Verse 1:
I wrote this album ‘cuz I want my life to change
Tired of being shortchanged, I'm tryna remain sane
Hopped off the plane, didn’t stop all the pain
My father’s still in debt and we've been struggling to pay
For a bedroom up on Meekland Ave., reachin for just meeting half
Hands tied against the odds, how the fuck you even that?
The people from the slums once, now livin’ the humdrum
Mama from the barrio so we dreamin’ we can stunt once
Mama, I know it’s gon’ be fine wherever we go
‘Cuz we know, you raised this girl to dream and be a hero
What’s an ego to an eagle? I free flow when I speak though
My pipe dreams through a peephole, my skin so Filipino
But oftentimes my pride, inside, is fightin’ high tides
The day we broke the ocean was the day I learned to nose dive
Closed eyes, fingerprint ink with the most dye
Those times, mama never blinked, say the oath twice
Hook:
I said mama we gon’ make it there someday (4x)
I said mama we gon’ make it here someday (2x)
Verse 2:
So whats a freestyle to me? I been doing as a 6 year old
Thinkin’ on my own 2 feet, survival pick & go
Pick a role - you can be the swimmer or a sunken soul
I was a 6 year old without a father figure role
No silver spoons or dinner rolls, so will you fold or will you go?
Pretend to sing like figaro, my people still invisible
When you the spittin’ image of a person that you hate
Makes sense im spittin images of dawn that never breaks
Nirvana never waits, I was a pawn of bitter fate
That spawned from inner hate, I never wanted to be great
I study my mother wonder how she holds this family
That minimum salary, stretched as much as it can be
She stressed but keeps that shit from me, I’m just tryna fit in, see
I crave for that acceptance like it validates my sanity
I wrestle with affirmations, settle for masking faces
After all, the stolen lands are always greener places
Repeat hook
Verse 3:
At school, reduced lunches while my mama skip her lunchtime
9 to 5 minimum wage, she at the bus line
Here I am, filling a page, waiting to bust rhymes
‘Til I’m nearing the day I’m getting cosigned
Snare rolls and punchlines to pay rolls and punch time
We take shows like crunch time, we braved those like front lines
My life on these lines ‘cuz we never had lifelines
And these days I’m scared of what might go through my mind
I flow like Rizal and I’m writing like Hagedorn
Mixed with Gabriela Silang, now watch as the page mourns
Say my name, it tastes foreign, type to make your face form in ways you never made
Born from another place, thorns couldn’t break away
Or am I just a break away?
From being center stage from off the page or will I fade away?
I never been the type to say I’m scared of what I have to face
‘Cuz all I ever knew is being me so all I ever need to say is…
Repeat hook
