A Charmed Life
J-Live Lyrics
Africa Port-Au-Prince Knoxville Anvan
Manhattan South Bend Albany Brooklyn - where you coming from?
Africa Port-Au-Prince Knoxville Anvan
Manhattan South Bend Albany Brooklyn - where you coming from?
Africa Port-Au-Prince Knoxville Anvan
Manhattan South Bend Albany Brooklyn - where you coming from?
Africa Port-Au-Prince Knoxville Anvan
Manhattan South Bend Albany Brooklyn - where you coming from?
Africa Port-Au-Prince Knoxville Anvan
Manhattan South Bend Albany Brooklyn - where you coming from?
Manhattan South Bend Albany Brooklyn - where you coming from?
[Fading in]
Brooklyn, New York to wherever you at
This is autobiographical taking you back
I live a charmed life
We going back in the years
Imagining if my whole world what
Where you coming from
Brooklyn, New York to wherever you at
This is autobiographical taking you back
I live a charmed life
We going back in the years
Imagine if my whole world
I been around the sun twenty-five times
And I still find new ways to recognize shine
It's like light gets better with age
The way a song sounds better on stage
And rhyme books get better with each page
What before the first bar was written
A first verse was spittin
Before label execs was bullshittin
Way back when Aunty Leann Aunt Mimi and Aunt Jackie was babysitting
Before food was bitten, consumed through a nipple
I'm talking about when times were simple
To make a long story short it goes
Port-au-Prince Knoxville Anvan love and the city that never sleeps
From thought to finish I was born just a couple of weeks late
Stayed home longer just to make sure everything was on straight
All systems go cut the umbilical cord
From old earth to new earth Manhattan to turf
For what its worth my mum held me down one deep
Pops was absentee but minds you don't sleep
It took her feelings to raise me lean taught me how to read
By the time I went to school I was in high speed
Ready willing and able jackie taught me how to add with
Dried up black eyed peas on the kitchen table
And coming home to a mothers love and good care
Never wanted it was always enough
But when it came to education its like she had one rule
There's no such thing as too much school
Not to mention lean taught me how to play the piano and then
Every summer I was out in south ben
Grandpops a bartender at a country club
Me and my cousins from grand rapid was living it up
Me and granny watching ??? football golden blue
She said you can't beat the team and them be 's too
Some say I got my sense of humour from her
And I learned patience from making models in the basement
Brookyn, new york to wherever you at
This is autobiographical taking you back
With no time for refrains I barely got enough time to explain
How hip hop captivated my brain
My mama raised me on soul and beethoven
Sports clubs from private school put me up on soft rock
That was cool but I left Z100 and WGLJ
To find bliss with real s and kiss
Video music rocks showed my what time it is
Wrote my first rhymes as corey but j-live was sparked
Making pause mix demos with my main man mark
Playing ball in the park, there was other heads too
I was the herb of the crew, then I learned what to do
Got my way from school started battling fools
G nice my friendly rival at the lunch table
He started spark at a dark with damian and I date
I was down for a bit but that was just a DJ
Starting spinning in the PJs with satcho and them
Back and forth from the tables to the pad and the pen
Then I had to do a bit upstate but wait
I wasn't incarcerated but college educated
As soon the Albany I was a full time student part time emcee
At the time raw shack was the place to be
Living on judge Clark
Started building with gods
16 man squad
By the time knowledge was 120 we was just 5 deep
I went from Mecca to Albany a student and landed in medina as a teacher
I had this rhyme reacher
We recognized what what's happening
I'm making records and I'm winning
But that's another story and it's only the beginning
Brooklyn, New York to wherever you at
This is autobiographical taking you back
Not my whole entire life but just a slice of the pie
A few pieces of the who what when where's and whys
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: J CADET, PATRICK MC LAIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
J-Live was born and raised in Uptown Manhattan, New York City. After making a home for himself in Brooklyn upon graduating from SUNY at Albany, J relocated to Philadelphia in 2003. "Moving to Philly was more for the family than any kind of career move. But the whole music scene here and the hip hop community here have embraced me with open arms since I arrived. I've gotten a lot of support from so many different artists and dee jays. This city is jam packed with talented and beautiful people." Read Full BioJ-Live was born and raised in Uptown Manhattan, New York City. After making a home for himself in Brooklyn upon graduating from SUNY at Albany, J relocated to Philadelphia in 2003. "Moving to Philly was more for the family than any kind of career move. But the whole music scene here and the hip hop community here have embraced me with open arms since I arrived. I've gotten a lot of support from so many different artists and dee jays. This city is jam packed with talented and beautiful people."
J-Live started his career by releasing solid 12" such as "Longevity", "Braggin' Writes", and "Hush the Crowd", which earned him a spot in The Source's "Unsigned Hype" column.
Recorded mostly at J's own Triple Threat Studios in Philadelphia, The Hear After actually seems to have taken on a life of its own. Guest vocalist on the album, include up and coming artist, Kola Rock, Cvees, and the soulful sounds of Virgin recording artist, Dwele. The album features production by Floyd the Locsmif (Atl), Hezekiah, James Poysner (Philly), Probe DMS, Fire Dept., (NYC), Oddisee (DC), and J-Live himself. "The title is a play on words. People think of the here after as the after life or somewhere you go when you die. Like heaven or hell. Me personally, I see heaven as being at peace with yourself while you're alive. I see hell as the path you choose in life as opposed to a place you go after death. The album is called The Hear After because I'm at peace with myself musically, and I've been through hell to get that way. This is what you "hear after" all that has transpired so far. This is what I've been working to accomplish since the last album."
