1. |
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[Verse 1: Sans]
Y’all need to study, the kid Sans is back in public
Rumors of my death have been exaggerated, damn I love it
Had to struggle while juggling like sixteen opportunities
Life is like a movie? No! Life is like a lucid dream
I take flight at will until my waxen wings have melted
Sit equidistant between perfection and feeling helpless
Sick of being troubled by current events, floating I
Dive below, explore my undertow inside
Subconscious! My raps is bathymetric, I just plumb the depths
So deep, my fans get the bends coming up for breath
I suspect that I’m an expert at repression
But it’s constant forward motion so never practice regression
[Chorus]
I say rebel what’s your cause, what’s your cause
fuck the rounds of applause, I’m exposing any flaws, keeping it raw
I say rebel what’s your cause, what’s your cause
fuck the rounds of applause, I’m exposing any flaws, keeping it raw
[Verse 2: Jonah Jaxon]
Let me start it slow so they can understand
Some demand, some supply, are you the man or just a guy?
I can manage with whatever spam sandwich, yeah fuck the fries
I live the most savage of lives, I just had to decide
I done spoke so much mean that my teeth done rotted out
Now I spend my time staying silent, don’t mind what they talk about
Because it’s shorter, there’s no refuge, they’re closing the border
There’s so much disorder I say kill the enforcer and his supporters
Fuck a state of the union, I’m just trying to create a solution
Stay in collusion with my peoples, pray for the safest conclusion
Make a haven for the children to stay in from the shootin’
All this delusional confusion in this, so let me ask you
[Chorus]
I say rebel what’s your cause, what’s your cause
fuck the rounds of applause, I’m exposing any flaws, keeping it raw
I say rebel what’s your cause, what’s your cause
fuck the rounds of applause, I’m exposing any flaws, keeping it raw
I say rebel what’s your cause, what’s your cause
fuck the rounds of applause, I’m exposing any flaws, keeping it raw
I say rebel what’s your cause, what’s your cause
fuck the rounds of applause, I’m exposing any flaws, keeping it raw
[Verse 3: Sans]
Mox is the teacher I aspire to be–he inspires me
outside you see a seed, but inside I see a tree
Pleiades, not seven sisters, seven sins they sleep with me
I been rather celibate lately I tell em leave me be
Mox is the teacher I aspire to be–he inspires me
outside you see a seed, but inside I see a tree
Pleiades, not seven sisters, seven sins they sleep with me
I been rather celibate lately I tell em leave me be
[Chorus]
rebel what’s your cause, what’s your cause
cut the rounds of applause, I’m exposing any flaws
I say rebel what’s your cause, what’s your cause
cut the rounds of applause, I’m exposing any flaws
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2. |
Patterns
02:55
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[Verse 1: Sans]
First off there’s nothing wrong with those spitting a basic pattern
I know the sixteenth note shoguns who still remain assassins
Rapping is simple and complexity can kill the magic
Better to make it accessible than to fill the pad up
But a popular way is to fill up the page (hey, hey)
So many rappers with more of the same, triplet-triplet-wait
If rhythm is color then this is a different paint, but is it the same
If everyone uses a limited shade and follows a similar way
This style it reminds me of the sizzurp
Or thizzin while I’m cutting up a rug just like a scissor
I blame Snoop or maybe the rappers that’s cool as blizzards
For convincing kids to make a parody of words
This last one is a mixture, might be a fixture
Like old Eminem still sipping the elixir: flipping and dipping the rhythm with tongue calisthenics
And if you can’t keep up then I think you need to practice, syllables and adlibs
Cause Busta instructed us to break a neck to this rap shit, slave to the patterns
[Chorus]
We waste the time we have
We live we die
PATTERNS
You lose your sanity
You win you try
PATTERNS
They tax the salary
They take what’s mine
PATTERNS
I am no casualty
I take my time
[Verse 2: Sans]
5’8”, 150, Honolulu I run city
Run for mayor might do it later, but for now my tongue giddy
The pattern of man is to live and to die
Lucky I’m no longer wondering why
I been inspired by teaching and making
You want to be great then just study the ancients
No paycheck to paycheck–live cover to cover
Epictetus, Aurelius, Seneca brother
I’m reading and living with patience
They talk about being the greatest
I tell them to get on a waitlist
Cause the strong do what we will
While the weak do what is fated
Explode rather than fade this mirage becoming oasis
Music is life suspended in time trapped between all the bass hits
We are just constituent parts nothing more than particulate matter
The lifeform is only a pattern
[Chorus]
We waste the time we have
We live we die
PATTERNS
You lose your sanity
You win you try
PATTERNS
They tax the salary
They take what’s mine
PATTERNS
I am no casualty
I take my time
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3. |
No Prophecy Interlude
01:17
