New!
Texas Back II (Freestyle) by Justin Ray
Hiatus Kaiyote Drop “Telescope” Single
13 hours ago
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Talking to the Sky (Beat by DC of Wake and Bake Beats)
New ish
Talking to the Sky (Beat by DC of Wake and Bake Beats) by Justin Ray
Lyrics:
((hook))
how you fill the emptiness you feel inside?
need a bottle of brown water boy I can't lie
I'm just walking talking up into a gray sky
but y'all don't hear me y'all just wanna turn the bass high
how you fill the emptiness you feel inside?
need a bottle of brown water boy I can't lie
I'm just walking talking up into a gray sky
y'all don't hear me, let them drums and the bass ride
++++
there's a war going on inside, no man is safe from
what you expect? era of customization
crazy blaming Illuminatis and Masons
the biggest hater is within, turn and face him
custom news, so your accustomed views
ain't accosted, regardless of if it is the truth
the devices that keep us connected
leave us more detached and disrespected
never expect intellect and intelligent talk
they message is as subtle as an elephant walks
a grown man's attention span is 8 seconds
if my words are complicated you won't respect it
unexpected, unconnected, I got no defense
I'm speaking Mandarin in Guatemala making no sense
leaders don't how to follow so my path is alone
handling all my tomorrows, getting this on my own, so let's go
++++
((hook))
how you fill the emptiness you feel inside?
need a bottle of brown water boy I can't lie
I'm just walking talking up into a gray sky
but y'all don't hear me y'all just wanna turn the bass high
how you fill the emptiness you feel inside?
need a bottle of brown water boy I can't lie
I'm just walking talking up into a gray sky
y'all don't hear me, let them drums and the bass ride
++++
universe is 98 percent empty
so simply, human life reflects that, I MC
thoughts from a lost soul tattered and torn
looking in the mirror wonder why I was born
I'm forlorn on a cell phone with no one, Joe Horn
on in the end zone of life like somehow I scored
but I ain't like the game and my team resents me
I'm stuck in a uniform that don't represent me
this goes for all facets of life, you ever felt like
you don't belong where you are, it never felt right
smelt like you were dealt right but thought left
now somewhere in the middle you preoccupied with death
Oceanic Airlines, confusing and lost
I ain't got the answers I'm just sharing the thoughts
there's a war going on inside, no man is safe from
what you expect? era of customization
++++++
((hook))
how you fill the emptiness you feel inside?
need a bottle of brown water boy I can't lie
I'm just walking talking up into a Texas sky
but y'all don't hear me y'all just wanna turn the bass high
how you fill the emptiness you feel inside?
need a bottle of brown water boy I can't lie
I'm just walking talking up into a Texas sky
y'all don't hear me, let them drums and the bass ride
Talking to the Sky (Beat by DC of Wake and Bake Beats) by Justin Ray
Lyrics:
((hook))
how you fill the emptiness you feel inside?
need a bottle of brown water boy I can't lie
I'm just walking talking up into a gray sky
but y'all don't hear me y'all just wanna turn the bass high
how you fill the emptiness you feel inside?
need a bottle of brown water boy I can't lie
I'm just walking talking up into a gray sky
y'all don't hear me, let them drums and the bass ride
++++
there's a war going on inside, no man is safe from
what you expect? era of customization
crazy blaming Illuminatis and Masons
the biggest hater is within, turn and face him
custom news, so your accustomed views
ain't accosted, regardless of if it is the truth
the devices that keep us connected
leave us more detached and disrespected
never expect intellect and intelligent talk
they message is as subtle as an elephant walks
a grown man's attention span is 8 seconds
if my words are complicated you won't respect it
unexpected, unconnected, I got no defense
I'm speaking Mandarin in Guatemala making no sense
leaders don't how to follow so my path is alone
handling all my tomorrows, getting this on my own, so let's go
++++
((hook))
how you fill the emptiness you feel inside?
need a bottle of brown water boy I can't lie
I'm just walking talking up into a gray sky
but y'all don't hear me y'all just wanna turn the bass high
how you fill the emptiness you feel inside?
need a bottle of brown water boy I can't lie
I'm just walking talking up into a gray sky
y'all don't hear me, let them drums and the bass ride
++++
universe is 98 percent empty
so simply, human life reflects that, I MC
thoughts from a lost soul tattered and torn
looking in the mirror wonder why I was born
I'm forlorn on a cell phone with no one, Joe Horn
on in the end zone of life like somehow I scored
but I ain't like the game and my team resents me
I'm stuck in a uniform that don't represent me
this goes for all facets of life, you ever felt like
you don't belong where you are, it never felt right
smelt like you were dealt right but thought left
now somewhere in the middle you preoccupied with death
Oceanic Airlines, confusing and lost
I ain't got the answers I'm just sharing the thoughts
there's a war going on inside, no man is safe from
what you expect? era of customization
++++++
((hook))
how you fill the emptiness you feel inside?
need a bottle of brown water boy I can't lie
I'm just walking talking up into a Texas sky
but y'all don't hear me y'all just wanna turn the bass high
how you fill the emptiness you feel inside?
need a bottle of brown water boy I can't lie
I'm just walking talking up into a Texas sky
y'all don't hear me, let them drums and the bass ride
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
2Racks Brooklyn: A Synopsis
Last night I was in Brooklyn, NY for the 2Racks Rap Contest. It was a... worthwhile experience. Some observations:
1. Totally disorganized. Didn't start until 10, when the ticket and contract said 8. I suppose that's to be expected, though. Oh, and by start, I mean the host went on and did a 3-song set of his own a little after 10. What I found ironic was that the contest stressed performing completely original songs, yet he rapped over 2 different 2Pac beats.
