Logic – The Ballad of Rooster Jenkins [E]

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Logic – The Ballad of Rooster Jenkins [E] Lyrics

[Part I] [Spoken: Morgan Freeman, Richard La’Blanc, Rooster Jenkins, John Jenkins]

The ballad of Rooster Jenkins begins on the Destrehan Plantation in the fiery cauldron of Louisiana
On the year of the Black man’s freedom, 1863
The war between the states was long, but will not be forgotten
Now the Destrehan Plantation began construction in 1718 by Robert Antoine Robin de Logny
Who owned the land and the slaves
The architect who built this house was Charles Paquet, a free man of color
And he was paid in rice, corn, livestock, and a male slave named Leveillеr
The slave master and man of thе house, Robert Antoine, died two years after its completion
And in the years to come, would be taken over by outside blood
Master Richard La’Blanc, the youngest slaver in the plantations history
Came into power in 1839 at just twenty years old
And La’Blanc treated his slaves as such
His habits include skeet shooting, attending Mandingo fights, and fancies himself quite the chess man
Though he’s more of an enthusiast than a player
With an ELO of about fourteen hundred, far from grandmaster
Priscilla Cole was born into slavery, and traded at just fourteen years of age
Along with seven other females and two negro men, one of which she would marry the following year
A man by the name of Rudy Jenkins
Shortly after, Rudy and Priscilla conceived a child to be named after his father
But only a week before the child’s birth
His father was strapped to a tree, whipped until unconscious, revived, and hung
In front of the entire grounds
As to set an example of what happens when conceiving
Without the permission of one’s master
The baby boy was born four weeks before the expected date
And so his mother nicknamed the early bird Rudy Rooster Jenkins, after his late father
Now, Priscilla was no field negro, like her dead husband
Of lighter complexion, she tended to the master’s needs indoors
The upper echelon of Black work in those days
She taught Rooster how to read and write young, as she had been taught by her previous owners in Alabama
Not long after young Rooster turned six, his mother gave birth to his brother John
Priscilla died from complications in birth, and the boys were looked after by Eda Jane
A grandmother-like figure who taught them to work the sugar cane cauldrons
Which, when combined with the hundred and ten degree days, made Lucifer’s throne look like an Alaskan hot spring
On the first of January, 1863, word spread through the plantation that Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation
And on Rooster’s twenty-second year on this Earth, he and his people were free
Black men and women rejoiced
And Richard La’Blanc was there to greet them with open arms, smiling and hollering with them
Oh, it’s a good day, it’s a good day, y’all free now
So you know what that means?
If you wanna leave, you’re free to do so
But if you leave, it means you’re trespassing
And I will have my men gun down every single last one of ya
As a matter of fact, why wait?
La’Blanc and his men then proceeded to gun down every man, woman, and child that did begin to walk towards their freedom
And with a loophole like this, though they were free
Those who remained alive were still enslaved
Rooster and his brother John included
Some time later, the hottest summer day of the year
Rooster and John found a newspaper that fell out of the pocket of one of Richard La’Blanc’s goons
They picked it up, read about current events
And stumbled upon a story about a paddy-wheel steamer called the S.S. Republic
Which was lost in a hurricane off the coast of Savannah, Georgia en route to New Orleans
The ship sank with four hundred thousand dollars in gold coins
Rooster told his brother they were gonna make a break for it, become rich, powerful
And return one day to set their people of the Destrehan plantation free
John wasn’t so sure, but reluctantly, he followed his big brother
And that night, they made their escape
Nearly to the edge of the plantation when they heard dogs on their trail
And spotted the illumination of lanterns through the bush
Face to face with an eight-foot-high fence
Just put your leg over on this side
You gon’ be fine, I promise
The boys scurried and climbed for their lives
Hoping to board the train sailing by in just the nick of time (I’m scared)
The dogs at their heels and La’Blanc’s men not far behind
Gunfire began to rain down upon them
Johnny!
John had been shot through the neck
Barely able to breathe through the suffocation of his own blood
John told his brother to go (Go, go already, go)
And by the skin of his teeth, Rooster Jenkins hopped in that train into the abyss
A free man stained in the blood of his dead brother
This is the ballad of Rooster Jenkins

[Part II]

[Intro]

Yeah
Ha-ha (Oh, that’s dope)
Haha, yeah, ayy, yeah

[Verse]

I’m on my own now, comin’ through with the wickedest style
Be rappin’ ’til I’m senile, in denial, my haters is
Hater niggas marry hater bitches and have hater kids
They said I’d be nothin’, that’s so egregious
Now I sell out arenas like Arenas, I’m Regis, a millionaire
I’m still in there, bringin’ them somethin’, the others fillin’ air
I’m unlimited like Singer’s “Clair” sample by Jay Dee for “Players”
I’m too paid, these other rappers is splittin’ hairs
My raps a supervillain, there’s nothin’ but lairs
Flow switch up like clothes in The Witcher, now show me your wares
Geralt of Rivia, here’s a piece of trivia
I’m Nvidia, built for the game, could take a lead of fame
I’d rather write about a runaway slave hitchin’ a train
Mixing up the sugar cane, cotton pickin’ by the range
Blowin’ out the slave master’s brains
Welcome to the world, I built my life
Like Wilt, got ’em all on tilt
Don’t need no stilt, I’m high on life
Better get that right, they in my sight
Better know I write, better know I made this beat on an MPC, I’m MVP
I’m honestly kinda on empty, but it’s not my fault
Got a million records in the vault
Vinyl on the shelf, don’t do it for my wealth
Myself ain’t the only one I help, you don’t get that? Alright, oh, well
I don’t make shit just ’cause it sell, I make shit ’cause it sail
To watch my haters burn in Hell as I excel like a cancerous tumor
That takes a strand of your DNA and it makes that shit you exhale
As soon as I exhale, I get on the next rail
Wait, I mean the next track, hold up, wait, now bring it back
This right here the introduction, y’all ain’t even at the junction
Glock 9 at the function, I got everybody jumpin’
Look, Mama, now ain’t I somethin’? Know I ain’t afraid of nothin’
That ain’t true, I’m good at bluffin’, they told me I’m good for nothin’
But I know y’all dead wrong, fake Jesus, I’m headstrong
I ain’t never left, every day I’ve been at it

[Outro]

All I ever needed was some time
To figure out mine
And get outta my mind
All I ever needed was some time
To figure out mine
Get outta my mind