White Tuxedo (Lyrics)
White Tuxedo
and now Miguel
Movie poster of the 1951 British film The Man in the White Suit,
Artist: A.R. Thomson, S. John Woods
Prolog
The physical altercation between Solange Knowles and Jay-Z took place on May 5, 2014, following the Met Gala after-party at The Standard Hotel in New York City.
I think Solange’s “Almeda” (2019) might have been a response to Jay-Z’s “Oceans” (2013).
I have no leads besides the event and those two songs. I may be wrong. Not a hill I’d die on. But a vantage point I’d rap from.
Lyrics
The god M.C. made me, an atheist, a communist maybe just?1
Reasonably I doubted I’d turn 30 but2
51 rotations around the sun and Hip-Hop still sounds dirty bra3
Jahova got caught calling Colin Kaepernick a Capitalist without re-wording shit4
I guess in god we trust repackaging, bricks5
Yup they still Target folks put us at the butt of their jokes
All in a scope, Chucklin’ while we cross our arms at our roast6
No Hart7 in their art they sold what’s below The Vail8 like D-Boys9 or Du Bois
He had once said “All art is Propaganda” I don’t give a god damn10
Save your whole glitz and glamour
Cause Hell, Ida B. Wells would wail
All in the news derails,
Red coded scales11, too heavy set
With calls from the moans and ails
May Ma’at prevail12
We holds the weight of those profits they sold and sail13
Yachtin’!! couldn’t wash the dirt off them white suits they got in14
But Black kin remines pure never rotten15
Even if cut with raw(hide) or that old cotton16
“I remain” rooted in Black Thoth before Tariq Trotter17
Or European land squatters
I am and now Miguel, check how it’s spelled18
The right hand of the Goddess is how I’m held
FOOTNOTES
- 1. My use of, “the god M.C.” here is not a reference to Rakim. I am explicitly referring to Jay-Z and his “Take Over” (2001) verse, “No God in the sky, just me, Jay-Hova.” While researching for this verse I learned about his use of the title in another track, “Jay-Z and Sauce Money takin’ over Change the face of rap, give it a makeover God MC, me, Jay-Hova” from Sauce Money’s “Luv Is Love” (Feat. Jay-Z) [un]released 1998, per Discogs. ↩
- 2. Jay-Z’s first studio album, Reasonable Doubt (1996) turned 30 in June 2026. He released a special version of the album exclusively at Target stores after many Black Women and POC decided to boycott Target. Ps. Regarding the line, it’s sorta a trope of his to start with a lot of logos, numbers and figures, so I started with numbers too—but I admit, I suck at numbers! Also, Funny enough, in this K-Shaped economy, many retailers and brands are marketing towards more “premium” customers. Keep the K and the K-Shape in mind for later. ↩
- 3. Rhetorical question as in still sounds dirty? As if it is something that Jay-Z would want to distance himself from, huh? Continue reading as this relates to the “Oceans” (2013) song reference below. ↩
- 4. During a performance (Friday, July 10, 2026, Yankee Statum—The Bronx, Birthplace of Hip-Hop) Jay-Z rapped about critics of his business moves (most recently with Target) and mentions Kaepernick's 2019 settlement with the NFL. Jay-Z claimed, "Buddy took a check, I ain't even mad at him, but along with that check you have to sign a non-disparagement [agreement]." Colin Kaepernick responded in September 2026, stating that the rapper's remarks came from a "guilty conscience" regarding his corporate partnerships with the NFL and Target, see: Colin Kaepernick Believes Jay-Z Has a ‘Guilty Conscience’ Over Deals With NFL,” NBC News, November 9, 2022. All this started when Jay-Z joined/partnered with the NFL and quickly silence Colin Kaepernick by saying “I think we, passed kneeing… I think everyone knows what the issue is. We done with that … We all know what the issue is. Okay next.” In the same NBC News report, journalist Craig Melvin ended the segment saying: “Jay-Z also went on to reveal that when he passed on the Super Bowl [in Sept 2016, see “Apeshit” quote below] it was not because of he was in solidarity with those protesting on the field, he did not, according to him yesterday, like the selection process was what he went on to say. We should also point out that we do not know the financial details of the arrangement between Roc Nation and the NFL … Jay-Z is saying that this is [the partnership between Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, and the NFL] is an extension of the on field protest … he sees this as an attempt to fix things on the inside.” See NBC News "Jay-Z Talks NFL Partnership: 'We've Moved Past Kneeling,'" video, NBC News, August 14, 2019. Mind you the deal that silenced Kaepernick came after Jay-Z said, "I said no to the super bowl you need me I don't need you" on the 20XX track song "Apeshit” (2018). See photo of Jay-Z in 2017 (when he turned down the Super Bowl and was “protesting” prior to his deal with the NFL that silenced Colin).
