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Black Duke

by THE XAV

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Limited Edition Black Vinyl
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited to 300 copies!

    Tracklist:
    A1 Do The Math (prod. by The Bossmen)
    A2 Black Duke (prod. by Large Professor)
    A3 Short Money (prod. by The Xav)
    A4 Do What You Want To (prod. by Nottz)

    B1 Come On (prod. by Amazing Maze)
    B2 Bad Rap (prod. by Large Professor)
    B3 It‘s Xav (prod. by The Xav)
    B4 Find A Way (prod. by Nottz)

    Includes unlimited streaming of Black Duke via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Limited Edition Clear Vinyl with Japanese Obi Strip
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited to 100 copies!

    Tracklist:
    A1 Do The Math (prod. by The Bossmen)
    A2 Black Duke (prod. by Large Professor)
    A3 Short Money (prod. by The Xav)
    A4 Do What You Want To (prod. by Nottz)

    B1 Come On (prod. by Amazing Maze)
    B2 Bad Rap (prod. by Large Professor)
    B3 It‘s Xav (prod. by The Xav)
    B4 Find A Way (prod. by Nottz)

    Includes unlimited streaming of Black Duke via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Limited Edition Test Pressing
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited to 5 copies!

    Tracklist:
    A1 Do The Math (prod. by The Bossmen)
    A2 Black Duke (prod. by Large Professor)
    A3 Short Money (prod. by The Xav)
    A4 Do What You Want To (prod. by Nottz)

    B1 Come On (prod. by Amazing Maze)
    B2 Bad Rap (prod. by Large Professor)
    B3 It‘s Xav (prod. by The Xav)
    B4 Find A Way (prod. by Nottz)

    Includes unlimited streaming of Black Duke via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

