But it all began rather humbly in his hometown of Victoria, BC, where Moka Only discovered hip hop culture at an early age, starting out as a graffiti artist before switching to rhyming at house parties and freestyling anywhere and everywhere alongside partner K-Prevail (recording together as Splitsphere). In 1994, Moka made the move to San Diego in order to further his rap career, creating a number of connections that he would later use to his advantage. Upon moving back to Canada in 1995 and taking up residence in Vancouver, Moka met Mad Child, and along with K-Prevail, now just Prevail, the three emcees founded Swollen Members one night at a Denny's, with Moka coining their multiple meaning name. However, a group dynamic was not for Moka and he soon moved on to a solo career.
In 1995, Moka Only started flooding the local scene with a myriad of music, quickly earning himself the nickname of “The Most Prolific” by self-releasing cassettes on an almost seasonal basis, which led to a few vinyl releases and finally album deals with a variety of labels. All the while, Moka was building a name for himself as a strong and skillful emcee with down-to-earth subject matter ranging from hip hop to fashion, from food to travel, and from love to sex. Although best known for his rapping, Moka was also building his resume as a a quirky producer with a knack for mixing live and sampled instruments. While the majority of Moka's musical output has been self-produced, his beats are also sought after by a wide range of underground artists, including Buck 65, who used one of his beats for his new album, Dirtbike 1/3.
With his solo career as both rapper and producer on the rise, Moka Only participated in a few collaborations with Swollen Members resulting in Moka rejoining the group for Monsters in the Closet, their 2002 collection of b-sides and rarities featuring three new songs. He remained on board for Heavy in 2003 but left again prior to the recording of Black Magic. Once again Moka had found himself confined as part of a group.
His time with Swollen Members, which also saw him signed to the Battle Axe label, resulted in three consecutive Junos, but it also meant a decrease in the amount of solo music from Moka. “The Most Prolific” returned in 2005 beginning with the release of The Desired Effect, his Nettwerk debut that realized a much greater pop potential for Moka. Unhappy with the label interference, Moka released a Japan-only alternate version under the title Dirty Jazz that was more to his liking, marking Moka's return to releasing the nearly seasonal albums of gritty, underground jams he has always been known for through labels like Camobear, Legendary Entertainment and Urbnet, as well as an occasional one-off project for various other indie labels.
Better Days
Moka Only Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Do you hear me?
Tell me can you feel me?
Better days coming
For you and for me...
Do you believe me?
Or do you just fear me?
Better days coming
For you and for me...
ohhh hohhh hohhh
We pave the streets
To walk between us, we pay for these
Lock the doors and teach our kids to be neighbourly
Little defence to de-lineate A from be
We work 6 days
Come home and rake the leaves
They want to save the trees
And free the ???
Only if they could see
Perceive the threat
We face at home
If only we could let
This make believe cease
And take the deepest breath
There's an unseen sickness in the air of despair
Terror ridden homes that's prone to welfare
Compare to the lush comforts of elsewhere
?Teens? in the suburbs, pretending we care
I swear, if you look at life in the positive light
And honour my insight, as long as my pen writes
Invite the whole world to be free, reality not just based on TV
Do you hear me? (But do you hear me?)
Tell me do you feel me? (Tell me do you feel me?)
Better days coming
For you and for me (for you and me)
Chorus:
Do you hear me?
Tell me can you feel me?
Better days coming
For you and for me...
Do you believe me?
Or do you just fear me?
Better days coming
For you and for me...
I feel concerned in the ???, ??? we all out, ?shit? just burns inside of me
Turn your head and earn your salary, its all just lies to me
We encourage you to listen to the truth, deeply rooted in the minds
Reward the illusion through the view of the blind
Very few are in the movement who refuse to define
?While the prove? that design?, in all due time
But if we sew these seeds, sew these trees
Gonna blossom all these leaves, and deep cedar roots
And as we carefully plan, to live and care for the land
In all, we share what we can, and you can eat the fruit
And when they tell us our lies, undercover disguises
We sever the ties and never be confused
And when we have to decide, to rise and gather the tribes
No matter the price, we will speak the truth
Chorus:
Do you hear me?
Tell me can you feel me?
Better days coming
For you and for me...
Do you believe me?
Or do you just fear me?
