Portraits

(album: Porch - 2017)

Ooh

Portraits in the hall
I know you seen 'em all
Got a brother on my chin, Lord
Got a sister on my wall
Portraits in the hall
I know you seen 'em all
Eric Garner on my chest, Andrew playing on a wall

See mama raised a good nigga
Granny raised a smart kid
Sometimes standing up don't involve standing up
Look what Rosa Parks did
Some fights you win with peace
Look at Martin Luther King
Black man in white
Yellow tape all around the shooting scene
Sometimes you gotta strike back, shit look at Huey P
We all fight the same war, it's no them, it's you and me
By any means, by any means, take a look at Malcolm X
In the midst of this chaos they still choose to rap about the cheque
I seen too many

Portraits in the hall
I know you seen 'em all
Got a brother on my chin, Lord
Got a sister on my wall
Portraits in the hall
I know you seen 'em all
Eric Garner on my chest, Andrew playing on a wall

Uh, I got my hands in the air, they shooting still
America's roots reveal, the news conceal
Now the boys in blue abuse the shield
A lewd appeal for those they choose to kill
Show it or news, of views we snoozing still, we doing for real abuse and booze and pills
To lose the feels of having the huge parachutes to fill
I could never posess the Martin Luther skills
Instead I hit the booth to spill the truth, 'cause truth is truth can heal
Food for the soul, put this in your tape deck while you cruise in your Coupe de Ville, forgive the face and loot the real
Forced to resort once we jumped off them porches
The world is my muse of courses, depicted on my canvas, and man it's a bloody ass portrait
I'm just here to give my portion
I see too many

Portraits in the hall
I know you seen 'em all
Got a brother on my chin, Lord
Got a sister on my wall
Portraits in the hall
I know you seen 'em all (Yeah)
Eric Garner on my chest, Andrew playing on a wall

Yeah, I hopped off the stoop train to shoot though
Promised older bro I'd find a loophole
The block is hot, the world is too cold
To live or die, the options twofold
When the cops out there, cock and shoot
Got the proof on two phones, watch, the blue code is real
They saying we should snitch, we tell 'em not to kill
Pick somebody brown, face down and they tell us not to feel when they left 'em in the sun
We die when we surrender, we die when we run
The narratives the same, "You right, he had a gun"
Walks of godness, central blame, had none
So what's it mean to protect and serve us?
These United States don't deserve us
White's get Miranda's, we get a funeral service
It's sad my melanin makes you nervous
It's too many

Portraits in the hall
I know you seen 'em all
Got a brother on my chin, Lord
Got a sister on my wall
Portraits in the hall
I know you seen 'em all (Yeah)
Eric Garner on my chest, Andrew playing on a wall