2. This thing lasted entirely too long. This was a 32-artist tournament, with each musician performing 1:30 of a song. Judges pick the better song, that artist moves on. Nice concept, but when you spend 4 minutes bullshitting between each performance, it takes FOREVER.
I don't know how it finished, because I didn't perform my 2nd round song until 1:30 AM. Brooklyn law says they were going to have to shut the place down at 2 AM. So, from 10:30 PM to 1:30 AM, there were fewer than 48 songs performed. That breaks down to an average of 3:45 real time elapsed per song performed. At that rate, they would have finished at roughly 3 in the morning.
The place was full at the start, 70% when I did my first song, and at about 30% when I did my second song. That line graph trends downward for the championship round.
Also, the host REALLY liked to talk about all the great things he was doing for us by putting this together. If you're profiting off of something you're organizing, your self-proclaimed benevolence kind of loses steam.
Also, one judge was visibly drunk when I did my first song. That number climbed to 2 when I did my second one. Maybe that's why I "lost" to a dude wearing some kind of forest animal. Watch the video to understand:
The crowd and DJ's responses to me throughout the night though tells me I'm doing something right. I sold a handful of CD's and was on stage for the first time in a while.
That, and a chubby white kid from suburban Houston performed at a rap show in Brooklyn. Which is a lot in itself.
1. Totally disorganized. Didn't start until 10, when the ticket and contract said 8. I suppose that's to be expected, though. Oh, and by start, I mean the host went on and did a 3-song set of his own a little after 10. What I found ironic was that the contest stressed performing completely original songs, yet he rapped over 2 different 2Pac beats.
2. This thing lasted entirely too long. This was a 32-artist tournament, with each musician performing 1:30 of a song. Judges pick the better song, that artist moves on. Nice concept, but when you spend 4 minutes bullshitting between each performance, it takes FOREVER.
I don't know how it finished, because I didn't perform my 2nd round song until 1:30 AM. Brooklyn law says they were going to have to shut the place down at 2 AM. So, from 10:30 PM to 1:30 AM, there were fewer than 48 songs performed. That breaks down to an average of 3:45 real time elapsed per song performed. At that rate, they would have finished at roughly 3 in the morning.
The place was full at the start, 70% when I did my first song, and at about 30% when I did my second song. That line graph trends downward for the championship round.
Also, the host REALLY liked to talk about all the great things he was doing for us by putting this together. If you're profiting off of something you're organizing, your self-proclaimed benevolence kind of loses steam.
Also, one judge was visibly drunk when I did my first song. That number climbed to 2 when I did my second one. Maybe that's why I "lost" to a dude wearing some kind of forest animal. Watch the video to understand:
The crowd and DJ's responses to me throughout the night though tells me I'm doing something right. I sold a handful of CD's and was on stage for the first time in a while.
That, and a chubby white kid from suburban Houston performed at a rap show in Brooklyn. Which is a lot in itself.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
A Word I Never Said
I wanted to talk about a word that permeates the music I love, that I'll never personally say.
A Word I Never Said by Justin Ray
#MarchMadness
Lyrics (forgive typos - I write these fast and without concern for most diction)
I never said the word because I didn't deserve to
like they didn't deserve what that word referred to
rap altered the meaning yeah I know, I heard you
but I still refuse to say it to the dudes in my circle
in the South people said it out of anger and hate
historic weight of that word you could never debate
you think it then you aren't thinking or you'll never relate
so this message lost essence just turn off the tape
slur word originated from the Spanish for black
roots in Latin, as it happens roots can grow back
blanket term for a people never tells the whole tale
same word can invoke 400 years of hell
Dick Gregory told me that censoring it is wrong
Cornel West said the rhythm of it put it in songs
Richard Pryor went to Africa, came back and stopped
wouldn't say it on stage, whether for laughs or not
nobody thought I'd fight em when they said it 'round me
like no Vietcong said it to Muhammad Ali
please read up on Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige
had to dominate before Jackie Robinson's days
attitude was Ren, E, Cube, Doctor Dre
Nas tried to call his album that, the label made him change
Mark Twain made a point to put it inside books
so 100 years later we'd get inside looks
Texas legislature all intellectual crooks
re-shaping America, changing history books
The United States past, impossible to defend
so Republicans will try to take it out of Huck Finn, uh
Nah I never said it, that's a word I never said
I heard it and I read it, won't repeat the word again
Nah I never said it, that's a word I never said
I heard it and I read it, won't repeat the word again
even if it isn't obvious, it reaches beyond
you see hate throughout politics, the people respond
racism isn't dead, it's renamed and spawned
it live on Fox News whenever Glenn Beck comes on
it's embedded in the messages of much of the right
"take back our country" guess who they wanna fight
your life insignificant if you ain't wealthy or white
