Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A-1 is a rapper from San Francisco’s Mission district. His latest release, “The Book Of Adam“, was the first project I heard from the relatively new MC. Having previously only seen one of his videos, I had no idea what to expect. As the first track, “On My Way (Exposition)” started playing, I thought to myself, ok, this guy can rap. As the song played on, A-1 continued to impress me with the content of his lyrics. Whereas some rappers put together creative punchlines that have little or no relation to the lines before, A-1 created a song where the lyrics flow perfectly to convey the message of the track.

The track starts off with A-1 describing what he was told about how he should live his life once he turned 18. The description is of the typical path people are encouraged to take, starting with college, then leading to a job, a marriage, and then having kids. He goes on to say that he’ll probably end up doing it, but for now he want’s to see how far he can get with music. He concludes his verse by responding to people telling him to think about what he’s gonna be by saying that he has, and what he wants is to be happy.

This song alone has me interested in seeing how far A-1 will take his music career, and if you’re a regular reader of thebayisback.com, you’ll be able to follow his music on this site going forward. Even if you’re not feeling this track, I suggest you check out “The Book Of Adam” because no two songs sound alike. This one has the feel of something that could have been on one of Kanye West’s early albums. Other tracks sound more like something off a Fabolous album. A couple of tracks we recommend are “My Name Is Adam” and “You Say (Pimps)”.

“When I turned 18, everybody told me
You better start thinking bout what u gon’ be
A doctor, a lawyer, you can go see
About college then follow with a good J-O-B
Cuz you don’t wanna be another triple OG
On the corner talkin bout he could’ve flipped a whole key
If he never would’ve got ?? by the police, so
Trust me, you can be
Employee of the month if you work hard put in OT
Stack your cheese, stack your pay
And when it get humdrum ask for a raise
Get enough sick days to raise a family
Find a nice lady, you’re one and only
Have a few babies, your first born seed”

- A-1