Car Trouble - J-Live

Yo, where you going?

Take me to, um, 32nd and 7th

Alright, hop on

Yo!

Ain’t you J-Live?!

Yes

Ma- what you doing driving a cab?

Man, you know that I gotta take the lights off, you know?

Yo, man, we were just listening to all your joints the other day:

Always Has Been, The Best Part, you know what sa- all the joints.

Yo, didn’t you have like a, uh, major record deal or something like that?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, something like that.

It’s a long story

So what went down?

Aight I’ll tell you.

Bust it

Yo, yo, eight years ago, 1995

Me and man from Bed-Stuy was down to do or die

Back then, I rode the train with a pad and a pen

But he had a whip and asked me if I wanna ride

He helped me out with a part-time job

Where I worked at a car service, even helped me learn to drive

And even though I was just getting to know the scene

I had my regular customers that he never seen

But see we made a good team

Hooked up with a plan to find a dispatcher who can make a small green

But I was green to the scheme

Contempt with trading in my gypsy cab status for a limousine

Little did I know the plan wasn’t quite complete

Cause now we had to compete with a whole fleet

Not to mention I was strictly on call

So I couldn’t even catch my on fares in the streets, that’s weak!

My man got more and more sheisty every day

Try to say I should hit him for a piece of my pape

But when he robbed the dispatcher and they tried to blame me

I had to cut him off in the worst way

I guess the moral of the story is

To be dollar van gloriest, you gotta know the biz

Cause it B’s like that sometimes

Even if you whip a fat rhyme, you’re still bound to have car troubles

Man, just when I don’t trust this record industry, man.

You don’t know if

people are tryna help you or hurt you.

But what’s so crazy is, I’m on my record

label right now!

We 'posed to discuss me getting a deal or something,

you know what I’m saying?

I just don’t know what to ask for, you know what I’m

saying?

I don’t how many whatev- there’s something about points?

Royalties?

You know what I’m saying?

But I need this deal bad!

Yeah, hmm, so you need a whip, wondering what kind to get

Coup sedan, mini van, damn, better yet

An SUV to run over your competition

First of all, slow down and analyze your mission

Who you rolling with, your girl, your crew, your fam?

You need the Knight Rider Kit or the 18 van?

Are you a soloist or down with a band?

Cause six in a two-seater's not a good plan

Five hundred, five thou, five hundred thou?

Will you settle for a hooptie or ride in style?

You want a dope car the fly females can see?

Or something simple to get you from point A to B?

And how your paying for it?

What you prepared to do?

You talking cash on the table, damn, scared of you!

If not you’re gonna have to finance

That means you’re in the bed but ain’t no romance

Yo, you gotta pay the cost to sit behind the wheel and shit

Most of your check going straight to the dealership

Not to mention a mechanic costs money

Cause getting stranded on the road ain’t nothing funny

And if you don’t keep it charged and gassed

Then that fast lane joy-ride ain’t gonna last

You need a whip that puts miles in the gallon

And got enough power for the uphill challenge

And I hope you know where you’re gonna go

Park in the wrong spot, you got jacked or towed

I ain’t tryna discourage or bust your bubble

But if you land a bad deal, you’re bound to have car trouble

Yo!

That’s a lot you’re putting me up on right there, man.

I didn’t know it was

that serious, man.

Yo, man I — *stutters*.

Maybe I should call these people and

cancel, you know what I’m saying.

I don’t think I’m ready for it.

You know what?

Bette- just stop right here.

Stop right here.

You know what?

I’m just gonna go

home and think about this, if not I’ll go and hop on the train, man.

Good looking out