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We Were the Seeds

by jason chu

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1.
Moves 02:21
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
2.
Drive Slow 02:10
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
3.
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
4.
FIELD TRIP 02:26
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
5.
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
6.
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
7.
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
8.
Make It Out 02:51
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

about

for the past 2 years I've been working on this album, i've been seeing our people figuring out our future.

We got scared and sad, then angry, then determined. Then scared again. We took care of each other. We got distracted.

We made movies and tv shows and campaigns and nonprofits. Thru it all, i think we were just trying to find a way to hold onto ourselves free from the need for someone else's approval.

over the last few years i've become someone i'm really happy to be. Thanks to my friends, my mentors, and my ancestors, I've started to know myself.

This album is really about that: who can we be when we know ourselves?

Knowing where and WHO we come from liberates us from the demands of the moment.

It frees us to be planted in something bigger than "Here", drawing stability & life from those deeper roots.

I’m proud of this album. My friends & I made it for u. I hope it helps u, just like u have all helped me.

🌸🌼🌺

credits

released September 15, 2023

Executive Producers: jason chu, Tinhua Hsia, Robert Shiau
Written by: Jason Chu, Leo Xia, Ann Chung
Produced by: KOEY Beats, stillonit, Jonum, Chucky Kim, Soundmaker
Mixed & Mastered: Jonum

Special Thanks: Tina Ngo, Team Not Lazy (Robert Shiau, Tinhua Hsia, Lauren Lee), Peter Gent / GGE Media,

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jason chu Los Angeles, California

I make rap music + speak on what I believe in.

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