HALAL - Marlon Craft

A lotta y’all just want some shit to critique

But your ass can’t listen in the midst of a speech

As long as the cool table still got limited seats

And you try to argue your way in, you’ll be sitting with sheep

Yeah, we so quick to just speak, addicted to peaks

But life lived in the middle is sweet

Chasing highs, avoiding lows, never time to even learn

Usually ones getting loud but don’t even believe their words

I’m from New York, we was taught not to feed the birds, but

Ain’t no hungry pigeon in sight these days, politely, hey

This shit we giving hype be fake

I wonder a lotta days what good is progression

If it’s all built on lies

Lost our ability to evaluate

Need to re-calibrate our rigid little Tweets

I think you’re past your fate, everyone wanna eat

But it’s red if they won’t have the stakes that I have embraced

Man, have a plate

Or keep acting like this shit don’t matter

Acting like we ain’t the blueprint for the kids going after

Acting like we ain’t the ones who made it cool tonight

Knowing not try and not grow as long as you got hoes, right?

I feel responsibility to declare your flopping

And I do my duty free like airport shopping

Won’t take the culture name in vain, you a junkie, um

Dudes just wanna be liked even if that means they gon' be wrong

Claim they cold but that’s fear, they present the shame

Shivering, covering up, unrelenting games, yeah

They want the fame, they all want the pain

They wanna be Marlon, they don’t wanna work at the other name

Mission to avoid a cubicle turned to a collar

A bar then a musical, Esperanza Spalding

Yeah, I’m the best, I’ll debate your mother

She probably saw me on MSNBC and loved it

I’d rather have these dialogues within the culture

But this payola these days is undercover

I guess it ain’t payola when it’s just the whole structure

Like the same thing on the table is somehow better than under

I shout shit they ain’t got the balls to utter

Apalled, disgusted how I live, I don’t know how you ain’t

The money stay up but the value ain’t

I run circles round you dude till I’m out of shapes

Yeah, so fuck you and your little pouty face

No one ever cared about mine

I had to prove I wasn’t pussy every day my whole life

If they look at me like a trust fund baby one more time

I might slap the shit out your face, open hand

So you overstand you ain’t worth the risk of a broken hand

Only spend time with my people, really know the plan

You just fear this light 'cause all you know is lamp

And that ain’t halal brother

That ain’t halal brother

I’m talking to the god