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RUN IT UP!

by Def Sound

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about

'RUN IT UP!' is one for the lyricists & word workers.
This song is a mix of new and old - a verbal collage, an homage to all the Hip Hop that raised me.

I Co-produced the song with the Miami production duo Paperwater. I brought in the homies Arty Johnson on drums, Hunter Craig on bass and Lightfoot on the 808 sub work. Run It Up is a motivational speech as well as a victory lap. This is me really in my duffle bag not holding back.

Also, what's kinda wild is the ending was a complete accident. I looped the beat in my own Ableton session but the stems the homies Paperwater sent me didn't contain the loop I made to close the song out. So I didn't even know that until Arty was already tracking drums so suddenly everything dropped out of the song but my vocals so he just freestyled direct call and response around what I did vocally. We just kept the take and that's what we got!

lyrics

Run it up

We’ve got to

Run it

We’ve got to run it up

We’ve got to run it…


Verse 1:

Vote w/ yo spine n¡gg*

That is what Aja said

(Yea yea )

Grow in yo mind n¡gg*

You gotta water that

((Okay))

Jim Carried the vibe n¡gg*

I pull up and wear a mask

(((Oh right?)))

Music aligns n¡gg*

flourish and do yo dance




So I

Shine light on the fiction of the stable

I’m trying to bring a brand new table to the table SHEESH!

You can keep your seats

Weave a speech that's as sweet as Tahitian treats


Call me Def but I’m not deceased

Never sold out but I keep receipts

Keep sending me beats so I can sink in my teeth

Stanning for me like my name Lakeith


Spitting the velvet

Me where the kelp is

green like a Celtic

Critiquing the elders Cuz

Aint nobody ever free from a failures

Free and rebellious

Keep it low-key as Mahalia


Vibe strong

my skin ain’t something you can try on

Sprinting down the hill they said I’d die on

Yea I’ma top vibe, Top 5

Thats Dylan [Dylan, Dylan, Dylan] and Dylan



Pre chorus:


The voice in my head go

I gotta kill my hero

I gotta resurrection

Dead my ego

I want a better us

Keep my vision up

I gotta run it up

We gotta run it up

(On every track)

We gotta run it up

We gotta run it up

(On every track)

x2

I want a better us

(On every track)



Verse 2

Black as some marmalade

Black as my momma is

Black ain't a monolith

Hot as a sauna is

Truth through the monitors

Truth through the monitors n¡gg*




Hella smart but the flow go stupid

Ya’ll all punchline I’m straight Shoryuken

Oooops

the noose is loosened

n¡gg* out here need a fuckin vibe transfusion

Wow


The word I’m spitting is potent

Whether written or spoken

I flood em ocean

My ego is texting I ghost em

n¡gg* is posing why do we post them ?

On the set I’m upset, while they dozing

Using text as a potion

Healer

Connecting direct in like a modem

To they necks I expose em

Respect

I’m professional professor

I am rapping Fred Moten

Ya’ll need me to keep going in?

credits

released April 26, 2023
~ Song Written by Def Sound

~ Song Produced by Paperwater & Def Sound

~ Drums by Arty Johnson

~ Bass by Hunter Craig

~ Sub Bass Lightfoot

~ Mixed by Dave Weingarten

~ Mastered by Kelly Hibbert


Video Credits:
~ Video directed by Def Sound

~ Shot & Edited by Matty Faulk

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Def Sound Los Angeles, California

Def Sound is an Afro-Caribbean transdisciplinary artist. born and based in South Central LA. Def is a non binary Grammy Award considered contemporary hip-hop artist, producer, published poet, and award winning academic. Def is currently teaching Hip Hop Critical Theory & Practice at the California Institute of the Arts. ... more

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