Get all 30 JSWISS releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Be f. Chandanie, Blame Me f. Natalie Oliveri (Prod. Paul Bloom), Do It Now, Beautiful Morning (Prod. Paul Bloom) #AwthenticFirstThursdays, Strong Friend (Prod. Paul Bloom) #AwthenticFirstThursdays, Better (Prod. U'Nique Music) #AwthenticFirstThursdays, Once Again f. Mark Whitfield #AwthenticFirstThursdays, The Alchemy EP, and 22 more.
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1. |
Withdrawal
02:48
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Lyrics:
They labeled me a thug and a crook
Wanna hide something from em then put it in a book
If you really wanna kill em put the poison in the album
Cops kill wit a badge they'll do it without one...
That's what you think huh?
We'll all kill each other you put the guns within reach huh?
The same things we need the same things they don't teach huh
You think it'll be better if a president's impeached huh?
That's the tip of the tip of the tip of iceberg
Never been aggressive instead what I do is write words
My rhymes mean more than all I did as a scholar
How my thoughts two cents when every word is a dollar
You still think this should be free how dare you
Demand I give you every piece of me how dare you
You know how much artists put all into what they write
A ninety nine cent song could change your life you don't hear me though
I failed again and again and again and again,
And that's the only reason I be destined to win,
If they support and/or inspire I call em a friend
I been getting eh on religion sorry if I offend,
I go to church just to see my fam these days
Lord forgive me I took Jesus out my prayers these days
Don't get me wrong I still know I'm blessed beyond imagination
I believe in God no affiliation
If the Bible's God's word but it's been rewritten over time
Several times they word is as good as mine
Every book is a Bible, every life is a gem
Every day is a blessing, every woman's a ten
Every fall is a lesson, no effort's a waste
Every heartbreak is inspiration ev-er-y case
Every distraction let's you not do whatever it takes
Every reason you should quit is every reason to stay
Every conversation every single story is power
You need to pay more attention cuz every word is a dollar
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2. |
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Lyrics:
Verse 1:
Understand if I step to the mic to say it you gon' listen
If you knew that it's called wisdom
Back on my 1, 2 bull like Jordan and Pippen
Blacking out on the track like John Howard Griffin
Mashing on the piston like Jordan and Pippen again
Or like the spark in an all chrome engine
I know I need to serve my purpose
A Native Son Bigger Thomas a track and throw it in the furnace
A book nerd I know
I go Ishmael on a library and ape in the booth as well
Stay with the bars I'm like screw the bell
Fighting the good fight went tooth and nail
It ain't sweet this kings reign ain't candy
But the fact remains that his soul is too for real
You could never dream of what I think of my love
My soul fits you like OJ's glove
A born sinner and born winner, a go-getter
Cool cat with no litter, watch me liber-
-ate thoughts that been simmering assemble 'em in symphony
Like Sanford tell Elizabeth they sent for me
This the big one crash the cymbals and start the roll on the timpani
Open up the curtains anticipate what the end could be
Rub your hands together I think i's 'bout to get interesting
Put your hands together I think we're 'bout to make history
And don't forget the dubious smile
As I flow like river like Danube or the Nile
If you say I'm not the illest well then you in denial
Couldn't resist, go ahead call it predictable, foul
It don't bother me, sprinkle some playfulness in the artistry
That John Legend I give you more than a part of me, all of me
Enemies quiver like it was archery
Turn tables for art hip-hop is pottery, what
Chorus:
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Who is the man who came to wreck all
Just another rapper with swag who can't spit
Uh uh this ain't something to miss
Man he got The Gift
Verse 2:
When I'm determined you better betting on double zero
Might save the game but make no mistake I'm no hero
I don't come when I'm called I come when I'm ready
