Avatar the Articulate - “The Setup”

[Emcee(s): Avatar the Articulate (AKA Avie Fresh)]

[Producer(s): Avie Fresh (AKA Avatar the Articulate) and One-Take]

[Additional Vocals: Rashida Davis]

[Intro: Storytelling Skit]

Child: Uncle Avie

Avatar the Articulate (AKA Avie Fresh): Yeah

Child: Could you please tell me a story?

Avatar the Articulate (AKA Avie Fresh): Eh. Alright, yo

[Verse 1: Avatar the Articulate (AKA Avie Fresh)]

I was

Dirt-broke, piss-poor, didn’t have two nickels to

Rub nor two dollars—God, I lived in squalor

I washed the windows of an Impala on the interstate

Just to get berated and some change thrown, pennies cas-

-caded, picked ‘em all up, got a buck, figured I

Could pick some bottles up, got a hand-truck, shopping cart

Made my way to the Food Mart to turn it to change

It’s kind of strange how, how it starts to rain now

Seen a man with a black brow, black brim, black

Fedora hat kicking on his rim. I helped him change

His tire. He asked me if I was for hire. Told him

“I got no skills, I’m just a lowly squire.” He said

“I got just the thing for a kid like you. You’re down

On your luck. I could help you make a buck or two.” He said

His name’s Frank, never call him Francis—the last that did

Got his hand stitched—you couldn’t fix it with a bandage

“The plan is you meet me at this spot tomorrow. Here, take

This bag, don’t open it and don’t get followed.” I swallowed

This was my chance to advance. I grabbed the bag in

My hands, then went home to sleep with roaches and rats, but I

Was nervous, tossing, turning. Yo, what was in this bag? Yo, I

Was yearning, I had to take a really quick glance

So I looked in and then, son, my vision was stunned. It was

A gun, a CZ vz. 61

They call it a Škorpion in the slums of the Czech Republic

And next to that was some bricks of a powdered substance

I could of took the bag and just been straight, but I

Was nauseous ‘cause, from the mob, it’s hard to escape, so I’ll

Be cautious, just make the drop and count up my papes. I had

Mad energy, so I just stayed awake. I made

Breakfast, a huge hunk of free cheese and powdered egg shit

I’m restless, so I went early to collect this

I saw Frank hanging with what looked like a detective

By a Lexus tinted out with six antennas

I heard Frank refer to the cop as McManus

He ate bananas and then he told him what the plan is

I hid behind a Humvee, he told the cop he found a junkie

To pin the murder on—“I framed him up. What a dummy”

He should be here about six, he got a bag filled

With bricks, plus the gun and some clips. I thought, “Shit

I really was a fool to just trust that Frank.” I picked

Up the rag and shoved it in the cops gas tank

The explosion was sudden, loud thunderclaps, Frank was running

McManus bought it, a ticket straight to Satan’s dungeon

Pulled out the CZ easy, the smoke billowed, put

A hole in the DT, stepped out the smoke real slow

Not wheezing but hot-squeezing, say, “Bless you, Frank”

The Škorpion was sneezing, but this is bullets, not boogers

I shot him in his tookus, he fell to the ground. We had

Some onlookers now, I tried to calm ‘em all down. I told ‘em

I was police—“nothing to see here, folks.” He grabbed

His piece, I shot him once again in his throat

[Bridge: Avatar the Articulate (AKA Avie Fresh)]

Shootouts are similar to Wild West

Broad daylights, face-to-face without a vest

You know the episodes: thugs, camouflage, and spectacles

Please, God, this ain’t the life that the Devil sold

See, it was written but was never told

Peep the jewels, black man—it’s even better than gold

Niggas roll with iron, police roll in hot pursuit, trying

To stop the loot. Fuck jake—cock and shoot

[Outro: Rashida Davis]

Another day, another dollar

More money, more murder

Fuck this shit

BK up in the house

Roping niggas up

‘Cause our clique is thick