Verse One Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, sometimes I close my eyes, think of days that’s rolling by, that’s why I don’t got time to pause, linger, temporise, that’s why they emphasise that time waits for no one, it don’t got no way to empathise, so I don’t jeopardise my opportunities by sitting still and waiting for somebody who presumably can see my skill and wanna make some money like I’m chattel and leave me up a certain creek without a paddle, then skedaddle, they say that time is what we want most, but what we use worst and people waste it like it’s something we can put in reverse, you must crazy if you thinking that your life’s a rehearsal, where you just learning lines for a TV commercial, I said that time waits for no man, it’s like the friend that left in you in cold just like a snowman, freezing your nuts off in the wilderness of life’s blizzard, stood still like a scarecrow who’s waiting for the Wizard. Chorus From the moment you open your eyes, identify and recognize, no time to waste and jeopardise cos’ time will flash in no time, from the seconds to the minutes, to the hours, to the days, never waste it cos’ time will flash in no time, to be honest, ain’t a moment that is promised, so just do your best to flourish cos’ time will flash in no time, hope you feeling what I’m saying and you not just here delaying, everyday you know that time will flash… Verse Two I got no time to waste, so homie pick up the pace, I’m not saying you gotta’ chase or that you can’t make mistakes, but I know there ain’t no race you can win in a place where you permanently seem to have your foot on the brakes, so put your clutch down, I never saw nobody take a walk to the touchdown, get the most from everyday, from sunup to the sundown, life is like a egg timer, all it does is rundown, age is nothing but a number? Yeah but it don’t come down, I ain’t saying run round like a headless chicken with no focus, yo’ but somehow, we gotta’ be free from this hypnosis and complacency, I’m just trying to live my life, alleviate the latency, occupy my days so that my time is not a vacancy, cos’ right now is the future that we used to look forward to, but then we push it to the side to look forward to a different point in the future, that's all we do. Chorus Verse Three From the seconds to the minutes, to the hours, to the days, to the months, to the years, D ain’t playing no games, I’m here laying my claims, I move like my calendar’s scorched and in flames, Mission Impossible, do it like Cruise and Ving Rhames, I got a book of verses, thick like the King James, put the music out cos’ no one knows how much time remains, they say crime don’t pay, but don’t get it twisted thinking time won’t pay, cos’ time don’t play and all accounts get settled on an unknown day, when it’s up, it’s up, it ain’t gone give you “one more day”, from the poorest to the richest, from the weakest to the fittest, from the smallest to the biggest, from the slowest to the swiftest, from the hopeless to the gifted, those who saw and those who missed it, from all the time you existed, I hope you make the most, especially when in your prime, cos’ no one in the world is gonna’ outlive time. Chorus

Verse One Picture a guardian angel assigned to your protection, the counsel and direction that you got from your conception, stays awake when you asleep with no exception, but you don’t know they your angel until your self-reflection kick in on another level, my big bro was a rebel and did it his way, just like any older sibling, he’d cause me dismay, but that’s kids play, when he’s seven, I’m six and gave me several licks, I could have sworn this kid got superpowers, as we got older I would ask him all types of questions about my first day in secondary and what kind of lessons I’d be learning, “will my head get flushed down the toilet by older kids?” He didn’t answer, like a pupil without his hand up, he was quiet, likk’le yute try and send me out there, but don’t try it, cos’ when I told him who my brother was, he left me be and never in his life did say another word to me, older kid called Keith punched me in my face, it was a case of false identity, my brother found him after school and pinned him to a tree, beat him like a father gives his kid a hiding with a cord, just like Simon Peter with a sword, he stood tall, see Reuben was my guardian angel and we were very different, something like Bacardi and bagels, but we were both the same, if one felt pain, the party was painful and so to have this older brother, I am heartily grateful. Chorus (fade in) Guardian Angel, la, la, la (x15) Verse Two Huh’, don’t spend your money buying drinks for strange women was his advice, when he could tell they just loved the musician in me, just want the perks, they only see what’s on the surface, so the beverages you purchase are nothing but really worthless, you do yourself a disservice, he was making sure I heard this, so approaching women I just felt more nervous til’ I learned this in earnest, I know they looking hot, but that’s the point of furnace, it make you feel warm then burn you when you wasn’t concerned with all the finer details, told me the downfall of man can often be a female, so see the signs of the Jezebel Delilah, there’s a beautiful woman out there for you, now all you gotta do is find her, and he wouldn’t let me go where there’s trouble, hold your corner bro, stay home and grow a little stubble, do them beats bro, try to get a vision that is tunnel, build a neat flow, I don’t wanna see you have to struggle, you can make it bro, you one of the best ever do it, put your head down, now all you gotta’ do is go and prove it, when your older brother tells you this and gives you all the principles, you can stand up and step into the world and feel invincible, see Reuben was my guardian angel and we were not the same, he would play Atari, I’m painting and playing with crayons, but as a little bro I was faithful and so to have this older brother, I am heartily grateful. Chorus