Better days coming
For you and for me...
ohhh hohhh hohhh
(uhhhh huuhhhhhh huuhhhhhh)
(uhhhh huuhhhhhh huuhhhhhh)
(uhhhh huuhhhhhh huuhhhhhh)
(uhhhh huuhhhhhh huuhhhhhh)
(uhhhh huuhhhhhh huuhhhhhh)
(uhhhh huuhhhhhh huuhhhhhh)
In the song "Better Days" by Moka Only, the chorus asks the listener if they can hear and feel him, while conveying the message that better days are coming for everyone. The verses reflect on the state of society, describing how people pay to create divisions between themselves and their neighbors, and how people work tirelessly to save trees and promote environmentalism, all while ignoring the unseen sickness that permeates their homes which is prone to welfare. The verses are a call to action, encouraging listeners to live in reality and not base their perceptions of the world solely on TV.
The second verse reflects on the lies and illusions that society perpetuates, and calls for people to listen to the truth and deeply root their values in genuine caring for the land. The song also encourages listeners to rise up and speak the truth no matter the price, and to sever ties with anything that encourages confusion and deception. The song's message is one of hope and optimism regarding the future, and the idea that everyone can work together to create a better world.
Line by Line Meaning
Do you hear me?
Asking if the listener is paying attention
Tell me can you feel me?
Asking if the listener can connect with the message
Better days coming
For you and for me...
Hopeful message that things will improve
Do you believe me?
Asking if the listener trusts the message
Or do you just fear me?
Asking if the listener is afraid of the message
We pave the streets
To walk between us, we pay for these
Lock the doors and teach our kids to be neighbourly
The way we build our cities isolates us from each other
Little defence to de-lineate A from be
We work 6 days
Come home and rake the leaves
Our work-life balance lacks meaning or purpose
They want to save the trees
And free the ???
Only if they could see
Perceive the threat
People are failing to see the big picture
We face at home
If only we could let
This make believe cease
And take the deepest breath
We need to face reality and focus on what really matters
There's an unseen sickness in the air of despair
Terror ridden homes that's prone to welfare
Compare to the lush comforts of elsewhere
?Teens? in the suburbs, pretending we care
The way we live our lives is not sustainable and has consequences
I swear, if you look at life in the positive light
And honour my insight, as long as my pen writes
Invite the whole world to be free, reality not just based on TV
If we change our perspective, we can create a better world
I feel concerned in the ???, ??? we all out, ?shit? just burns inside of me
Turn your head and earn your salary, its all just lies to me
The artist is frustrated with the state of the world and mainstream society
We encourage you to listen to the truth, deeply rooted in the minds
Reward the illusion through the view of the blind
Very few are in the movement who refuse to define
?While the prove? that design?, in all due time
The singer is encouraging the listener to seek out the truth and question the status quo
But if we sew these seeds, sew these trees
Gonna blossom all these leaves, and deep cedar roots
And as we carefully plan, to live and care for the land
In all, we share what we can, and you can eat the fruit
If we work towards positive change, we will reap the benefits
And when they tell us our lies, undercover disguises
We sever the ties and never be confused
And when we have to decide, to rise and gather the tribes
No matter the price, we will speak the truth
We must stay true to ourselves and speak out against injustice
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: BRYAN TREVITT, DANIEL JAMES DENTON, GOLMORAD MOSHIRI, MISHCA CHILLAK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Metromechanic
haha I remember having beers with these guys :) great hip hop group!!
NateDawg1187
This song is great! moka and sweatshop fit hand in hand. I like the music that the combination can produce. In my opinion on the subject of mainstream, it is really not that bad if you can actually produce good quality music, that does not need a voice effect to try and make it look like you have the ability to sing. If i were ever to really support mainstream they would definately have to step it up and play quality music over quantity.
Kyle Knight
Still one of my favorite songs from my youth. Love y’all
WRXchriss
Always good stuff SU. Can't wait to see you guys again. FYI best show of yours I ever saw was when you played for like 10 of us that waited at Mr. Rick's in SLO haha (or the Ski Club show in Whistler). Now when're you coming to SF??? Oh nice cameo by Prevail!
Brandon Pet
these guys are awesome, i'm doin the opening show for them on van island this upcoming sunday(H)
pennywise247
wow, this track came out 6 years ago?! where does the time fucking go...I still listen to this album all the time. By far one of my favourite albums of the last 10 years....
The Mad Modder
13 years now
BernhardFStunts
Awesome i love Sweatshop union! great video thx for uploading!
Hugfactory
I got a friend who had sweatshop union and never showed me them I had to dig to get these sweet tracks so when I showed him this group hes like O yea i know them and im like wtf because I asked him if he knows any more groups... it was ok though because he only had that song "today" which is a good song but after I finally pressed him to check more of your guys song's out he was very impressed with your work! As I was also keep spittin the conscious rap word and ill keep promoting your work!!
Rainman
I was searching for a link or someway to donate, because through Pandora I've learned to love your music. I support independent artists/labels but doing a bit of searching shows me a fairly inactive label and nothing about the band(like names for example).