[Intro: vinyl crackle, engines, bass rising; continuous groove] [Hook: female trio, pitched up 3 semitones] oh hold me, hold me love it when you mold me serve me, serve me baby, baby love when you serve me [Build: 4 bars; drums, bass, strings] [Verse 1: STiLT; gritty male baritone, tight off-beat bursts] Ayo— The strip wore a busted halo, half the neon wouldn’t glow, Rain developed all our negatives in puddles down below. Smelling like the grill, apron folded in the ride, Spent the shift supplying comfort I could never find inside. [Short breath] Ilene beside the passenger door, wooden leg against the curb, Anime eyes crossed out—still she caught my every word. Leaning through the window, she asked me what it cost, I said, “Depends on what you’re buying.” She said, “Something I ain’t lost.” [Short breath] Cumbersome—the things we carry just to say we travel light, I got yesterday on layaway; they charge me every night. Loneliness pandemic, spreading wall to wall upstairs, Hear a hundred televisions, never hear somebody there. [Short breath] Hands exchanging folded bills, her palm stayed open near me, Everybody heard the engine; she said, “Can you hear me?” Seventy, keep that needle riding, let the wounded record spin, Hear the woman in the sample trying to hold the weather in. Stilt Skin (stilt skin) [Chorus: female trio +3 semitones] oh hold me, hold me love it when you mold me serve me, serve me baby, baby love when you serve me [Bridge: STiLT; drums continue] Everybody got a price till the bill comes due, Everybody need a hand they can still hold to. What you carry through the night leaves a crease by dawn, Seventy—let it run, put the next side on. [Instrumental bridge: 4 bars; continuous pulse] [Hook: female trio +3 semitones] oh hold me, hold me love it when you mold me serve me, serve me baby, baby love when you serve me [Verse 2: 70; heavy rasp, slight lisp, strict timing] stepping through the master plan in black prada sneakers leaving the cyber cafe pumping like good speakers [0.25 breath] cash in hand faces crossed out exes on eyes like anime knockout peep it counting paper like a machine on collate operating at a heavy rate [0.25 breath] one good leg heavy set bitch called her Ilene i done seen things you won’t believe like a magician’s sleeve [0.5 breath] [rhythmic dissonance] yesterday got left in the rearview no room for a rerun no redo’s or rewinding the clip for any person [0.25 breath] that rival crew split when the pressure hit now they need a new union a new law new sermon to form another one [0.5 breath] accessorize cummerbund back on this side tried to block out the strips main lane during the shutdown season pandemic [0.25 breath] private boats fat knots whole clique on timing everybody speaking in codes for a specific reason [0.5 breath] that covid flip was academic and different work flipped prolific acrobat continuous flipping being heard in verse when you serve they will not give time served pull up on my block my guys move quiet leaving your vision blurred [0.25 breath] like the greatest amongst us is he who serves the most amongst us gun bust in different directions different velocities imagine a man setting to try stopping these while ice seems to create jealousy and animosity for what i invite everyone to eat it must be you never heard it was written dont work dont eat [0.25 breath] one blink you here two blinks then you gone or so the stories told the room go cold but you cant freeze the in between facial feature like a wink[0.5 breath] send em where they came from hit em with everything plus the kitchen sink seventy cutting object on the brink [0.25 breath] to being seventy firing pins expiring men then say nothing of it [0.5 breath] if a mans gotta lift then we let him lift but he better not forget his daily regimen on the bench and dips if not able get his brother cain thats how it is market parking the whip right next to the target [0.5 breath] how you gonna watch the watchmen keep score keep order jumping the lacking a plug business hurdle making sure the underground soil stays fertile [0.25 breath] seventy on the blade math in the bag turn a small bet to a long slow cypher [0.5 breath] like macgyver bringing back an onion for the buyer hit the spliff there is none higher [0.25 breath] i’m just glad to still be in the room, cracked belvedere bottle, belvedere serving like benson henchmen like shredders foot soldiers but no kung fu only spitting no missing reading angles from across the street [0.25 breath] first day at the range, the gun talk real rude, but the stance stayed neat and nice bipolar when i shoot [Outro: no more vocals; full groove continues 4 bars, gradual fade]
