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Mars ILL - Flipside
(from the album Raw Material - 5 Year Anniversary)

Verse 1: manCHILD
From Atlanta to Atlantis, spray words upon the canvas/
You can see what I'm saying while I'm praying like a mantis/
Listen for the answers in the heartbeat of the atmosph-/
Fearing everything in plains, hills, rocks, and plateaus/
Battle rhymes passing' time, the motto of a mastermind/
Words will shift the paradigm, assassinate the asinine/
You act or rhyme, make up your mind, model just for Calvin Klein/
To reach the top you have to climb then have autographs to sign/
Lines in the sand drawn, hands holding back applause/
But if you stand for nothing, kid, then you fall/
I got you holding' down pause on the way to press rewind/
You swim the Nile to hear the manCHILD one more time/
Time flies by fast, I feel it getting closer/
Tears trail past, leading to the Via Dolorosa/
Hold fast to facts, because life's a roller coaster/
First transforms to last, then it's over.

Hook:
Seeing the flip side, seemingly the dark side is brighter/
Day is night, wrong is right, you can't decide/
To fight the fire or pour on the gasoline/
Everything is not what it seems.

Verse 2: manCHILD
Melodic patriotic emcee on any topic I please/
Move like nautical breeze, the world's a tropical freeze/
They smoke the tallest of trees, and hookers fall to they knees/
And even 1-900 females got the caller to please/
See me I offer to be, completely honest with thee/
And hope the masses with the phonics and the sonnets I free/
Yo! It's a difficult task, like alcoholics to see/
The 12-step program logically, when gin and tonics are free/
It's catastrophic to me, the world turns, the world burns/
I hold my breath until my death, until the world learns/
I'm not concerned with fashion statements, statements I'm patiently mashing/
For satisfaction, not cash flashing but compassion/
You nice the jokes on you, so yo why ain't you laughing/
You wanted to see the change, but you was afraid to take the action/
I'm trapped in an environment where cannibals are free/
And there's no place to grow my family tree, so why that be.

Hook:

Verse 3: manCHILD

Yo, heads is screaming' for silence, busting' shots to stop the violence/
Praying for freedom but don't realize that self becomes the tyrant/
Beaten to compliance, lulled unto defiance/
Up is down, black is white, left is right, and plus is minus/
manCHILD drops science to raise the expectations/
When you visit local record stores, or tune to radio stations/
Salivate for your salvation, feed on information/
Mic metamorphs to pulpit, and consumer to congregation/
Creation not creator, praise due to father nature/
manCHILD my nomenclature rap diplomat debate ya/
Not a playa, in fact I quit school cause they had recess/
I thrive inside the drums as I strive to be the best/
Not the type to simply wallow in hollow raw bravado/
Eat emcees in open mics and still they find me hard to swallow/
Lead while others follow, live my days with no pride/
Don't brag or boast but in the Most High confide/
Tides turn and rush the chamber, I'm no stranger to death/
But when these guns talking' to me kid, they just wasting' their breath/
Rest my case on your face, it's on you to decide/
I really hope to see you on the flip side.

Hook: