DOPE: "P.O.W." by Alicia Keys

This is not a "Roses are red..." type poem, it is one deeply felt and passionately conveyed. What more can you expect from Alicia Keys?



I'm a prisoner
Of words unsaid
Just lonely feelings
Locked away in my head
I trap myself further
Every time I stay quiet
I should start to speak
But I stop and stay silent
And now I've made
My own hard bed
Inside a prison of words unsaid

I am a P.O.W.
Not a prisoner of war
A prisoner of words
Like a soldier
I'm a fighter
Yet only a puppet
Mostly I only say
What you wanna hear
Could you take it if I came clear?
Or would you rather see me
Stoned on a drug of complacency and compromise
M.I.A.
I guess that's what I am
Scraping this cold earth
For a piece of myself
For peace in myself

It'd be easier if you put me in jail
If you locked me away
I'd have someone to blame
But these bars of steel are of my making
They surround my mind
And have me shaking
My hands are cuffed behind my back
I'm a prisoner of the worst kind, in fact
A prisoner of compromise
A prisoner of compassion
A prisoner of kindness
A prisoner of expectation
A prisoner of my youth
Run too fast to be old
I've forgotten what I was told
Ain't I a sight to behold?

A prisoner of age dying to be young
To my head is my hand with a gun
And it's cold and it's hard
Cause there's nowhere to run
When you've caged youself
By holding your tongue

I'm a prisoner
Of words unsaid
Just lonely feelings
Locked away in my head
It's like solitary confinement
Every time I stay quiet
I should start to speak
But I stop and stay silent
And now I've made
My own hard bed
Inside a prison of words unsaid

DOPE: "Fans, Friends, & Artists Must Meet.." by Erykah Badu

Friends, fans, artists must meet
Which 1 are you? Which 1 is me?
Friends, fans, and artists must meet
Which 1 are you? Which 1 are me

FANS

"God, please oh please let her breathe my way
If she sing my song today I can be ok
See I understand the message in the song she write
I was really happy for her when she won tonight

She a rebel for the struggle fightin just like me
I know she down to sing at the cookout, free
I was kinda dissappointed with the song she wrote
Went to her website wrote a long ass note

She done made a million dollars but she down to earth
She be rockin chuck taylors and a thrift sto' purse
Signin autographs til the park was dark
I know it's kinda hard when they luv ya art

In the magazines they be twistin up the facts
But her response was fair I like how she come back
She be sangin for the world sharin' all her pain
When she fell up in the game she had changed"

Fans, friends, and artists must meet
Which 1 are you? Which 1 are me?

FRIENDS

"Folk in the face like she aint da same
Still da same b**** she just changed her name
She don't really like to hang around with us no mo'
Wasn't nothin' like that back in '94

She be fallin in the spot with a fat ass grin
Now she roll a benz she don't need no friends
She only really made it cause her skin is light
Don't nobody really understand that s*** she write

She done made a million dollars she can give us some
She be havin fun... s***, we wanna have fun
Seen her early in the morning looking bad as hell
Gonna be lookin' really funny when her s*** dont sell

Airport, bouta miss a flight
4 carry-ons talkin bout "pack light"
Oooh please, oh please... give the queen her tea
I only come to the show 'cause  I get in free"

Friends, fans and artist must meet
Which 1 are you? Which 1 are me?
Fans, friends, n artist must meet
Which 1 are you?

ARTIST

"Folk in my face 'cuz I'mma supastar
N****s hang around cuz of who I are
Get alotta love cuz of what I got
Say they happy for me, but they really not

Sell alotta records and I roll a benz
Fall up in the spot now I'm losin friends
All I wanna do is give the world my heart
Record label trynna make me compromise my art

Make a million dollars, make a million mo'
Tax time come 'round still a n***a po'
I wanna say "Wait...", but I'm scared to ask
The world start spinnin and it's movin fast

Try to stay sane it's the price of fame
Spendin my life trynna numb the pain
I shake that load off and sing my song
Liberate the minds and I go on home
Peace."

Music Therapy with Miss Moon

Today the City was flirtatious with a hint of Spring in the air. It immediately evoked days to come where you can rock denim jackets and umbrellas... A time when the air smells all fertile and heavy with rain. With that inspiration and what's to come on the horizon, I bring you a little "Love Rain"... Courtesy of Mos Def and Jill Scott! Enjoy!

[Jill Scott]
Love rain down on me, on me, down on me
Love rain down on me, on me, down on me
Love rain down on me, on me, down on me

Met him on a Thursday, sunny afternoon
Cumulus clouds, 84 degrees
He was brown, deep
Said he wanted to talk about my mission
Listen to my past lives. (Word?)
Took me on long walks to places where butterflies rest easy
Talked about Moses and Mumia
Reparations, blue colors, memories of shell-topped Adidas
He was fresh, like summer peaches
Sweet on my mind like block parties and penny candy
Us was nice and warm, no jacket, no umbrella, just warm
At night we would watch the stars
And he would physically give me each and every one
I felt like cayenne pepper, red, hot, spicy
I felt dizzy and so near heaven and miles between my thighs
Better than love, we made delicious
He me had, had me he
He had me tongue tied
I could hear his rhythm in my thoughts
I was his sharp, his horn section
His boom and his bip
And he was my love

Love rain down on me, on me, down on me

The rain was fallin' and, and slowly and sweetly and stinging my eyes
And I could not see that he became my voodoo priest
And I was his faithful concubine
Wide open, wide, loose like bowels after collard greens
The mistake was made
Love slipped from my lips
Dripped down my chin and landed in his lap
And us became new
Now me non-clarivoyant and in love
Made the coochie easy and the obvious invisible
The rain was falling
And I couldn't see the season changing
And the vibe slipping off it's axis
Our beautiful melody became wildly staccato
(Repeat 1 in background)
The rain was falling and I could not see
That I was to be plowed and sowed and fertilized
And left to drown in his sunny afternoon
Cumulus clouds, 84 degrees, melody

Love rain down on me, on me, down on me
Love rain down on me, on me, down on me

[Mos Def]
I stretched my arms towards the sky like blades of tall grass
The sun beat between my shoulders like carnival drums
I sat still in hopes that it would help my wings grow
So then I could really be fly
And then she arrived
Like day break inside a railway tunnel
Like the new moon, like a diamond in the mines
Like high noon to a drunkard, sudden
She made my heart beat in a now-now time signature
Her skinny canvas for ultraviolet brushstrokes
She was the sun's painting
She was a deep cognac color
Her eyes sparkled like lights along the new city
She lips pursed as if her breath was too sweet
And full for her mouth to hold
I said, "You are the beautiful, distress of mathematics."
I said, "For you, I would peel open the clouds like new fruit
And give you lightning and thunder as a dowry
I would make the sky shed all of it's stars like rain
And I would clasp the constellations across your waist
And I would make the heavens your cape
And they would be pleased to cover you
They would be pleased to cover you
May I please, cover you, please"