‘Cassius Clay’ is Avelino’s second colaboration with Dave since 2017’s ‘U Can Stand Up / Royal’ on his 4th mixtape ‘No Bullshit’.
Avelino described the song as the evolution of both rappers since they began rapping, n an interview when he debuted the song on BBC Radio 1Xtra with DJ Target.
Meanwhi...
[Verse 1: Avelino]
Made this happen, I was the cause
Hand me the baton, hand me the torch
Runnin' the game like it's a sport
But all I got in this world is my word and my balls (Yeah)
Yeah, said Scarface (Yeah)
Yeah, GoodFellas learn the hard way
Never had a godfather or my padre
So I went and got some Margielas for my madre
'Cause it's been graveyard shifts since I put dad in his grave
Made it out of the maze, I'm in amazement
No haram, I go ham when I pray
'Cause there's no real helping hand when handlin' pain
If God made man in his image, I'ma create
I'ma be great, mi casa, su casa, Cassius Clay
Rumble in the jungle, I'm from the land of the brave
Souls in the sea, I rolled the deep, now with the wave
Yo, Dave man, I still remember conversations
About awards and their invalid validations
I got the world in my hands, that's world domination
Man are not pop, we're just popping to the population
I got dreams and ambitions, people that listen
Love the fans 'cause all I had was fiends and a kitchen
I'm in Dior, guess I'm preachin' in Christian
My pockets deep, but my jeans full of riches (Yeah)
Descendants of a king
I got people who depend on me, the dependents of a king
My teacher mentioned credit, never said it was a thing
Why you think the mortgage lender isn't lending her a thing? (Yeah)
From a real estate to real estate
Made sure I ate with my niggas before the dinner dates (Yeah)
I had so much on my plate
Now I'm eatin' like a king, had to work like a slave
Imagine if we never imagined this
Imagine if our imaginations couldn't fathom it
Imagine if the butterfly effect was a caterpillar in the Garden of Eden by the tree where the apple is
I'm way too talented to still be in the sticks where there's javelins
I'm Olympic, on Mount Olympus' peak
At the top, it's only us, I'm with my G's
But I ain't gotta be high, there's higher powers than me, it's AV
I fell asleep and spoke to MJ
And he told me to heal the world, make it a better place
'Nough red jackets in my ends, it's the end days
Why you think I'm rollin' with trendsetters that set pace?
Grew up in a race with racist, a place where they wanna replace us
I'm patient but then I'm impatient, God's grace has been ever so gracious
Something to say, but I'm the savior 'cause I'm in the Matrix
An alien 'cause I'm in a spaceship, I saw my niggas on slave ships
I remember tellin' Whitney: "You're my queen"
I was selling Bobby, New Edition on my street
Feds were taking pictures, taking pictures of my team
But I saw the bigger picture, the depiction of my dreams
It was nightmares where we lost Mo and Leng
Had the nigga feelin' outta place at his home address
I'm the first nigga with insomnia who overslept
I paid seventy in taxes, it don't match what I owe to them
Man, it's crazy
[Verse 2: Dave, Avelino]
Lately I see (Yeah) a lot of man tryna play me
I ain't an escort, but it's fuck you, pay me
Déjà vu, every time that I get a break, G
I used to visualize my reality in a day dream
Dream to be happy, are you happy with a dream team?
Full of happy niggas, are you happy with your team?
How many men are talented and ended up on the street?
He didn't act on it, now he looks unhappy with the scene
Seen, I mean Happy Halloween
Me and the team branched out from selling leaves
If my life was a film, the title on it's release would have to be
"Just Read This One Incredible Scene"
I ain't had a break since the peddle bike in my teens
So I wouldn't lose sleep if you couldn't sell me a dream
I'm tighter than these guys, it's all lies that they're feedin'
The seeds of deceit grew the tree in the treason
And no reason for the way that you living, make a decision
I hate mediocrity, last dream I had, I saw Socrates
He told me he believes in my philosophy
I just do numbers, I ain't waitin' on the lottery (Nah)
I'm the best on the scene
The only thing that follows when your mentionin' me
Man invest in a girl when interested
But she ain't invested if she don't say invest in your dream
You invest for your queen, I invest for the queen
There's a big fucking difference
When I was eighteen, I was six-figure nigga, trigger happy
I'm a killer for dinners, we ate livers and corn beef
I work in silence, my touch Midas, yes
Colourism real, but don't let 'em divide us
We're all blacks tryna run our own race
In our own way feeling pressure from our own race (Ah)
Strugglin' to relate
In a black man's eyes, see pride, see pain
See joy, see days of hardship
You wanna be black, but you don't know what dark is
You want our blood, but you don't know what heart is
How could he draw me out if he don't know what art is
I'm Picasso, diss me, and man know it's kidnap
Nothin', but red paint when the van goes
I don't make pop art or so, and these kicks that I wore hold up
I had a tough upbringin' and hard days, I saw those
Weight on my chest, only right I got a tour, so
Be happy for me, I'm happy to see
I happen to be the only one that made it happen for me
As a child, I saw loss, and now I'm a man in defeat
Outstanding, I stand for something when I stand on the beat
[Outro]
(Jason Julian, that's my guy)
Cassius Clay was written by Jason Julian & Dave & Avelino.
Cassius Clay was produced by Jason Julian.
Avelino released Cassius Clay on Thu Oct 24 2019.