The Rise of the Tiger Shadow

Tracklisting

Click on the track to view the lyrics

• 1 / W'Happen

  Verse 1

  W'happen to the good emcee, the rapper
  Mic-ripper, rhyme-spitter, whatever the weather
  Shake it up, breaker, breaker, funk soul brother
  Rappers today too cold, word to mother

  Come on, stop the ish, drop the anchor!
  That could only be the anthem of a ...
  You sound like a crime extravaganza
  Roll it back, take it back, back to the lyrical

  Man, it must be hard to be
  The grown man you're supposed to be
  When violence in movies and sex on TV
  Is all you ever seem to see

  Musical Interlude...

  Verse 2

  Back to back pure negativity
  Because you rep your endz you spit what you see
  Spit for the streets make brothers pack heat
  Your rhyme sounds sweet, ignorance you secrete

  Man, you can't blame hip-hop for all the ish
  But propagating it isn't really helping, is it?
  Our music is a very strong influence
  But a lot of what I hear just doesn't make sense

  Look, hip-hop is my default setting
  Old school, hi-speed dubbing of cassettes and
  Seeing it being ruined is a tad upsetting
  Hip-hop should have some etiquette ting

  I've got a wife, not for me, no gold-diggers, no!
  I've got a life, don't bore me with your kiddie flow
  Some people don't eat pork but they sniff coke
  Double cheeseburgers, large fries and a diet coke...oh no!

  Any who... over there it's soccer
  Not football, their vibe a different texture
  The Yanks seem fond of the trigger
  Our troubled youngsters feel the gangsta swagger

  Kill or be killed. Man, that stuff's so vulgar

• 2 / This is The Future

  Intro

  This is the future
  This is the future
  This is the future
  This is the future

  Verse 1

  Man, this is the future
  2000 and what, I'm a lil' bit older
  The grass is greener, a lil' bit stronger
  The kids are bolder, a lil' bit colder

  Spent my youth listening to Robert Nesta
  Haile Selassie I, and I not a Rasta
  Sorry, I love some pork with my pasta
  I don't wanna look like some kinda impostor

  They say you are what you eat; I say you are what you listen to
  Tiger Shadow crew, one, two, on a mission to
  Diversify the soundscape, give us your permission to
  Rock you with fresh sounds and funky compositions, you

  Wanna hear different stuff, don't you, I bet you do
  Bringing you brand new, fresh styles overdue
  None of them rappers have the career I want
  Man you can't stop us from breaking the barriers we want...

  To break, I am not the new nobody
  Komla MC, there's only one of me
  There's enough room for all types of MC's
  To stand out originality is the key

  I see where you're coming from, but that's not the only way
  And if you think that's the way, then you've already failed
  All day, homicidal wack tales about crack sales
  Gangsta fairytales to hide the fact you lack skills

  Man, find a nice somebody and just settle
  Keep a tight unit, a crew, a close circle... brethren
  Honestly, if you don't use the drug, don't tell it
  All that crack chat, all you do is sell it

  All that gun talk, crime talk, kill it
  I'd rather chat about some pork chops, grill it
  In your skillet
  Forget the guns and the bullets

  Hook

  This is the future
  This is the future
  This is the future
  This is the future

  Verse 2

  Man, this is the future
  Hip-hop did not die, whilst trying
  Hip-hop got rich and the public got tired
  Of all the lying, so they just stopped buying

  Man, this is the future
  The bloggers have all the news before the journalists
  It's much easier for recording artists
  Technology rules! Thank you Mr Scientist

  Keyboard, mouse, click, drag and drop
  We overindulge in home studios non-stop
  Imagine life without laptop and desktop
  You wouldn't get to hear my brand of hip-hop

  Neolithic mythic lyrics I use the Bic
  African linguistic skills through the mic...
  Mic, tomato, tomato, potato, potato
  Crack plus rap equals crap

  Behold bling rappers after the fool's gold
  Short-sighted, money remains the blindfold
  How many more mothers will be consoled?
  How many more brothers will be paroled?