I'm undefeated in regular season so hold the confetti
Record of wrecking on record's nothing til title time
My flow increase the number on any one of your vital signs,
Even the dead'll awaken Jesus I'm good
God made me and did better than he thought that he could
A masterpiece, a cake walk how I batter beats
Cooking for the bacon while the pigs headed after me
Rhyme or prose I school em I'm using all of my faculties
Articles and albums I crank em out like a factory
A wordsmith in its truest form and application
Doing it til perfection be my form of education
I don't let a conversation or book any experience go by without finding a sliver of inspiration,
Look me in my eyes and say you don't see greatness
I'm in the mirror every day patiently waiting
Like Fif and Em back in the day, I was in middle school
This quiet shy kid as a rapper I didn't fit the rule
Still not a rapper I grew to an emcee
Put in 10K hours just to burn 10 Gs,
I'm the outlier Gladwell was outlining
You can't fail or succeed if you not trying
If you show and don't tell then you not lying
Otherwise I'll straighten it out like a hot iron
Or like Pete Rock and CL Smooth
They can't anticipate I'm quiet I don't detail moves
I don't telegraph I was a point guard use my peripheral
Word is traveling but how I paint wit words pivotal
Same way I tell it is the same way I spit It
Is the same as I remember is the same way I lived it
Chorus:
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Who is the man who came to wreck all
Just another rapper with swag who can't spit
Uh uh this ain't something to miss
Man he got The Gift
(Repeat)
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3. |
Light Around
04:49
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Lyrics:
Verse 1:
You see...an emcee who's unbelievable hypnotizing your mind like Biggie rockin the
Coo-gi...it was all a dream til I woke up and got it no my life is not a
Mo-vie...there's no camera no light just action
No script no acting
Who's he...that's a very loaded question, I reveal more with each record
Listen dissect it, peep the dialect it's
Flow precious whether it's deep or no message,
I got a passion and the knowledge to spit
Now that's love and hip hop in real reality kid,
I'm dialed in on a rotary phone
I been around couple times I'ont joke with these poems
Slam like onyx carry a chip like robotics
Got more dogs coming for dope than narcotics
Do more in the background than plain view
So you see all say but not all I do,
It's kinda hard in the era of the online
Perform for your peers cuz every minute is showtime
Competing wit their page, bummed about your life
Cuz there's no filter when you live it the whole time
It's raw and uncut, and steps to progress could move slow like loading dial-up on a phone line
Verse 2:
Took my dreams off the mattress,
30 years I'm bound to be classic,
Don't see no competition on the atlas
Not an actor might leave with an actress,
We do the song and dance she say I have no chance
Because she don't ever date rappers,
I say I'm not a rapper I am M-C
You don't want me this is just practice,
Won't lose no sleep I'm just asking,
But you walk in wit your nose in the Aspens,
Matter fact see snow in your nose take a hike
I don't do that there so I'm packing,
Only dope I put into the mic
I am the only dope you need your life,
Take a hit then pass to your friend
Won't do it for the love least do it for the likes
Wait a minute put your phone down live a little life for a minute,
Marvel at the way a brother write for a minute,
Forget any other rapper's alive for a minute
Get high off a line like a kite for a minute,
High off a line wait a minute
I was talking like lines that I rhyme wait a minute
Can we stop with the drug metaphors for a minute,
They keep coming back like crack now I'm finished,
No more no mas I'm done I promise,
I kill the beat it's dead it's obvious,
No need for C-S-I I got this,
Confession there's no need for sirens
I strut in the precinct all quiet
Don't touch me or there's gonna be a riot,
It's a long walk like Jill Scott said
We could cry to blues or just be silent,
Or we could speak up,
Ceiling is roof when I reach up
Hmmm we all need to be locked up or kicked out
But don't call back when you need us,
My bad new phone who dis?,
New kings new throne who dis?
