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I5OT4P3

by Joe Proulx

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1.
I5OT4P3 02:23
This is my I5OT4P3 You can play this while you isolate We all just hoping for a greater day Give me a WHOO if you can't relate Isolation never been the cause for resignation Mistaken for another man, now now that’s a rare occasion Gotta bet On yourself, VanVleet did When I was young, I hanged with the street kids Those times were forming my future Showed me that I won’t follow that path Kept on track, never caught with a gat in the backpack Or a cigarette in my hand, that’s a fact This many years keeping it straight, I could still be the guy outside high schools selling kids crack What the hell would you know? I just made the right foes I just hang with my bros And I hope they still alright Cause the world’s messed up, that’s how shit goes Isolation never been the cause for standing stationary Every single story I ever heard was a cautionary Tale I never fell in love with the vail Never blazed, always made the trail I never go stale My lines are dopest but rappers be sad that they never on sale I never get off of they tail I stay focused I’m never faking, you know this I put the stake in my motives I’m never faking like COVID Imma keep it true, never question my move Whenever I stumble, I pick and I choose Now no more preamble We handle the angle, now believe the news Block your eyes while I’m lighting the fuse Bye bye
2.
Underground 03:45
Keep my vision inward, gotta focus on my conscience Ain’t nobody lying until you ask if they been honest I been down that road before, modest the role of an artist is Cultural marxist confused by the remnants of his carcas My rest notes be on par with insomnia patients Patience for others is never spacious Turned off radio stations cause they food for thought was Asian Paul George with the And-1, my clips are making y’all pace Ye the people don’t understand, heard em say there’s no direction Your reputation is only the size of your recollections If you don’t have answers, you didn’t ask enough questions I’m taking lessons in how to remember to always count your blessings Easy to forget your purpose Soul is never worthless like the dress shoes they wear inside of southern churches Gotta branch my music out like birches Til they never have my size, that’s how We Are The City’s merch is But I still love y’all, that’s a light jab They never break my skin so I’m ripping off the scabs They study my music in labs or bump it in backs of cabs Never stab a man who’s got the heart of a king, less you the Mavs Or let them rule other lands like the Cavs I like my songs split in halves like I’m eating grilled cheeses Don’t need to question my ties so I’m blowing kisses to my nieces My heart been broke to pieces too many times by people who don’t respect me If the feelings ain’t mutual, then I ain’t giving out funds I save those for bad times and spray them out when they turn good If you expect more than what I’ve given, I’ve already done what I could If you wanna know what I been through, you’ll find the spots where I’ve stood Don’t back down from a challenge like Aubrey My music more emotive than Carly Rae, maybe she could call me Don’t play the heat if you can’t take it Got MJ handles, they leaning like the Matrix Man, these rappers bandwagon like the Lakers LeBron pulling strings on fools like he Mayer Miss me with that Insta I’m gonna end careers then I’ll never mention ya Got no dirt on me, it’s just staining ya Got no lines, so I must be painting ya All these people think my music alien Yo, you just mad my music Mastiff when you Pomeranian Missed the dunk, man, you shoulda laid it in Missed the outline, so Imma shade it in Never miss the beat like Kaiser Chiefs Kansas City would be proud I’m tryin to vibe but the deaf keep complaining that I play my music loud Blast this shit til they come full circle I’m on a run, make y’all jump like you running hurdles Vibe is so myrtle, convo is internal Steady working On my convertible cause the roof got ripped off in a car chase I guess that’s what happen when you constantly living out the visions in your head space I gotta keep it face to face I would never tell my pace to haste Copy my moves over again like Imma bout to paste it Adjacent from others, word to all my brothers down south Lifting wheels soon, y’all goin see what I’m all about Sick of all these people blocking my shine Spine strong, straight stance when I drop dimes on ya California dreams are worthless if you only care bout the surface Heart pound for the underground
3.