  Watch how I transform scrap bits of paper
  Into new tunes with nuff lyrical flavour
  Yes Sir, I do concur
  I'm an old school hip-hop connoisseur

  We are becoming entrepreneurs
  Keep the milk clean like Louis Pasteur
  So uptight man, you need a masseur
  Male or female I wonder which you prefer

  Now this one here is a non-sequitur
  Another Appleton and it will all be a blur
  I'm not a gangsta in any way, shape or form
  And I'm not gonna spit that just to conform

  This is the future...

• 3 / Vernacular Spectacular

  1,2 Go!
  1,2 1,2...

  Verse 1

  I've been perfecting my craft for years
  I've studied this art, man lend me your ears
  I've paid attention to rhyme flows and mad skills
  Paper and pen I polished my flows and my skills

  Before we started with community studios
  Self-made geek, DIY home studio
  Communicate with my Midi Controller Yamaha
  Complicate it with my digital toys in Sonar

  Freestyling with Kofi and Dzifa since 04
  Started writing when rap went soft-core
  A lot of what I hear is so bloody immature
  My stuff deffo sounds better, of that I'm sure

  The tonal nature of my vernacular
  Makes me rap with this here rhyme structure
  Chale, you can't mess with the mother tongue
  Since my baby days I haven't really hit the bong

  Verse 2

  Man everyone in this world has issues
  Big issues in Mogadishu
  Then you go and rap about your new shoes
  Small feet, big shoes, you snooze, you lose

  Go west, life is peaceful there
  At best, man, life can be blissful here
  Heaven, 7-11's open 24/7
  Before you know it things fall apart, man what the devil?

  Knives, Mac-11's, AK-47's
  And you know it's been a bit weird since 911
  It's on a-whole-nother mother wother level

  The one eyed man is leading the blind
  Common sense is hard to find
  Like reggae-reggae sauce
  Reggae-reggae sauce

• 4 / What do You know about it

  Chorus

  The respect
  The art form
  The poetry
  The flow

  The ill rhymes
  The good vibes
  The swagger
  The show
  (What d'you know about it?)

  Verse 1

  Lord, help me please
  This ain't a freestyle, man I write these treats
  Don't bother competing better start to retreat
  Please, you're messing with some real OG's

  Original rhymes like these
  Wacktose intolerant, I make it with no cheese
  Put some thought into it, show some expertise
  Like I said, you're messing with some real OG's

  I don't just rhyme for the hell of it
  When I grab the mic I say something relevant
  Yes We Can! People, change is evident
  The Black Man made the White House his residence

  There's really no need to go bearing arms
  Unless you wanna end up on your best friend's arm
  As a tattoo, ah-tishoo, excuse me when I bless you
  With this musical juju, with Tiger Shadow crew

  Chorus

  The respect
  The art form
  The poetry
  The flow

  The ill rhymes
  The good vibes
  The swagger
  The show
  (What d'you know about it?)

  Verse 2

  Man, what do you know about being a man?
  What do you really know about loving a woman?
  Make yourself sound like Don Juan Superman
  With the emotional depth of a one-night stand

  Now everyone is packing ammunition, shank or metal
  I'm old school, back in the day we used to arm wrestle
  They make the most noise, you know, those empty vessels
  Deep down they're probably soft like rose petals...

  Musical Interlude...

  Verse 3

  Say, maybe, you could even chat about mortgages
  Perhaps, instead of glamorising 9 gauges
  I might pay some attention, you just might engage us
  Brethren, break out of your boxes and cages

  Lord, help me please
  They say the early bird gets the worm, please
  I say the second mouse gets the cheese, please
  Chill! Even monkeys fall out of trees...

  Chorus

  The respect
  The art form
  The poetry
  The flow

  The ill rhymes
  The good vibes
  The swagger
  The show

  (What d'you know about it?)