No I ain't spend a home on the wrist
Just gems in the dome that's it
JSWISS I'm gone
Chorus:
Do...you...wanna feel a vibe (yessir)
Do...you, let it take you high (yessir)
Do...you...feel the rhythm of the night (yessir)
Wanna feel a vibe (yessir)
Let it take you high
Verse 3:
Do...you, really think I'm out here tryna OD,
Poppin pills slumped in booth all session while I'm dealing wit depression you don't really know me,
If you dealin wit depression you should put the pills down and get to know you,
Listen to an honest man or woman who talk about and write what they really gon do,
If you a man you should listen to a woman and all the B-S that she daily go through,
If you white you should listen to a black man how he feel when a cop say don't move,
Everybody shut up and listen that's real talk
That's why I got the thoughts and lyrics they kill for
Had to flip the beat so you hear it the same heat and the spirit
A slight change of appearance the same face when you near it
Look me dead in the eyes they ain't come for the beef
Then it must be the fries
Shoot I'm part of the problem I can't even deny
Every woman got a horror story can't even lie
Every man heard a red flag ain't even try
Then we hear about a rape and look for a reason why
Then we wonder why they got 9-1-1 but don't dial
We love to role play and put the victim on trial,
We need to do better for all of our women
We need to do better for Kalief Browder
You could have a badge or an office
But what that young king showed that was real power
If I spit a bar per day he was locked it would be a double album, that long,
How about that, real life bars that could help you get free from a trap song
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4. |
I Fail
04:07
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Lyrics:
Verse 1:
Swizzy how you do it?
A couple times getting it wrong a couple times getting rejected
A couple more times going worse than I expected
Couple of times getting less result than the effort,
That's how it goes, why you think I rip the stage now
Got tired of having 3 people at my shows had to let em know
Let the word go round that this kid underground
Took so much manure now watch him grow
For every ball out, there was a fall short
I been let down, I felt off course
Felt like the man and like a bitch on the same beat
Top of the world scum of the earth in the same week
Maybe the same night, come off doing encores
Get home lost money the same fight
Look at my bank account, not much stands out
Look at my email Sallie Mae got her hand out
Know that you want it, i ain't got it so sue me
I got 80 dollars imma take my mom to the movies
That's so real I even think that she didn't know
If she did she'd try to tell me we ain't needed to go
I wouldn't hear it, if I go broke withdraw from my spirit
When you don't got it then you learn more how to get it,
You be dodgin Ls meanwhile
You can never lose if you never try me well I failed
Chorus:
Best believe that I failed (that's why I succeed)
Best believe that I failed (but still I believe)
Best believe that I failed
But I try again and again and again and again until I get a win
Had to work a day job longer than I wanted
Living at my parents house longer than I wanted
Almost made a move deep down was embarrassed yo
Almost rushed into an apartment that was terrible
Lost a few grand on that but I bounced back
Back to Dobbs where I rep, gotta put it on the map
Had a woman that I loved on the real lost that
Had my mind on it all the career and the cash
I was overthinking budget broke I didn't wanna be it
Went abroad 6 months and I didn't go to see her
Big mistake, she came back and it was different
When I got up on that bus I could tell the vibe was missing
Ain't ran into another like her since that's life
Learn a lesson next time think I'll probably get it right,
It's nothing I roll with the punches every day
Cuz honestly I really think there's bigger forces at play
Think my Grandpa Bernard is up there forcing his hand
And helping out on the low as he orchestrate a plan
My relationship with music to the one with my dad
To give me something better than anything they ever had
Barely too young to remember back when he was still alive
No fluke he died back around when I first heard Tribe
So if I eff up again and then I eff up some more
It's for the best cuz I got bigger in store
And best believe that I failed
(Chorus)
You be dodging Ls meanwhile
You can never lose if you never try meanwhile I Fail
(repeat)
You never try, you never lose
(repeat)
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5. |
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Lyrics:
Verse 1:
The tongue is mightier than the sword
My legend grows I'm destined to get a statue without an award
Matter fact my impact don't even gotta be in physical form
