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So Ends the Honeymoon

by Sulu and Excelsior

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1.
Bullet 03:41
Bullet I must admit what’s done is done And I’m relieved for that I’ve got a bullet in my lung And pull the safety back Expel projectiles in the form of notes I wrote in rhythm to words (That you never heard.) One in the chamber All you need to make it personal You’ve got a bullet in this gun Disarm this arsenal Can’t forget the threat These thrills possessed I must confess It in words That you never heard Aim it at your mind Sights are all in line. Threats of misfires You can discharge At the slightest flinch You’ve got a bullet that’s been sprung And it won’t budge an inch Well on the way You hedge you bets Forget your vest won’t handle these words That you never heard Aim it at your mind Sights are all in line Hell of a time to weaponize the breathing apparatus To turn the gun upon itself No matter what the status I’m glad it’s in the holster So I’m calm, whatever that is I find a way to bolster Confidence and fight the baddest Anxiety will it fire again? Wondering if a man is ever gonna spit that fire again Retiring them jersey to the rafters Thinking about the now and thinking about the after- Shocks got me on lock I’m taking stock of all the skills I am commanding like a tablet out of rock Held up by Moses I Count to 10 and blow this Spirometer is lacking with incentives so I flow this Ill health, ill skills ,ill will Ills still feels real It’ll kill when it sicken us
2.
Run and Hide A mind's a terrible thing to waste At this pace we’ll use it up in haste dear Too much in this life’s dramatic Had to pull back from this static Automatic systematic Hold us down and it’s all emphatic Shelter in, but can’t stay in place So you think about changing states Of matter going from gas to liquid. Vapors got me on chase. Can we talk about it? I never thought there’d be the day You’d pack and leave and go away to, I feel, A place with greener pastures I admit we’ve been disastrous All along I thought we’d pass this But I guess you don’t share this last Assessment of this place and time So you’re all about face and I’m Caught up keeping up chase and time Is tick ticking away. You can run and hide this time But you’ll find She may not let you back into Her arms again, so just be smart my friend. They say it's never coming back (To what to whom? Too late too soon?) That glam and glitz is in the past, dear (For what for whom? For what for whom?) How about these streets that write Stories complete with no fleet no flight Energy feeds with that beat so right You can’t compete with this feat in light Of what was taken away from us People calling it dangerous And now it’s finally estranging us This change in us, it won’t fade. So let’s talk about it. Remember this wish list When you render this? Reminisce, dismiss when you tendered this resignation that we face in under 2 weeks notice, flow this like it’s Unique Ason -  based on  how you’re feeling with your raison d’etre and your maison Exhausted nearly lost it, offset the losses, Tossed it at cost and I’m all set Don’t it matter bout the memories we made here? Won’t it matter when the inspiration stays here? I’ma stick around getting ready for the comeback When the day comes, hit us hard like a Drum track You can run and hide this time But you’ll find She may not let you back into Her arms again, so just be smart my friend. You’re late to state that you just lost belief Hate the fate that you were called to leave  and I’m…. blind-sided by your lack of faith, no turning back, foundation’s bout to crack and I’m about not keeping track of where we head from here separate ways for separate fears Every day ain't coming unless you’re here You can run and hide this time But you’ll find She may not let you back into Her arms again, so just be smart my friend.
3.
Galaxy Girl 04:15
