ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Kuttin Kandi picks up the mic and drops the science [CONTINUED]

[Continued from May 10th, 2009 post]

A LOVE MORE THAN JUST HIP HOP

By DJ Kuttin Kandi

i do this
for the love of Hip-Hop
i do this whether
i make it or flop
i do this so i can one day
open a record shop
i do this to afford a new pair
of addidas shell-tops

knod my head
to a funky be-bop
hands in the air

nothing

can’t ever make me stop
playin a good beat drop
can’t break me up
cause i can’t seem to get enough
of a love more than just hip-hop

most people think
i do it all for a name
while all that’s good
it’s still all the same
if you really know me
beyond Kuttin Kandi
you’d know that
im pretty plain

ill say

forget the fame

forget the glory
i do this to tell my story


i spin wax
to write my wrongs
and say im sorry
i don’t care to spit rhymes
and slay poetry

not for some poets on tv jam
i don’t care if i win
some timed poetry slam
i don’t restrict myself
for television finds a way
to keep the truth banned

i know who i am
i am my own fan
i never compromise
my art to a fake
label-head man
never sold my soul
to a devil dressed up
like a businessman
i’ve made my own plans
all i need are my own hands
a pair of needles, pen and pad
and i make my demands

cause whats the use of a spoken word
when the words aren’t spoken
beyond these lips
whats the use of a backspin
when we don’t turn the tablez
beyond chart hits
why do i spark spliffs
when i could be on a natural high
takin good whiffs
whats the meaning of a dope spit
when your children learns no wit
whats the point of a sign on a stick
when you cant protest and save a brother
from falling sick

sometimes
we need to get licked
just to realize that the worlds
inflict-ed
cause i do this
for a sister
who’s been conflicted
too many times
her body has been depicted
as if her souls drained
and heroin addicted
its either she’s on too many diets
or her breasts been lifted
she talks about women strength
yet she’s living proof
of someone who’s contradicted
i do this for the brother
who forms a fist to her face
and is still not convicted
i do this for me
because i was once that addicted
to a love that never existed

i let myself go
hoping the music
keeps me persisted


i let myself go
i let myself turn
i let myself spin
i let myself flow
with the drip of a pen
and these are the times
i stay in it to win
these are the days
i never give in

so i do this for the love
that the music has got to lead
my skin has got to bleed
sometimes you gotta die
so the soul can breathe
sometimes you gotta ask yourself
what you got left to feed
sometimes you have to be the change
just so this world can fly free

and i love myself too much
to ever let me
just be
what everyone expects of me
i love myself too much
so i let me be
just me
for me
to survive
i have bled and i have died

i know what its like to carry
only 2 bucks in my pocket
for one metrocard ride
sometimes not enough
for a roundtrip
back to the other side
i don’t hide
just to satisfy those
who think they’re
dignified

cause as much as this is for me
this is for all of you

for the best friends who have loved me
watched me at every show
stayed with me since the beginning
even when i was at my low
this is for all the
lovers that will come and go
this is for all the mc’s
who can rock a dope flow
for the DJs
that think i’m just a female dj
who says i don’t deserve such a glow

this is for all the peace writers
and all my freedom fighters
raise your fist
light your fire

for this is
for the leaders
that divide us
bleeds us
and blinds us
it wont be too long
till my music sets us free
it wont be too long
that my words will make you see
that im more than just a platoon
or an anomaly

more than just a DJ
spittin ill poetry

i’m a survivor
that can never be beat
i’ve juggled songs to defeat
kuttin it all up has kept me un-weak
and the words I write
is what the whole world speaks

i do this cause
i’m tired of the struggle
that no one thinks exist
i’m tired of reminiscing the moments
i’ve tried slitting my wrists
blood stains a perfect wish
i don’t want to spend my nights
relying on liquor & spliffs
and i want to let go of the times
he used to hit
useless memories
makes waste of a good spit

i’m so sick of this shit
sick of fallin into bottomless pits
sick of tryin to keep my wit
frontin like everyone else
tryin to stay in shape and fit
society has a way of makin
a big woman like me
a misfit

why must i
hold myself back and resist?
why can’t i speak the truth
and raise my hands in a fist?
why can’t you recognize me
and the way my wind shifts?
recognize
that a strong Pinay sister
like me exists
recognize
i’m more than
getting’ it good with me
just to get on the DJ’s guest list
recognize
that you
my people
should never enlist
recognize
we need to take risks

recognize you
recognize me

recognize
this is all way beyond
the name
Kuttin Kandi

understand
that i aint done no thing
this poem aint no thing
Hip-Hop done no thing
all these words and music
aint no thing
when my people
aren’t even listening

so
this is for you
this is for me
this is for the love
of a thing called
poetry and turntabltry

this is for all the makers
and the creators
this one is
especially for the
haters

this is for the friends
who called me a friend
but never knew what
ride or die meant

this ones for those of you
who smiled in my face
talked shit behind my back
and didn’t think id make a comment

this is to let you know
that im goin to rise above it

this is for my soulmate Rob
who is in love with
my individuality

this one is for my sister
that believes in me
this is for all the things
my mother gave up for me
and this is in the name
of my father’s loving memory

this is for my Lola’s Filipino accent
this is for the times I wish I hadn’t
denied I was Asian and
that my eyes were slanted

this is for Bush, Marcos,
Arroyo and Bin Ladden
spilled blood on my land
enraged my people
and turned us maddened
back in our homeland
and it makes me sick to imagine
5,000 pinay’s on
rest and recreation ships
I can’t even fathom
167 politically assasin’d
38,000 human rights been abused
and my hearts saddened

they hearts savaged
me lands ravaged
they souls havent

heard a good song
so i let the record play
and let them know
i aint haven’t it

i don’t this to make new trends
or to profit off the fact
that im this rare
Filipino-female-DJ/poet
who’s Asian
i do this to pay my rent
i do this to make amends
i do this cause sex-traffickin our sisters
are up at 600 %
i do this for the
Guerrilla Words movement
through me
Mumia, David Wong,
Carlos Bulosan
Lorena
And Gabriela
can’t be kept silent

this is how i want my last days spent

to hear the clapping drums
of an audience
to feel it fall from the back of my neck
as all my fake friends sweat
to lift record crates and
have my back all bent
to see the spotlight on my people
as i represent
to play to the beat of my own
instrument

to be everything we’ve ever dreamt

we dare to live
don’t ever say
you could never give
yourself
that chance

i do this because if I didn’t
who would?
imagine if the whole world could

i do this to say
this is what happens
if you should

this is for the stories
we all need to share
let loose and walk bare
so

you should do this
for the love of Hip-Hop
you should do this whether
you make it or flop
i do this so i can one day
open a record shop
i do this to afford a new pair
of addidas shell-tops

knod your head
to a funky be-bop
hands in the air

nothing

can’t ever make you stop

playin a good beat drop
can’t break us up
cause i can’t seem to get enough
of a love more than just hip-hop

most people think
i do it all for a name
while all that’s good
it’s still all the same
if you really know me
beyond Kuttin Kandi
you’d know that im pretty plain

i’ll say

forget the fame
forget the glory

i do this to tell my story

understand
that i aint done no thing
this poem aint no thing
all these words and music
aint no thing
when my people
aren’t even listening

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