my soul Cuz that’s all you can take with you and the prize is growing old. Yea, I wanna be seen but I’m not a fiend for applause. Wanna make music and children who make children who call me “Grandma” My sight’s long. I write songs that I can stand on. My platform got no trap doors, word to my grandpa. I don’t slip through the cracks, I create ‘em. Through concrete floors and steel doors still found a way in Simultaneously carved a path for the way out Now 16 bars map the escape route so come now Chorus Tribe is on my side (no fear) Heart’s open wide (no fear) Casting fear aside (no fear) A lion in the pride (no fear) Post-Chorus I look my demons in the eye, tell em “no fear” I look them haters in the eye, I ain’t got no fear Look my demons in the eye, tell em “no fear” Look them haters in the eye Verse 2 Sometimes it seems that this music thing is all that I got It’s all that I want, so fuck it, roll another one up And put the beat on repeat until the rhyme is complete Cuz when it’s unfinished I lose sleep and feel the urgency Pen pressed to the loose leaf, nightmares with the loose teeth On brink like, “what my ancestors tryna teach me?” I thought I heard but apparently I wasn’t listening On some, “I know, I know” shit. Now I’m all alone just Me and my poems. It’s a rose until the thorn pricks. Blood drips down, red ink across the manuscript. Edit it, redirect the path that I was headed in Competitive, too concerned with who I’m worse or better than But ain’t nobody ever been me That ain’t a flex for who’s best, I’m talking lineage and legacy My fingerprint, the indent that my letters leave It’s mine. No man or matter of time is smudging me Tribe is on my side (no fear) Heart’s open wide (no fear) Casting fear aside (no fear) A lion in the pride (no fear) I look my demons in the eye, tell em “no fear” I look them haters in the eye, I ain’t got no fear Look my demons in the eye, tell em “no fear” Look them haters in the eye (She was scared to chase her dreams, she almost fell back) (But she’s an artist so she carved herself a place on the map)