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Startisha

by Naeem

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1.
You and I 02:39
You and I Could walk together You and I Could talk together You and I Could have each other You and I Could touch each other But we don't have time for the little things. No, there just ain't room for the little things, why? You and I Could fly together You and I Could hide together You and I Could see each other You and I Could love each other But we don't have time for the little things. No, we don't have time for the little things, because Life is full of important things. Life is full of necessary things. Life is full of big machines And there ain't no room for the little things. No there just ain't room for the little things, why?
2.
Nothing is real We in the hills on foreign wheels You in your feels We in the building we in here building We stacking ass up like LEGO’s All of my niggas is meglo Pumping that petrol And business is booming like (yeah yeah yeah) Simulation Jump out the coop fresher than you Shitting on niggas like poopity scoop Boy I’m the truth Fuck they going do Can’t fuck with the team no we alley-oop Love to all polyamorous Except for the glamours No ice on our wrist we eat the rich Brain so good I flipped the whip So I set sail, sea of semiotics Saw a sailor sinking thinking he was walking Waking on a wave saying he could save Seeking souls, really He the one they need to save Threw the bol a rope Pulled him on a boat Gave him breath again til he slowly woke Kissed him in the lips Then I stood and cried This ain’t rock and roll this is patricide They cutting funding locking up children and banning books While I’m popping bottles with dope boys that bottom Til we shoot our babies like Sandyhook No truth to be found anywhere we look Can’t be fucked quoting any bloke Rush in bust like King Mob on these archons and Bitch I know all of my exit doors All of my haters get X & O’s All of my mates is on X and coke Artist out here starving, we golden hearted Good deed when we feed em these decibels (easy) Easy as making a mil off a mil that you got from a will You could hold numbers on billboard or get voted POTUS Know I do not fuck with you still Facing augmented realities Even before the technology I’m a keep poking these niggas stay woke on these niggas until they raise my mama salary
3.
Nigga in the hacienda Bitch I ain’t nobody mentor Nigga in the hacienda Gas up as soon as we enter Nigga in the hacienda Gas up as soon as we enter Bitch I ain’t nobody mentor Acid is on the agenda Cash out as soon as it hit us 24 hour attendant Nigga in the hacienda Bitch I ain’t nobody mentor Ecstasies with the Facebook logo So loco yo sucking a Zuckerburg Fuck your heard Bitch follow me call them Toto El Chopo we chopping El Chopo Alpaca in Acupoco Six arsonist in SONOCO somebody open a window They should just let us rave There will be noise complaints Nigga in the hacienda Black out as soon as we enter Bitch I ain’t no body mentor Acid is on the agenda (Velvet Negroni) When acid is on the agenda The LSD send me on benders All the info I try to remember All i see is the color magenta Once it took then I can’t go and send it back Pretender I can’t be no friend of that Wonder who do voodoo for your benefit Please buy drugs from thugs and not the internet Ain’t no pretender Facebook logo on the pinga Ask that bitch what is they into It’s going to be a happy ending
4.
Ho’s on me like gold on fronts Pull bout any grown bitch I want You fuck boys ain’t turning up I pull about five viles out for brunch Look at you what you trying do My bitch has like Lisa Cooper Face like Ri ass like badu You trying to chop ? Chop it up ma! Try Kung fu Fu fu fun you foo Manchu Two for one one for me one for you Club mega in the house woo woo woo Bad blood motherfucker woo woo woo (Micah) Damn mother fucker like you too smooth Run train on the track like choo choo choo Bitches on deck like 52 Bad ass bitches like Nikki too This shit taste like really great You a Baltimore nigga with a philly fade And this philly bitch with her pretty face who can ride the dick for like 50 days No nigga Not 50 shades this ain’t grey We just black Trying be strong but it’s a fact White man say dance we just tap Y’all sound like amazing grace Not by Mahalia but azailea banks And I’m cool on that shit that’s what’s up Hot boy nigga like what what what (Amanda) I got dudes on top of dudes Kim k selfish Kim k nudes You talk shit I don’t need to run And your man real weak I don’t even cum Don’t come for me I don’t come for none Not but one bitch under the sun Golden pussy with a platinum tongue Stays in my mouth if your man ain’t hung Look at you what you trying say My man bad from around the way He like pull my hair and then grab my waist and put in his face and then catch a case ow! Y’all know my skin is thick and my ass is too I don’t give a shit I blow up