↩
- 5. What is that Gospel saying about paying Rome their taxes? “They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ And He [Jesus] said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” Matthew 22:21. Repackaging could be the bricks from the Wailing (or Western) Wall as Rome became Catholic (conquest and co-opting spirituality). Also, dollar bills look like bricks. And the next line points to big box [Brick and mortar] stores with red targets; Them Bullseye Dollar Spot Dealers. ↩
- 6. Chuck-D and Public Enemy logo reference as brands target Black creative/inventive output and culture to repackage it for profit. ↩
- 7. 2026 Kevin Hart comedy roast. During the roast special, Tony Hinchcliffe (mad problematic, look him up) delivered a joke referencing George Floyd and his murder (that is another K reference I guess). I won’t repeat the joke, look it up. This line ties to larger motif in my work around the death of The Comedian (Edward Blake)—A reference to A. Moore’s discarded comic book, Watchmen. Check out my verse “On The Doc” that is the seed of this running motif. Substack pub, “Whose with me” by W. Kamau Bell has a great article on the roast. ↩
- 8. The Vail, the metaphor for the physical, social, and psychological separation between Black and White Americans in The Soul’s of Black Folks (1903) Du Bois, and drug dealer economic reference, Jay-Z’s “Regrets” (1996) “… It's difficult to read 'em The windows to his soul were half closed ...” This plays on the idea of cut with the “raw(hide) mentioned latter in my verse here. The raw(hide) as a reference to social-psyche-bodily fracture/separation in DuBois’ concept of The Vail and American racism and how those raw cuts both dealer and user—a sorta racial mixing or obversion towards the population you are dependent on to live the life style your living? (Also, the flow I am using is from The Ville (Fayetteville, NC)). ↩
- 9. “Go Crazy Young” (2005) [Young] Jeezy ft. Jay-Z ↩
- 10. 100 years from this year, 2026 and Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt turning 30 a 1926 essay “Criteria of Negro Art” W.E.B Du Bois, “All art is propaganda and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purists. I stand in utter shamelessness and say that whatever art I have for writing has been used always for propaganda for gaining the right of black folk to love and enjoy. I do not care a damn for any art that is not used for [progressive] propaganda.” W.E.B. Du Bois officially joined the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) in late 1961 at the age of 93, near the end of his life. He chose to leave the United States in 1961 after facing intense political harassment, a passport revocation, and disillusionment with American systemic racism during the Cold War Red Scare. ↩
- 11. Reference to The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States (1895). In recent years in the US, we have been dealing with Black youth found hanging from trees and the need to prove that this is not simply suicide. Also, important to note here, Colin Kaepernick and his organization, Know Your Rights Camp, paid for an independent, private autopsy for 18-year-old Nolan Wells after his tragic death in July 2026. See: Brandon Tensley, “Ida B. Wells’ Family Is Debunking a Viral Claim About Nolan Wells,” Capital B News, July 30, 2026, ↩
- 12. Ma’at is the ancient Kemetic (or Egyptian) concept and goddess of truth, balance, cosmic order, law, morality, and justice. Emphases on Goddess. The contrast is important especially when read along with the opening lines of this verse. As a Buddhist, I think that Dharma (before the Buddhas teaching of The Dharma) was similar to that of Ma’at. I am still exploring the similarities in my own privet study. ↩