1.
Pen game on em Still crazy when I gain on em Watch em complain that the master put the chains on em This is exercise training the thought muscle to push out a paragraph I’m deep seeded in this culture rooted I got the keys to the Rover your Toyotas booted I’m hyperbolic how symbolic that ya raps are rentals Speechless on ya bitten track call it instra-dental here’s experimental Nothing is accidental Everything I’ve done is certainly and purposely Definitely meant to be the best that it’s supposed to be Making a mockery mediocrity’s blocking me Psychologically debauchery is comedy Introduce me properly I tell em Ya sloppily propell em topically to sell em Box em in the vellum Shipping it platinum I purchase the wax unwrapping the plastic And laugh at their craft They should do the math My shelf life is high up Ya milk life will eventually dry up If I hit you in the brain it’ll fry up I’m the same fella No matter whatever ya name fella times up I keep it seasoned like the holiday trimmings Emcees are seasonal it’s the reason I’m never leaving em It took a lot for me to get to this spot Watch xav turn to xeno I’m nice some say I’m not But they right with the mic muscle I mean with a light tussle Excite with a bright burst of the sheen blessings’ll curse you I’m on the ball off the wall like ya checkered kicks A Rollin’ stone gathering ya’ll’s…Bull shit I aint falling to squalor ask a scholar The lack of quality’s equal to black equality…Hollar!! Still shipping em platinum I purchase the wax unwrapping the plastic And laugh at their craft Do the math
2.
I wear the badge of authenticity seal is approved Got a whole lot of scrolls that have never been used Blow the horns at the suckers for whom the bell tolls Paid dues you can tell by the crease in my bill fold Keep the glass half empty always room for more This aint the first time not the last time for sure I’m no competitor trailblazer more my suit With large pro on the assist I can’t miss the alley oop Vaudevillian rap villains wana be Al Capone With a microphone heist I’m tryna be bonze Malone Pull an all nighter Graff writer under the bridge Lethal weapon on em lyrically I flow like I’m Riggs Bring the past to the present A hawk to a pheasant A king to a peasant I walk with the essence That’s my answer the rest is on you I’m the Broham Ski Ak Money the Black Duke Why you asking me the same dumb question been half century You can fuck with Xav maybe you aint really ‘pose to be How long you gona rhyme Raph when you gona stop That aint never gona happen get your shit together I’m the star and the story aint here for the glory Too far to look back now I’m full throttle Easy on the ears with the headphone jargon Lyrics will get foul every once in a while But it comes when the passion is driven to get down Been time to put the toys away Hez got it right Let em draw two and Uno, shoot em on site Verbally of course I’m talking fantastic Kinda like uptowns Dope on Plastic That’s the answer the rest is on you I’m the Broham Ski Ak Money the Black Duke
3.
Brain dead’s the consumer Rumor is that all my rhymes tainted Sit in brain like tumors No mans land descendant rhythm and rhyme vet Creator of the unheard of but you aint heard me yet My game is just as long as tall sally I’ve learned the essence From old soul greats and breaks to re –assemble My ensembles are recognizable symbols Cause documents are monuments for me to conversate with The most def of emcees expression is now Depression was then but now it’s depression of sound While I invent they re-invent I’m authentically shaped More angles than any other geometrical configurator Paragraphs are telegraphed into telegrams of Parallelograms when sounds enter Ya brain cavity I shine like jewelry This is how I speak the language of people with short money I represent The people who speak The language of people with short money I represent the people who speak the language of people with shorts short money If money talks and bs walks I’ll give you a ride cousin It’s in my character to simply keep it simple and plain But complication is the complicated part of my name I go for broke speak when spoken to then English is broken Then back on track with the patch bay the cause of effects I go off with the drum on write all through the margins Write all run on sentences then break them apart again God the mighty knows about Speaking in tongues about what you did but you never done it admit it and quit it And here’s to it a toast to boast with the braggers Make you understand how this underground plays the loudest you see A starving artist is the brokest I’m hungry Cause I speak the language of people with short money I represent The people who speak The language of people with short money I represent the people who speak the language of people with shorts short money
4.
When I grew up I didn’t know what I wanted to be I never stopped cause giving up was not an option for me I was exceptional they told me occupationally I was a hazard and a cubical just wasn’t for me Even and odd jobs I took em to keep my moms happy I paid a bill or two or three but I was not happy I had to figure out a game that I could play without A boss hog in my face and a P Cotraine Clockin’ my lunch hour and my 15 minute break I wanted 15 minutes of fame That I could extort for more and hold ransom The plan was looking good but I need it to look handsome A cool mil with some shades on it So I could fly like Icarus laid on it I had to burry this rhyme hatchet I cut a record on them Icarus wings but the feeling just wasn’t lasting Give me a goose not a bomber jacket The one that laid golden if I barked at Or magic beans when I trade it in I wanted land when I look into the sand said Gilligan A 9 to 5 gave me 95 reasons to quit 3 to 11 was a time capsule I had time absol- Lutly not in this time zone Even my rhyme zone 11 to 7 was a crime zone Stole it if I put my hands on it Sold it then I put my mans on it We had a racket going It didn’t last long We met an undercover boss with a track and he sang on it Don’t get me wrong I was a child once Who had needs of adult wants But you only die once So you can try to live a great life Most of the time all you really see is fake life And it’s appalling but appealing at the same time The glass ceiling got a crack in it With all the stones in the pocket with the rocket in it I’m throwing mine with the fuse lit I’m still at it all because of a music
5.