like tic tic tic Y’all bitches suck like dick dick dick (Naeem) I dominate dumb dumb Dickem down your bitch toss head like the roc and I’m palming it Dunk dick in these niggas like a dunkaroo New niggas doing niggas like a nigga new Your new old old news oh I thought you new I got bars and loofa too Clean eat off it lick both the scoops When teens of it hook all the youth You famished I look fabulous In the back with a bad bitch established Already established no sexy tapes Rubber band band popping bands in your face Every rapper think they one of the greats I eat goats like I’m trini Billy dead on the plate Manish water used to chase curry in a carry is it something I ate (Micah) Was something I drank what up spank Why you always acting like your shit don’t stink and why Amanda act like she ain’t got the nicest ass in the US states In the tinted rental no US plates Instrumentals straight from them mega niggas On the strip out in Vegas nigga Bumping Brandy and Lou Vega nigga yeah Take a picture that’ll last eating tater skins at the saddle ranch Jokes on you we don’t give fuck Bomb ass niggas don’t give a buck These folks still afraid of gay shit I’ll sick dick and you still won’t say shit Y’all be popping all off the chain Fake deep niggas is all the same (Amanda) These fools want to me flex and then spread my legs and test my strength if the long dick strong see if I can take it It’s the length it’s width that could make em break ya Want to break my body wanna break my back Want to eat my snatch as a midnight snack Cause I got rack and racks I got stacks and stacks of strap on straps yeah that’s right I can pull my dick out yeah that’s right I can turn your trick out dude yeah dude yeah I’m looking at you I can fuck your bitch fuck her just like you Naw fuck your bitch fuck you too I don’t fuck with anybody that fucks with you so fuck them too y’all ain’t shit and any other motherfucker trying to fuck with this I lace up my boots and I jump out the Jeep And I show and I prove when they turn on my beat this here for them folks and them streets and them clubs we go hard on that smoke and we don’t catch no buzz
5.
Us 03:19
I’ll save it for you No rush I will never part Created for you Knew it right from the start If there’s love left to bring will you bring some for me in your arms if it’s for someone else I won’t tell if you steal some for me But I don’t give a damn about us Cause you don’t give a damn about me And I can’t keep on dreaming bout you Cause there ain’t nothing changing round me Only one I really want is you They try and sell you happiness in a box They never tell you All the things that you are You are strong you are king your August you are sweet and serene Your a gift from a far away star the only one for me Run through my heart like a coca field Love is the drug now let’s make a deal Stash a bouquet in the alley way Find my way see like the CIA Here baby here let me work your corner Cook nigga cook nigga no remorse Minnie and Mickey and Ricky Ross Hit so many flips we could find a war Strawberry letters like poppy fields Writing you tellin you how I feel Swallow your pill got me catching feels First on that pill now I’m on that needle Mi amour need some more milligrams Cash in hand meet down Lil Amsterdam Me and man we down lil Amsterdam Three strikes we locked for like life
6.
Stone Harbor 03:26
There was nothing much to do So I decide to fall in love with you No ambitions No drive I stand you fly I wait for you every day and count the cars that cause my cares to stray No intentions No strife You’re here I’m fine There was nothing much to say Just stay there baby and I’ll be on my way No convictions No lies I’ll land you dive Every word I read I think of you Every song I hear I think of you Every love I’ve had I think of you There was nothing in my way To comfort you and convince you to stay No restrictions no lines I aim for you blind There was no time in the day to leave your side to do the things they say No allegiance no ties I’m yours if your mine Every word I read I think of you Every song I hear I think of you Every love I’ve had I think of you
7.
Right Here 02:46
Where you going I said right here Where your phone at I said right here Where the sativa Told you right here Where the money I said right here See I never complain My love for you is day to day You always in my face Still I’m a trillion miles away Building a home I’m building a home In my mind I’m home Where the rent at I said right here Where the keys at I said right here Where the codine Come on right here Where the mirror I say right here Now I never complain Your love for me is oh so plain And You always in my face Still I’m a trillion miles away Building a home I’m building my home In my mind I’m home My mind I’m home Thotting and you bought into that bullshit Plotting on a co-sign and some more shit You thought that you could never hurt him Got your man but you do not deserve him My home will be a simple place Of simple joys and simple ways And honesty and sacred faith And work and live for each other Amen In my mind I’m far away In mind I’m in another place In my mind I’m beyond the grave In my mind everything has changed In my mind I’m in another place In my mind I’m far away In my mind I’m beyond the grave In my mind I’m home