- 13. “Sold and sailed/sale” as in, common folk carry the impact of massive profits. A deeper layer is, Black bondage was sold and sailed across the Atlantic and those profits got others Yachtin’ while the progeny of people in bondage carry the weight of the slave trade in their body, in there DNA. Also be from an environmental justice stand point, “Africatown is surrounded by heavy industry. Growing up, [Joycelyn] Davis remembers residue from a paper mill raining down on the school playground … reports would reveal that the factories were releasing hundreds of thousands of pounds of chloroform… fighting environmental racism is crucial to the town’s revitalization. She emphasizes that such issues are not unique to Africatown. Across the country, historic Black communities are facing the same challenges as the descendants of the Clotilda families.” see Ellen Wexler, "These Descendants Never Forgot the Story of the Last American Slave Ship," Smithsonian Magazine, October 21, 2022. ↩
- 14. See “Oceans” (2013) by Jay-Z, I am responding to the chorus where Frank Ocean sings, “I hope my black skin don't dirt this white tuxedo before the Basquiat show And if so, well fuck it, fuck it.” A motif or theme in this track is dealing with the K-Shaped economy and framing that as a Klan Shaped economy. How the policing of Black labor and its profits are at the heart of global economic systems. My hard K sounds in this verse are intentional starting with “Jahvon got caught calling Colin Kaepernick a Capitalist.” In Jay-Z’s recent free style he tries to distance himself from MAGA—I need not unpack the Klan’s ties to MAGA right? K-Shaped economy is Klan-Shaped (Hope to write a something on The Klan Shaped Economy), backed by the same energy of that domestic terror of White supremist groups who started as overseers to ... See KRS-One "Sound of da Police." Also, the “… them white suits they got in” is a reference to Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin White Mask (1952) and it is worth bring up the term Black petite bourgeoisie as Fanon uses it in, The Wretched of the Earth (1961) see chapter “The Pitfalls of National Consciousness” (I do not agree with Fanon’s homonegativity and psychoanalytic views on homosexuality and his hetero-patriarchy views). If there is a better, more inclusive reference than Fanon I can use, please feel free to educate me. Touré gives a wonderful critique of Jay-Z’s freestyle regarding Jay’s use of Colin Kaepernick and the ethical problem with Jay-Z’s Billionaire status. Also see my track “MATTE BLACK” specially the last verse for layered yacht reference see Touré on YouTube, “Jay-Z Freestyle Explained Line by Line,” June 1, 2026. Touré says, “Oliguric Jay-Z feels different than up from the streets Jay-Z” from “Why Are People Hating on Jay-Z?” June 9, 2026. So the White suits has many layers, but Ima just leave the ideal of Diddy’s all white parties here in contrast to “washing the dirt off the white suits they got in.” They are trying to make pure what was already profane may I quote? “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God,” Mark 10:25 (also see, Matthew 19:24). Also, from an environmental justice standpoint, we bear the cost and impact of billionaire sales/sails: “Twelve of the world’s wealthiest billionaires produce more greenhouse gas emissions from their yachts, private jets, mansions and financial investments than the annual energy emissions of 2m homes, research shared exclusively with the Guardian reveals” see, "Twelve Billionaires' Climate Emissions Outpollute 2.1m Homes, Analysis Finds," The Guardian, November 20, 2023. ↩
- 15. One more time for those in the back! “But Black skin remines pure never rotten” ↩
