Before before, my brodle Niko and I had a band in Albany, NY. We called ourselves the “Brothers Kavalier”. A mash up of acoustic guitar, looped beatbox, sing songs and hip hop. Our buddy Leo so believed in us and our live stoop jams that he set us up with our first gig, a house party. We played maybe five shows all told, most notably Red Square and McGearies open mic. It was a good time full of rhythm and rhyme. Our mission as such was defined in one line:
“This is the arrival of the brothers kavalier
we came to liven up the vibe enough
to cause confusion revolution rising up
so if your mind is stuck, well we got room
just pack your bags and grab your jackets y’all can ride with us”
“EPONYMOUS”
(chorus)
Now this is the arrival of the Brothers Kavalier
We came to liven up the vibe enough
to cause confusion revolution rising up
and if your mind is stuck, well we got room
so pack your bags and grab your jackets, y’all can ride with us.”
(YUN:I:K)
Now I don’t want to be famous, like world tour, name in lights
I just want to be heard and hope that I explain “me” right
‘caus if it’s wrong, and it’s hated and boo’d
at least I’ll say that’s what in my heart is related as true.
(Master Knick-Knack)
‘Cause we’ve been riding Unicorns, before you cools was even born
and you don’t even wanna ask what we eat for breakfast
so just take your booty snack pack ass back to your half empty
ol’ stale bowl of funky checks mix, ’cause we’ve already move on,
to the next shit.
cause we’ve already moved on to the next shit.
cause we’ve already moved on to the next shit.
on to the next shit…
(chorus)
(Master Knick Nkanck)
And if you’re still tryin’a figure how we break our fast
It ain’t a bowl of nut-n-honey and an o.j. glass
more like a roasted easter bunny on a bed of “pot grass”
With a side of Honey Badger and some poached Golden Goose eggs
that’s just the shit that we start with on Tuesday,
chase it with a chalace of mead made from bees knees.
snackin’ on a basket on a blanket helping trees breath
grillin’ cheeses on a dragons belly ’cause it’s easy,
swallow mc’s whole like we be yellin’ Seymour feed me!
(YU:N:I:K)
‘Cause these guys sure look like Plant Food to Me.
’cause these guys sure look like plant food to me.
“SCRAPBOOK”
I ain’t claiming understanding ’bout the nature of man
But where others claim can’t, I often scream can
And where others see blight, I often think plan
And where others yell hate, Im offering jams
And if she says “off with my head”, then my options demand
that I’ll sit and wait my turn ’till I’m called back again.
’cause I’ve know from the start, it’s the same as the end
and if you only make Rights at least you keep on turnin’
It’s when you claim that their Lefts what starts the burnin’
so don’t claim they’re lefts if they’re rights yo
and you just might make it through the long night slow.
said you just might make it through the long nights, slow.
(Chorus)
‘Cause you don’t even need a scrapbook just to get a past look
‘Cause the past can’t be shook, No!
And you don’t need receipt tapes just so you can feel safe
Like you think you own shit?! Yo.
And you don’t need a degree, claiming that it’s easy
Once you know the shit ‘they’ know
You always knew that you were you, so just listen to your shoes
and just make the “it” a “do”, Already Bro, Already Bro.
(V2)
I ain’t claiming I possess some sort of magical skill
I’m just saying I ain’t a slave to all them practical bills
And I ain’t afraid like most of all them accident kills
’cause it’s the fear and not the action, causing actual chills
so my heart pumps like a fist against the Tyrants of Will
pushing Truth throughout my blood like and alcohol still
which i use to fill the flask, which I just thoroughly killed
chasing down a great big bottle of them Morpheus pills
which keep my eyes peeled wide as I look to the light yo
I just might make it through another Long Night, slow.
