Belly is a 32-year old MC that immigrated with his family to Canada when he was 7 years old. The young boy found a new home and refuge in hip-hop; a unique twist on a story we hear often in the international hip-hop community. The Palestinian-Canadian rapper is now signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation & showcases his lyricism as reflections of those struggles as a young immigrant who found himself in a whole new world. I'm reminded of Invincible, a dope eMCee from Detroit, who was living in occupied Palestine as a kid; didn't speak English when she moved to the U.S., but learned English (to a degree) through Hip-Hop. I heard the lyrics to this Freestyle via Joe Budden's podcast (compliments of Mal) and I was inspired to dig deeper. I've seen him standing next to Jay-Z, songs from his projects have hit my inbox, but I never clicked ... shame on me, right? Well, let me first say that while his projects are solid, I haven't gotten that same raw, vulnerable feeling I got from this freestyle on his studio releases. Doesn't take anything away from the music - I believe it's still great content and delivery - it's just to say it's no surprise that these memories sent chills through his whole body and THATs the feeling we wanna capture, but sometimes it's like catching lightening in a bottle. They caught a moment, and it helps that Foundation is one of my favorite beats ever!
"...Hero-villain; It's all perspectiveTrigger happy police killers, they so selectiveWhen your skin and origin begins to be a death-wishAnd they get out by morning in time to eat they breakfastLocked up, you call collect, come home you call collectionsIronically this shit is called "corrections," I stand correctedIt's all deception like your false electionsFeeling lost like I missed directionsMust be the misdirection..."