• 5 / Escape

  Verse 1

  Last year we go stand for altar
  No more life of a balling bachelor
  My rhymes I dey chat like some banter
  The beat funky like your local boozer

  Dem pints no dey taste like Bu-Bra
  Comot for there with your chips and your burger
  I come here as a likkle youth, a youngster
  The place dey do and turn me into some kinda hustler

  So long as it no turn me into gangsta
  E no dey hia say I go go see some pastor...or preacher
  Dis be some wicked spiritual mixture
  Of higher beats and rhymes for you the listener

  To build dis track for your listening pleasure
  We use the computer the pestle and the mortar!
  To build dis track for your listening pleasure
  We use the computer the pestle and the mortar!

  Chorus

  Escape before the pressure becomes torture...

  Verse 2

  I no really dey use no ghetto grammar
  Kwashiman no be ghetto, e be nice area
  No feral teenage kids pulling triggers
  Unless u be some bloody fool armed robber

  That one die, public justice, grim reaper
  E no be rumour, open public, no whisper
  You feel say I dey lie, ask the P&P seller
  For here, they dey get away with bloody murder

  Your neighbour be the mugger, the buster, the happy slapper
  This Ayigbe skin thick like leather
  Sturdy like timber, chale! Built for this pressure
  Escape before the pressure becomes torture

  Escape before the pressure becomes torture

• 6 / Narration

  Narration, narration, narration, narration

  Inspiration, perspiration, motivation, meditation
  Imagination, administration, application, registration
  Immigration, familiarisation, legislation, participation
  Ramification, election, station, dramatisation
  Flagellation, invasion, plantation, gesticulation

  Degradation, desecration, salvation, elevation
  Vibration, liberation, expectation, one-nation
  Population, starvation, escalation, damnation
  Cannibalisation, depravation, misinformation, devastation
  Falsification, fabrication, fascination, pontification

  Verse 2

  Mastication, lactation, salivation, gyration
  Masturbation, fornication, defecation, urination
  Exsanguination, suffocation, strangulation, hibernation
  Procreation, incubation, regeneration, multiplication
  Duplication, magnification, immunisation, vaccination

  Sanitation, mineralisation, calcification, hospitalisation
  Urbanisation, justification, separation, manipulation
  Marginalisation, oversimplification, location, location, location
  Capitalisation, jazzification, education, elation
  Qualification, facilitation, vocation, stabilisation

  Emancipation, jubilation, celebration
  Jubilation, celebration
  Jubilation, celebration
  Jubilation, celebration

• 7 / Star Chaser

  Intro

  Back to reality... (reality)

  Verse 1

  Back to reality
  Dis beat sick, bacteriology
  I no be rapper, dis e be takashi
  I bravely take my hobby break the monotony

  With no posse, just me and my funky self
  Buga-buga or legit, stay true to self
  The rapper dey sing like e be tone-deaf
  Moki time the paddies just for pack and left

  The best medicine they say e be laughter
  Some my brethren too dey claim say e be blifter
  To each their own anything to ease the pressure
  What's the worst that could happen? Dr Pepper

  If u no fit control am watch the liquor
  Otherwise your mouth go need some muzzler
  Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper
  So I picked myself a pencil and some paper

  Musical Interlude...

  Verse 2

  Failing in my search to find me a rapper
  Nobody to nail my beats proper proper
  Scholar juggler, try the mic, see the swift results
  E make I shiver like juju, voodoo, the occult

  Me talking about crack, chale, never
  Wicked drummer, smelling fresh, e be camphor
  Low batt, cha! you get Nokia charger?
  Hmm, prime minister used to be chancellor

  Seemingly random, just practising my flow
  Practice makes perfect, cliché lingo
  Look beyond the baldhead, spot the halo
  Yamaha maestro, no macho

  Some brand new sh** like an embryo
  I'm bored of uninspired sh** on the radio
  Makes me wanna fast forward like some porno
  Get out my face with your mambo-jambo

  Ignorant boys on the mic with some hustler sh**
  Fast cars, too much bass, annoying music
  Formula wannabees driving like grand pricks
  If it ain't broke don't try to fix it

  But it is broke, Jim, will u fix it
  No more knuckle fights, quick to draw biscuits
  Guns and crack don't make you bigger
  If only they could see the bigger picture

  If only they could see the bigger picture...