8.
Startisha 05:43
Startisha You are far too young for you to move this way Startisha You are far too young for you to move this way Sometimes when I have time I think of you and I wonder Do you still move this way Sometime a when I have time I think of you and I wonder Do you still move this way Are you still moving Are you still moving Some friends no longer move at all (4x) Sometimes when I have time I think you and I wonder do you still move this way Startisha you are far too young for you to move this way My friend if you sometimes think about me and wonder if I still move this way I’m still moving I’m still moving I’m still moving
9.
Tiger Song 04:44
I was born a lover raised a fighter Sworn in a saint turnt into a sinner If I earn another stripe I be motherfucking tiger Next kill for the loaf you fucking with a winner Niggas going ham for a slice Can’t knock the hustle working for their next meal wishing they could have a niggas life Pigeons ain’t eating I’m just throwing them the heels flipping you the bird while I’m flipping niggas bills if I’m whipping in the whip sit bitch nigga chill couldn’t tell the petal from the motherfucking wheel niggas on my dick thinking that they on my heels Image never tarnish stainless like steel print the face real big cause I’m still the emblem if they start I’ma end them No say no referendum Malcolm was a failure more fame than lethal feeble shot by his own people poignant the needle that feeds his blood violent loops last hoop he will leap through but its strong To be militant like it’s smart to be ignorant to sell all this nigga shit cause they only buying nigga shit God damn supply and demand they demand I supply though surprised that I am I didn’t take a stand money over matter matter fact over fam I know that through experience ain’t that right triple x you feeling this I was born three seeds in my palm Papa don’t preach black quiet storm speak with his first we recite his psalms raised a fighter though I had my qualms Gave two to the body another two to the jaw his little lip bleeding but my heart got scarred pull the fire alarm adolescent immolation I protest these laws born a lover full lips soft hands old head said it went against my brand Brand new stance iron fisted jab gift that gab and I Whoop that ass people don’t change they just do new task another tool in the box another trip to the shed men make men made men like pawns til we follow Islam to the Bokoharam In all empathy I sing with sympathy Simply not we spot our true enemy But we are who we company if it’s health then we healthy If its wealth Then we wealthy if it’s filth then we filthy without saying if it’s guilt then we guilty I was born a lover raised a fighter papa said that’s how you raise a real nigga and he should know he should know dead or in jail nigga I’m a look who still here nigga hell yeah hell yeah yeah look who still here nigga Look who still here nigga man man ain’t here no more man man man ain’t here And it’s hard on my psyche He suppose to be just like me or me just like him he suppose to be my best friend Made excuses for him said it was society Thug charm man had the whitest teeth even in our music even in the TV even in the news gave it to him easy but they hard on a nigga like me man they hard on a nigga like me They hard on a nigga like me man Ain’t never seen a nigga like me They want me to be one of them But I ain’t one of them I ain’t even one of them I start drifting when I think of him feel a cold wind when I think of him I drift so far from shore don’t they know niggas can’t swim Now Martin waiting on his Harvest Debating if the state going be coarse or modest Fought as a pacifist accomplished more than all them Harlem niggas pen his accomplice fresh out of jail suit still pressed the sharpest look who the law for we going break laws regardless outlaw nigga from the south boys talking down got them diamonds in my mouth every farmer when they plant their seed dreams of sweet fruit with the greenest leaves from the strong branch of the tallest tree but never promised to taste whats reaped Both Portraits hanging over the couch Martin on the left Malcom on the right as if still debate still choice in route Some might understand what I’m taking about born a lover raised a fighter drawn to the air thrown to fire They say it’s only one heir to the highest If I told you that I cared I’m a motherfucking liar No shares no compliance Every action got its opposite know your fucking science learned about David from Goliath Now my whole hood know how to defeat the giants

