A Charmed Life

Lyrics

[Intro: Refrain] Africa, Port-au-Prince, Knoxville, and then – Manhattan, South Bend, Albany, Brooklyn – where you coming from? Africa, Port-au-Prince, Knoxville, and then – Manhattan, South Bend, Albany, Brooklyn – where you coming from? Africa, Port-au-Prince, Knoxville, and then – Manhattan, South Bend, Albany, Brooklyn – where you coming from? Africa, Port-au-Prince, Knoxville, and then – Manhattan, South Bend, Albany, Brooklyn – where you coming from? [Chorus] Brooklyn, New York to wherever you at This is autobiographical, takin' you back I lived a charmed life, we're going back in the years Imagine if my whole world flashed before your ears (Where you coming from?) Brooklyn, New York to wherever you at This is autobiographical, takin' you back (Where you coming from?) I lived a charmed life, we're going back in the years Imagine if my whole world... [Verse 1] I've been around the sun 25 times And I still find new ways to recognize shine It's like life gets better with age,  The way a song sounds better on stage And rhyme books get better with each page But, before the first bar was written, or first verse was spittin',  Before label execs was bullshittin',  Way back when Aunty Leen, Aunt Mimi, and Aunt Jackie was babysittin' Before food was bitten, consumed through a nipple I'm talkin' 'bout when times were simple To make a long story short, it goes – Port-au-Prince, Knoxville, and then Love in 'The City That Never Sleeps' From thought to finish, I was born, just a couple of weeks late Stayed home longer, just to make sure everything was on straight All systems go, cut the umbilical cord From Old Earth to New Earth, Manhattan the turf For what it's worth, my mom held me down, one deep Pops was absentee, but mind you, don't sleep It took a village to raise me, Leen tought me how to read By the time I went to school, I was at high speed Ready, willing, and able,  Jackie taught me how to add, with dried up black-eyed peas on the kitchen table And coming home to a mother's love and good care Never wantin', there was always enough Except when it came to education – it's like she had one rule: "There's no such thing as too much school" Not to mention, Leen taught me how to play the piano And then, every summer I was out in South Bend Grandpop's a bartender at a country club Me and my cousin from Grand Rapids was livin' it up Me and Granny watching Notre Dame football, gold and blue,  She say, "You can't beat the team and the bees too" Some say I got my sense of humor from her And I learned patience, from making models in the basement [Chorus] Brooklyn, New York to wherever you at This is autobiographical, taking you back With no time for refrains,  I barely got enough time to explain How Hip-Hop captivated my brain My momma raised me on Soul and Beethoven Sports club and private school put me up on Soft Rock Thats was cool, but I left Z100 and WPLJ to find bliss with BLS and KISS Video Music Box showed me what time it is Wrote my first rhymes with Corey, for J-Live to spark Making pause-mix demos with my main man Mark From playing ball in the park, there were other heads too,  I was the herb of the crew, then I learned what to do Got my weight up in school, started battling fools G-Nice, my friendly rival at the lunch table We started Spark In The Dark, with Damien and Adé I was down for a bit, but that was just to DJ Started spinnin' in the PJ's with Facho and them Back and forth from the tables to the pad and the pen Then I had to do a bid Upstate, but wait – I wasn't incarcerated, but college-educated At SUNY Albany, I was a full time student, part-time emcee At the time, Raw Shack was the place to be Livin' on Dutch Quad, started buildin' with Gods,  16 man squad – by time my knowledge 120, we was just 5 deep I went from Mecca to Albany a student,  And landed in Medina as a teacher That's how this rhyme reach ya You recognize whats happenin' – I'm making records and I'm winnin' But that's another story, and it's only the beginning [Chorus] Brooklyn, New York to wherever you at This is autobiographical, takin' you back Not my whole entire life, but just a slice of the pie A few pieces of the who, what, when, where's, and why's