Maybe if we wanted Particles of disco lights Photons of the funk in this world Ultraviolet burning up and out of sight And turn you into Galaxy Girl Wield a power equal to stars Lady, that is just what you are Take your light and break all these hearts And so far I’m yours Baby if your orbits Out of sight and out of mind How can we all be so sure? People say we’re out of touch and out of time So take us to your Galaxy Girl In an atmosphere that's too cool Find we’re running out of your fuel Follow gravitational pull And we’re surely Home Cause there’s nothing else I’d rather do Than watch you interlaced On the monitors and amplitudes Gone funky in this base Want to jump in antimatter suits So hyper in this space Cause there’s nothing else I’d rather do Than watch you interlaced Adjust the monitor Rhyme about my moniker The Sulu and excelsior warp in supersonic Lights into the lines While my feelings intertwine With the interstellar lover Valentine So divine That’s cool if I had to play the fool Rocket fuel running out Dials on the E no doubt and I’m about You rocking that superhero flyness Your highness, queen is rocking Hyperspace shyness And I wish I could stay cool with that Stay plutonic But the universe fools with that Changing rules and facts And what we do enacts The theory relative we gotta head To school for that And I’m a fool for that like I’m a fool for you Ms Galaxy Girl took the cue and flew To my orbital coordinates set to rock the cranial Locked into my mind Like a falcon to millennial Maybe if we settled on a path To distant light We can find a funkier world Need a leader stronger than The need to fight I’d follow you my Galaxy Girl Maybe we can come to balance All the charge Of positive and negative we give To you at large Yield my heart to you With no guards From the start I’m yours
4.
5.
Get Up Out 04:52
6.
Got troubles on your mind And so do I We stumble on each other No denying Self centering just like A squared off frame Just hind’ring conversations Share the blame Gotta make it work Gotta make it work Gotta make it work now Get it? It’s harder to hear you When we’re speaking to the mirror Unplug that line jacked in The wishing port Straight to the Id It makes you wish for more Not satiated with Just getting by But sometimes we’ve gotta call An audible And just let it fly Gotta make it work Gotta make it work Gotta make it work now Get it? It’s harder to hear you When you’re speaking to the mirror Pause for a moment See stars when I’m zoning Got bars for opponents laws for atonement Get broke like a Jaw then disown it 47 ronin Years to a samurai Exposed so we sanitize But the dirty words tantalize Sugar walls vandalized Graffiti of the heart Starts to get romanticized We can’t decide Which way we go Amigo or Amour? We wait no more When we flow out the door Freestyles like bullets that shoot from the hip And the grip on reality Soon bout to slip Lip service, too nervous to capture it Getting all rapturous So I should chapter this Sorta like a book or a memoire Repertoire gets dark like its film noire Gotta make it work Gotta take the quirks Each of us are bringing into this When tackling what lurks In the darker part of shadows Do we get scared? Hell yeah, but together we can get there. Lingering questions still complicate matters We should discuss it, no cussing, but rather We get into bickering, getting all sickening Stop with the blaming and start with the listening It’s harder to hear you When you’re speaking to the mirror It’s harder to hear you When there’s six feet in between us
7.
Rue the day On the 5th of June Took a trip away, they say So ends the honeymoon They would never know How we often said I do All of a sudden Suddenly it’s gone We passed the day With a fifth of Boones Do you recall the ways we played? So ends the honeymoon All we’d ever want Just got passed into the hues All of a sudden Suddenly it’s gone All in all we said it’s off And on And off and then on Foot on the brakes and turn the keys All of a sudden we’re gone We’re throwing down And back, then throwing it out A game of throwing’s getting played All of a sudden you’re out It’s been a brief Belief that we were far gone Now it’s a foregone conclusion And suddenly it’s all gone We’re hot and cold Then hotter, but let’s just keep it warm It’s a sign that changing climate Suddenly makes us gone Another day On the 5th of June Take that one way trip to stay So ends the honeymoon We don’t ever know Where we’ll end up at the day’s end Suddenly it’s gone
8.
Your Reverie 04:07
9.
Button Up 03:37
10.