about

Startisha introduces Naeem as a restlessly creative artist with an impressionistic, genre-bending album. As a complete work, Startisha exemplifies artistic daring and emotional intelligence while exploring new ideas and sounds, and philosophically excavating the artist’s histories. Startisha may be loaded with impressive collaborations and left-field sounds, but don't get it twisted—this music comes straight from Naeem's heart, representing the journey he's taken to get to this point as well as what lies in the future for him.

Baltimore-hailing Naeem Juwan has spent much of the last decade stretching his creative legs in a variety of ways: he's hit the road with artists ranging from the Avalanches and Bon Iver to Big Red Machine and Mouse on Mars, took part in a 37d03d residency in Berlin, and was selected as the music resident in 2019 for New York's Pioneer Works space. Through it all, he's been building the songs that make up Startisha, a record a half-decade in the making that featured Juwan pulling from creative circles all across the U.S. to craft a truly unique document of sound.

Studio work on Startisha started four years ago after Juwan linked up with producers Sam Green and Grave Goods in Philadelphia. "I was always working with people all over the world, and it became a bit stressful," he explains. "I challenged myself to find new talent in Philadelphia and create with them. We started writing music not knowing we were working on anything—we were just building a rapport with each other."

In Juwan’s words, Startisha presented an opportunity to move on from past work under different monikers, and strike out under his own name, with the experimentation in the music a parallel to the personalization of its subject matter. "It was really important for me to find people I could really count on to explore as many genres and do whatever I wanted to do—to walk into a studio with people who would let you try something new, or even try nothing at all. Every time I worked with them, I didn't give any guidance at all about what the production should sound like. I just let them do what they do."

After studio sessions in Philadelphia and New York, Juwan decamped to Minneapolis and holed up in Justin Vernon's home studio, where Startisha continued to come together with contributions from Vernon, Ryan Olson (Gayngs, Polica), Swamp Dogg, Velvet Negroni, and Francis and the Lights. In addition to these impressive contributions, regular collaborators Amanda Blank and Micah James throw down on the clubby "Woo Woo Woo"—but Juwan stresses that the guest spots came together " very organically. I originally didn't want any features at all. Over time, meeting people and sharing the record with them, things just kind of happened."

For Juwan, the challenge inherent in Startisha was to “write songs from a personal place, and to write love songs – both things I’ve never done before. The album kicks off with a gorgeous cover of the Silver Apples classic "You and I," reinterpreted for today's fraught times. "It sounds like a James Brown song to me, but if he sang it, he'd sing it as a slow song, and then I imagined myself crooning it," he explains on how the cover came to fruition. "It's an important song for people to hear right now, especially in terms of the ideas of self-care and the attention economy. The song's about how we don't have time for the little things, which feels really heavy and makes so much sense right now." He continues to describe “Stone Harbor,” an album standout, as “a simple love song to my boyfriend, written in and name after the shore town he and his family spend their summers, Stone Harbor, NJ.”

Then there's the bubbling electro-pop gem of a title track, which draws deep from Juwan's personal well of experience. "I was thinking about this moment when I was a kid and we had a family get-together," he remembers. "A friend of ours who lived in the neighborhood was named Startisha, and she came over when someone put on some Baltimore club music. She came through the living room and started freaking on me in front of all my aunts and uncles, and they were cheering her on."

While this humorous moment of joy is captured in the song's lyrics, "Startisha" introduces a reflective theme to the album that perfectly encapsulates where Juwan is at in this stage of his personal and professional existence. "I wanted to focus on that moment and turn it into a song about all the friends I've lost over the years," he explains. "A lot of my peers have died, and I came to this realization that I've lost more peers than my other friends had. This person who I haven't thought about in forever—I have no idea whether they're dead or alive. I hope that, in this time that I'm here, I can still give people moments of joy, dancing, and laughter—the same way this friend did for me so long ago."

On “Simulation,” the album’s first proper single, Juwan offers a kind of treatise of creative resistance on art and culture. “I had been reading a few books, such as Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art, and they helped me solidify feelings I’ve had all of my life about surviving a society of institutions that presents fictions as fact, and often use these fictions to diminish my worth, or to convince me to join their gangs. So I wrote this song to remind myself, and hopefully everyone that hears it, that nothing is real, and our greatest defense in this life is our own creativity, and finding great faith in whatever sigils and icons we choose to guide us.”

credits

released June 12, 2020

Startisha created by NAEEM

Executive Producers
NAEEM, Sam Green, Grave Goods

Produced
Sam Green & Grave Goods 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9
Morris, Tom Richman, Sam Green, Grave Goods 2, 3
Sam Green, Grave Goods, Matti Free 7

Engineering & Editing
Josh Berg except track 6 by Josh Berg & Damian Taylor

Vocal Producing & Editing
Chris McLaughlin & Damian Taylor 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9
Damian Taylor 4
Chris McLaughlin 7

Mixed by Damian Taylor
Mastered Chris Allgood at The Lodge
Recorded at April Base, Eau Claire, WI, & Deep Space studios, Brooklyn, NY

Additional production Damian Taylor, Ryan Olson, Psymun

Contributors:
Guest vocalist: Swamp Dogg, Amanda Blank, Micah James, Velvet Negroni
Backing vocals: Rachael Cantu, Francis, Chris Bierden, Velvet Negroni, Justin Vernon
Justin Vernon – additional instruments and production
Francis Farewell Starlite – Additional Synth, Piano
CJ Camerieri - Trumpet and French Horn
Kirin J Callinan, Max Steen - Guitar
Chris Bierden - Bass

Velvet Negroni appears courtesy of 4AD Records.
Morris appears courtesy Bear Club Music Group.

Design and Layout by Eric Timothy Carlson
Photos Shane Mccauley
Stylist Trudy Nelson
Make up Hadia Kabir
Set design Sam McCurdy

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Naeem

Startisha introduces Naeem as a restlessly creative artist with an impressionistic, genre-bending album. As a complete work, Startisha exemplifies artistic daring and emotional intelligence while exploring new ideas and sounds, and philosophically excavating the artist’s histories. ... more

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