Omnipresent you could never ignore
Peep it, I'm hearing whispers bout my diction but it's not a secret
My drive charges by the month but it's not for leasing
Even Jesus saw my rise and he could not believe it
Judas said I'll cross you later bro you gotta see this
Please gather round the table for a second
The pious prolly pray all day cuz this a blessing
No decoding what he wrote to get the message
Clever enough, for impressing clear enough to get it
Not, over your head it's into your head implanted
This not overachieving this just the SWISS standard
I'm intolerant of anything below
For evidence ask a human buy a record see a show
Verse 2:
A new day so I'm talking different
I give you all these words for your well-being that's altruism
You thanking haters really I don't see em that's tunnel vision
You call em competition in a minute you'll call em victim
Somebody call the, doctor minister dentist somebody
Got more fire and influence than gun lobbies
The government don't rock wit it though it's the opposite
Whatever is the truth is whatever they got a problem wit
Got up in the booth and I started stating the obvious
They took my words as money and went to try to deposit it,
It's universal like American Express get it and invest
Damn I'm on a roll let's interject,
And talk about what these rappers do on the avenue
It's not what you actually do but I ain't mad at you
I read books that trappin do sound cooler
I'm a storyteller you tellin stories like Rick The Ruler
Second thought I am mad though,
It's getting corny and played out they dad jokes
[Talking] But dad jokes can actually be cool depending how you deliver it
They flip flopping ain't that a beach wave of the hypocrites
You ain't know what you needed I had to give you it
The tide turns allow me to be to impetus
Big words in my raps yea I graduated
Not bars back we been here I'm glad you made it
My flow's water to a game over saturated
In the head role this king won't get decapitated
Reign forever that's a balance of power
The crowd [PAUSE] give em an hour so
Whether record or show, got the power of both
Been a minute to build, bout a second to blow
Took the long route, like I'm going deep
I give that Jerry Rice then give you that Jon B
Don't listen to, what them people say
They don't really know how to MC
They don't give you props then it's jealousy
They don't know how to rip it
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6. |
Your World f. Chandanie
03:51
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7. |
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8. |
Losing My Religion
02:47
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Lyrics:
Verse 1:
I believe in God too much for religion
Truthfully I don't think God is religious
He might hear this right now and say he feel it
Go ahead son speak truth to my children
Got you don't pray for miracles I pray to give thanks
I tried to keep faith but lately I can't
You can't pick and choose when you talkin bout faith
If I'm shaky on some points I can't stand and be fake
Honestly I know there's many more who can relate but can't face it
They know that it's true but can't take it
I know that God's real and I know he ain't mad
And these stories are from man can't know it's straight facts
So, maybe I'm just sinning like us all from the beginning
When they say Christ rose and I'm thinking that he didn't
Maybe I'm just sinning like us all from the beginning
Praise God cuz I'm losing my religion
Verse 2:
This is not how I, wanted it to be
All at each other necks, all claim me
Books that I ain't author with my name on it
Put they opinions on me cuz they ain't own em
I been used and abused by the ones I gave life you
Wanna break rank well you got every right to
And know, when the chaos hits the fullest
And people kill for religion don't blame me or the bullet
This is not my doing, not my plan
Not me taking money out of your hands
On the flip side if religion helps you get close to me
Helps you learn how to live righteous well hopefully
We can have our own conversation in the meanwhile
You know right from wrong don't get caught in the details
Of rules I ain't even lay out in the beginning
Imagine man tryna tell God bout religion
Verse 3:
I believe in God too much to be religious
Looking in the mirror what they see is what he isn't
If they could hear me now I would say I ain't ask for this
And if they could they would say it's just blasphemous
And it's not even pressure, this is more pain
How's mine mixed up, with the Lord's name
Sinner in my honor, claiming it's of the father
Living all by a book, making me out a matryr
They barely even get my depiction right
How could you depend on them to know how I lived this life
I refuse to be a figment of your manipulation
Or decoration some use to mask their ignorance, you getting this?