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4. |
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[Verse 1: Sans]
I’m not a prophet, I’m a vehicle, my permit is this
Licensed to write hits until the firmament lifts
Might visit classrooms just to benefit kids
While hydrozoans drag us under with their venomous tips
I been stung, felt swelling of the lust that’s within
And been the best in my state at disarming with pens
That’s not exaggeration, check the resume and Yelp reviews
Been through thick and thin, now back through thin and thick to help you through
Hey, not saying you got to hear this
You’re better off reading Viktor Frankl than my lyrics
On a search for meaning, reading scriptures off an obelisk
The hero with a thousand faces, I author the monomyth
Burnt incense, the backdrop to meditation
You got turnt, I turned within and found elation
Higher than a cloud, mightier than pen or sword
I am a better person for each time I’ve felt remorse
Ay, this not the rap that you expected
Teeter totter between grandiose and introspective
My retrospect is twenty twenty
I invite the criticism, let the many send me pennies
Two-by-two the way we board the ark, bro
Rainbow in the dark, woah
Vision of Ezekiel choke, forearm across throat
Light on my feet in case the sands of time shifty
I heard you love hip-hop so I brought Revise with me
[Chorus]
They busy popping xans and wilding out
We tuned in and that’s without a doubt
They talk about the guns and cop the clothes
We don’t need money, we got the flow
They busy popping xans and wilding out
We tuned in and that’s without a doubt
They talk about the guns and cop the clothes
We don’t need money, we got the flow
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5. |
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[Chorus]
I don’t surf no more
never ride that wave
she hit me up like ikimasho
let’s go, let’s play
I don’t surf no more
never ride that wave
wave
[Verse 1: Sans]
she love when we
be in the sheets like tide
ebb flow, we ride
let’s go for a night, let’s see if we make it sunset to the rise
eyes, all aglow in the street lights
I can still remember rain on the pavement
I can still remember every day of the summer way back when I wasn’t concerned with a paycheck
now this dissertation keep a vixen waiting
I can give her love if she can give me patience
up late grading, let’s take a raincheck–yikes
sick of time differences, I just want intimate
I don’t want Tinder the kindling is ignorant
I want a spark, no I want a flame
no I want to win without playing a game
huh, that selfish ice in my heart is meltin
I’m not afraid that I’ll never find love, I’m more afraid if she don’t feel me
helpless, hoping that she doesn’t notice
want my life; to be more; more than meeting a quota
[Chorus]
I don’t surf no more
never ride that wave
she hit me up like ikimasho
let’s go, let’s play
I don’t surf no more
never ride that wave
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6. |
Jewels Freestyle
02:19
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[Chorus]
I read more than you, wrote more than you, rapped more than you did
fact or flex don’t matter it ain’t no coincidence that I’m sick
yes, yes, I been the best and I ain’t needed to flex
test me that’s a good way to damage your rep
conservative, Burkean, serving em, murking em
read more than you, wrote more than you, rapped more than you did
fact or flex don’t matter it ain’t no coincidence that I’m sick
yes, yes, I been the best I ain’t needed to flex
test me that’s a good way to damage your rep
conservative, Burkean, serving em, murking em
[Verse 1: Sans]
each reference is a signpost
just mapping out where my mind goes
INTJ assertive, no turbulence
philosophy, that’s permanent, you want the truth well I’m serving it
each verse of this is a minefield
subversive tendencies cause I’m real
I disagree and speak the truth
up all night, won’t sleep or snooze, it’s biphasic, no time wasted
[Chorus]
read more than you
wrote more than you
rapped more than you
read more than you
wrote more than you
rapped more than you
[Verse 2: Sans]
Here’s the truth:
This system privileges wordplay, images
disguise merit-based, test score: heaven’s gates
filter on never see, just imagine, let it be
lyrics hide simple truth, falsehoods in the news
not a prophet, not a saint, I’m a liar, yes I ain’t
not journalist, no AP, ex-cathedra apostate
set a sail, out to sea
bed of nails, on bended knee
read more than you, wrote more than you, rapped more than you did
fact or flex don’t matter it ain’t no coincidence that I’m sick
read more, but still a fool
shoulda studied the golden rule
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7. |
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[Verse 1: Sans]
S A N S, spell it right on the check
Omega Cix in the cut, we came to flex
They talk about boom bap as if it’s dead
But Ohtoro make Jumanji drums beat in your chest
I got no problem vivisecting a rhythm section
Went from respecting to recording with living legends
HI hip hop, live in effect
From the middle of the rim where the fire is kept
Hot spot on these wack rappers, the red beam
No trigger warning, my tongue’ll let the lead steam