Verse One (Stupid…), they thought it would be bright lights, red carpets, constantly hitting targets, dominating the markets, leaving rappers for carcass, recording artists, record label departments providing you largest budgets to go the hardest, they thinking first class seats and the legroom, sirloin steak other meats on the menu and came a long way from the beats in the bedroom, but then they find out the music industry can turn your wishes inside out, drop you in a hole you find impossible to climb out, it’s like they permanently put you on a timeout, ain’t no way to check on your account when you are signed out, been there done that, had to find a way that worked for me so I could maintain, build my reputation by myself, no need to claim names, wouldn't have it any other way cos’ when I recollect, everything I’m looking at has been okay in retrospect. Chorus Time for looking back (scratch), retrospect time for looking back (scratch). Verse Two (Here we go yo’) being an independent artist is not glamorous, figure me trying to harness, make everything unanimous, practically have to part with all the money I have and please don’t get me started, I don’t be in the lab all day every day, I spend days in my inbox, replying messages, I’m tired and my chin drops and I’m organising data, thinking up these new concepts like a curator, planning these releases, constantly I’m a creator, gotta keep it running like a lively first grader, as well as putting pen to paper, running a label ain’t no fairy-tale fable, putting food on the table, trying to keep this thing stable, but I had to find a way that worked for me so I could maintain, build my reputation by myself, no need to claim names, wouldn't have it any other way cos’ when I recollect, everything I’m looking at has been okay in retrospect. Chorus Time for looking back (scratch), in retrospect time for looking back (scratch).

Intro Celebrate (x4) (yeah) so we forever celebrate. Verse One Time to celebrate the people that we love and we commemorate, mean everything to us, so never hesitate to keep em’ in our hearts where they exhilarate and after they depart, they still invigorate, mind, body and soul and we carry they energy everywhere that we go, we so blessed for time they were here, they soul rests, but at times they appear, there’s no stress cos’ it's time to revere the life they had, the good, the bad, the ups, the downs, it’s so profound for real, we lose em, but it’s part of life’s cycle, now God got em’ his hands as one of his disciples, but every memory that come to us is a revival and even though it’s final, they helping with our survival and they part of our kinship, so it’s tribal, and when we see your picture we smile, reminiscing like Michael and remember the times and whenever we in trouble’s like you showing us signs and there never is a moment when you far from our minds, so we gotta’ raise a glass in celebrating your lives (yo’). Chorus (x2) (Time to celebrate) we do everything to celebrate your journey and even though we know you left too early, we always gonna dedicate to your memory a beautiful and heavenly positive energy, so we forever celebrate. Verse Two The world seems harsh cold when we lose somebody and we don’t control the outcomes and we grieve cos’ they can’t be cloned, but we can’t lose sight of what life is, cos’ life is priceless, yeah we gonna lose people, but despite this, we just gotta’ learn to reconcile, accept the fact that it might take us a while, accept the fact that it take us some time to break down the barriers, ask God to carry us, eventually we get into a place that we can find peace, the legacy, forever we embrace, so we can climb these mountains, arrive at the peak for the two of us, thankful, tranquil, graceful and gratuitous, it only takes a special memory to be renewing us and when we see your picture we smile and reminisce like Mary and remember the times and whenever we in trouble’s like you showing us signs and there never is a moment when you far from our minds, so we gotta’ make a toast in celebrating your lives. Chorus Outro (x2) Time to celebrate so we forever celebrate.