I can't save you, now tat I won't betray you
You bow down to me that's not the correct angle
We ain't pawns you as much king as I
I'm a sinner lie you I can't even lie, stay blessed
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9. |
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10. |
Rich f. Amma Whatt
05:09
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Lyrics:
Verse 1:
My happiness is certified, secure stamped and fortified
They tell you it's determined by circumstance it's all a lie,
The most ridiculous precedent since 45,
How you see it is what's there it's all in eye
I see my fam still there on a rainy day
It's way too many to in one day take away
24 hours of showers is nothin
My bank account low buss it I'll ball on a budget
Offer a mill to ditch my inner circle wouldn't touch it
Bet it all on myself and my people ain't even bluffing
All in with the hand I was I dealt I play bold
Got more aces than there are in a deck I can't fold
Know what I'm holding I'm cocky having chips like this
Could rob Buffet and Gates and still not be rich like this,
Move more mountains with network than net worth
It's not all about dough but who you know
But when my wallet catch up oooo you got problems
I got love period wail til I got commas
I always had a roof and had a plate
Not a mansion but a home, chicken instead of steak
Never my own car but always my own room
When I left 2 parents saying see you home soon
Shoot I'll call it luxury, recognize I also had some luck with me
My parents even bumping me musically still loving me
Chorus (Amma Whatt):
Money ain't everything cuz I got mad love to bring
I tell you the truth, I'm rich
I ain't got diamond rings, still they love me like a king
I know my truth, I'm rich
Verse 2:
Yo I dig my life until my gold is at an overflow
Carry all my blessings then collapsing from an overload
I see the value of my words and my ambition
And stop tripping cause something ain't go how it was supposed to go,
Making a mountain out of molehill that's us,
But a little perspective switches up just how you feel
I ain't had to go to too many funerals in my life
Every person still with me worth at least a couple mill
I ain't tryna cash out no time soon, I got more wealth than cash
Feel like securing my happiness like securing my bag
I paid not a damn thing for my most coveted gifts
So yes I'm tryna get this money but already I'm rich
(Chorus x2)
Amma:
Stuntin high or slumming low
The physical comes and goes
What you need is spiritual
Rich is within your soul
JSWISS:
Every book is a Bible, every life is a gem
Every day is a blessing, every woman's a ten
Every fall is a lesson, no effort's a waste
Every heartbreak is inspiration ev-er-y case
Every distraction let's you not do whatever it takes
Every reason you should quit is every reason to stay
Every conversation every single story is power
You need to pay more attention cuz every word is a dollar
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JSWISS New York, New York
For my latest album "Bona Fide" with Michael Leonhart, click below.
JSWISS recommends:
Somebody's Gotta Do It
by Sly5thAve & JSWISS
The first collaborative project from producer/saxophonist Sly5thAve and I.
go to album
The Invisible Man: An Orchestral Tribute To Dr. Dre
by Sly5thAve
Sly's "Invisible Man" is a beautiful and enjoyable work of art from an artist with a great mind for music.
go to album
Bona Fide
by Michael Leonhart & JSWISS
The debut full length album from myself and Grammy-winning producer/trumpeter Michael Leonhart.
go to albumIf you like JSWISS, you may also like:
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supported by 6 fans who also own “Every Word Is A Dollar”
BABY is a paragon of oral tradition. Every aspect of it designed to convey or evoke emotions already elicited from the lyrics. Every track is both its own story and a piece of a larger narrative. One Be Lo somehow managed to emulate an art form that peaked when people had no system of writing, and do it perfectly. Holy fuck! And I didn't even mention how dope his flow is
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One Man Army plays chess not checkers. Another one of those records where I'mma remember exactly where I was at when I first heard it...respect!
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The debut EP from Ethiopian-born, Minneapolis-based rapper Mati showcases a fresh and vital new voice in hip-hop.
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