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1. |
Moves
02:21
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CHORUS A
Mama told me not to listen to rumors
I know how to groove when i step in the room
Daddy taught me to be quiet and honest
Don’t talk on my progress just speak with my moves
CHORUS B
Mama jiao wo dou bu tingzhe ta zhàyǔ
【妈妈叫我都不听着他诈语 / Mom told me not to heed their lies】
Zou jin fangjian wo hui qu tiao ge wu
【走进了房间我会去跳个舞 / As soon as I enter the room, I can bust a move】
Baba jiao wo zenme bǎochí hao tàidu
【爸爸教我怎么保持好态度 / Papa taught me how to maintain my poise]
Bu yong chuiniu zhuyi ziji de lu
【不用吹牛好好看我的路 / don't brag, just watch my path
VERSE 1
Rooted deep i ain’t transplant
Tattoos on my skin they ain’t hand stamps
Taught lessons by my mentors so I make music but not at bandcamp
Sunset over the west end I’m in the Westin way back when they wouldn’t let us in now these Benjamins open the door key quick as lightnin
Faces on em look like racists on em but I spend em up like changing places on em
I know it ain’t no grace in makin money
Just use it well before they take it from me
I blew thru the ceiling I started the healing my therapist near me I see him biweekly
I look in the mirror I like what I’m seein I ain’t gotta wait to represent on a TV
Sold us a dream that they never could give
Loaded the bodies five deep on the ships
Buried the bodies and burned up the records but songs and our memories never forget
CHORUS B
CHORUS A
VERSE 2
Xiao shihou mei shenme yingxiong
【小时候没什么英雄 / When I was little, I had no heroes】
Dianshi de pingmu quan dou shi kongkong
【电视的屏幕全都是空空 / the TV screens were all empty】
Mei xiangdao wo de zubei paoguo fengfu de mǎlāsōng
【没想到我的祖辈跑过丰富的故事 / I didn't imagine my ancestral home having rich old stories】
Xiànlǎn bei qiēduàn
【线缆被切断 / The cord was disconnected】
Lishi he zhexue wo dou mei liúlǎn
【历史和哲学我都没概览 / I hadn't even skimmed through any history and philosophy】
Zhongyu kaishi xuexi wo jiaren de yichan
【终于开始学习我家人的遗产 / Finally, I began to pursue my family's heritage】
Yi bu yi bu wo shizhe manman zou
【一步一步我试着慢慢走 / Step by step I tried to walk slow】
Yi lu shun feng wo zuxian gaosu wo
【一路顺风我祖先告诉我 / "Safe travels", my ancestors tell me】
Zhe lu hao chang
【这路好长 / This road is wide】
Wo yizhi ye qiang
【我一直也强 / And I've been strong this whole time】
Wo yiyi chuqu wo xingge ye jué jiàng
【我一一出去我性格也好讲 / My significance came out, my character is stubborn】
Faxian le zubei moqu de jiùjì
【发现了前身的磨砂旧迹 / I uncovered my predecessors' erased traces】
Cong rujing shihou dao ta guòqù zǔjí
【从入境时候到它过去祖籍 / From the time of immigration to their ancient ancestral hometown】
Wo bu shi ge zhusheng wo xinli youli
【我不是个「竹升」我心里有力 / I'm not a "hollow bamboo", in my heart is power】
Wo lishi you yiyi zhe jiu shi shènglì
【我历史有意义这就是胜利 / My history has meaning, this is victory.】
CHORUS A
CHORUS B
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2. |
Drive Slow
02:10
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CHORUS
Let’s meet where only you and I know
Don’t rush honey, just drive slow
We’ll drive slow
Let’s meet where only you and I know
Don’t rush honey, just drive slow
We’ll drive slow
VERSE 1
Dancin with the stars but no one can kick us off
Hidin from the cops when we broke into the loft
Ain’t nobody I would trade place with
Make up money it all got blue faces
真爱是我终生目的
你的微笑是我最高主席
无比滴你,无双爱情
我一看到你赶快狂喜
Matchin Uniqlo, we ain’t basic
They say we look alike, it ain’t racist
You like me in my glasses, no Lasik
What we sittin in ain’t a hybrid, it’s a spaceship
Bendin corners on this path we on
We back and forth like a metronome
Tick
They ain’t ready for the shit we on
I got a home I don’t need a throne
Watch it
CHORUS
VERSE 2
Hit your phone when I’m in the Bay
You pick up I got nothing to say
I just called you
Ain’t nothin gettin in the way
GTA how we navigate
You a thug too
Spend the night, we can fry a steak
I don’t cook but it’s all OK
We got wagyu
All the old shit was complicate
But it ain’t got to be that way
I just love you!
