The Gift (feat. Marlon)

My mum used to listen to Janis Ian While one brother listened to Rush The other brother listened to dub from the Caribbean Another brother listened to 'Hush' Dad was Lead Belly, Dylan and Byrd It was a gift from my family, everything that I heard Without music I would have been a different man Now put your hands in the air like it's a stick-up Bang My dad used to put on the blues I could hear his head banging on the wall in the next room And after he had passed I realized it was music that he had passed It's a river that runs inside you And just like a river it will provide you In church, they sing to the Lord above 'Cause you sing when you're in love It's the music Woo! For the love of sweet music Ever since I was a cub with sheet music It's such a deep movement Like hearing 'Ante Up' in the club and we lose it What's the first thing we give our kids? We sing to them And that's 'cause of all the joy it that it brings to them I haven't gone a day without it A second of a song can make me nostalgic Laid the foundation I felt the vibration The building blocks of who I'd become It's the music Passed from my father A pile of vinyl covered in dust Gift of music Passed from my mother Drifting down the hallway with love It's the music Passed from my father A pile of vinyl covered in dust Gift of music Passed from my mother Drifting down the hallway with love We inherit the gift Bestowed on the road that we tread as a kid The sound of guitar in the house from my father No doubt was the start of the lesson I lived At home it was Eagles, Stones or the Beatles Zeppelin and Hendrix, no one his equal That's all I've known, and if we've all Grown, I'm a patchwork sewn from my people It felt like that was contagious Big bro was LA rap and the Raiders My neighbors, Tupac on their playlist I was more Biggie, back in the days with Every song painted my heart Facets of a window, stained in glass Now I see the world through the shade they cast And it shaped what became of us It laid the foundation I felt the vibration The building blocks of who I'd become It's the music Passed from my father A pile of vinyl covered in dust Gift of music Passed from my mother Drifting down the hallway with love It's the music Passed from my father A pile of vinyl covered in dust Gift of music Passed from my mother Drifting down the hallway with love I felt the sweetness deep in my bones When I fell asleep on the couch in headphones Could melt my weakness away on its own Was a well so deep it felt like a home Whoa, yeah Felt like a home Nah, nah, nah Felt like a home Felt like a home