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Longevity
J-Live Lyrics

With or without the mic when my mind gets phonetic
The mouth gets kinetically energetic, its simple as your alphabetics
My words you mark and never mock, long as my name has been Jean-Jacques
I keep you open like your pupils in the dark.

Dogs bark, at the gate, to negate what I create
Still I write rhymes, regardless of the stop signs,
In tough times or nice times
For shade or for sunshine
Throughout time, all times have been the right time, to recite mine

To mankind
Who wants mine, come get mine
You best combine minds
Before you cross that fine line
And say who is so called inclined
Press rewind
You'll find if you're blind, you can't see
How this defines and redefines M you S I see
Who I be
H I P H O P, you know we
As them strangers
That some wish they could be or not to be
Impossibly
As it transcends from hte pen, to the key to the mind
You will find an emcee, good enough to envy
As long as I'm alive
It'll send me to that next shit
That some just can't get wit' or F with
My almamada tolf you that "it don'why quit" kid, it don'why start until it
all seems to be so easy

Chorus: Easy, Emcee is my ambition, The incredible, lyrical and
original emcee is my ambition

Who in their right minds thinks they can put a stop to hip hop
If it don't stop till I stop
And I don't stop till it stop
Fake emcees that soak props like rag mops must get dropped
Risin' to the top of the bottom
That's how I got 'em
If your hearts glass ceiling is my mind's glass floor
Whose style do you suppose
Reaches higher plateaus
While you kick those sellout flows
In hope to sell out shows
But get your spots taken easy as the wind blos
J remains repin all the heads whole steppin
Whose style shall be the illest
With or without the weapon
With or without a doubt I maintain with just the facts
Improving skills with or without the record contracts
And yet still
If that beez the case my presence was a gift in its own right
So I remain strong
Long as
Hands cap on
Snare drums tap on
J's word stays bond
And cornballs who rap get snapped on
Live lyrics will be just that
Just phat
Just right for all those who feel my flavors tight
I'm dedicated to the flow
The only way the true lyricist could ever make it seems so easy

Chorus

As I reserve the right to renovate the Raw Shack with lyrical
scaffolds
Heads are battled as tracks are travelled
You're unraveled
Or should I say unrapped in this world where mics get checked and
all cornballs get slapped
Alright rhymes get rewritten
No bullshittin
Perfected
JL run point and stays on it
Mastered styles look back and laugh at first drafts
Freestyles make toes want to paydownponit
Do anything but lay down on it
Anestesiatics get trapped like rats in attics
To craftmatics
but then transform like skilled wax to insomniacs with my name in
your almanacs infact
I let my glory be that never ending story
Like those that still inspire since seven albums before me
Cause yo
From this old school comes a new degree
Yet to be mastered till longevity seems to be so easy

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BRAD JORDAN, KEVIN M BROWN, QUINTON BANKS, TODD SHAW

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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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/