Kensho Kuma x Cloud NI9E- More than Life

I am currently working on a collaborative album with Japanese producer Cloud NI9E. Here is something we’ve been working on.. Mixed by D-Wiz and graffiti by Marcus Murray.

More than Life

Verse 1:
Was a troubled adolescent, Rap was the cure/
but after twenty years, I had to mature/
stayed up hella nights, to master a verse/
but couldn’t monetize, my passion or worth damn/
I worked jobs I hated, even taught 6th grade/
lost my dignity and pride, just so I can get paid/
older brother was a gangsta, in the drug trade/
that was never me no, couldn’t make what thugs made/
In the lab every night, mixing down tracks/
with a well-known producer, giving dude racks/
ugh patiently waiting to make dividends stack/
but I had nothing to eat, I was living so wack/
Then I met a woman who had an effect on me/
connected at a deeper level, not just sexually/
she stimulated mental growth intellectually/
our time is more important than being the best MC/

Chorus:
Life is more than bars, it’s more than rhyme schemes/
more than what you sacrifice for your pipe dreams/
Life is more than clubs, more than chasing hoes/
more than hustling 24/7 making dough/
Life is more than cars, it’s more than nice kicks/
more than karats glistening, on an iced wrist/
Life is more than drugs, more than an image/
it’s about the real love, the reason that we living/

Verse 2:
When a boy becomes a man, the amount of growing pain/
is more than agonizing potna, people go insane/
music isn’t paying me and that’s an awful thang/
but still outside of venues, cyphering with awkward slang/
Use to by the main act, headlining every jam/
use to have the latest sneakers and the gear from every brand/
use to blow my loot on blow, needed more than several grams/
now I’m saving up, for a mafuckin’ wedding band/
Went from spitting raw, to scrubbing kitchen floors/
domesticated homie, feeling like I’m sixty four/
you tripping boy, if you think monogamy can make you soft/
rather make love to my woman than go chase some crazy broad/
old enough to know the game’s full of snakes and hateful frauds/
so I keep my ass at home and take my time creating songs/
‘ready been around the world, now my time to settle down/
looking forward to the day I see you in your wedding gown/

Chorus:

Global Gutter Gourmet Sampler

When I’m in East Oakland, I’m eating carne asada super burritos. When I’m in 西成、it’s definitely もんじゃ and たこ焼き。In Berlin, it’s the fish sandwiches. Once I reach Prague, hook up the pork knuckles. Come have some appetizers from my “Global Gutter Gourmet” platter.. (they’re select tracks from an upcoming mix CD.) 地球上どこにいても、俺はドヤ街でうまい、ローカルなソールフード食べてます。ニューミックスCDから4曲召し上がれ。Graffiti by Marcus Murray and Mixes by D-Wiz.

Killings Must Stop

Look, I’ve never in my life considered myself an activist.. nor a “political” MC.. just a regular dude with integrity and morals. But with all the madness going on with our police departments, this song naturally came out. Took the instrumental from Japanese producers Typewriter&YMG, mixed by D-Wiz, and mastered by Sota Furugen.

 

Killings Must Stop

Kensho Kuma Verse 1: “Ignorant people think Asians eat cats/ I love eating pussy, please believe that/ we could joke around but these stereotypes/ are killing Black people in the dead of the night/ prejudiced Caucasians, perpetuate fright/ cops see the melanin, and pull weapons on sight/ (from the Bay Area) where we hella liberal/ yet Barbecue Becky think you’s criminal/ depending on your damn traits, phenotypical/ after Oscar Grant, most of us remained cynical/ ughh, still can’t believe they acquitted Zimmerman/ the mass media, don’t want us to remember him/ I’m down to go riot ’cause I like vengeance/ but I’d rather see a cop get a life sentence/ for taking the lives of these minorities/ some do believe in white superiority/ they known to be liars who commit forgery/ when they doing they dirt, we gotta record the scene/ ah! hold them accountable, in a court of law/ if that don’t work, we bringing war to yall/”