Wait for You I Can’t Maybe you forget I’ve got my reasons I’m willing to bet You’ve got them too Ever since we met I’ve been believing All this time I’ve been waiting for you I can’t wait for you this time I thought you were fine With what we’re doing. Got caught in a bind What happens now? Our shot has been fired Let’s keep pursuing All this time I’ve been waiting for you I can’t wait for you this time. I can’t wait for you this time Keep dragging your feet You’ll soon be tripping You’re lagging defeats Us from the start (So why you gotta do that?) You lack in belief That’s why we’re slipping All this time I’ve been waiting for you I can’t wait for you this time I’ll throw you the idol But you gotta throw the whip back My trust in you is vital But I have to take a step back Timings of the essence One of us is getting left back I tried to keep a presence In your life and face the setbacks Together as a team, But seems, we did the opposite The truth will get obscene The theme Is that I’ve waited plenty long And passed up plenty chances Man And I got plenty wrong But now I gotta get advances I can’t Wait for you this time I can’t wait for you this time Is this our undoing? Sorry that I bailed The ship sailed You failed to keep on assuring That we could make it happen, nope All these times I’d wait for your I can’t wait for you this time Missed another chance to dance I can’t wait for you this time Debated if I’d wait once more I can’t wait for you this time I got an eye for the Apple And an apple of my eye That I’m following And tolerance For swallowing my pride Wallowing and mired in the swamp Trying to navigate it Theyre breaking down the ego So I keep on trying to inflate it Overrated - what’s that audience that I’ve abated I keep on writing lyrics that they say are understated Or over written I’ve debated Should i follow what’s been slated A destiny that’s manifest in business plans that’s jaded (8 measures) And cynical We’re doing what we can to reach that pinnacle Honing on them skills just like a doctor in their clinicals Surgical precision with my plans I gotta execute passed up many chances when I’m standing waiting next to you Hoping you’ll go along with it Ain’t nothin wrong with it Gotta play it safe I understand They passed us on with it But what if you never all in And getting close was good enough for you, so you’re just stalling Father Time is calling! It’s not my call And not my fault We’re distant Your eyeballs Are fixed on all The cons- Sequence of events You lack persistence All this time I’ve been waiting for you I can’t wait for you this time
11.
Paper Chase 05:05
When all’s said and done Will you chase what you need to pursue That dream? Or will it deter You from everything that’s worth The price? Never will you choose Again Let’s mark 20square In the crosshairs Lost hair in the stress Due to lost fares Tossed snares in the trash Dirty and brash Get symbolic with the crash Weathering a storm and a flash floods that’ll last a year and a half Empty or full doesn’t even really matter Just an algorithm lost in the data Start the paper chase but the hustle been neutered What’s a man worth, precious like pewter Not as valuable as platinum or gold Even silver, take hold On that paper I lack in the fold And I’ve been told gotta make due Find whatever skills Use whatever breaks thru Gotta keep chasing and facing the odds Getting kinda long, so now you’re reaching to God Try to turn the paper of the good book To a good look Regardless what your neighborhood took War of attrition- got you moored in submission Last gasp of air, Still your sword’s in the mission. The papes, paper that I chase Will always manage to elude These hands. VERSE 2: Un-G Means for the dream remain unseen (so I’m) making a space that’s in between (this) 9 to 5 shit ain't breaking enough green (I) got them side hustles to ween the lean born of that immigrant philippine multiple streams part of the cuisine (use to) party and enterprise with dopamine (but my) last brain said you got to recon vene what does it mean to chase dollars for a dream feel like a fiend that needs to come clean dream ain’t your dream if your ass is in debt (for) shit to be scene know what I mean? praise slave owner that's the theme on these bills that creep obscene greed into subconscious stream messing with the human self-esteem I still dream of the love supreme by any means necessary is how I deem need no permission from money regime to catch the light from creator’s high beam Let’s mark 20square In the crosshairs Lost hair in the stress Due to lost fares Tossed snares in the trash What the boss care? Light flares in a flash Take the loss square In the jaw, glass Joe take a fall The house will take it all Then there’s nothing to withdraw So take a pic or draw And do not call me brah Only brova, take a number Get in line and then we crawl To the meal ticket, stick it in the pocket then you scalp it The chase will turn you to a lonely bull like Herb Alpert On the paper chase like Dunder mifflin Jim Halpert And Pam Beasly, not easy to feed you all Measly with these leads I feen the call these knees are Queasy I feel withdrawal Least we are seizing the wherewithal - Pleasing to hear these I fear these Will come back and squeeze the Whole life out I’m wheezing - In lungs pulmonary in- efficiency -And then some- -Now you got me wishing see -Suffocating now debating it While we chasing it Fully realizing that we all be hating it -Format the rhythm I’m living in 6/8 and mixtapes are giving in All beats They fixate and mimicking - Chasing that paper be limiting
12.
Shirt 2 Skin 03:04
Shirt 2 Skin Put my heart up on your sleeve Shirt to skin If i start to fall asleep Tuck me in I’ve been falling apart along the seams And descend-ing Heavy eyes and Melatonin Wallow in the noise so white Still so tired I felt this morning Hold me close And help me breathe tonight Put your heart up on my sleeve Shirt to skin If you’re hurting I won’t leave I’ll tuck you in You’ve been strong but it’s alright to weep Tears descend- ing All this time you’ve had to measure How you’ve felt to stay in light When the darker times come hither Hold you close To help you breathe tonight Little heart’s up on your sleeve Shirt to skin Then you’ll start to find the beat Let’s pretend That their world will always be so sweet Never end-ing Fall into a dream together Take their hand from prone to flight When we love it means forever Hold them close to help us breathe tonight
13.
Relativity 04:00
Relativity Voice of a future child Proclaiming what’s in store for us That sounds its traveling so slow Can’t hear it in the vacuum of the space. There’s more for us If we can wait for words to grow (All about us today No time and space) And we can see infinity so differently It’s that relativity That makes the time slow down on me That makes an emcee out of me Maybe we underestimated Just how far we’ve come Maybe we’re closer than we thought See past the differences in distances we’re from the sun You saw it faster than you ought To have (All about us today No time and space) Relatively speaking, I’ve been peeking far ahead (All about us today No time and space) And we can see infinity so differently, I’ve heard It’s that relativity That makes an emcee out of me now I’m rapping to you Kinematic cinematic Studying of moving bodies Flowing through the universe No longer static And are we seeing things the same way, at the same time? And is an emcee always squaring up the same rhyme? Metaphorically I’m speaking Categorically unique in Lasting poetry you’re seeking That’s the low end theory leaking From the influence Insurance that we’re living life In four dimensions there have been currents Streams of particles are charged And moving through the space Astronauticals at large And proving you’re the face A visage of the future, Mine and yours the pronouns Time insures we’ll slowdown My rhyme endures the throwdowns Time and space will dissipate A theory relative to you and me will precipitate Sediment to sentiment That’s sweeter than an entenman Making an announcement to the ladies and the gentlemen That relativity you give to me That’s from the heart Light years away from where you’ve been You have the gravity that’s grabbing me right from the start We’ll bend the time and start again (All about us today No time and space) Relatively speaking, I’ve been peeking far ahead (All about us today No time and space) And we can see infinity so differently, I’ve heard It’s that relativity That makes an emcee out of me now I’m rapping to you

about

"Throughout the album, there’s an abundance of sounds moving from one side of the spectrum to another but it’s not difficult to focus from point A to point B. The Antimatter Suite was what I once thought, the pinnacle of Sulu and Excelsior’s capabilities. I never thought the band was going to be able to outdo its last album. It’s one of those moments when you’re happy to be proven wrong.

Referring back to “Galaxy Girl” again and again isn’t difficult to do. This is where it seems Sulu and Excelsior show off its intergalactic dance moves. Its bass groove attached to a xylophone with just a few notes overlayed is magical. Mallorca’s dual vocals, one filtered with vocal effects is literally dope AF. This leads us into the sprawling pazazz of the jazzed-up “Penny For You,” as the scratching upends it all as it’s capitalized by Mallorca’s flow. Piano, drums, and horns play an integral role as neither one overpowers one another. But it’s the title track that’s surprising here. A soulful vocal delivery over Ska-like guitar moves doesn’t go unnoticed. A lovely song? A perfect melody juxtaposed against fading love lyricism.

The musical palette under the Sulu and Excelsior umbrella seems to reach far and wide, and within the stormy “Harder To Hear,” the punctuation on the song’s rhythm adds a poignancy to it. It’s a 70s summer breeze filled with an unexpected guitar play that adds wonder. If that’s not all though, throughout “Wait For You I Can’t” we can figure out Sulu and Excelsior isn’t averse to utilizing Latin rhythms, made obvious from the piano work but Mallorca compliments it with the harmonies filling the hook and chorus. If there was ever a “WTF” moment, this just might be it. By the time we reach the album’s closer “Relativity,” you might begin to wonder if this is meant to be one of Sulu and Excelsior’s greatest moments, much like “Mercy Mercy Me” or “What’s Going On” was for Marvin. The song seems to surpass time & space. It’s also the allure of the toddler’s voice somewhere in the background singing on the chorus. Whatever it was that knocked Mallorca to the ground, wasn’t a knockout blow. He’s picked himself right up to begin where The Antimatter Suite left off, pushing the boundaries for Sulu and Excelsior. In actuality, with So Ends The Honeymoon, it doesn’t seem like there are any boundaries at all.
- Ghettoblaster Magazine


"With a groovy flow which shall transport your spirit into a timeless world... a jovial effort which shall get all bodies on that dance floor. Soaked in so much vibrant energy and a heartfelt message for the youth to learn from, this is a genuinely incredible release....Never letting go of the moment has never been more vital in modern day society."
- A&R Factory

"Playful and very melodic jazz song. Piano themes are creating some wonderful themes and harmonies in the background, as well as the rhythmic layering. Vocals are great, specially the background ones within the chorus parts."
- Nagamag

"All good when the hooks take hold.(Sulu and Excelsior) has no shortage of these - his possibilities of incorporating these into widely influenced arrangements are seemingly limitless."
- Sonic Soul Reviews

"So Ends The Honeymoon was hand-crafted during those earliest aughts of The Pandemic... Sulu & Excelsior sounds great on "Run & Hide," their first taste of So Ends The Honeymoon"
- The Witzard


"the intricate and introspective raps of Sulu and Excelsior... deserve props"
Speed on the Beat

credits

released December 2, 2022

Produced, arranged, and composed by
Sulu aka Steven E. Mallorca

All instruments and vocals performed by
Sulu aka Steven E. Mallorca

Featured Performances
Vocals by Sean Adams & Un-G Wasmabati on "Paper Chase"
Bass guitar by Joel Bernardo on "Get Up Out" and "Your Reverie"
Electric guitar by Adam Charity on "Harder To Hear” and ‘Your Reverie”
Tenor Sax by Sam “Hotel” Podell on “Get Up Out” and “Button Up”
Scratches by Masaki Yamagata on "Penny For You"
Background Vocals by Cindy T. Mallorca on“Galaxy Girl” and “Paper Chase”
Background Vocals by Jasper & Spencer Mallorca on “Paper Chase”


Recorded & mixed at Slow Jam King Studios by Steven E. Mallorca
Mastered at Total Sonic Media by Steve Berson
Album design by Steven E. Mallorca
Logo Design & Creative Direction by John Wong

Deepest gratitude to my tribe & hearts Cindy, Jasper & Spencer; my parents, Auntie Norma, Melis & my sistas and brovas and all my family - blood, & extended. the XLCR crew - AC, DJ Mas, Bernard O'Reilly, Hotel Podell, Cybernetiko, Moat Caitlin, KenG, DJ Boo; Sean Adams, Un-G,; visual brovs JB Sankara, Hi-C, & John Wong; the RMR & Slow Jam King fam; the OG mothership P.I.C familia ; Steve Berson, Eddie Ugarte & Ghettoblaster Magazine, Matt Horowitz & the Witzard, DJ Prestige & Flea Market Funk, DJ Supreme LaRock & KEXP Sunday Soul.

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Sulu and Excelsior New York, New York

SULU AND EXCELSIOR is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist/rapper/singer Steven E. Mallorca, aka Sulu, who plays all the instruments and vocal performances with influences that span 40s and 50s jazz, 60s and 70s soul, and 80s and 90s hip-hop.

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