Jetstream, chemtrail conspiracies
Invader Zinn, revise your history
I been GIR, lazy Susan I been turnt
Bruce Lee, stop looking at my finger
Unleavened, I don’t do it for the bread
I rap to murder–killing time until I’m dead
[Verse 2: Omega Cix]
It's the Black Japanther with a rack of antlers
Me and Sans collab like a crab to Cancer
Ain't no zodiac can hold me back, twelve step culture trap
The only sign I follow is at the mouth of a cul-de-sac
Stop it, it be the year of the ostrich
Made a hole in one to put your noggins in coffins
Got beef with broccoli, turn tea to coffee
My pen is Murakami, my brush is Miyazaki
Do you copy? Keep the egg yolk saucey
Spam on delete, lather black toast sloppy
Butter knife, bloody sword, cut a rug, cut a cord
Put your hands together make my ouija board a hoverboard
Tentacle of man-of-war, dental floss tug-of-war
You know I got you open like a poltergeist to cupboard doors
Ghostly, Omega wolf/cub: lonely
I model my maneuvers after Thor's brother, low key
[Verse 3: Sans]
Best ever, zen fellas with antennas
Tuned into the moon, tired of vendettas
Cix and I ain’t trendsetters we trench dwellers
Fence sitters won’t buy what they sell us
[Omega Cix]
Like Monica playing tennis
Back and forth, half the court followed me through the entrance
Secret knock, don't let em in, I spit the eighth deadly sin
Dance around the city, write graffiti with an epipen
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8. |
||||
[Verse 1: Sans]
it’s S-A-N-S, that’s four letters I’m more better
no wait let me start that over
It’s too aggressive
Needs to be more conceptual
cobblestones line the streets in Paris
it’s midnight, and a car pulls up, I mean a carriage
I get in, off to a party with Hemingway and Picasso
nostalgia in my blood, these other rappers are not dope
I veer between Paul Revere and Illmaculate
midnight ride, saving the people or else I’m smacking em
sick of rappers thinking that triplets are impressive
your pen game is anemic, your style manic depressive
your colored hair is cookie cutter defiant
search party for a spark back empty handed, couldn’t find it
I’m rhyming, but rhyme is just a vessel for the substance of critique
I wouldn’t scuff my shoes up pulling you babies from out a creek
elitist, yes, pretentious, yes, but they can’t say I’m not the best
I studied greats, the crates, the tapes, and paved the way to make the next
I suffer from anxiety of influence
cause my comparison group isn’t alive, but who’s this
yapping bout “Sans, your songs don’t even play on radio”
true indeed, and Buddha didn’t go to university
I wonder if these critics really think that they are hurting me
my main concern is caring for the earth in me, listen
it’s S-A-N-S, that’s four letters I’m more better
ah, dammit
[Verse 2: Punahele]
I am the voice of the streets, ascending through the fog
A product of the slums, Young, Brown and pissed off
The cops arrest Hawaiians to serve private corporations
I am here to protect the ghetto from their gentrification
My people don’t want much We just want self determination
Don't join the military learn kalo cultivation
I use my words as weapons against Native dispossession
Iʻll gladly go to Hell if there’s no Hawaiians in Heaven
Never said that I was perfect, but recognize that I ain’t fake
I survived situations that made other people break
Kill em with Aloha, I don’t spread hate
Hoʻihoʻi ʻĀina is the way to Make Hawaiʻi great
End systemic oppression, no surrender no retreat
They killed Kollin Elderts and he could've been me
My people fill the prisons, so I don’t like the police
Arrest Kupuna on the Mauna while rapists run free
So it’s FTP, ACAB
40, 93, or I Ride route C
Not like these other rappers, they be lying on beats
The warden of the West, is who I happen to be
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9. |
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[Chorus: Nick Kurosawa]
You say you want it all but
They give you just enough
You don’t want to settle
You don’t want to fight
All you want is comfort
[Verse 1: Sans]
So many to satisfy with all this
Forget the outcome, focus on the process
Human being never claim to be an artist
Replace divinity with energy we godless
Rap today all sounds the same
It’ll pass away
Music today all sounds the same
Just a passing phase
Sick of the lyrics, want a rhythm to ride
Simple and plain
Trade cathedrals for a cubicle space
We don’t need ornate
[Chorus: Nick Kurosawa]
I say I want it all but
You give me just enough
I don’t want to settle
I don’t want to fight
All I want is, all I want is, all I want is
[Verse 2: Sans]
So many dissatisfied with all this
We needing more and that’s no matter what the cost is
Human being never claim to be an artist
Replace divinity with energy we godless
Rap today all sounds the same
It’ll pass away
Humans today all sound the same
Just a passing phase
Sick of the spirit, want a feeling of pride
Just a body and brain
No heaven, let us live in a trap
We don’t need no grace
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10. |
Grace Interlude
00:51
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11. |
Moniker
01:42