CHORUS
OUTRO
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3. |
Kintsugi (ft. ANN ONE)
02:51
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VERSE 1 (JASON CHU)
Kintsugi, had to go broke to get my gold medal
I'm not special, God just outworks the devil
Test mettle, the bezel is steel
I'm still standin, air cushion my heel
Still rappin, afternoon cat nappin, multiple plane landins then I go out to tell tales
Talk story, got bops for top 40, that glory is still not mine but I'm chill
I'm built
by the blood and will that got spilled
Sis sit in Yuji Ichioka office, that's real
What move needles don't raise pule
Came on boat, so my people don't wave hop
Strange plots, I believe about half of them
I know what I love, I don't need a fUckin algorithm
I'm still standin - and all of my mans and em
Fruit from the trees, don't forget the ones that planted em
CHORUS (ANN ONE)
All of my scars
Carry gold
Just get stronger through each storm
Mmmhm
I am so beautiful
We are so beautiful
VERSE 2 (JASON CHU)
Generations
Incarcerated
Kelly Lytle Hernandez taught me about our situation
Black bodies, Latinos, Asians and natives
Swapped in and out the system like replacements
Redeye flights, I'm just workin a late shift
Flyin to a city, but it's not for no vacation
Visitin a college but not for matriculation
If it ain't for liberation, I don't consider that an education
Job creation? Our whole lives a background check
Work hard but you still can't buy respect
Dr. Wen Ho Lee, 9 months solitary then release
Government apology don't iron out the crease
White author said to learn some patience
Hard when I see our elders turnin into patients
New cars, Goyards, Asians "crazy rich"?
Green cards, peace marches, it's a crazy mix
CHORUS
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4. |
FIELD TRIP
02:26
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INTRO
哥们儿,姐们儿,一起走起来
CHORUS A
Came with a squad
Came with the lords
Came with the boys in a Porsche
Hop out the doors
Step on your lawn
We are not here to play golf
Came for the sports
Came for the game, stayed for the war
Came for the tour
Playin the show
I leave in the morn, yea
VERSE 1
Shinin like VVS
Got a whole group of Asian boys, we are not BTS
When I travel I bring my friends
Did it all on a Mac, I am a genius
成绩也好高 / Chéng jì ye hao gao
我百分之百考过了高考 / Wo bai-fen-zhi-bai, kǎo-guo-le gāo-kǎo
我学了嘻哈好久因而接受了这个文化 / .Wo xue le xiha hao jiu, yin’er jie shou le zhe ge wenhua
Ha
My girl Vietnamese but she speakin in Spanish
No hablo ingles then we got other languages
We went from roaches to houses with bannisters
And I don't snitch but I will call your manager
给我个汉堡包,饿死了我 / Gei wo ge hanbaobao esi le wo
哪儿都要去,在追求说过 / Nar dou yao qu, zai zhuiqiu shuòguǒ
各地现哥,不用严格 / gè dì xián gē, bu yong yán gé
我把世界变成湿地方式 Wo ba shijie biancheng shí dì fǎng shì
CHORUS B
不急着来 / Bu ji zhe lai
等我上台 / Deng wo shang tai
出发全组要带来 / Chu fa quan zu yao dai lai
太high要盖 / Tai high yao gai
绽裂了海 / Zhan lie Le hai
调到一百百 / Tiao dao Yi bai bai
x2
CHORUS A
BRIDGE
起先我做小弟,到今天我改变了 / Qǐxiān wo zuo xiǎodì, dao jīntiān wo gǎibiàn le
所有兄弟们,都认为我在魁元 / Suǒyǒu xiōngdìmen, dou rènwéi wo zai kuíyuán
如果你叫我,你搞叫《老板》/ Rú guǒ ni jiao wo, ni gai jiao "lǎobǎn"
我爷爷出国时,他直接靠南 / Wo yéye chūguó shí, ta zhíjiē kào nán
VERSE 2.B (1:33)
I don't do small talk in the conference
Only talk facts, I don't chat
Kev said what it do, I called him
Tooo lit for a text, hey
Car service wait at arrivals
Snuck in the game thru the side door
Buildin my business I'm booked and I'm busy I ain't even need to go viral, ahhhhh!