Chorus: “Too many people have been killed by the cops/ nobody can afford to chill and just watch/ protest, riot, or go and bust shots/ we gotta do whatever, the killings must stop/ too many people have been killed by the cops/ nobody can afford to chill and just watch/ don’t know what to do, but I’ve seen too much/ in the Bay Area, shit’s been too corrupt/”

Kuma Verse 2: “I’m hella racist like the world I was raised in/ get buck-fiftied if you disrespect Asians/ immigrants, Tibetans, or folks from Wakanda/ want more than cash, I need freedom and the honor/ forefathers proud, I’m a Japanese soldier/ some paying to be white, fuck a Sammy Sosa/ the European standards of beauty is wack/ in Hip Hop, what’s considered beauty is black/ ah, worst gang members are the agents of ICE/ what familias in Oakland be facing ain’t right/ it’s about the colored kids, not the hatred for whites/ but I’m not a pacifist, I can’t break up no fights/ at a damn Trump rally, stand with the refugees/ Latin youth in cages, cry out rescue me/ officers ain’t letting kids in the ghetto live/ people from the Middle East, get called a terrorist/ politic with doctors, and some gang members/ and learn from both groups, to further the agenda/ streets to the campus, we are making anthems/ if you down with POC’s, please put them hands up!/”

Chorus:

Mafia Furniture

Produced by: DJ Pharoahgamoe (Def Star Studio)

Mixed by: DWiz (Bpos)

Mastered by: Sota Furugen

Artwork by: Dreez

Mafia Furniture

Kensho Kuma Verse 1: “Feel like there’s a target on the back of my head/ what make it so apparent is the lack of respect/ never mind the patrons, we cashing a check/ from a lineage of ninjas, get slashed in the neck/ ughh got our young boys, and our Jewish lawyers/ I know ’bout your coke abuse, all you do’s annoy us/ my inner circle tight, letting no crew destroy us/ you getting agitated, but your boy’s truly joyous/ ain’t depending on no Spotify or TIdal/ do this for my culture, drop this shit on vinyl/ goons out in Shinjuku, awaiting my arrival/ 地元じゃ足りなねー, haters let me guide you/ never did contribute to making rap violent/ but coming for my kingdom will get you clapped trying/ always pushed the boundaries, dropping Exact Science/ I rule with an iron fist, Kuma’s the Jap tyrant/”

Kensho Kuma Verse 2: “Leviathan, most rappers are tadpoles/ coming to the party behaving like assholes/ why you jealous homie? I gave you the platform/ never been a killer, but killers will clap for him/ all you think about’s your shitty little cash flow/ while I kick it in a foreign city during Rap tours/ I’m not any better, but I left my backyard/ ’cause this saturated place don’t care for local Rap stars/ go get the knowledge, I ain’t have at your age/ only ’bout 30 percent’s how you rap on stage/ other 70 percent’s how your music’s managed/ gotta be professional when repping what your brand is/ so many damn artists never got to leave the Bay/ never did a video, project, or an EPK/ dedication to your music’s one thing I’m sure of/ it got me out to South East Asia, Tokyo, and Europe/ (that’s what’s up)/”

 

Kensho Kuma featured on Zyme’s “Live Forever”

Yours truly is featured on longtime comrade Zyme‘s “Live Forever” track off of his brand new “Swish: Life of Zyme” E.P. Zyme has been on the independent Hip Hop grind since the late nineties Telegraph days, has been around the world covering similar territories as myself, has had songs played on major airwaves, and continues to hold it down through regular live performances. It’s definitely worth a listen. “Live Forever” also features Scarub of the Living Legends and frequent 2FS collaborator XienHow. Produced by my LA comrade XP the Marksman from Rhyme Addicts.

Zyme

 

“????????????????/ ??????????????/ ??????????????/ ??????????????/ ????????????/ ???????????? sands of time/ ?????????????/????????????”

Longevity w/ DJ Shin

I recorded “Longevity” w/ DJ Shin this past August in Osaka, Japan. DJ Shin, DMC World Team Finalist, is a long time comrade of mine, and I was featured on his 2003 “World Famous” compilation album. Although I was in Osaka for less than a week, it was a memorable recording session since we haven’t collaborated in close to a decade.