(Chorus)
“STOOP IS LIVE”
(YUN:I:K)
Now this Y U N colon I colon I do
things on the regular that other fellas try to
eyes glued to the shadow super ninja slide through
Master Knick Knack and Yun:i:k, the Stoop is live Crew
I’m not the best, but I get things done
and still keep it fresh like Irish Springs
I’m rocking beats on the regular I don’t need the verses
our words do not define us we are designed to give them purpose
the surface barely scatched we run the circuit chasing perfect
the cool, the cruel, the worthy, the worthless
the struggle, the salary, the surplus, the circus, the show…
(Chorus)
‘Cause y’all can get behind us like 9 does 10
We bring it live like vaginas ‘bout nine months in
y’all could contrive to define us but it would be sin
just get in line right behind us and we’ll get you in.
Just play it cool…
(Master Knick Knack)
Y U N colon I colon K, Master Knick Knack on the track press play
I’m like that Go Go gadget kid, knackery’s a part of me
Cyborg McGuyver with duct tape in my arteries
If the shit’s broken Yo, I will try to fix it
I’m the scale tipping, coffin nail, camel breaking difference
on the side of Creation, in a cosmic game of chicken
dropping’ kicks to the entropic forces sourcing all your bitchin’
(Chorus)
‘Cause y’all can get behind us like 9 does 10
We bring it live like vaginas ‘bout nine months in
y’all could contrive to define us but it would be sin
just get in line right behind us and we’ll get you in.
Just play it cool…
“I NEED A DOLLAR (COVERETTE)”
(chorus)
I need a dollar, dollar,
dollar, that’s what I need. (x3)
And if I share with you my story
will you share your dollar with me
(YUN:I:K)
My mother gave me life from a boy to a man
a man to a king she raised me right
She’s the reason I’m awake these nights still moving,
she’s my inspirtation for making this real music
So I write, because if I don’t then I might just die
we in a world where the righteous fly
and the wrong get damned and do it wrong means I might get by
so it’s on till my pipes get dry
you see most don’t understand the definition of down
having to climb just to get to the ground
and keep moving after that I’m on a grind to get a grip on the crown
I slaughter with it, I work hard and my heart is in it
so I don’t have a choice to take it from start to finish
see, losing ain’t an option for me, I breath rap
so to me the music’s something like an oxygen feed
(Chorus)
(Master Knick Knack)
Paper planes, paper hats, pay for this, pay for that
First you make me go to school and then you make me pay it back
but really it’s a silly ploy to make me act the way you act
I ain’t afraid, I ain’t a fool and I can see your ways is whack
so take your paper capers, stick ‘em straight up in your paper ass
So I’m a take your papers which are only good for making masks
and while you try and push your papers you should check your paper stacks
You will see, in my lyrics, gold, black, funky scratch
You…Shall…Not…Pass. YOU! SHALL! NOT! PASS!
(chorus, end)
“CRASH”
(chorus)
Although I am lost in the shadows of time
I can find solace in that I can rhyme
If the waves rock me or run me aground
I will not falter, ‘cause I am the sound
(YUN:I:K)
I’m unique, I am he, He is mind I have eyes, I can see,
but I sleep so I speak ‘cause I’m blind
Is it me that’s defined by the size of my jeep
or the piece that I keep for my time
Yes I spit, I can gab, it’s my gift not a fad
lifes a bitch, so I grab by the hips and I shift.
I am Nik, and I make sound life
Always had the passion, like I’ve always had the gas in
but the car has been in neutral and I just found drive
so I drop gears and ride, in hopes to reach the destination that I seek
the reason that I speak: to be the greatest alive
I am sick, I am That, I am this, I am all of the above
plus a brand of bargain brand chips.
(Chorus/musical interlude)
(YUN:I:K)
My format is air, it’s not a square or a cylinder
I spill a verse on track to hear them clap like a dillinger
The crowd dies down, just hit ‘em with live sound
watch ‘em as they flock to the spot where vibes ground
Yunik speaks on these beats for each piece
of the puzzle that we find in the rubble of these streets
proceeds with out a mother and father to teach these
lessons that we learn on this journey to seek peace
defeat beasts around the corners of the crease
In my mind not my jeans, in my eyes are my dreams
that I can’t seem to find with my reach
grasp…has…this…dream…passed? Crash….
and it’s over in a flash, finish first ‘cause if you don’t
you finish last….crash…crash…crash…