1. |
Why are we different?
03:24
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Yesterday was a time for solitude and change,
but today I'm still contemplating
what is to be done?
Cuz just when I thought things were getting better,
I turn on the morning news for the weather
And what I get is war.
Crying is not the solution to fighting.
Get angry for maybe that's lacking.
But tell me
Is your God any different from mine?
Is your child one to hate lullabies
But we treat like a grown man and the only time for sleep is to die?
Can you look him straight in the eye?
Put your weapon down and say "Hi.
Do you have a family you miss, too?"
Hug him til he cries
Oh why are we different
Oh, what makes us so different.
People yelling for peace and freedom in the streets
Politicians send out their wild beasts
Holding them off with their guns
Daddy's got a duty to leave the country
for better money, cross the borders
to take orders from someone
of a different tongue.
Stupid they feel when the truth is revealed
of freedom
Must I change who I am for acceptance?
But can you tell me
Is your God any different from mine?
Is your child one to hate lullabies
But we treat like a grown man and the only time for sleep is to die?
Can you look him straight in the eye?
Put your weapon down and say "Hi.
Do you have a family you miss, too?"
Hug him til he cries
Oh, why are we different?
Oh, what makes us so different?
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2. |
Dream of a Place
04:57
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I dream of a place where
we can finally get along
I dream of a place where
together we can be strong
In my mind I see so many things if we learn to be
Oh, if we learn to be in unison
But instead, we get so stuck in our heads
Looking for other people's approvals as if
what we're doing is right or wrong.
You gotta stay strong, you gotta stay strong.
You gotta hold on, you gotta hold on.
You gotta stay true to yourself and
true to your roots, and true to your heart.
You gotta finish what you started.
I dream of a place where
in our hearts we can be free
to dream of a place where
we got everything we need.
No insecurities to stop us from following our dreams
Stay awake instead of falling asleep,
Sleep walking in reality.
When will the people wake up
to see that we have all been stuck
in Babylon, we can't give up
to what they demand from us
But no matter what
You gotta stay strong, you gotta stay strong.
You gotta hold on, you gotta hold on.
You gotta stay true to yourself and
true to your roots, and true to your heart.
You gotta finish what you started.
(Rap)
You gotta stay strong
because they're gonna hold you back
from your calling if you don't respond to that.
You got a gift to use if you wanted to
But so afraid of failing, we don't push it through.
What is the hope if we no longer dream
of a place we can call our community
Freedom to be me, reason to believe
You and I, U-N-I-T-Y, that's how it should be.
What is the future if we don't know where we're from?
Can we create a place where we feel that we all belong.
And once you start, gotta build til' you finish through.
Don't believe? Find the strength, it's inside you.
You gotta stay strong, you gotta stay strong.
You gotta hold on, you gotta hold on.
You gotta stay true to yourself and
true to your roots, and true to your heart.
You gotta finish what you started.
You gotta stay strong, yes you've got to hold on
Yes you've got to stay true to yourself, to your roots, and your heart.
You've gotta finish what you started.
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3. |
Sex Work
02:37
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This one goes out to all my ladies suffering.
This body is suffering, but I'm strong with you.
Time and time again, my sisters being abused and used
Calling it love, what it is when they sacrifice their bodies and souls
Sold form their hometown and bound for that American gold.
False dreams, aimed for that bling bling
Blinding them subliminally,
because they're driven by their fantasies
of sending all the luxuries back
to the villages no longer in existence
if she only knew that it had
been replaced due to privatization
The nations invaded by all the corporations
and she's praying that she'll get a response
but they never will, because the deal was
to profit and move on out of debt
so instead she continues to
let her body be a tool.
"No regrets", she says
because she's paying her dues
though the men have no respect
even when she wants protection,
they still make her spread her legs
but she pretends that they're wings
hoping that they'll bring her to the heavens, so weak.
Her wish, it is soon to be granted
cuz in not so long, she'll be blessed
with that HIV virus.
She's not promiscuous, a whore, or a slut.
We need to understand that all women need love.
Sex work is work. What does it take to belong
to a working class society? Help our women be strong.
Yes, help our women be strong.