CHORUS B
CHORUS A
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5. |
all of my friends
02:47
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CHORUS
All of my friends
All of my friends
All of my friends got a guy, yea
All of my friends
All of my friends
All of my friends go high, yea
All of my friends
All of my friends
All of my friends yea
All of my friends
All of my friends
All of my friends yea, yea
VERSE 1
Who brought that opium
I’m like um
Smoke that pain away, ay
Don’t wanna open up
I’m like um
Watch me fade away, ay
All of my friends on somn
See the fader play
Two AM yea, yea, yea, yea, yea
Vibin I'm in a mood
I see her move
I think she feel me
All of my friends in room
Hit bumps
And then speed away
Crowded in the powder room, yea (yea yea)
Lean into just to talk
And then she touch me to-oo, yea
BRIDGE
She bad she bad she super bad, yea
Jonah Hill Jonah Hill, she Superbad yea
She ask me to chill u know I will (yea I will)
She give me the feels u know a pill
I said
CHORUS
VERSE 2
Open bars, valet park, recent sca-ars,
Racin hearts, 3 AM, we see the sta-ars
Always close, but fallin short
(So close though)
Know my voice, but all this noise
(All this noise *so*)
Festival, we're never gonna stop
Pipin up pass it like the rock
VVS, but we got our flaws
Feelin shocked, we hit the plug
Mental health and sponsored posts
These the things we want the most
Playin games on power pellets
Run in circles, chasin ghosts
CHORUS
OUTRO
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6. |
Imposter Syndrome
02:45
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CHORUS
Walk around the city with a chip up on my shoul/der
Stand in red carpet pictures but I never been a poser
Focused on my goals, my circle is gettin closer
Way beyond the days we'd do a favor for exposure, yea
VERSE 1
Stereotypes
Little slights they try to slide through
My big sister earned that PhD so fuck you
No talkin down on us, the sun it won't go down on us
Father crossed an ocean, so your wave it won't be drownin us
Crownin us royalty
I'm talkin we to the widest degree
My team is large enough we could start our own league
Satchel Paige
Japanese kids playin basketball at younger age
A pilgrimage to Yuri Kochiyama grave
We belong here, fuck your toleration
Ancestors laid the tracks that unified this nation
Libations and baijiu orations
And it never came easy, but the goal was worth the waiting
CHORUS
VERSE 2
Imposter syndrome
Makin a livin still it claimed a victim
Since school, boy, accustomed to habits and contradictions
Predictions were always Yale and never jail though
Still I seen both
Mm
Pressures on like the barometer broke
That I would never measure up
Then I look down on most
What a joke, balancin bruised ego and arrogance
Full of pride, while I hide my embarrassment
The shoes I fill could break this box they try to set us in
I didn't study it but still we make this medicine
You bet on me? Better believe, yea I bet I win
Better than the benefits of doubt they tried to play me with
CHORUS
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7. |
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CHORUS A (Travis Atreo)
When the waters rise, when the water falls
Know drought, know flood, yea we been thru it all
Been down in mud, we tryna shake it off
I been feelin lost, answer when I call?