Make em sweat, suffocate em with the mask on My game clean like Gump playing ping pong I’m speaking my truth, man, this ain’t no sing along I’m going old school like screw 2K, we bumping Tron Feel like King Kong Feel like a king amongst the pawns Goin hit em like Zidane because brains over brawn Got so much jump in my step, nearly cleared the front lawn Yeah, I’m just getting started I’m focused on what matters and everything else in my life is departing Anyone stepping to me without purpose is getting yellow carded Never got anywhere in life by being too guarded My flow got more power than when the Red Sea got parted This is a different path than what other people had charted I’m just doing my thing Rocking on that Tribe-esque swing Would never listen to radio no more unless I got a shot, bang bang People who think they Kool, aye, you just sipping on the Tang And I been going hard since the second the bell rang All I do is kill it, guess it’s the blood of the fang Got a thirst for the grind, but don’t need the
4.
Fresh 03:07
I wish that I could know when I’m gonna hit the top Cause every track I make could be the line between a flop and a bop Everybody cravin music for the bar hop Heads bob to the beat but duck at the sight of a cop But they never drop a drink, cause drunks have never purchased a mop I know that line’s ridiculous, but you realize that it’s not That far fetched I got a love for the treble clef I’m making toast while I’m bumping Mos Def But the referee in my mind says “is this really worth while?” I just love making shit, it’s the pursuit to never be idle Never build idols if they flawed Some people think making art is license to be a god Every artist speaking mystically is a fraud Don’t believe those assumptions of grandeur Don’t be surprised when your favorite rapper doesn’t have an answer When you ask what key they hit song was in Cause all they did was drop an instrumental into Ableton (Keep it fresh) Cause when I frequent the spots that I'm known to rock (Keep it fresh) You hear the bass from the truck when I'm on the block (Keep it fresh) Cause when I frequent the spots that I'm known to rock (Keep it fresh) You hear the bass, bass, bass, bass Keep it fresh like this song ain’t derivative as hell Never play fair, homie, like I’m bumping MARKEL Got a product to sell, gotta let the vibes gel Sit on it for a minute, send it out on the cell This shit is worldwide, never let it die, head in the sky Fly by higher than my girl’s mood when she sipping on a chai Or maybe when Giannis gets a facial from Kawhi And I try to never cry even though the music got me reminiscing To when things was simple, maybe not simple but definitely different I’m never tripping, everything I got, that’s how I’m living What’s the point of existing if it isn’t your all you’re giving? Like you fall in love with someone but you just in it for the friction Or hating on someone only just to say “pardon my diction” Man, that’s vocally pissing I hold my verses to higher standards I wipe the dirt off, keep the elbows down and mind my manners Cause these lines matter Don’t wanna hear that chatter behind my back Don’t need dirty money, my bars are clean on every track Slide in well with the money counter counting up racks Well, I mean I I’m closer to that than I’ve ever been before Cause I wanted more, impossible to ignore Founded the foul on a trey like I’m going four score Made the beat melt like s’mores Swept the competition out like this shit was a chore
5.
Quarantune 03:54
I guess I should just stay in While other people only wonder where I been Physical contact be regarded as a sin I kept a socially accepted distance all day now HIVE FIVE ME BROTHER If my baby got it, I still love her But we still gotta take precautions We still wear masks when we flossin Hazmat suit when I’m shakin hands now We goin forget this thing by fall tho Y’all scared like “it’s protocol” But I still see y’all at the mall doe Quarantining at the condo Everyone acting like it going round like Rondo But I swear that we all goin be okay Just don’t live your life in fear, cause outside it’s a beautiful day Being safe doesn’t mean not living, you don’t need to be brave This the gap between a trim and a close shave Just cause someone did it don't mean you do Just cause someone did it don't mean you do Just cause it came out their mouth don't mean it's true Just cause someone did it don't mean you do Cause this is my quarantune (yeah) Cause this is my quarantune (yeah) Sick of hugging paper Wishing it would leave Don’t need a guarantor to make sure that they might believe Call me Guaraldi how I’m raking in the autumn leaves Other people wait for the summer, but the winter will deceive It’s a blue world without salt and light And I been working hard every day to continue to give my life flight But what about the common man? We don’t gotta be friends But I can tell when humans wanna do what they can, but they don’t understand I’m working the 40 hour