- 16. Raw reference to pure white cocaine, and “pure” White as in of European ancestor (I think there is a sorta addition to Whiteness that the word Raw is helping unpack/explore) Blackness remains pure regardless of the legacy of sexual abuse—see Thomas Jefferson fathered six children with Sally Hemings) for an example—or those who freely create. The bottom line is, we all came here as pure children no matter what our parentage. Raw cane sugar, because before the cotton Black forced labor was made to work the sugar cane fields see histories of the island of Ayiti (meaning "land of high mountains") or Quisqueya (meaning "mother of all lands" or "large land. And Rawhide whips where one of the tools used in forced labor—oddly enough working in professional services you would here people say “crack the whip” or “getting bodies” when it came to employment—mind you I worked for the biggest professional service firm. Any who, check out the track “Tar Baby (Raw Ways)” I got a line about raw in there too. ↩
- 17. Black Thoth, I am referring to the Kemetic (or Eygption) God Thoth. Reference to “I Remain Calm” by The Roots, (1995). Also, I remain calm cause I take my meditation serios. Grounded in Buddha’s teaching. ↩
- 18. A reference to the etymology of the name Miguel. ↩
Phish Food (Lyrics)
Phish Food
and now Miguel
Intro
On May 15, 2025, Uncle Ben sits at the North Wing of the U.S. Capitol at United States Senate. His whole head read as he hears the shaky voice of RFK Jr.
“Cutting cost for taxi payers, and, we intend to do more. A lot more—"
Uncle Ben stands up. Enough is enough. Its time to man the fuck up. He begins pointing his finger down as he casts these words.
“Congress pays for bombs that kill kids in Gaza. And it pays for it by kicking poor kids off Medicaid.” Police officers grab Uncle Ben by the arm and proceeds to push him out of the room.
Then a man with a gavel who has a microphone talks over Uncle Ben. Trying to silence him.
“Members of the audience of reminder, disruptions will not be permitted, while the committee conducts its business.”
Cohen’s voice fades out as he yells …1
Phish Food (Lyrics)
… They talk that
Capital hill, dirty green cream
Triple beam bombardment kills. Villainous
Vanilla beans being grilled it’s
Ironic how this fowl plays from a, Ben-Day2
JF, K being sniffed out by anosmic3
Cohen sniffed out the fee fi faux men4
Angela from Maryland had to handle him5
Somebody give him the talking points he playing the mandolin6
I’m tired of these cats playing fake Sicilian
Mussolini a dictator escaped with millions
I’d rather play grand scheme
No Anansi. See if they lock me I rather7
Be Gramsci. Love how the UK
Talk ‘bout da man’s speech; Ancestor was
Comanche. I studied the Tao to
Command qi so I move with the force like?
Boyega. and now Miguel got the shop, the8
Bodega. Italian ices for pseudo
Mobsters. We only sell Phish Food
Cause we still eatin’ off of that Muskie Fish Fry
Outro
A reporter asks Ben Cohen as his hands behind him.
“Ben why are you being arrested?”
“Congress kills more kids in Gaza by buying booms. And pays for it by kicking kids off Medicare in the US.”
Liner Notes
Inspired by Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, and his protest on May 15, 2025 during which lead to his arrest, I decided to reinterpret the classic track, “Ice Cream” by Raekwan. I started writing this verse on the da of the event and new automatically that I had to use that “Ice Cream” beat. I wrote about 6 bars and then put it down. I really wanted to complete this on the day of just to put it out, but, I couldn’t. I started losing hope around the idea but on Monday, May 26, 2025, Memorial day during my son’s nap, I pend up and recorded this 20 bar verse. In traditional rap fashion, I got some brand marketing bars to promote Phish Food Ice Cream. You know, the Wu love the kids, and so does Uncle Ben. Also, shoutout to Senator Angela Alsobrooks from Maryland for exposing RFK Jr. I end this track by alluding to the famous Ben and Jerry Phish Food ice cream flavor, but, it is a reference to another verse I penned, “Muskie Fish Fry,” which is part of a serialized post-backpack alternative rap narrative I’ve been piecing together. Check out “On The Doc” where I deal with the passing of MF DOOM.