The waters rise, and the water falls
Know drought, know flood, yea we been thru it all
Been down in mud, we tryna shake it off
I been feelin lost, answer when I call?
VERSE 1 (jason chu)
White pastors
Tried to teach me them chapters
like they aint mention Asia in the Scriptures, I was livid
White Jesus in pictures devoid of pigment
He had melanin, that portrayal there is just a fiction
Once I didn't know no differently
James Hal Cone taught me that the Cross was a lynchin tree
Daniel Lee showed me the God who sees us
Now I can't go back to that cheap shit, that's Caesar's
See the way that they spin it like calisthenics
Take our real pain and abstract it away with academics
Like my grandmama prayers ain't sUper effective
Faith doesn't come from scholarship but the trenches
Cross on me, God near me, I could go cross eyed
Gofundme for bail, now that's how I tithe
It don't hit in hard life, then it ain't God like
I know it ain't easy, I know we gon make it all right
CHORUS B (Travis Atreo)
When the waters rise, when the water falls
Know drought, know floods, yea we been thru it all
Been down in mud, this rain can wash it off
I know God is love and still the blood is strong
VERSE 2 (jason chu)
Korean pastors, Bible study them chapters
Jump onto a beat and I'm gone like I was raptured
No cap shit at confession, this rap shit is a blessin
Grateful for mistakes that turned into lessons
Since a adolescent I knew I was good at testin
Didn't always pass, but I stEady made progrEssion
Kept the faith, doubled down, dedicated vision all this Off-White on me like I'm dressed for a baptism
Standin in the sanctuary I made a commItment
Flyin evry month like I'm goin on a mission, trip coast to coast in coach like at the outlet
You see the glow up, my Holy Spirit outfit
New stakes at new tables like restoration hardware
This ain't our land, this is God's air
I was taught to show face and go ape
And evry time before I eat to say grace
CHORUS B
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8. |
Make It Out
02:51
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CHORUS A
Imma make it out here one day
Imma make it out
Imma make it out here one day
Imma make it out
x2
VERSE 1
I promised Tori I’d make it out
Evry note I jot promissory, Imma make it count
You can bank on it
I'm never switchin ranks on my momma
Givin thanks to the father like a child
(Yea)
Support due
Ancestors paved the way thru like asphalt
I pay homage in every single comment, with words that's resemblin incense in clouds
I pen letter like scholar turned trendsetter or bricklayer
Friends stackin paper up in thick layers
They used the loopholes to break necks
Now we mastered the index and learned to print checks
Raise the bar to get my people outta limbo
I'm raisin funds to move our elders outta rentals
They gotta pay for what they did plus incidentals
The instrumental cannot heal it all - but it’s a symbol
CHORUS B
Got my head in the clouds you'll never hold me down
If you been thru the storm you know I'm talkin bout
Found the wave in a drought, I'll make it out this town
Kickin down doors crash your party unannounced
x2
VERSE 2
Counted out by eye shapes and last names
American bombs that made the earth shake, green cards, nail salons, and paper families
And they did it all in one take
Kids of immigrants,
Who build our own ladders, duck snakes, upgraded from board game to board members
I'm so proud of my sister
No documents, now she writes her own chapters
No FAFSA but that paper in the mattress
Cash payments lookin funny on the taxes
Uncle Sam movin funny round the atlas
Consider it repayment for trauma of ancestors
I'm dancin wit my grandma at my cousin's weddin
Lookin at her, like your life is such a blessin,
Matriarch, 94, still at the Y swimmin
Continue what she started, this is all just the beginnin
Hook B
Hook A
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jason chu Los Angeles, California
I make rap music + speak on what I believe in.
TeamNotLazy
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