Prologue

If your words were only ever uttered by you
Then how much did you really live?
I find that the real joy in life
Is in learning to live for more than yourself

Yeah
The Last Manifesto
Yeah

I’m in a zone, they can’t control, I’m Kobe Bryant with the underbite
All I make is fire so of course I’m bound to burn the mic
The studio starts to look just like a California forest
Somehow I top myself with every subsequent recording
I’m so far ahead I don’t need to what the scorе is
Even if I take a break I still dominatе like I’m Jordan
Never quit when the world’s gravity became a noose
I’m way too committed like Alabama recruits
N***** know we the type to put these beats in a body bag
While still inspiring kids to push they limits like karate class
I know the power of these words, Bob Marley’s proof
I know the healing of a nation starts with the music
Sometimes the weight on my shoulder can have me sinking
I carry stress I never tell a soul 'bout what I’m thinking
I only find peace during solo studio sessions
Where we let it spill like the red table with Jada Pinkett
I can’t lie I have a lot of doubt and premonitions
'Bout never making it and failing in my expedition
Dreams moving like the tortoise even when I’m expeditious
I be feeling like a tourist, out of place with no direction
The ones I graduated with is breaded up
Telling me which crib they coppin' bragging 'bout the girl they cuffed
Meanwhile I’m at uncle’s place, I’m broke career reeling
I damn sure ain’t making no revenue from no streaming
This ones for all my n***** with a dream that they believe in
Sacrificing all they sanity to reach they higher freedom
Those tears you cry at night cause you scared that you’ll be a failure
Are simply souvenirs on the journey of your resilience
The world never plays its cards in your favor
The devil deals with no love for your labor
You still gon' capture everything that you prayed for
Everything that you prayed for

I think my biggest problem is my mindset
During my life journey, I’m always so focused on the destination
Where am I going? How do I get there?
However, I find that the beauty of life is in the footprints you leave
Not the places go
What diamonds do you plan to leave behind for future archaeologists?
That’s the question I always seek to answer
We’re all tourists in this dimension before we cross over to the next
I’m realizing that legacy is the only thing that’s ever truly immortal

Some n***** let they dirt out, some just keep it all in ‘em
So when a man dies all his secrets go with him
And fade, a part of history no longer known
But some shit needs to be told so I confess them in these poems
My biggest flaw was always wanting the world’s love
The search for accolades and praise was my crutch
Somehow along the way we lose sight and lost touch
Of the message that we started with trying to escape martyrdom
And so I present to you The Last Manifesto
The last real collection of everything that I am
My fears and all my truths, my failures, and my advances
Hypocrisies of my soul reflected in every stanza
And if I live to see the same fate as Van Gogh
At least my art lives on and in time my stories told
And if not these dreams die in the basement
Kolo Gana, the greatest rapper, that never made it