Vocals performed by and now Miguel.
Lyrics poem written by and now Miguel.
Track mix and mastered by Hear No Evil (and now Miguel).
Instrumental is from the originally from Raekwon’s “Ice Cream” off of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (1995).
FOOTNOTES
- 1. “Ben & Jerry’s cofounder arrested at US Senate after protesting war in Gaza” Aljazeera article by John Power, “Ben & Jerry’s cofounder arrested at US Senate after protesting war in Gaza
Ben Cohen among seven people arrested after interrupting testimony by US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.” May, 15, 2025. I took some liberties here.
↩ - 2. Ben-Day, a dot-based printing technique, specifically the Ben Day process, which was developed by Benjamin Henry Day Jr. to create shades and tones by using patterns of dots on paper, used in color comic books in the 1950s and '60s to create effects of shading and secondary colors inexpensively. Coincidentally, The Minutemen in A. Moores’ The Watchmen was created in 1939 and disbanded in 1949, just as the Golden Age of the fiction of the superhero was being captured though Ben-Day paintings. The same concept Moore was trying to unsettle. See my “On The Doc” verse. ↩
- 3. RFK Jr. is a fake comic book JFK. ↩
- 4. Tapping into you muzzle faculties here. Fun fact, Ben Cohen has partial loss of smell, known as anosmia—way before COVID. Also, playing off of Jack and the Beanstalk here and also naming said impostor as a fake man, and fee, can also refer to DOGE as Ben Cohen speaks about cuts to public service to fund war. ↩
- 5. Watch Angela Alsobrooks questioning RFK during the Senate committee for health, education, labor and pension see clip of “Angela Alsobrooks Tells Sec. RFK JR. To His Face: 'You Are The Wrong Person For This Job.'” Angela Alsobrooks’ us are A Star! ↩
- 6. Sinners (2025). The vampires. The songs they appropriate. As an example: We’ve seen the current administration crying about reverse racism. ↩
- 7. I said what I said. But there is a retelling of a Common song, “Sun God,” that I am working on that will unpack what I mean by No Anansi. ↩
- 8. This past month I got to watch, Number One on the Call Sheet (2025), I got to say, the Women held it down. Much more heart centered than the Men’s version. Anywho, I really liked John Boyega’s bits and though he did a great job in The Women King (2022). ↩
A Box Braided Jesus (Lyrics)
A Box Braided Jesus
and now Miguel
Prolog
An English paraphrasing of the intro from the audio track. The intro clip is from a Dominican comedy movie titled Perico Ripiao.
Two men are debating a moral dilemma. Should they let their Friend, who has his hands tied behind his back, kick the crap out of this poor military man who is hogtied on the ground?
This same military man slept with their Friend's beloved. The Friend caught his lover in the act with the hogtied military man. Crimes of passion now have our Friend on the run because he and his boys — the two men debating — escaped jail.
The First Man debating was a former military man who did dirty work for the conservative regime in political power. He carried out assassinations etc. All in the name of holding up a traditionally strong man type regime. The First Man has now turned to Christ and renounced his evil ways. He does not want to allow the Friend to fall into the trap of seeking revenge. But, The Second Man who is a jokester type — a Socialist and a Communist — he is advocating for the Friend. The Second Man and the First Man are social enemies. But all three have been on the run after escaping jail and that predicate has made these three boon companions.
The dilemma this military man and communist find themselves having is around, What would Jesus do? Should they allow their tied up Friend to kick the crap out of the hogtied guy? Would Jesus take action and ever throw hands with the devil? These are the underpinnings of the conversation that follows.
"Didn't Jesus teach us to forgive, we can't allow our Friend to go down this dark path" says the First Man.
Referring to Mark 11:15-19, when Jesus Cleanses the Temple1, The Second Man said, "Remember! When Jesus came to the Temple he handed out ass whippings. He kicked over tables, chairs, and baskets of food man! He turned every thing over with a fury of kicks"
"Wow. But Jesus did all that?"
