[Intro: cassette clunk, tape hiss, whispered, lone cowbell] Two dollars. Pawnshop on the south side. Label says don't play it after dark. Clock says eleven fifty-nine. Press play. [Hook: low chanted gang vocals, half-time bounce] Rewind it, rewind it, let it ride Pawnshop cassette got a ghost inside Cowbell knocking, bass down low Play it after midnight, let the basement know Rewind it, rewind it, let it ride Pawnshop cassette got a ghost inside Two dollars, no refunds, no goodbyes Play it after midnight and he comes alive [Verse 1: cold Memphis triplet flow, steady and menacing] Two-dollar tape with a torn label in a box by the guns Clerk with a glass eye said it came from a man with no sons Label in red marker said don't play it after dark So I waited till eleven fifty-nine and made my mark Old deck on the shelf with the dust thick as a rug Pushed play, heard a cowbell, then the floor gave a shrug Hiss like a snake in a pipe and the beat cold and slow Then a voice on the tape said who let you in, though Said he cut it in a basement back in ninety-four Same basement, same chair, same stain on the floor I said that's a coincidence, he said nah, that's a lease I been down here thirty years and ain't never had peace Every tenant that moved in shit their pants and fled You the first one to rap back, so rap like you're dead Cracked my knuckles on the table, put my lips on the mic Told the ghost pull up a chair, we gonna be here all night [Hook: low chanted gang vocals, half-time bounce] Rewind it, rewind it, let it ride Pawnshop cassette got a ghost inside Cowbell knocking, bass down low Play it after midnight, let the basement know Rewind it, rewind it, let it ride Pawnshop cassette got a ghost inside Two dollars, no refunds, no goodbyes Play it after midnight and he comes alive [Verse 2 - triplet chopper: sixteenth-note triplets, trading bars with the tape] Now he's rapping off the reel and I'm rapping off the dome and the room is getting colder Every line I throw he catches it and spits it with a hand upon my shoulder Cowbell knocking like a landlord at the door at four a.m. with a hammer and a warning Tape is warping and the pitch is dropping low enough to rattle bottles till the morning Said he never saw a dollar and the label kept the money and the masters I said shit I'm on two dollars and a bus pass and he laughed till the speaker crackled faster Deck was spinning till the motor started smoking and the ribbon spilled out the side So I wound it with a pencil like my uncle did and he was whispering let it ride [Break: tape slows down, bass drops out, whispered] He's still in there. Every night at twelve. We split the rent now. He does my taxes. He's real good at taxes. [Verse 3: the tape's verse, deeper pitched voice, slow menacing triplets] I was cold in ninety-four when the cold was a trend Cut a record in this basement, never got to the end Label shook my hand, then they shook out my pockets Left me on a pawnshop shelf between a Walkman and some lockets Now a kid with two dollars wanna run it back I'mma ride every beat till the ribbon go slack You can keep the basement and you can keep the chair But every time it's midnight, boy, I'm already there [Verse 4 - chopper burst: fastest part, crisp consonants, cowbell on every bar] Push it in and click it down and let the cowbell knock around the basement till the bottles hum Bass is crawling up the stairs and every hair on my arm is waving at the ghost behind the drum Rewind it till the ribbon's thin and the hiss is getting thick and the two of us are one Two dollars got a partner in the speaker and the fucker never sleeps until we're done [Hook: low chanted gang vocals, half-time bounce, tape warble] Rewind it, rewind it, let it ride Pawnshop cassette got a ghost inside Cowbell knocking, bass down low Play it after midnight, let the basement know Rewind it, rewind it, let it ride Pawnshop cassette got a ghost inside Two dollars, no refunds, no goodbyes Play it after midnight and he comes alive [Hook: chanted, whispered echo, half-time bounce] Rewind it, rewind it, let it ride Pawnshop cassette got a ghost inside Cowbell knocking, bass down low Play it after midnight, let the basement know Rewind it, rewind it, let it ride Pawnshop cassette got a ghost inside Two dollars, no refunds, no goodbyes Play it after midnight and he comes alive [Outro: tape hiss, cowbell fading, whispered] Let it ride. Let it ride. Click. Rent's due Friday, partner.
