This was one of the harder songs to write for the album, honestly. I saw a common thread between black mass shooters all being ex-military and I wanted to shed light on some of what could be an important distinction there. With the research I was putting into these situations, it became too heavy on my soul to write from that perspective alone, so I decided to add another character for that one to interact with, giving them both a common backstory. Both grow up together in an environment of poverty, they both join the same gang, but one goes to prison, and the other goes to the military. They both come back home with the intent to radicalize what street institutions are already in place to build a brighter future for their community. But when the potential for innocent people begin to become increasingly put at risk and the goal becomes more centered on revenge than self-sustainability, one of the two friends has to make a decision to intervene or play along. I was excited to create a solid parallel between the prison-industrial complex and the military-industrial complex as well (a topic my last album/EP was heavily focused on).
lyrics
"The Shooter"
"Shooters in the suburbs, shooters in the projects....
I ain't respectin' none of 'em
None of 'em shot a cop yet.
They're killing us on camera
and none of them have been stopped yet.
They're manipulatin' our situation.
We're buildin' their prospects."
My best friend said all of that to me back in '91.
He was fresh out the marines amassing silent guns
I had paroled out of the clink from a 10-stretch
Been in our youth, we both were gangbangin',
we had been vets.
Been threats.
Been an enemy of the state.
So when he came home talkin' organization, I could relate.
He said,
"Lil' homies with the colored rags in their pockets
really be flyin' flags.
Gangs are undercover nation infiltrations,
but niggas is not ready for a revolution.
They'll sever their own heads
before severin' ties to their institutions."
I was pursuin' independence in our neighborhood
Cuz if we had an army and a flag, why not have stable goods?
Why not grow our own food?
"Why not sew our own clothes?"
Why not teach our own kids?
"Why not fight our own foes?"
Planned on taking gangs and trading their claimin' in for nationalism.
See how the state dealt with some radicalism
when the Crips and the Bloods became a military performing domestic coups;
unified and mobilized, unresting, collectively fused.
Every ghetto now a cover revolutionary cell.
They'll respect us well once we turn our guns on them;
not ourselves.
When the Rodney riots happened, my nigga said it was opportune
He said,
"The time is now! We gotta drop some cops off in their tombs!
Take civilian territory stackin' massive body counts!
When they send the National Guard in, give 'em Hell in mass amounts!
Then, behead the president on live television!"
I watched this vision slowly shift from our collectivism.
I had put in work my whole life pretendin' I wasn't affected
'til that second I tipped the feds, executing my own acceptance.
A joyful celebration of the sounds of Southern rap from an artist who's never felt more at home and in command of her space and vision. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 25, 2023
Having shacked up with Del and MF Doom, production powerhouse Parallel Thought now collabs with streetwise MC Bentley. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 5, 2016
