[Verse 1: Mafioso-rap male MC, cold and low over dusty boom-bap drums] Back room of the bakery, there's flour on the floor And the man in the camel coat is countin' by the door He don't look up from the money when he tells me how it goes "Sixth round, you take a knee, and you stay down, and you close" Close your eyes, he means, and close your mouth, and close the book Then he holds his hand out level and he lets me take a look Gold ring, black stone, about the size of a sugar cube "After, you come up and kiss it, paisan, that's the only rule" [Verse 2: Mafioso-rap male MC, colder, low brass stabs] So I trained like I was losin', let the papers say I'm slow Let the money men lay heavy on the Ox to make the show First round, I take the jab, and in the second, take the hook Third, I let him shove me, fourth, I give him every look Fifth, I'm on the ropes and all the balcony is sure Madonna, I can see the camel coat already countin' more Bell rings for the sixth, I feel the whole room lean And the Ox comes out relaxed, the easiest money that he's seen [Hook: Mafioso-rap male MC, full band, brass stabs] They told me kiss the ring, so I went down to the floor Put my lips upon the canvas by the man you paid me for Every eye up in the balcony saw which ring got the kiss Capisce, I kissed the ring, it just wasn't yours, it was this [Verse 3: Mafioso-rap male MC, canvas thud, every punch landing like a body on the floor] Left hook to the liver and the Ox begins to fold Right hand on the button and the whole room's goin' cold Ox is on the canvas and the referee stands frozen Lookin' at the camel coat like that's the man who does the choosin' "Ten," I tell the ref myself, and then I go down on my knees And I kiss that bloody canvas with the whole room watchin' me [Bridge: Mafioso-rap male MC, low and close, the brass holding one dark chord] Now there's two cars on my corner and they idle all the week And a gold ring in a box upstairs that wants to hear me speak So I'll go up there, I'll sit down, and I'll lay my hands out flat 'Cause the man who never kissed it is the man you can't buy back [Final Hook: Mafioso-rap male MC, full band, brass stabs] They told me kiss the ring, so I went down to the floor Put my lips upon the canvas by the man you paid me for Every eye up in the balcony saw which ring got the kiss Capisce, I kissed the ring, it just wasn't yours, it was this [End]