(Thai translation of chorus)
You don't have to cry, queen
You don't have to cry, good child.
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4. |
Divinity
02:54
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5. |
A Change is Gonna Come
02:15
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6. |
Check the Facts
03:47
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7. |
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Ladies and gents, brown melanin
Creamy caramel, rockin' that smooth complex
And the darker you are, the sweeter your cocoa is
Sunkissed healthy, Ms. Organic
You gotta represent all the colors in the house
though the rainbows are nice, gotta bring out the browns
let me tell you now, this is how it goes down
Shoutout to my people around
From the 562 to the East Coastin' states
Going down south to my Latina ladies
Indiginous sisters, and my Afrikan queens
Asian Pacific all the way to Southeast
Khmer Vietnamese Burmese Laos Thailand
Stop these wars over borders
This was never our land
We're the children of the sun
Once we cared for the Earth
but they'll take it and rape it
Compare you to dirt
We'll struggle together, but we're still all the same
Our people united if we learn to embrace this
Beauty and Grace that our mothers did bring
Original style, no more whitening cream
Natural vitamin D, yes my tans are for free
Don't know about you, but I love being me.
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8. |
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We don’t want those dibby dibby sounds,
We don’t want those dibby dibby sounds.
We don’t want those dibby dibby sounds.
We don’t want, no, no we don’t want no
America be dropping all dem bombs (x4)
From Vietnam to Cambodia and Laos
Can you hear the people scream and shout?
Fya fya, ashes are the clouds.
See them coming, you see dem running?
Disease is spreading all around.
Daddy’s body, no where to be found.
Momma makes money when soldiers are in town
using her body, but none of them love she –
America be dropping all dem bombs. (x4)
We don’t want those dibby dibby sounds (x4)
Monsanto, Agent Orange.
Kill all de crops will all your poison.
People cry to fix my baby.
America, where is that money?
Secret War – from Laos to Thailand.
Hide in the hills, the Hmong and Karen.
No home to go back to, no country to claim.
Picked up a rifle defended away as –
America be dropping all dem bombs. (x4)
We don’t want those dibby dibby sounds (x4)
Today we think that it is okay.
We’re taking pictures of their smiling face.
But the pain can never be erased.
No tourists, no money come their way.
Just know the struggles that we went through
To bring our story back to you.
Just think twice before you abuse
The reasons why you can travel through
Southeast Asia.
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9. |
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Breaking all the laws of creation,
Don't have time to argue about where we came from.
Pray to the father and the holy son,
but what about our mother we build these things on?
Look to the sky to answer our worth.
Sun is shining while dark is the earth.
Buildings grow higher, gotta get to the top
But shadows are casted on those we forgot
Oh no, can't you see we want no more
Oh no, can't you see we want no more.
Blood is shedding in the land of the green
Turned into grey concrete
Black is the skin that cared for the Earth
Kicked to the floor, treated as dirt
Uprise them in the belly of the beast
Who's listening to their needs?
Blinded by colors of ivory.
Come down from your towers,
We're screaming for peace.
Oh no, can't you see we want no more.
Oh no, can't you see we want no more.
Our time is coming soon
Taking back what you claimed was new
Our time is coming soon
We refuse to keep being used.
Oh no, can't you see we want no more.
Oh no, can't you see we want no more.
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10. |
Natural
02:13
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Money's important
but not as much as food
What's inside your body
will come to define you.
Apocalypse coming
The city don't know what to do
Run to the mountains
in search for our chopped up roots.
Bless those who have not forgotten that
Gold don't make promises
and only the skills to grow means survival.
Natural, consume what is natural
Money on plastic
to spend what is left of our roots
The toxins inside us
Will take you away much too soon.
Bigger means better
Tight and then lighten your skin
Get rid of your wrinkles
Try harder than hard to stay thin
Bless those who have not forgotten that
Lines on our bodies means
more stories to keep us immortal
Natural, your beauty is natural
Love your natural state
and love all the wisdom inside you
Change is okay, as long as it's your way
Not for him, not for her
You must know your own worth
Stay natural, change is natural
Consume what is natural
Don't force it to be natural
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Jumakae Long Beach, California
Based in Long Beach, CA. Roots in Southeast Asia.
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