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[Verse 1: Sans]
First off praise to Ohtoro for giving me a chance to speak and
Allowing me to be my own absence at the sea’s edge
Sans is more than my moniker, it’s identity
Particles suspended in love, study Empedocles
When I expire, dissolve to particulate matter
This a transient state, spit in articulate manner
Hey–I used to chase fame, but fame isn’t a testament
To skill, now I take aim, I want to be the best to spit
Revise that, want to see what my best effort is
More perspiration, less delaying this, I’m checking in
Punch the ticket, clock ticking, competition not winning
I don’t talk game or shit, homie I talk in rhythm
Rhythm with tide, rhythm with every cycle it’s
Still the mission to answer the question of why I exist
I am a figment, or a fragment, or a facet
I’m still undecided, still submerged under the masses
But I’m coming up to breathe, sunken vessel undersea
Wreckage of a boat and sail, hoping for an ocean breeze
Yes, seafaring if I capsize
Drag the body to the shore before I toss hip-hop aside
This not a story of trials and tribulation
This a story of privilege and graduations
Hit the mark, strike the target, I don’t miss, I’m not sinning
I don’t talk dark or light, homie I talk in prism
Produce a million beams of light refracted
Never put less than my best out and retract it
These other rappers never talk about the craft
I’m Noah when the storm comes, my ark is all I have
Each line, vessel for my spirit
If you don’t believe, listen to the lyrics
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12. |
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[Verse 1: Sans]
I’m in bed with my own mortality
thinking bout all the blessings that been handed me
a good life, great friends and success
and mentors who help me through the lessons
yes, a wild 28, all the patterns I’ve learned
now I stand on the verge of my saturn return
got a lot left to give, got to respect the process
gotta prove that I’m more than a sophist
frenetic pace with phronesis on tap
I hesitate for a second to think and then act
they want to know if death isn’t the end
I’m not sure, but I know that death is a friend
when I meet him I’ll be ready to go
ready today if I’m thrown, my time alive is the skip of a stone
and as I slip below the ripples and sink
I’ll express gratitude, gee thanks I’ma keep it succinct
[Verse 2: Drifton Limrik]
A healthy ratio of answers to questions
a lot of gratitude meshed with several handfuls of lessons
and when the class is in session I hope to have the attention
span and mental capacity to understand and digest it
I’ve mastered mathematics counting my blessings
good company made social studies out of my friendships
I spent some time on mountaintops, and down in the trenches
ups don’t matter much with nothing to pass down to descendants
I’ve seen the world through the eyes of an astronomer
had conversations with metacognitive philosophers
invested into time, instead of the chronometer
I traded in a microscope for binoculars
laid on this mortal mattress barely asleep
a series of living nightmares spared me a dream
of seeing where it would lead if I could bury a seed
where self-actualization and posterity meet
[Verse 3: Navid Najafi]
Reflections on the mirror lake way above the shoreline,
I went there by myself was a relatively short climb,
stood at the edge of the water watched the ripples
take shape move then dissolve into the middle,
I’m reminded of a riddle about time and its passage
trippy how it moves much faster the more baggage
you carry on the journey gotta lighten your load,
Cuz lead is much denser and heavier than gold.
But let me digress,
back to the water now I must confess,
I’m a child of Tiamat the Salt Mama Serpent,
swimming in that Elamite stew she made a Persian,
who crossed many borders and laughed we ain’t afraid of death,
a series of uncertainties no syncopated bated breath necessary
we just some Patterns in dust
So I take a deep dive on your Saturnalias
That’s gratitude deserving
Blessed is the path I’m the just the universe observing
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13. |
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[Verse 1: Sans]
I was a young poet, dreams to be great
Stuck at Wahoo’s dishwashing, cleaning the plates
Quit the job, went all in pursuing the dream
HawaiiSlam, youngest champion ever at nineteen
Graduated and left, Harvard all in my brain
Came back to debate, like Rocky I train
Best ever to do it: slam, rap and debate
Juggle three damn talents, ego massive as Satan
Lecturer in a class, columnist with the pen
Scholar citing the greats: Jay, Biggie and Em
Ohtoro fed me the rhythm, mama read me the books
Claude taught me to surf, how could I ever be shook
Call me the bard of the fifty, put on a show
Nu‘uanu’s finest in the valley I grow
Been been around the globe, I continue to roam
Was at sea for a minute, but the kid has come home
Ten years in the game and it’s going to plan
Dr. Higa soon but I’ll forever be Sans
Ten years in the game and it’s going to plan
Dr. Higa soon but I’ll forever be Sans
And that’s it
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