work week on front lines These circumstances got single people missing Valentines But these deaths happen year round regardless Y’all just scared because the reality is closer to your own doors than ever before We all need step up but we’ll never level the score Cause life ain’t a game, it’s a strength test From LA to Budapest, gotta cover for one another like bulletproof vests Never invest in yourself, you’ll always fall flat 2 heads better than one, but 7 billion next Some people barely catching a breath We gotta be aware of what these actions meant When we look back on it We knew it was one day at a time, no point looking beyond it Never showboat like Leon Lett I got a world to see, I ain’t ready to see y’all hearts stopping yet
6.
N/A
7.
Media 02:45
1 Mississippi 2 Mississippi chop block Never been the one to cut it out with the small talk Keep the ball in your court That’s too much for me to retort Got fire in the USB port doe Ripping shit yo I been a go getter Ever since Cuomo had to read that letter and every word I speak is just me gettin better and every beat I drop you know it’s a two stepper Never bad weather when I pump up the volume Every girly looking a damn porcelain doll You gotta get more real Just how I feel about that No makeup put on my tracks Never being committed, gotta push them on back Others sticking to the wall like tacks Never behind on the taxes Make the note takers get rashes Or maybe blisters, whatever’s first If you been patched looking for real shit, I’m the origin of the thirst This flow got pirates thinking that they life cursed Everything y’all spitting is miscellaneous I’m posted at night time like Transylvanians When the film is grainiest and real talk goes down Wrong word might put a body on the ground And the only thing found was a gun shell and a newspaper Full of blood, might not might be on the news later Probably not Some people, they just gotta shoot they shot Everybody on the scene got a red dot pointed at the victim But all but one always miss em And only one forgives em Looks like light going through a prism Like we playing different keys and only the killer knows the rhythm It go like dat dat dat Triplet flows into the spine If you want advice, the word might be fly Fight or flee, forgot the answer Don’t wanna point fingers, but it might be cancerous To think that way, but I fix the master In post, cause the story gotta be concise for the broadcaster It's that amethyst poet If I wanted to be the illest rapper, you would know it (cause I would tell you) Been a couple false starts but we never end A paradox in a pair of Docs I pare the locks while they parrot ops I'm not a rookie or a veteran Young sage of the tree-tops Burn sage while I plot on their weak spots Two step in the sage-colored Reeboks The beat knocks Vegetarian, I do not eat ox tails Deploying Oxford commas at will
8.
PTSD 04:12
I never take compliments Cause I ain’t ever try Everything is relative But we ain’t related, my guy Got a lust for starry skies, waving time goodbye Wish I could see outside the lines of my context Every night framed by the sunlight hitting the window pane Got a calling in my name Got no violence in my brain Never seem to feel the same As others who find emotional cover while I feel insane Surrounded by the toxic Repetition endless Psyche is defenceless Mired, tired, acquired no fire, forget this I know dark cowers to light, but this depression’s relentless Wish I could be inside another world where I know my head can rest I walk the line between educated and brainless And pretend for others when I’m bending under the stress It’s like anxiety’s wearing a black dress Or some kind of parallel I don’t understand to confess They clog the pipes with regret And we’re too blind to pick out which problem with which we want to pled yet I’ll never know what they mean when they say this is suffocating Why do we grow older and slower but our problems boost their ratings Like a sick joke played on those who choose to live free To believe that joyful life to lead is the same reason we stop to breathe I choose to live on That’s my decision No influence outside of myself has a right to make incisions In my life like a doctor preforming on an open heart I never close the skin, I keep my inner life exposed Through this gash, I hope to show someone what my passion’s all about So forgive if I gag at the sight of an artist clasping for clout I never let darkness in, but then it grows From inside of me, I gotta let it go Let me go, let me be, let me be me I never let darkness in, but then it grows From inside of me, I gotta let it go Let me go, let me be Guess this another form of PTSD I been waking in the morning feeling plastered Yeah, I’m stucco instead of sicko; should’ve gone for my Masters Like I went