Intro Change, change, change, change, change. Verse One I never met Damon Dash, but kinda’ admire him, encompasses the spirit of a fighter stuck on making moves and never plays the violin, I understand what he is talking about when he criticises working for someone else to build they dream and they enterprises, I ain’t saying it’s wrong to work for someone, it's just survival, but if you got a supervisor making you homicidal, perhaps you should reconsider your position, remember it’s your decision, you shouldn’t no permission to take a bathroom break, find people in the staffroom fake? It may be time to recalibrate on the path you take, but most people scared of change, from low self-esteem, anxiety bout’ your age, so they struggle with it, nobody loves minimum wage, all day clock-watching til’ there’s no time left, end of the week and cannot wait to post T.G.I.F., some are happy where they are and they cool with they career, but if you unhappy it’s time to change gears, (yeah). Chorus take the next step in your life with no fears, (change, change), change gears, you don’t wanna be in the same place for years (change, change) change gears and take the next step in your life with no fears, put your foot down on the pedal to get there, especially if things right now be unclear Verse Two There’s so many cases of misery meets security, we wanna make progression that visibly in maturity we can measure assuredly, make adjustments accordingly, feeling like it’s rewardingly abundant like recording fees, I ain’t mistaken in thinking that making change is easy, but I’m awakening the minds who wanna live more freely, and it starts with a thought, a feeling, an energy basic and fundamentally, you can move incrementally, at some point I guess we’ve all faced depression, whether it was from a profession, or a partners confessions, whether it was from a selection that then taught you a lesson, whether it was from an oppression that’s based on your complexion, I guess the question is can we afford to rest on this? (No), so my suggestion is to aim to be a specialist at making changes, no one says you must be a perfectionist, but life is way too short to not make the most of this special gift. Chorus Change gears and take the next step in your life with no fears, (change, change), change gears, you don’t wanna be in the same place for years (change, change) change gears and take the next step in your life with no fears, put your foot down on the pedal to get there, especially if things right now be unclear. Outro Speech When I say change gears, it simply means just to… move from one position to another. You know, there’s only so much… you can get from trying to fit a circle into a square hole. At some point you’re gonna’ realise that it doesn’t quite fit. And then you gotta’ do something different… because doing the same thing is only gonna’ be… a result that’s undesirable. You know sometimes there’s no fair or unfair, sometimes there’s no right or wrong… when you’re in someone else’s house… and I don’t mean “house” literally. I mean like… when you’re in someone else’s space, when someone else controls… your environment to an extent or… you know, or the basis under which you can operate… and I’m sure for many people, that’s not what people want so… it’s about changing gears. It’s about moving and making measurable progress… at least that’s what I was once told…

Chorus (scratch) Very particular set of skills and they taken, when I’m in the booth, it’s proof who got the iller rhymes, that means with me the facts are undisputed, when I’m serving up this music. Verse One The Consist, heat like an arsonist, I’m done with the hardships, elite diagnostics, precise with it, chopsticks, magic like card tricks, potent like it’s arsenic, but smooth like guitar strings, alert when alarms ring, the beat-making, rhyme-slaying, street shaking, concave in your chest, keep playing its the D, I bring the L.I.G.H.T with a vocal resolution applied in HD, designed by eighteen, a style you ain’t heard in while, I make dreams come true with a skip and a smile, I stay clean, no curses, no need to be vile and obscene, I was just a child when I defined my destiny, declined a deputy, I don’t need em’ next to me to enshrine my legacy, I’m a different kinda’ beast with the finest pedigree, so you ain’t gone find nobody like this instead of me, cos’ so lately I got a flow stately, so don’t hate me when your folks rate me, cos so innately, I can take a set words and put em’ back to back and know precisely where they take me, another stratosphere with another status there and apparatus, yeah, that got me on the palace chair, so bring your battle gear cos’ I can take your challenges, but be prepared for me to show you what the English language is. Chorus (scratch) Verse Two Now for my next trick you can take your best pick, I still got your cards marked, supremely majestic, routinely forensic, I got bars like the Vegas strip, these rappers got less yards than a fragrance strip, they ain’t been making no deposits like a payment slip, so there’s no point in staying close in relationship, we ain’t friends this is barely an acquaintanceship, jumping off? Let help me with installation tips, so start here and count sixteen bars, but don't come with nothing less than the sixteen cards of Jack, King, Queen, Ace, it’s gonna take a lot more than you’re bringing to keep pace and you can have as many stabs in the dark, but each case, you bound to miss the target yo’, every attempt is swept under the carpet, so take heed to the dopest MC, I’m so cold dawg, I’m bout’ to make your Doberman freeze and rappers falling off like this is October and leaves, don’t have to do much to have your thoughts sobering, jeez! I get my gusto from brother and my strength from my pops but they both gone now, so this is where the buck stops, Funky DL, funky like you just don’t know, so take them raps off them beats cos’ they just don’t go, I suggest go slow, or maybe just no show, cos’ standing next to the best of the best is so no. Chorus (scratch)

