Anthony Forte was born March 2, 1968 and grew up in San Francisco's Fillmore District. He has a twin sister. He has a son as well as three daughters.
Right after high school, 4-Tay made his debut on the Too Short album Life Is...Too Short. He was later convicted on drug charges and served ten months in prison. Upon his release from prison he released his debut album Rappin' 4-Tay Is Back in 1991, and followed up in 1994 with Don't Fight the Feelin', which included the hits "Playaz Club" (which sampled the song "Private Number" by William Bell and Judy Clay and hit number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100), the "Dank Season" featuring Seff Tha Gaffla, and "I'll Be Around" (which hit number 39 on the US Hot 100, number 59 in Australia, and number one in New Zealand).
In 1995, two Rappin' 4-Tay songs—"Problems" and "A Message for Your Mind"—were featured on the Dangerous Minds soundtrack. "A Message For Your Mind" sampled "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5.
Rappin' 4-Tay's mainstream success has been scarce since then, but he was featured on 2Pac's All Eyez on Me album on the track "Only God Can Judge Me" in 1996 and Master P's West Coast Bad Boyz II compilation in 1997. 4-Tay was also an original member of Bay Area supergroup T.W.D.Y. in 1999.
In 2003 Rappin' 4-Tay released the album Gangsta Gumbo with the single "Burning, Burning", followed up by the album That's What You Thought in 2007. In 2010 He was featured on R&B Artist E. Broussard's song titled Big Game Droppin'.
He was featured on the song "My Alphabets" on fellow Bay Area rap veteran Mac Dre's 2004 album The Genie of the Lamp. Dec 06 2011 Rappin' 4-Tay, E-40 and Playalitical collaborated on a song entitled "Bounce It Like a Bad Check" which was featured on the Political Playboy Music album released by Playalitical. In 2012 Rappin' 4-Tay collaborated on the song "Picture a Nigga" with Lil' Gang$ta, as well as helping with his debut album.
In 2013, he headlined the main stage of Seattle Hempfest with artists Ditch, Tony Tag, Brian Meyers and more.
In May 2014, he appeared with E Bone415 in a music video about Alcatraz Island.
Can U Buckem'
Rappin' 4-Tay Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Every-time I cough and breathe in
Can you take me higher
Mary Jane your fire
On everything I love
On everything I love
I been high since the last song
And I just been smoking and smoking
Shmizzy shmacked off a 8th of that
Stupid gas where your papers at
Skunk trees they chunky
On the wall like Humpty Dumpty
Eyes low causing typos
Hitting my notes I wrote
It's The Giant Fe-Fi-Fo
Come and hit this weed I smoke
Can you get higher than me
Mary Jane turned me to a feen
You got me feening
Every-time I cough and breathe in
Can you take me higher
Mary Jane your fire
On everything I love
On everything I love
On everything I love
We finna get higher
Weed make you feel lighter and lighter and lighter
Specially if you got Fire, Exotic, or Designer
She gone make you cancel your plans for future or prior
Picture me up rolling roses
Smoking every strain in doses
Yes I'm even smoking roaches
Send the tray around to collect
Put me at ease
Free me with leaves
Do not disturb
Leave me to my peace
You got me feening
Every-time I cough and breathe in
Can you take me higher
Mary Jane your fire
On everything I love
On everything I love
You got me feening
Every-time I cough and breathe in
Can you take me higher
Mary Jane your fire
On everything I love
On everything I love
In Rappin' 4-Tay's song, the lyrics speak about a broken relationship, where the singer longs for his former lover despite her being gone. He recalls their shared experiences, revisiting the places and even rereading their old texts, but no matter how hard he tries, he cannot forget her. The singer is frustrated and confused as to how she could have left so easily after everything they had been through. He implores her to explain why their relationship was so good yet so imperfect at the same time, and how she could forget about him so quickly as if their relationship never existed.
The lyrics are very emotional and resonate with anyone who's ever experienced a break-up. The singer's sense of loss and confusion is clear, and it's easy to relate to his frustration and heartbreak. This song is a tribute to the complex nature of relationships - how they can bring so much happiness but also so much pain.
Line by Line Meaning
I still hear my own voice calling your name
Even though we're through, my mind and heart continue to hold onto the memory of our relationship.
When I walk past all our old places
Every time I visit our old haunts, the memories of us together come flooding back.
I follow it like it'd lead me to you
I still have hope that somehow, somewhere, we can reconnect and make things right again.
But we all know your loving
Deep down, I know that your love for me had long been absent and that you have moved on.
It wasn't vacant
It's just that I refused to acknowledge it and it hurts to say goodbye.
And I hate that I still have to try to not think about you
I wish I could just move on and forget about you, but it's not that easy.
And I hate that you could leave so easily
It's painful to me that you could walk away from our relationship so calmly and without hesitation.
When I just did everything for you
I sacrificed so much and put in effort towards our relationship, but it still failed.
So tell me what you know now
I want to understand why our relationship ended, what went wrong, and what I could have done differently.
Why we were so good
While our relationship faced troubles, there must have been something that brought us together and made it work for a while.
But so imperfect somehow
There was no foolproof relationship and maybe our imperfections eventually sent us on different paths.
How can you just forget this so quick?
It seems like you were quick to move on and forget about us. How could you do that to someone you once loved?
Forget me like this?
It stings to think that someone could just completely erase someone from their mind and heart, especially when you shared something so intimate.
I still re read all our texts
I resort to reading through our old text messages, as it's my only connection to you.
When I look back on the times where I'd cry
It's painful to remember all the low moments and memories that bring me to tears and heartache.
And you'd hate it
You would never like seeing me upset or mad, but at times that's just how I felt.
You used to tell me that I'd never lose you
You promised to never leave me and always be there, but unfortunately those words didn't hold up.
So when you left
It came as such a shock and left me with such confusion and sadness.
I just waited
I sat around hoping and praying that you would come back and return to me, but those hopes were dashed.
And I hate that I have to try so hard to make myself hate you
It's difficult to reconcile how someone I love so much could hurt me this deeply, so I try to force myself to let go of what we once had.
It's never possible with me
Despite my efforts, I can never fully hate someone I had genuine love for, which just adds to the pain.
But I wish the exception would be you
If there were ever someone to make an exception for, it would be you because I cared for you so deeply.
And I don't know what to say
I'm at a loss and confused about where to go from here.
Or if I even have time
Time is ticking by and I worry that I won't be able to put the pieces of my broken heart back together in time.
Cos you forget me every day
It's hard to fathom that you are able to just forget me and what we had every day without any pain or sadness.
But how can you just forget me like this?
Was our relationship only temporary and forgettable to you? How could you just throw away what we had?
It's like an 'Us' didn't exist
It feels like everything we shared, built, and experienced together didn't even matter to you.
Lyrics © DistroKid
Written by: Tajon Williams
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind