Once Upon A Time

Atlanta rapper Jonah Cruzz has returned with his Just To Get By mixtape today, and like his 2015 Cruzz Control project, it's a collection of Southern rap that's as nostalgic as it is fresh. "Once Upon A Time" is the second track on the project, which as its title would suggest is a storytelling track that finds Cruzz reflecting back on his younger years and his relationship with his mother. While the song harkens back to the 90s south (it interpolates a Slick Rick line that was famously flipped by UGK), Jonah's recollections of "bumpin' Dirty Sprite in the Civic" are much more recent. That sense of history is present throughout his new project, but it's Cruzz' own stories that make it so unique.

Stream the full project here.

Quotable Lyrics:

Besides I'm sick of watching
Momma struggle every day
I'm sick of not remembering the last time I ate
Scraping couch change
Something gotta shakes
Squeezing dimes out of pennies
I'mma get it
That's either if I flip it or I steal it