I was begging God for a sign
Shine a beacon of light
I know I ain’t living right
Everyday is darkness
In this dusty apartment
Half empty Hennessy bottles and condoms on the carpet
Half a bag of cocaine on the counter by my Smith and Wesson
Misdirected I gripped the weapon
Connect it to my temple
Resentful to be so sinful
Demons on my mental
Dreaming of when things were simple
On SNL with Kanye
Poppin Ace at the 40/40 next to Beyoncé
Now I felt like Michele and Kelly
As if my destiny wasn’t manifesting for me
At the same time my dog James fighting an attempt
A Class X felony Rotting in Cook County with rapists facing 40 years
He’d be lucky to get a 20 piece
My conversation with him were therapy
Imagining how he could be so optimistic
Praying in front of a toilet with no pot to piss in
He told me stop and listen
Allah gives me my freedom
If I keep him inside
These devils could never hold my mind in prison
And you outside bitching
You need to practice some gratitude
Take heed of the blessings that he granted you
Waiting by this phone
Better days are coming I know you been gone so long
But one day you’ll be home again
Just waiting by that jail phone
Better days are coming I know you been gone so long
But one day you’ll be home again
Before long, I’m introduced on the phone to a brother named Moosa
See Moosa been in Dixin Prison since he was a junior
Sentenced to 25 years at 14 as an adolescent shooter
I knew him through my sister Aja Monet
She asked me if I could help to shed some light on his case
We hop on the horn, knowledge is born
Rapping ’bout criminalization of the black boy
The conversations moved forward to James
Asked “what’s the chance he’d be sent to Dixon?”
He said “slim to none, Illinois got 50 prisons.
I got a clemency petition, you could help me pitch it.
Hold on, let me call you back the CO’s bitching.”
As James trial date approached fruition
I’m going through my own trials
Caught a gun possession for the .40 cal
All this positive shit and I’m really hardly different
Thinking I might end up in a cell right by these niggas
My mind started flipping when I heard the judge decision
A decade and a half, they don’t want him home till 2035
That’s that shit that’ll make you spaz
Grab a CO and slit his throat with a broken glass
Last but not least
In a feat of serendipity
This nigga got sent to the same penitentiary
I kid you not, on the same cell block
So close to this nigga Moosa
That they could share a cot
James start going to Jumu’ah
He putting me on the Quran
I’m taking fruit from the faith of Islam
Meditating on my burdens as I pray to Allah
To keep my head high through the hooplah
He surrounded by the wolves in a pool of sharks
Fighting over phone time
Wrong place wrong time
Moosa got into an altercation on some petty shit
Wasn’t even really his beef, it was his celly’s shit
Blood everywhere, teeth knocked out
Busted his mouth, somebody shout
Next thing you know, the CO’s is stomping him out
Now his hope of freedom cast in a shadow of doubt
All the classes and the programs
Dirty toilet bowl hands
Hoping it wasn’t all for nothing
Fast forward to our next discussion
He still stressing over the repercussions
He told me he came across an initiative
Surrounding the COVID concerning clemency prisoners
I doubted the significance I mean shit, how could it be
He ain’t supposed to see the streets until 2033
I sent a note to the governors desk I knew he wouldn’t read
I got the call from his lady 3 days later
He’s home free
We passed through great arches
A fortress of stone
Hands and hair as course as wool
Feet like burnished bronze
As we march through the sea
In all of your glory
You need not fear
For the tides are turning
There’s a wind in your sail
Keep on dreaming
Keep on loving
Keep on moving
Keep on discovering (yeah yeah)
Keep on existing
Keep on resisting
Keep on fighting (yeah yeah)
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah
Simmer down simmer down simmer down simmer down
Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
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