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…