Chorus To recognize the things that came before us, appreciate the fact they put it down and maybe if it wasn’t for the sacrifice, we wouldn’t have the privileges of now, to recognize the things that came before us, acknowledge the importance of the past, cos’ maybe if it wasn’t for the sacrifice, we wouldn’t have the freedoms that we have. Verse One Everyone’s entitled to they dreams, to desire more, something’s really special bout’ rewards that we acquire poor, coming up in neighbourhoods with schools under-performing, remember your parents calling you for breakfast in the morning, you were there to see the struggle, bust they ass at work while you in class getting in trouble, talking back to teachers any way that you desired, while mom’s tired, doing everything that she’s required to prevent from being fired, if she spoke to her manger how you spoke back, you would be fiending for something to eat like you smoked crack and so you get a little older, little braver, little taller, got a fresh pair of Jordans, so you thinking you a baller and no one can tell you nothing cos’ you think you know it all, feels cool to have no grey hairs and not be going bald, feels good to get a paycheck and get to spend it all on yourself without a thought of saving a small portion and some peeps will try to tell you what’s important, try to give you support, but find that you ain’t absorbent so you tell em’ that they time has passed, it's your time, but you don’t realise that time will flash in no time, cos’ twenty is a stone throw from thirty and thirty from forty, forty from fifty, then Lord have mercy, you half a century old, or half a century young, speculating on how much more time to come. Chorus Verse Two Everyone’s entitled to their views, so speak with confidence, say whatever they like but expect to bear no consequence, tell you how great they are when everybody else incompetent and then get in they feelings when they ain’t receiving compliments, it’s the age of validation, it’s the age of attention, it’s the age of advertising, it’s the age of perception, it’s the age of click bait, it’s the age of running scams, it’s the age of controversy, getting everything on cam and communication poorer than ever, ain’t nobody trying to listen to no boring professor who talk the talk but never lived it, but now you wanna school me with your YouTube influencer six-minute snippet, better get a can and kick it, or kill it with your theory son, cos’ I ain’t seeing clearly what you saying, that’s sincerely son and I ain’t seeing nearly the results that you declare will come, but I am seeing yearly that everything stays the same, cos’ some wanna’ just show up and take all the prizes, not concerned with the process, blind to the compromises, most things generic, fabricated, synthetic and when I don’t get it, they claim it’s esoteric, I was taught to respect that which came before me, cos’ everybody got a journey, a passage, a story and the tapestry of now is made up of the tapestry of prior, so let the history inspire. Chorus

Intro Funky, funky, funky, funky, yeah, funky, funky. Verse One I know, you know we have the flow, we have a loose flow like a funky banjo, Funky DL fi’ mek’ you tee-tah-to, tee-tah-toe, me funky right to me toe, me put me shoes on then me ready to go, gimme’ the mic and watch me tongue flow, some say that dem’ a novice, but yes me a pro, a rudebwoy Christian still a grow, Jesus Christ wrote in me marrow, me can’t do anything unless me father say so, anywhere you send me, Lord I’ll go, anywhere you lead me, Lord I’ll follow, (tap-tap-tap-tap) me just a tip pon’ me toe, love fi’ me bible in case you never know, slew Satan and mek’ him bend down low, mek’ him eat fi’ me dust ah, lick fi’ me toe ah, MC Reuben feeling mellow, peace inna' me heart and stress we nuh’ blow. Outro Funky, funky, funky, funky, uh, uh, funky, funky, funky, yeah.

