Build My Own Ballroom
[Cold Open - Metallic Mouth Percussion, Reverse Snare] [Male Rap Vocal - Natural Mid-Range, Tight Pocket] Where do I start? Where do I begin? Flip it once— flip it twice— let the fun begin. [Chopped Vocal] flip-flip— twice— [Beat Drops] [Verse 1 - Slick Swung Rap] Some might wonder most might lose it Whole house diluted infused with delusions World spins hard everybody says they feel it Take one step back— there it is. Moving. Smoldering. Churning more than it did when nobody was looking. Time creeps in we age we rage memorize exits go through stages Problem child Monday next CEO Tuesday Rain on the roof let it hit let it bruise bass Pain in the brain if you let it stay Sound hound sniffing for a profound thing to say Found something tiny. Acceptance. [Beat Mutes] Ignored it. [Metallic Clap] Kept moving. [Verse 2 - Faster Pocket] Creature rebirth from an endless mess One segment dies next one gets dressed Bullet train— train wreck— weather-bound steel Book off the shelf deep dive what’s real? Make it big how long they stick around? Week? Month? Years before they stop coming ’round? Push the right button watch the whole thing blink Billions of us wanting something most get— [Beat Cut] nothing. [Sub-Bass Slam] Newspaper dead switch the channel Rabbit got loose somebody broke the handle No chorus. No hook. Sit in my nook. Whole room staring like I stole the book. Gloating. Foreboding. Mirror got shadows. Pasture full of dancers doing laps around scarecrows. Christmas getting close— hear Prancer? [Chopped Voice] Pran-pran-Prancer. [Male] Exactly. Keep up. [Beat Switch - Alien Funk Bassline] [Verse 3 - More Swagger] Mostly it’s whatever. Better second nature. Been at this a long time check the paperwork later. You know my story? Funny— so do strangers. Twisted it. Redirected it. Changed all the angles. Cut my sound up without permission. Promised incision. Never made the incision. Still— more gets taken and the pattern gets obvious. My day-to-day doesn’t fit the overcoming-greatness audience. No victory montage. No staircase pose. No camera catching me when the comeback glows. Might as well hold off getting laid. Definitely ain’t holding my breath getting paid. I’ll wade into the current with my shoes still on. If there ain’t enough to go around— [Beat Stops] I’ll build my own ballroom. [Huge Sub Drop] [Rhythmic Tag - Chopped Voices] Build it. Build-build it. Own ballroom. Build it. [Verse 4 - Confident, Playful] Then sue for a quarter billion— why not aim stupid? Fattening pockets every route gets routed. Going against everything while applause gets louder Sandcastle empire meeting high-tide water Build it again. Taller. More ridiculous. Put a chandelier where the ceiling isn’t. Tell the doorman everybody’s invited except anybody who says I need permission. [Percussion Break - Mouth Clicks + Claps] Food in the window. Hunger at the door. Funny how there’s always somebody asking for more. Hungry mouths waiting full mouths talking Whole machine running nobody knows who’s walking it. [Beat Becomes Sparse] Maybe that’s the trick. Maybe there isn’t one. Maybe everybody’s improvising and calling it a system. [Short Pause] Cool. I can improvise. [Final Section - Full Human-Machine Groove] Where do I start? Where do I begin? Same damn place— flip it again. World spins weird so I lean with the turn Touch the wrong button watch the whole board burn. No chorus. No hook. No moral at the end. Just a room I built myself and enough bass to shake the rent. [Chopped Vocal] flip it— flip it— flip it— [Male] Twice. [Beat Hard-Stops]