"Listen man Jesus didn't play around. Lend me your Bible. Look what it says here." The Second Man places his left fingertips on his tongue, turns the page, and begins to read:
Lyrics
I'm a box braided Jesus came to speak truth to power
Made them cower whenever I came in them Kawasakis
I'm a Rough Rider. They tried to talk tough proper
To a Bum Rush rocker a number one Chief Rocker2
With more heat than Chewbacca in the summer sun
Don't try to summon son with words you muttered dun3
Or I'mma get 'er done just like the super4
You called to get your back or plumbing fixed
I'm kinda like the chiropractor who cracked your back with
The way he put his foot in them raps kid; I mean
Sho'nuff you would have thought I was Bruce Leeroy5
But I come graced with braids. Radiant smiles make the dark
Side run wild6 I'm like Jesus kicking the darkness
Out his temple. I cleans any soul with the bottom of
My sole7 In other words that a chancletazo8
For your asshole9
FOOTNOTES
- 1. Also known as Christ's Prophetic Action in the Temple. This event is commemorated during Holy Week and is titled Holy Monday. It is the day after Palm Sunday, when Jesus arrives in Jerusalem. The symbolism and intention in referring to this scripture is explicitly referring to a sort of cleaning or purification that occurs in the physical world (spring cleaning) as well as in the psychological realm (the third space is nothingness). However, using this comedy piece as an opening, points to the last words of this prologue as an embodiment of the trickster who attempts to turn the religious into irony in order to navigate the impermanent state of text/words within the living world. In other words, life is situational baby. Go with the flow. ↩
- 2. Yo! Bum Rush the Show (1987) by Public Enemy, and "Chief Rocka" (1993) by Lords Of The Underground. Sonically and traditionally sitting the speaker. ↩
- 3. Dun means man but other layers of meaning point to other people talking sh*t, and referring to those sh*t talkers as dung. "It isn't what the man comes but it is what comes out" — see Matthew 15:11. ↩
- 4. 'er is the word her, mimicking vernacular from Larry The Cable Guy's Git-R-Done. What is this fixation with the hard er sound? The dropping of the softness in the sound of selected words or phrases. The word Super and the following line are a reference to the song "One Beer." ↩
- 5. Reference to The Last Dragon (1985). My first time watching this was with my wife in undergrad. One of our very first date nights in the dorm room. ↩
- 6. Monday of Holy Week is Jesus cleansing the temple. And so, the inner temple is cleansed by the true self that is within all of us. That radiant energy that often creates insecurities for the shadowy parts within us. But, how do we balance these two? How do we create self compassion and allow the shadowy hungry ghost feed from the radiance within? ↩
- 7. "... bottom of my sole" can be read in many ways. But one way of looking at this is fighting fire with fire. Fighting darkness with darkness. And could allude to the narrator's false sense of bravado around cleansing "his" temple. Also points to a line from a song that is forthcoming: "These are under belly bars like 9 tail demons, thats why I got keep breathing." ↩
- 8. In Caribbean Spanish dialects refers to a slap with a flip-flop (chancleta), often used as a form of discipline or playful correction. The chancleta and the threat of a chancletazo to shoo annoying people is a legit fear. It also speaks to the divine feminine warrior energy — you see that video of an Indonesian woman single handedly beating about 10+ riot police with a slipper? There is a playfulness that comes across with this line too. Attempting to poke fun at sorta Biblical and self help themes of higher selves shooing away unwholesome things. We need to embrace the totality of the self, doing otherwise is foolish, and can make good comedy but can also turn tragic. You ever read Don Quixote? ↩
- 9. What a profane ending. But, in order to cleanse dear Sancho, you have to get dirty eh? ↩
A Man Became Boyish (Lyrics)
A Man Became Boyish
and now Miguel