Verse One Check it, I can’t talk about gold chains and diamonds, sitting on the beachfront for whole days admiring the beautiful skies, drinking a glass of Long Island iced-tea and watching the sunset expiring, I come from the inner city, tarmac and concrete, gravel under my feet and ain’t no sign of palm trees, speeding cop cars, ambulances with they sirens, rooftop bars, ain’t no chance of getting silence, I can’t talk about hedge funds and equity from land ownership, stocks and shares at jeopardy and black poker chips, back-handed donations, corrupt politics and getting standing ovations from sly dirty tricks, I come from public housing tenements, where most of the residents surviving on benefits and a damp interior, pollution increased, but the motto of the city is we all deserve peace, I can’t really talk about trust funds, inheritance, antiques, private school, trademarks and dividends, gold bars, private jets, sports cars, champagne from the finest fruits of the vineyards, I come from nothing in the bank, high interest rates, credit cards and a blank chequebook, fresh page, never written, still attached to the stub, yeah that’s how I came up. Chorus Yeah that’s how I came up, yeah that’s how I came up (raised), yeah that’s how I came up, yeah that’s how I came up (raised), yeah that’s how I came up, yeah that’s how I came up (raised), yeah that’s how I came up, yeah that’s how I came up (yeah, yeah, yeah). Verse Two I can talk about the faith of the seed from a mustard, living with the hope and belief that I trusted, working seven days of the week til’ I’m flustered, remembering the hand-me-downs appropriately adjusted, I can talk about seeing someone on they face, giving them a helping hand so they can get back in the race and I let them use my shoulder, so they got a firm place they can trust and can lean on, they know that won’t break, I can talk about the lack of fear that I live with, responsibilities as I control my own business, taking care of everything so my ship don’t sink, vigilant with details, wide eyed, don’t blink, I can talk about staying calm in a storm, adapt to situations, but reluctant to conform, remember my uniqueness is my greatest ammunition, remember preservation just as much as acquisition, I can talk about my whole life as I’ve lived it, every accident and everything I did deliberate, the failures, success, shortcomings, victories, tomorrow is the future and the past is my history, I can talk about me, maybe not you, but there are things collectively that people go through, so everybody different, equally we are the same, I just got my perspective from the way that I was raised. Chorus Outro Raised (repeated multiple times).

Verse One They say you can’t choose your family but choose your friends, the people in your inner circle, picking who depends on the things that you got in common and who you gravitate towards, who reciprocates your effort, whose energy struck a chord, it’s who you click with, the people that you check in with and when there’s trouble, they the ones you put your neck in with, but there’s a danger, cos’ some love you the same amount as strangers, but you still keep em’ close to you, though it couldn't be plainer than the nose on your face, it’s a case of being creatures of habit, even though there’s billions of people all over this planet, we still keep connected to some questionable characters, they just act the same, while we afraid to change the narrative, plus most of us don’t want no confrontation and challenging your friend’s an uncomfortable conversation and we just want a quiet life, void of the aggravation, void of the complications so we stuck on hesitation, plus we scared of isolation, so we don’t rock the apple-cart and then continue on our journey with a shackled heart. Chorus Sometimes we gotta’ let go, (let go), (never said it would be easy yo’), it’s never easy right… uh, yeah, but, sometimes we gotta’ let go, (let go), (never said it would be easy yo’), it’s never easy right… uh, yeah, but, sometimes we gotta’... yeah uh, I said we gotta… (let go). Verse Two We people, so naturally we make attachments, my brother taught me don’t enter someone’s life unless you enhance it, but sometimes it’s the other person that just wants advancement and to them you got the answers, but when it’s the reverse, I guess they missing in action and care about you less than a percentage of a fraction and quick to make suggestions that no doubt will be distractions, look for trouble then they tell you come on like Michael Jackson, don’t set no good example, might be time to dismantle this alliance when it’s negative and you the only one with the power to make executive decisions, I’ve always said be careful who you love the most, the feeling isn’t always as mutual as you may have hoped, you’ve heard about the wolves in sheep’s clothing, impersonating patrons, but really they an opponent and they don’t give a damn that you get your day of atonement, there’s plenty other people that you can share all your moments with, yeah, so go (a)head and rock the apple-cart, and don’t continue on this journey with no shackled heart. Chorus