and they call you something different when you aint in their sight
that's unless you want to give your MasterCard a swipe
make a purchase they turn from nervous to helping you right
everybody in the tea party holding a gripe
and colored or enlightened then prepare for a fight
a Muslim in an airport and everyone panic
protect borders is code for keep out the Hispanics
I was handed a gift, and I can't use it for wrong
that's why you're never gonna hear me say that word in a song
Nah I never said it, that's a word I never said
I heard it and I read it, won't repeat the word again
Nah I never said it, that's a word I never said
I heard it and I read it, won't repeat the word again
I never said the word because I didn't deserve to
like they didn't deserve what that word referred to
rap altered the meaning yeah I know, I heard you
but I still refuse to say it to the dudes in my circle
if that makes me archaic or makes me outdated
I choose to show my age, I refuse to say it
cause history will tell you why that word so strong
and for me to ever say it would just be so wrong
A Word I Never Said by Justin Ray
#MarchMadness
Lyrics (forgive typos - I write these fast and without concern for most diction)
I never said the word because I didn't deserve to
like they didn't deserve what that word referred to
rap altered the meaning yeah I know, I heard you
but I still refuse to say it to the dudes in my circle
in the South people said it out of anger and hate
historic weight of that word you could never debate
you think it then you aren't thinking or you'll never relate
so this message lost essence just turn off the tape
slur word originated from the Spanish for black
roots in Latin, as it happens roots can grow back
blanket term for a people never tells the whole tale
same word can invoke 400 years of hell
Dick Gregory told me that censoring it is wrong
Cornel West said the rhythm of it put it in songs
Richard Pryor went to Africa, came back and stopped
wouldn't say it on stage, whether for laughs or not
nobody thought I'd fight em when they said it 'round me
like no Vietcong said it to Muhammad Ali
please read up on Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige
had to dominate before Jackie Robinson's days
attitude was Ren, E, Cube, Doctor Dre
Nas tried to call his album that, the label made him change
Mark Twain made a point to put it inside books
so 100 years later we'd get inside looks
Texas legislature all intellectual crooks
re-shaping America, changing history books
The United States past, impossible to defend
so Republicans will try to take it out of Huck Finn, uh
Nah I never said it, that's a word I never said
I heard it and I read it, won't repeat the word again
Nah I never said it, that's a word I never said
I heard it and I read it, won't repeat the word again
even if it isn't obvious, it reaches beyond
you see hate throughout politics, the people respond
racism isn't dead, it's renamed and spawned
it live on Fox News whenever Glenn Beck comes on
it's embedded in the messages of much of the right
"take back our country" guess who they wanna fight
your life insignificant if you ain't wealthy or white
and they call you something different when you aint in their sight
that's unless you want to give your MasterCard a swipe
make a purchase they turn from nervous to helping you right
everybody in the tea party holding a gripe
and colored or enlightened then prepare for a fight
a Muslim in an airport and everyone panic
protect borders is code for keep out the Hispanics
I was handed a gift, and I can't use it for wrong
that's why you're never gonna hear me say that word in a song
Nah I never said it, that's a word I never said
I heard it and I read it, won't repeat the word again
Nah I never said it, that's a word I never said
I heard it and I read it, won't repeat the word again
I never said the word because I didn't deserve to
like they didn't deserve what that word referred to
rap altered the meaning yeah I know, I heard you
but I still refuse to say it to the dudes in my circle
if that makes me archaic or makes me outdated
I choose to show my age, I refuse to say it
cause history will tell you why that word so strong
and for me to ever say it would just be so wrong
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Out The Sky
The dude who made this beat, Sin, also made the beat for '1991.' He's from Serbia. He's sick.
Out The Sky by Justin Ray
#MarchMadness!
Out The Sky by Justin Ray
#MarchMadness!
March Madness weekend...
Saturday and Sunday:
Cairo Was Fly Though by Justin Ray
Wreckonomics by Justin Ray
Just getting started
Cairo Was Fly Though by Justin Ray
Wreckonomics by Justin Ray
Just getting started
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Rhymes With Winning (Charlie Sheen)
Tweeted and FB'ed it, and slipped on posting to the blog
Rhymes With Winning (Charlie Sheen) by Justin Ray
#winning
Rhymes With Winning (Charlie Sheen) by Justin Ray
#winning
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
2Racks Rap Contest in Brooklyn, NY
I've signed up for a rap contest this March in Brooklyn, NY.
The 2Racks Rap Contest will be Thursday, March 24th.
It's an honor to perform hip-hop music in the same vicinity as some of the greatest MC's to ever touch a microphone. I'll be representing Houston, Texas EXTRA HARD in BK!
Above is the rough cover for my new mixtape, 'Truth Flytalker.' It will be alot like last year's 'Upstream,' which was essentially a best-of from 2008-2009. 'TF' is my best effort to get everyone caught up on what I'm all about.
See you in March!
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