Like J's last two full length records, The Best Part and All of the Above, The Hear After covers a wide range of thoughts and emotions both musically and with its subject matter. "If you were to look at the whole thing, you would see a story line about an artist trying to maintain and expand his career and still be there for his family. That was the biggest struggle while making the record, and its no coincidence that it's a theme that becomes obvious listening to it. But there are songs about almost every aspect of my life from growing up in the city, to raising kids, touring heavy, building and teaching, politics, party and bullshit. I can't just spit about one thing for a whole record. That's not my style."
J-Live has been rhyming and mixing since the age of 12 but he has made much more of a name for himself as an MC than as a DJ. "I definitely focus on rhyming more. Growing up doing both it was easier on the pockets to be an MC. Records and equipment can get expensive. But I love spinning." One of the highlights of his entertaining live show is when he rhymes and beat juggles on the turntables simultaneously, performing his classic, "Braggin' Writes." J-Live is also known to produce beats.
J-Live has always used music to get his messages across. He explains, "I grew up listening to everything from BDP to NWA, to PE [[artist]Public Enemy], Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, Nice and Smooth. Whether the music was pimped out, gangsta, militant or whatever, rappers had something important to say to kids like me. And I listened intently. As a 5%er, I can't imagine how much of an influence hip hop had on the way I see the world."
Case in point, J's favorite song on the album, "Audio Visual" is so descriptive it's a song "in 3-D". From the quirky, key accents to the thick-ass bottom running throughout the song, J-Live paints a colorful, picture of his life on and off the mic. "Brooklyn Public" is his ode to his days as an educator. Earlier in his career, J-Live taught middle school English/Language Arts in Brooklyn for a few years.
Making music for the walkmans as well as the Jeeps, J-Live made a mature, sonically sophisticated album. "I feel like I represent hip hop's middle class. Seems like everybody's either crying broke or screaming rich or both. I try to speak to the people in between. The everyday hard working fun loving hip hop heads."
Year Formed: 1995
Official Site: http://www.j-livemusic.com/
J-Live started his career by releasing solid 12" such as "Longevity", "Braggin' Writes", and "Hush the Crowd", which earned him a spot in The Source's "Unsigned Hype" column.
Recorded mostly at J's own Triple Threat Studios in Philadelphia, The Hear After actually seems to have taken on a life of its own. Guest vocalist on the album, include up and coming artist, Kola Rock, Cvees, and the soulful sounds of Virgin recording artist, Dwele. The album features production by Floyd the Locsmif (Atl), Hezekiah, James Poysner (Philly), Probe DMS, Fire Dept., (NYC), Oddisee (DC), and J-Live himself. "The title is a play on words. People think of the here after as the after life or somewhere you go when you die. Like heaven or hell. Me personally, I see heaven as being at peace with yourself while you're alive. I see hell as the path you choose in life as opposed to a place you go after death. The album is called The Hear After because I'm at peace with myself musically, and I've been through hell to get that way. This is what you "hear after" all that has transpired so far. This is what I've been working to accomplish since the last album."
Like J's last two full length records, The Best Part and All of the Above, The Hear After covers a wide range of thoughts and emotions both musically and with its subject matter. "If you were to look at the whole thing, you would see a story line about an artist trying to maintain and expand his career and still be there for his family. That was the biggest struggle while making the record, and its no coincidence that it's a theme that becomes obvious listening to it. But there are songs about almost every aspect of my life from growing up in the city, to raising kids, touring heavy, building and teaching, politics, party and bullshit. I can't just spit about one thing for a whole record. That's not my style."
J-Live has been rhyming and mixing since the age of 12 but he has made much more of a name for himself as an MC than as a DJ. "I definitely focus on rhyming more. Growing up doing both it was easier on the pockets to be an MC. Records and equipment can get expensive. But I love spinning." One of the highlights of his entertaining live show is when he rhymes and beat juggles on the turntables simultaneously, performing his classic, "Braggin' Writes." J-Live is also known to produce beats.
J-Live has always used music to get his messages across. He explains, "I grew up listening to everything from BDP to NWA, to PE [[artist]Public Enemy], Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, Nice and Smooth. Whether the music was pimped out, gangsta, militant or whatever, rappers had something important to say to kids like me. And I listened intently. As a 5%er, I can't imagine how much of an influence hip hop had on the way I see the world."
Case in point, J's favorite song on the album, "Audio Visual" is so descriptive it's a song "in 3-D". From the quirky, key accents to the thick-ass bottom running throughout the song, J-Live paints a colorful, picture of his life on and off the mic. "Brooklyn Public" is his ode to his days as an educator. Earlier in his career, J-Live taught middle school English/Language Arts in Brooklyn for a few years.
Making music for the walkmans as well as the Jeeps, J-Live made a mature, sonically sophisticated album. "I feel like I represent hip hop's middle class. Seems like everybody's either crying broke or screaming rich or both. I try to speak to the people in between. The everyday hard working fun loving hip hop heads."
Year Formed: 1995
Official Site: http://www.j-livemusic.com/
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