I stay on the ball but I don’t shoot hoops I shoot loops Put a hole in em So my scrolls can roll up in em And disintegrate with venomos dissemination Foundation is truth And I’ma keep speaking it through the roof Ya spoof on rap Ya copyright is all copied wrong I’m not a hater dude I’m winded long Some say they hungry and they never sleep Then you’ll never eat That’s your mistake for your sake just make a breakfast We takin lunch money We took lunch monies and left the milk Cause they got it from the crowd that’s how the house was built And at ya gig they wearing bibs in the audience And at ya crib it’s the kids from the audience Here no gimics no magic tricks Tongue to quick tone on the mic still slick Some like to forget So I’ma jar ya memory Superstars gona fall you need to switch they’ll never be Another like raphmatic attacking the track with the cross corner English Call me the mic menace Been groomed by the best of em Bannar metamorphosis startiling effects with the voices More of this Spoinling the audience expect this Best if I Experminate like incecticides Ya whole colony bore face it It’s basic erase and change ya tone ya wasted it
6.
Low hanging fruit the rap tracks crap on the music chart Talk cheap and get to walking defeat Philly to Boston Star spangled leaving the mic mangled Any time we walk in the streets we’re like Bengals I’m slick with the beats ya slick with the hand and the grease Butcher the beef chop shop the gristle Hot block official ya squads superficial Blessing the gods kiss you trash you like Cass would do On my back pack a mallet for that action Raph back in fashion school em with class action Black and silver like a hand tool scatterin 16 that matter if you don’t mind the splatterin You get the message no need to guess who the winner is Ya lack luster every track when it finishes My rhyme stock sky rocketed time to pocket it Now you can see how the large and The Xav can get This aint no flash back keep your receipt get you cash back Cause all ya fans bought a bad rap -If they obeyed the law we wouldn’t be here- With large pro and Edo I aint trying settle This aint no flash back keep your receipt get you cash back Cause all ya fans bought a bad rap -Who’s behind you- With large pro and Edo I aint trying settle EDO G verse -They’ll get what they asked for- This aint no flash back keep your receipt get you cash back Cause all ya fans bought a bad rap -The work of an expert- With large pro and Edo I aint trying settle
7.
I aint do nothing that no other rapper ever done Except avoid smoking dope kids and pack a gun But I’m a dope kid smoking words like a gun smoking afterwards Pack it on then the track is done Grew from a nuance of influences Aint new to this it’s new to you though But you already knew of this I had an afro and charismatic as far as that go its all genetic Rap flow you won’t forget it I chase the rhyme game down like it was strong liquor To a weak drinker the weak thinker they wont get that pitcher I’m not incomparable and not a player on the same field As those compared to but you better beware too I’m bruising egos with my attempt to get it poppin Leaving stunts with stints drip bags and OxyContin I’m underpaid under the table over rap Now understand under a label you’re buried underground over rap It’s Xav It’s Xav My strategy avoiding the tragedy of seeing the collapse of rap Before my caskets in a resting spot I wreck shop and build another on the next block The overhaul and all will cause ya empire to fall A rhyme session is my prized possession watching the heads turn I guess it’s kinda like a possession Devious and evil or not the mic rots Crumbling to mumbling rap in fact it seems to be all you got Salute one of the lone greats bully the rhyme right out of em Nothing is blocked off just knocked off Sharp with the pitch forked tongue Sharper then them sharpened again Sharp as a chedared out grin The 24th letters the first The first is the second The 22nd’s the third Forthcoming reckoning I’m young and old here before and again Say my name and you’ll be back for more that’s the sin It’s Xav It’s Xav
8.
Look at the bright side to walk in the light I put the shades on Smiling underneath of depression, masquerade's on Faces in the crowd with the loud mouths, the pressures on None of it matters especially when the pressures on Trap in a vessel oxygen level's depleted I'm reaching for help, nobody else thinking I need Selfish and greed turning me on am I the victim but who is to blame if it doesn't fit who you're naming it There's no surrender and no retreat cause I survived The holocaust of all of ya'll so it's not a surprise When the bird rises from the ash it's called phoenix Prior to that when you set fire to that than what's the meaning Piecing together the puzzle to get my life in order The single file devil line going around the corner The definition of truth seems to be telling lies They cover up when I'm coming up terrified of my naked eyes What is blindness to a man who's sight is cured What is paralysis to a woman who stands and walks again What is darkness to the rising sun What is fear to someone who becomes a hero What is heartache to a couple who says I do at the alter What is a lie in the face of the truth What is a coma to a patient who awakes What is the crucifixion to a son who rises What is hours of study to a student that passes the test What is hunger to a Thanksgiving feast What is labor to a new Mother holding her child What is death to a man reborn What is sadness to joy What is being lost to he who is found What is the question to the answer When your life is exalted and you are lifted from the ashes of suffering and relieved of the burden you once carried you will find that the past quickly becomes a distant memory and all that time you used to spend worrying about the future will be transformed and eclipsed by all the time you will now spend enjoying and being grateful for the present. Your time will come. Your time has come. What is time to the timeless. What is restlessness to the content. What is a wound to the healed. What is pain to perspective. Never look back, for redemption eclipses all and it awaits all who forge the forward path and do not give up on the vision.

credits

released September 18, 2020

All tracks recorded at Turtle Studios, Philadelphia.

Mixing:
Carsten Daembkes (01, 03, 04, 05, 10, 12)
Doug Raus (02, 06, 07, 08, 09, 11, 13)

Mastering:
Carsten Daembkes (01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 10, 12, 13)
Sean Svadlenak (06, 07, 08, 09, 11)

Executive produced by Marcel "Amazing Maze" Witczak.

The Xav logo design: Kati Brunk

Black Duke typography: Bret Syfert

Cover Artwork: Kati Brunk & Bret Syfert

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about

THE XAV Philadelphia

Black Duke comes to you after a 37 year practice in hip hop forms.
It began as The Psyche trip. A look at the dark side of being an artist fighting depression. During the making of the album, writing new songs served as a form of therapy and the concepts changed.
Black Duke is about fighting, Surviving conflict and proving that longevity does matter in a form that is associated with youth.
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