Buckshot LeFonque was a musical group project of Branford Marsalis. The name Buckshot LeFonque was a pseudonym used by jazz saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley for contractual reasons on the album Here Comes Louis Smith (1958). After playing with Sting, Miles Davis and other artists, Marsalis founded this band to create a new sound by merging classical jazz with rock, pop, R&B and hip-hop influences.
Two albums were released, Buckshot LeFonque (1994) (which featured mostly DJ Premier produced tracks) and the follow-up Music Evolution (1997) (which featured mostly Frank McComb on the vocals). Other frequent collaborators were Branford Marsalis' brother, Delfeayo Marsalis, and the rapper, Uptown.
Live band members included:
Buckshot LeFonque is the eponymous debut album of Branford Marsalis's jazz/hip-hop/rock group. Creating a new hybrid sound, It peaked at number 38 on the Heatseekers Billboard chart and number 94 on the R&B Albums chart.
In his AllMusic review, Richard Ginell calls the album "a breakthrough… a marvelously playful and, above all, musical fusion of the old jazz verities and newer currents swirling around the 1990s."David Hajdu's Entertainment Weekly review was more harsh, saying, "The gimmick betrays a project of iffy conviction" and calling the project "old-fashioned," "uninspired," and "all too serious." And People Magazine wrote, "Buckshot Lefonque goes from being a cool idea to be-coming cool music only when Branford and crew let hip hop's noise erupt."
All songs written and composed by Branford Marsalis, except where indicated.
[Chorus over Intro Speaking]
You know what I'm saying, you got these wack emcees out
here, you
know what I'm saying, they do three days in the county,
you know what
I'm saying, and come home and write a rhyme about doin'
bids, you know
what I'm saying, shankin', shankin' people, doin' time,
they don't know
nothing 'bout time. Man, I got people locked down, you
know what I'm saying
[One Man Army]
Yo its handcuffed, in the back of the bus, forty of us
The road it was rough, plus nobody I could trust
(trust)
Headed upstate, no chance for escape
Barbed wire and guards and the gun tower secured the
gate
My uncle's fate, was life without parole
Thank God I was blessed with an out date
I can't wait, but I got to
You probably wouldn't have did what I did to catch a
bid, but I'm not you
I got a crew still on the street, they don't write me
letters
No time to visit a brotha, or bother to send me cheddar
Never did I sweat it, I know they got a life to live
My man J, had a wife and kids
And these are the consequences, my actions committed
Some cats that I used to visit, now I live with
Along with swillas, killas, drug dealas, some rich
brothas
Crackheads, con artists, child molesters, dick suckers
All types of individuals
Sorta like a melting pot for criminals.
The system is designed to stock the plentiful
This old cat from the hood
Told me, "Out of every bad situation comes some good"
Its understood
Prison ain't good for my health
Lookin' in the mirror, introducing me to myself
I studied my thoughts, my ways, the routes I took
Yo, I read daily, it ain't all about the books
Its all about the lessons you learn, through your
experience
Applying it in a positive way, period
All praise due to Allah, I used to Skeme
'Til he showed me the straight way, (Arabic ???)
Now I'm on the V-I, telling Moms about Islam
She called me a blasphemous fool, I stayed calm
The world wasn't ready for the changes I made
They were waitin' for the nigga I was in twelfth grade
Everyday, the same old thing, I walked the yard
Set up in the chow hall, with Abdul Rahim
Cats waitin' in infirmary lines, for they medicines
Boorish Americans, walk around, with circum sevens (?)
And older heads playin' horseshoes, sometimes chess
Trippin' when I first seen a faggot with breasts
In the shower with a cap, gettin' hit from the back
White dudes, on basketball courts, kickin' hacky-sacks
Broad games, card games--face it
Everybody, time on they hands--most of it wasted
Anything to make the time fly, soon as possible
Some cats used to sleep all day, that's unacceptable
Heads getting cracked over unpaid debts
Either a shank or a lock on the side would do the trick
Correction officers, devil's advocate
And when its time to go home, parole boards wasn't
havin' it
Life was hell every day, the devil's tryin' me
But I paid my debt, to society
And after twenty-seven months, of my life, I'll tell
you one thing
I know why the caged bird sings
Yo, yo, yo, yo
In jail, without the bail (repeat)
[Chorus over Outro]
You know what I'm sayin', this goes out to all the
caged birds
Everybody who know why the caged bird sings, you know
what I'm sayin'
I know why the caged bird sings {*2X*}
In jail, in jail, in jail
I sang the same song
When I was upstate, I couldn't flap wings