and I got myself a green jacket Hoping that I got the audience that’s standing around the green clapping Hoping they could at least give me some dap It’s a trap or boom bap to think they opinions matter at all Tell me when you get the message, then answer the call Meteors rise in the air for the purpose of downfall Like what are you saying? Every line like darts in my hearts ready to help decaying Decomposition is instrumental to playing yourself your entire life to an early sleep like Malcomb had been conveying Or maybe that’s projection An calacsed perception Even in these lines on my own, my breaths have been hesitant That’s when you speaking real That’s why I don’t get deals Cause I don’t rap this for nobody but myself, just chill They never scaled the hills that I did Some of y’all got mountains Some of y’all got nothing to argue about and now on me you’re counting That’s a little much to take in to be truthful Guess I’m all offence no defence just like Louisville I know you with me still Never keep track of the bills And I ain’t suicidal I ain’t got no time to kill
9.
Stuck 03:28
Every time I look at you, I think I’m doomed Cause all I see is the unknowable words inside of you And though it’s true that I could never be the one that steps out from reality Sometimes I wish I could be that dude The one who kicks an old life in the face and steps into a new one Too many voices in my head, please tell me what’s the true one? I thought you were the perfect one, but that’s jeopardized forever Cause you gave your heart to another lover, covered your face, girl, you’re clever Severed fingers just for asking for your hand Don’t make sense when you complain that life is bland I’m doing hand stands just to make you happy for one day Guess that shows how smart I am, guess we’re one in the same I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired of playing this game I don’t wanna be the one that goes through life by forever taking the blame I know shit sucks and I keep saying that I feel it too But being stuck in this state is why I look forward to hanging with the crew Too true when I’m stuck in a state of blue Guess that’s why I feel the need to move on to something new Like this rhyme scheme is demeaning my dream, that’s how it seems I deem or determine this internal scream’s a deterrent From what’s happening on the inside You’ll find that I’m meddling in time I know that turmoil is par for the course, but I wish these thoughts would fly Away, never play until these lines decay Load em with precision, I never absently spray If I may say, this is the sound of my heart beat in syllabics Cause y’all never fascinated by death in form of ceramics Nod to beats like I’m LeBron Put my heart Into these songs Hope I’m doing something wrong Cause I’m always getting better every minute Never reach my peak less there’s a limit to this passion Express this pain for what I’m asking And my game is never passive Imma shoot my shot, brah And I don’t drag endings out cause it ain’t my last call Always find a way out like Dante Hall Find me slowing to a crawl just to make you think you have a chance Never take a play off, always in stance Detail how Imma do it then I define and enhance Find the reason for living is in the palm of my hands But this is life or death, there ain’t no time for romance I’m back in the old element Any memory is irrelevant Cause Imma be setting my own precedent Shouts to the blacktop, face on the pavement Feel the rock and roll cause my real soul adjacent I ain’t what I seem but I’m never green when I’m mean Change the mode, screw the average, get offensive like a moving screen Shake it like the dream, play dirty, but the execution clean Got the drug dealers losing profits Got them loose in the pockets Made them promise not to deposit without paying back the prophet And that’s me
10.

about

This mini-album was the product of being inspired to write around the beginning of when COVID-19 hit North America. A lot of the writing here comes from a very specific point in time, so I thought it would be best to group all these verses together as a project and let them be taken for they are: a very small time capsule of a personal reaction to an unprecedented situation. Hope you guys enjoy it.

credits

released October 23, 2020

All lyrics written by Joe Proulx, except for the final verse on "Media" (Rory Ferreria).

Production credits:
Joe Proulx - tracks 1, 5, 6, 8, and 10
Kenny Segal - tracks 2, 7, and 9
Olsc - track 3
Remulak - track 4

Recorded at Water's Edge Studios in Winnipeg, MB. Engineered, mixed, and mastered by Joe Proulx.

© La Paradise Records - 2020

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Joe Proulx Winnipeg, Manitoba

Auditory vibe creator.

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