This Song is a Musical autobiography of TONY B. CONSCIOUS' life.
lyrics
P.O.E.T
I am a POET, (even though you may not know it)
And I intend to show it (whether I write it or I flow it)
Cause who I be (is TONY B)
And I am a P.O.E.T (that’s me)
I’m a Professional Oratory Education Technician
While it seems like some of these cats have straight gone fishin
And forgot the mission, just listen
I’m giving you verbs full of vitamins and nouns full of nutrition
With some political prose for your soul, so pay close attention
(check it)
I’m a “P”, which stands for professional, cause yes, at this, I’m a pro
“O” is for oratory or the oral tradition, the power of the spoken word or NOMMO
“E” is for education, cause I’m here to teach, preach and reach
And “T” is for technician, cause I work with these words
Throughout each and every speech
See, now other poets ain’t all that topical nor philasophical
Trying to feed you poetry popsicles, while me. I get verbally optical
But when they step up to the mic, Trying to “step and fechit” poetry
I be thier obstacle
And Pimpin’ poetry for profits might just land them in the hospital
But I’m still hospitable
Cause, way before “Love Jones”, I’ve been blessing microphones
Selling Poetry when it wasn’t popular, before the attack of the “open mic clones”
They be some trendy “nine to fivers”, when hell, I’m a spoken word survivor
Lacing coffeehouses, stages and schools with spools of stanzas
Cause I’m that much liver
See, way befo’ HBO caught on to our flow
And Hollywood, said it was all good, you could find me in the hood
Livin’ out the true essence of the art, way before the movie “Slam”
And Saul Williams, I was writing about theIlluminati and Reptillians
But if ya’ll don’t know who I am
I am a POET, (even though you may not know it)
And I intend to show it (whether I write it or I flow it)
Cause who I be (is TONY B)
And I am a P.O.E.T (that’s me)
1
I be writing for where I’m from, the inner-city, the underground,the ghetto slums
I’m talking about the projects and shanties, while other cats just do it for the panties
Pimpin’ poems like prostitutes ain’t cute cause you diluting the truth
And everything our people been through, just to get back to our roots
(so I drop it)
But not like I’m Robert Frost, more like I’m LANGSTON HUGHES
I ain’t hearing no Emily Dickenson, But straight no chaser MAYA ANGELOU
No Alan Ginsberg, but the power of the spoken word
Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Richard Wright, Claude Mc Kay
Countee Cullen and all of the elder griots from the Harlem Renissance, ASHE’
See, My flow can’t be Judged or condensed to merely 3 minutes
Yet I’m still getting perfect scores, yet breakin’ all the time limits
While other cats are becoming commercial, Me, I stay controversial
They be trying to seduce the crowd, while I’m steadly making them Black and Proud
See, I’ve been livin’ solely off poetry day in and day out
While they working for the very system, they be writing poems about
They be workin’ for the government, while talking about the establishment
While me, with sincerity and legitimacy, be in the inner-city trying to end illiteracy
Cause that’s who I be...
I am a POET, (even though you may not know it)
And I intend to show it (whether I write it or I flow it)
Cause who I be (is TONY B)
And I am a P.O.E.T (that’s me)
From the Nuyorican and Blue Moon in New York all the way to the World Stage in L.A.
The Yin Yang in Atlanta used to be the spot and club Kaya was straight hot
From Oakland, Nashville, Florida, Saint Louie all the Birmingham
Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston open mics all know who I am
I got pieces in peoples homes, by laminating and framing my poems
I’ve got C.D’s for that dome, and coffee table booklets, for you to look at
I’m the epitome of poetry, LITERALLY with an additional acronym too
I’m also P.O.E.T.R.Y, Putting Out Energy To Raise You
See, I hit the open mic list like a Mack 10 truck
Or like a track star while you sit in the bleachers
Or in the back row, thinking to yourself YO..
This cat should be the damn feature...
2
And by the time I’ve worked my second piece, You’ll be motivated like I’m MLK
Or Malcolm X in Harlem back in the day, Cause with this art form I don’t play
I hit you with plain or the fancy, similies, or the spiritually advanced see
I enhance thee, listener lyrically, while keeping it timeless and not trendy
I mean I’m putting Hallmark out of business, when spit this
I’ve got notebooks full of prose, and daily my portfolio grows
I’m the M.C. before the M.C., the royal scribe documenting history
The hieroglyphic carving, never, ever starving
Storyteller and teacher since antiquity
I’ve been reincarnated yes, I’ve made it and been created as I’ve stated
To balance the poetry movement, though I’m hated
By these microphone minstrels with dialects dilapidated
And this is just an introduction, in conjuction with my products and clothing line
As I’ve come to free your mind. so let me tell you who I am just one more time
I am a POET, (even though you may not know it)
And I intend to show it (whether I write it or I flow it)
Cause who I be (is TONY B)
And I am a P.O.E.T (that’s me)
A renaissance man (Harlem Renaissance that is), TONY B. CONSCIOUS
is the personification of AFRICAN-
AMERICAN culture.
He is (amongst other things) A B-BOY, BEATBOX,EMCEE, GRAFFITI/VISUAL ARTIST (known as “THE GHETTO VAN-GO”), Poet/ Spoken Word Artist, Vocalist, AUTHOR, ACTIVIST, VEGAN VEGETARIAN and PHILOSOPHER.
ALSO a member of THE UNIVERSAL ZULU NATION and THE TEMPLE OF HIP HOP....more