• 8 / Terracotta Blues

  Verse 1

  The worst in us is now normal and accepted
  I thought MC's had to be lyrically gifted
  Or at least say something to spiritually lift ya
  Or maybe something you can sit and chill and drift ta

  So how many half naked women
  Sipping Cristal draped in diamonds
  By the poolside in your rented mansion
  In your borrowed cars, fake champagne fountains

  Before we all agree (that stuff is tired now)
  Who cares about the blah blah rims on your tyres now
  I think we all agree (that stuff is tired now)
  The kids are beginning to believe your lies now

  This dumb-downing propaganda should not be allowed
  Record labels turn ex-cons into cash cows
  On the TV here comes another buffoon
  Opens his mouth, with some more stereotypical poo

  Silly billy lyrics, looking like some cartoon
  It's a shame he had to go and ruin that tune
  If you want us to just dance, that's cool
  In fact, I love the odd Missy and Nelly tune

  It doesn't all have to be about packing tools
  Do something useful, go back to school
  There's no need to waste the platform you've been given
  To continuously glamorise that gangsta drivel

  I'm tired of hearing about guns and crack
  And mother-loving bling and ting and that
  Of that opinion I'm not alone
  We want more intelligent stuff to get us in the zone

  Forget being trendy cool, man I'm no fool
  What do I know, maybe I'm just old school
  But that thing with diamonds is a funny trend
  I thought diamonds was a girl's best friend

  I'm blessed with a level of awareness
  That makes it impossible to enjoy the wackness
  That mainstream hip-hop offers
  Full of lazy lyrics and curses for verses

  Verse 2

  Hip hop used to be diverse
  Remember the golden age, oh my word!
  From the playful verses of Tribe Called Quest
  Digable Planets, De La Soul, Das EFX

  To the conscious words of the conscious rapper
  Arrested Development, KRS-One and Gangstarr
  The list is endless. Man, I'll need more paper
  And none of it was talking about a crime caper

  Enough! With your plated grills and your strip clubs
  Enough! With your no skills and your pimp cups
  Enough! With your run-of-the-mill fake thugs
  Enough! You know the drill, sipping on bub...

• 9 / Iron Filings

  Here we go!

  Verse 1

  I'm feeling this beat I'm spitting yo
  With my main man Tycho in the studio
  With my crew Tiger Shadow in stereo
  Maybe one day you will hear us on the radio

  With the original Ghanaian flow yo
  Vibing with the spirit I bring from the Gold Coast
  With the hardcore training from Cape Coast
  Could be one of the best, I'm not trying to boast

  Komla MC, I brung you something new
  Respect to all my positive hardworking crew
  You know the rules, hustle hard for your daily food
  Where I'm from killing your own is a taboo (Chale)

  So I don't really get this hoo-de-hoo
  It's either murder-murder or cheese fondue
  Excuse me, the African man coming through
  Little pickneys go to bed! It's your curfew

  To my youths too cool for school
  Wise up or you will end up a damn fool
  Girlfriend, your dress, a bit too see through
  Enough of that, man I don't wanna preach to you. Cool?

  Break

  Here we go yo!
  Here we go, here we go yo! (repeat)

  Verse 2

  Man, look around
  The root of evil and it makes the world go round
  There's no doubt, we're all trying to chase the pound
  But negativity is not how I get down

  I stay on the straight and narrow like cornrow
  I'm not built to move kilos for big dough
  Could your heart really be that hollow
  Wake up! A long time since the cock crow, oh

  Easy with the hardness, chill out geezer
  Too much violence I'm on the brink of a seizure
  Who do I think I am? That man from Ghana
  Chale, pass the ting and gimme hope Joanna

  Life imitates art, you don't know
  It's like we're stuck in Grand Theft Auto
  It's like we're stuck in Grand Theft Auto
  It's like we're stuck in Grand Theft Auto

• 10 / That's because it is...

