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1/12/2006 Quan - The Don Ferquan Show Intro (From CT to VA) - This one is self-explanatory. I wanted people to know what angle I was coming from, from Bridgeport, Connecticut to Newport News, Virginia. This was setting the tone for the rest of the tape. Dear Industry - First of all, I loved "Dear Summer." That beat, I just had to have it, so why not write a letter to the industry? I wanted to write rappers a letter. "Are you really you?" We can talk about this G-shit all day, but if you haven't really lived it and know the ins-and-outs, what can you tell the kids? You're living off another nigga's life. Take It How You Wanna - This is just some slick shit, that's all. Just some darts, some lyrical darts that came from my heart. To motherfuckers that want problems, "take it how you wanna." Just know when you bring that shit, you get that shit, full throttle. Same Thing - It's the same thing in every hood, North, South, West, Midwest…it's the same shit. Nigga's hustling, just trying to survive. I just gave it from my angle, because I've been everywhere. VA's MVP - That's me. If they don't know, they will know. The crazy thing about it is that I didn't title this song. Niggas in my hood titled this one. I had actually called it "Ill Will Salute." Hot97 Freestyle feat. Nas - Nas and I were on the Funkmaster Flex show. They told us, "When you get in there, get animal." Whatever came to my mind, I said. I didn't stop. This was supposed to be the intro verse for my album, just sharing a little bit of my history and observing the game. I wasn't nervous at all up there. I was just baring my soul. I'm here for a reason. I knew that if I was going on Funkmaster Flex's show, I'd have to put it down. That was a beautiful experience. I'm thankful I had that experience. I'm hoping for many more chances and experiences. You Already Knew - I loved the 112 song. You know when you hear a beat, and as an artist, you're just like, "I wish I had that beat!" I told a story about what happens a lot of times when men are dealing with women. You don't want a relationship, but you want a good fuck. I'm basically saying, "Shorty, I'm not looking for no relationship. I'm doing me, you're doing you, but that doesn't mean that we can't find a happy medium as 'sex friends.'" A lot of the times, women don't say what they mean and mean what they say. They figure just because you have sex, that automatically warrants something else like a relationship. I'm telling them, "You already knew what it was! I'm not looking for a relationship, this is what I'm about. That doesn't mean that we can't build and spend time together, and get to know each other." Nigga Please (Prod. by The Heatmakerz) - This was about some niggas hating and running their mouth. I addressed those niggas here. They wanna hate because a nigga's coming up and I'm on my grind. A lot of niggas are mad that they're still doing the same shit they were doing seven years ago when I left for prison. Some people want to hate on a nigga that takes initiative and wants to grind. They know who I'm talking to. All For War - This is a song for my hood, just telling everybody, that wherever you're from, just rep your hood as hard as you can. I was always taught that you don't start trouble, but you deal with it when it comes. That was the foundation for this song. I flipped styles on it. We're banging out, it's a war cry. Know What It Iz - That's like going to gangster church and hearing a nigga's testimony. This is "what it iz" with me. If I don't fool with you, fuck you. It's some more classic gangster shit. I loved it, my niggas loved it, so I ran with it. The Don Ferquan Show - Welcome! Welcome to what I got to give you, bars. There's a lot of lyrical darts. At the same time, it's letting motherfuckers know how I see certain things and how I feel about certain things. I'm talking some slick shit here. Look and See - This one right here, this one really means a lot to me because what it says is that if you're around me, a lot of times you don't have to say shit. If a person really looks and sees, they'll see what it is. The first line is, "Look deep in my eyes, it's too clear, my retinas will tell you who the realest rapper in here." If you look into a person's eyes, you can tell if they've been through things. Everything that you do and everything that you go through, it affects your soul. I really believe what the older folks say about the eyes being a window to a person's soul. How can a 16 year-old have wrinkles under his eyes? That's because of the stress and the strain. You look into an old person's eyes and you can see the wisdom. I have one line where I say, "You see the life of a hustler, knuckles scarred up, palms smooth as a motherfucker, you see me fighting just to triumph for war, hands smooth because hard work was working that hard, the first time I got a callous, I was killing the bar, meaning shank grippin' or weight lifting on the prison yard." I don't have to tell you. I was in the street at a young age. I knew about robbing, stealing, and pimping. I didn't know about hard work. If I show you my palms today, they're clean. A working man's hands are hard, because he's been grinding his ass off. The first time I got a callous was from lifting weights in the prison yard. I had never worked before, not for real. The only work I had was moving work. Just "look and see." I don't have to say nothing to you. I can take off my shirt and you can see my tattoos. They speak for themselves. You look at my knuckles, you'll see the scars from all of my fights. If you look in my eyes, you'll see the pain and the anger that resides there from all the trials and tribulations I've been through. You can tell I really loved this freestyle because I'm running my damn mouth about it. You Can't Fade Me - I love this song too. It was me, Nas, and Cassidy. We went to Swizz Beats' studio and we laid this for Cassidy's "I'm a Hustler" album. I spoke to Cass two times after that, and the next thing I knew, he was locked up. Free Cassidy. Keep him in your prayers. That's a good nigga. Girl You Know feat. Lee Carr - My man Lee Carr, he's working with Russell Simmons and them over there. He called me and said, "Yo Quan, I've got a track that I've got to have you on." I came through and hollered at him, and we just laid it right there. I just came through and spit my bars. Don't Get Mad - 50 and Game had that song "How We Do." The beat was just calling me. I played around with it, fucked with the delivery they had on it, put my own swagger on it, and just had a ball with it. This is some fun gangster shit. Jungle Shit - I did this to a track Game had. I just emptied my heart out on this shit and let you know how I'm feeling. I was relentless on this one, just letting you know that I'm not going to stop. QB to VA - L.E.S. played the beat that Lil' Wayne had. We just went in the booth and off the top of the head. We were just freestylin', whatever came to the top of your head, fuck it, let it go. We just went back-and-forth, clowning around. Some people loved it, some people hated it. To me, this is a symbol of Hip Hop, just saying whatever came to your head. Cocked and Ready to Spray - I heard that beat and I always loved the original song. Just Blaze did this beat for Beanie Sigel. I heard the beat and I was just thinking about the original song where he said, "It may sound crazy, but I want to go outside, in the rain." Around that time, there was some bullshit going on in the hood, as always, so I just let this reflect what niggas are going through. Sometimes, that's just how it be. Outro - I had to close it out. Rhude had lost his son. I think his son was two or three when he ran out in the street and got hit by a car. The crazy thing about it is that he had passed away on my birthday. Rhude said he loved the song, and every time he heard the song he thought about his son. I gave a shout out to his son from my heart. That's a hell of a thing to deal with. To lose a child, that's not even something I can comprehend. I gave a shout out to him. Just a Moment (Original Version) - I put this one on because I felt there were some lines on here that people needed to hear. I was shouting out other names on the song too and I felt those people needed to hear that. If you don't got it, we're going to get it to you. I hope y'all love it. Thank you to everybody who's been praying for me and giving me your support. I love y'all for loving me. This is just the beginning. We have another mixtape coming later in January. I'm going to keep bringing that fire. Thanks for the love and support. God bless y'all, and hold me down. I'm going to keep bringing it. Download the mixtape for free here

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