Stripe 2 EP

Tracklisting

Click on the track to view the lyrics

• 1 / Inner City

  Verse 1

  Mic check, one, two, nowhere to run to
  Hell's frozen over, pigs fly, swine flu
  You already know what we do
  Brand new for you, hot off the barbecue

  From my cerebral cortex to my princes and paupers
  Fresh rainwater for the sons and daughters
  Life is lost whether murder or manslaughter
  Water round here don't taste like what it ought ta

  My dear, there's a few things we should get clear
  It's obvious what's going on round here
  Deprivation leads to toughness
  Necessary roughness to survive the darkness

  Shell shocked and poverty-stricken
  Too many issues to bother politicking
  No competition, how could they be driven
  Young men, they're bound to lose, now that's a given

  Chorus

  Inner city life
  Inner city pressure

  Verse 2

  I bet you didn't expect an Ewe tribesman
  To come forth with such lyrical vibes man
  Don't fret we've got what you need
  So fresh, funky rhymes, satisfaction guaranteed

  Live, from the city of Leeds
  Things ain't always what it seems in this music scene
  The supreme team grand-scheming to redeem
  By any means, we're gonna live this dream

  With tight rhythms make them stiff necked fools tap
  And jive and bop their heads till their neck snap
  Quantise the head nods till they whiplash
  Tiger Shadow with another b-b-b-bash

  All types of stunts, eating soup with chopsticks
  Not allowed round here, the pony with one trick
  I don't bother with that gun-toting rhetoric
  You shouldn't be allowed weapons bigger than your...toothpick

  Stick up people it's the Ice Age now
  Cold hearts, too high, stay down
  It's kinda hard to keep from going under
  It's too cold to sit out on the verandah

  Two tribes go to war
  It's all Big Brother like 1984
  CCTV snooping on citizens galore
  This kind of stuff is hard to ignore, y'all

  Chorus

  Inner city life
  Inner city pressure

• 2 / Gambit

  Verse 1

  This right here is my gambit
  I'm just gonna go all out, Van Damme it
  I offer an antidote to mainstream hip hop
  The same old that dominates the airwaves non-stop

  Don't get it twisted man I love gangsta rap
  As much as the next fan, Tarantino on wax
  Like a good gangster movie helps to kickback, relax
  But these days that rap sounds wack

  No need for CD's it's all on MP3
  Click on http and it's all for free
  Waste of time making a mixtape C60
  I'd rather play me some Seasick Steve

  Verse 2

  Halt! Who goes there?
  You know we don't really believe in ghosts here
  Who he? Komla MC
  I come with fresh versatility and individuality

  It's not all good in the hood
  Rap about fatherhood, or doing something good
  Like Robin Hood, driftwood, in your neck of the woods
  So you should, best way to prove your manhood

  What we have is the determination of the salmon,
  Ayigbe spirit and the strength of a ram, Capricorn
  I'm cut from a different cloth, man I'm Ghana-born
  And I don't think it's cool to be a vagabond

  Of course you are free to choose what you glorify
  The code that you live by
  And if it all fails and you have to resort to crime
  Live and let die, you do the crime, you do the time

  Verse 3

  Don't believe the hypotenuse
  It's like the daily dose of misery on the news
  Don't confuse the defendant with the accused
  Too much booze, drug abuse, man they've got nothing to lose

  They wash their dirty linen in public, launderette
  Girls rush in head first, Marie Antoinette
  Today's ladies, silhouettes of suffragettes
  Use proper contraception, not Vatican Roulette

  People and computers catching viruses
  I write my verses, hooks and choruses
  Using dictionaries and thesauruses
  Stampede like a herd of rhinoceroses

  I do my thing, no bling, except the wedding ring
  Bringing my message in rhymes I don't sing
  I do my thing, no bling, except the wedding ring
  I don't sing

• 3 / Good Times

  Verse 1

  This one diε it be cool vibes
  Something to celebrate the good times, oh my
  The music dey online, make you go buy
  Feel this one in my waters as I flow, kai

  So many lyrics this one it be chew and pour
  What they dey call snitching, we dey call am lapour
  The game dey play like cricket, we dey call am chaskele
  What the boys dey play, the girls dey play ampe

  Since the last time I grab the mic
  Wey I nail my raps with my kind pidgin rhymes
  I no hear nobody dey do the same kind style
  Over wicked riddims like the way we shine

  Know your roots Kunta Kinte
  Brothers and sisters everybody wear Kente
  You and what army can harm me
  Scratch that, US Army can harm we

  Verse 2

  They say everything dey happen for the best
  But for the truly wicked there is no rest
  I no dey see the reason why you put on a vest
  I guess you need it to survive in the Wild Wild West

  Round here we no dey drink sizzurp
  While we are at it, brotherman pull your trousers up
  We dey move in silence but we no be bad boys
  It be easier to think without so much noise

  Not hanging out with infidels sipping Zinfandel
  Not rolling deep with large crews lots of decibels
  Hotel, motel, not a hope in hell
  Better off using your passive aggressive to rebel

  Anyway all work and no play, you know what they say
  Play by all means play, but you know say
  Your words dey ricochet, so chale
  Watch what you say okay

  Verse 3

  When I mix my Ghanaian vocal cords
  With Jim Tycho and him sharp musical swords
  We dey come up with something to applaud
  We go take the competition wipe the floorboards

  This be my therapy
  I bring you pidgin rhymes in 3-D
  This one tough, it dey like wele
  Hot and spicy like roadside kelewele, hey

  I no be thug, I no be backpacker
  My brother I dey rap, smooth operator
  How the hell him be the hottest rapper
  When he no dey fit put simple rhymes together

  If you like it, holla on the dog and bone
  And if you don't get it you ain't supposed to, you know
  Sharpening my skills to make I and I pro
  Not a long way to go though, mofo!

Credits