  Verse 1

  I'm not the kind of brother to just sit about
  When there's too much negativity, too much to speak about
  Man, I don't wanna sound too preachy or owt
  But there's a bit too much doggone rubbish about

  And when it's dark it's not safe to go walkabout
  Mess about and get stabbed by a lager lout
  So I'm gonna do my thing positive, scream and shout
  No arms house round here, music is our clout

  West African MC, modern day griot
  For my brothers and sisters, bwanas and gringos
  The American Dream is mostly a nightmare
  It's bound to promote too much debt and despair

  It's impossible for one man to change the world
  But there's gotta be better shepherds to lead the herd
  No pimps, hustlers or drug dealers
  Certainly not the Governator!

  Chorus

  That's the way of the world
  We're trying to make a change
  Our attempts are not in vain...

  That's the course it takes
  That's the course it takes
  That's because it is...

  Verse 2

  Good music out there, not all doom and gloom
  Still, it's largely ignored like Bibles in hotel rooms
  It shouldn't stop you if you love it through and through
  If you're consumed by music, from womb to tomb

  Merit substance and originality most lack
  Their ignorance pulls the culture few steps back
  Over-used topics promoting violence and hatred
  Or sugary sweet sickly pop sugar-coated

  Same playlists all day on the radio
  It's about as funny as hitting your funny bone
  One-dimensional images in videos
  Makes me wanna throw the telly out the window

  Kids in Africa dying mining diamonds
  So our friends can wear huge blinging medallions
  At whose command did the bar get so low?
  At which point did the rap get so cold?

  Chorus

  That's the way of the world
  We're trying to make a change
  Our attempts are not in vain...

  That's the course it takes
  That's the course it takes
  That's because it is...

• 11 / Hold on Tightly

  Verse 1

  Komla MC wyling out on the road
  Like the Africans jumping out of the boats
  Astrologically tenth sign the goat
  This musical raft could keep you afloat

  What dominates the scene is apparent
  Uzis, Glocks, Lugers, double barrels
  Mobsters, pimps, gangsters, drug barons
  I keep a safe distance, at least 2 chevrons

  Nice surprise, like finding a tenner in your jeans pocket
  When I grabs mics and plugs into sockets
  Steals your attention like pickpockets
  Brothers often act like crabs in a bucket

  Spitting rhymes, no sweat, not a hair out of place
  Quick time, wait less, like it's outer space
  No grace is commonplace in this rat race
  Reasonable man, get off my case

  Chorus

  Feel the rhythm like...
  No more schisms like...
  Feel the rhythm like...
  No more schisms like...

  Feel the rhythm like...
  No more schisms like...
  Feel the rhythm like...
  Hold on tightly!

  Verse 2

  Fast life, fast cars and fast women
  It's the way of the world, futuristic, modern
  Lemonade is made from artificial flavours and
  Furniture polish is made from real lemons

  Pizza arrives before the ambulance
  How to dance and romance without finance?
  Land of the free, land of milk and honey
  Now skimmed, sugar-free, not even funny

  Today, hunter-gatherers go shopping
  Get ready meals probably do a bit of chopping
  Remove sleeve and pierce film several times
  It's dinner time, when the microwave chimes

  Now before we end this song
  What's with the nations killing people who are killing people
  To show that killing people is wrong?

  Chorus

  Feel the rhythm like...
  No more schisms like...
  Feel the rhythm like...
  No more schisms like...

  Feel the rhythm like...
  No more schisms like...
  Feel the rhythm like...
  Hold on tightly!

  Musical Outro Finale...

Credits