No matter how far you go
What you tryna run from will find you
I know
No matter how far you go
What you tryna run from will find you
I was born at the bottom
My poppa bailed on my momma
She forgave him cuz his trauma
I was raised by the heart of a woman
Who brought a village out the depths of a war
It was a different world when I just stepped up out a my door
Two identities that were hyphenated by a porch
Our house was a portal to Addis, you know the source
Most my childhood was just north of Jefferson course
And I spent most of my days up at the basketball court
You know, the one by Beacon El when it was 18s and VL
Of course, it was violence of all sorts, we were poor
To be sure, as we grow the body keeps the score
And it shows, so much more as we get old
I was forced to be grown-up when I was too young to simply manage it
Nothing scandalous, but damn the shit left it's mark
Late 30's, learning what my childhood did
No matter where I go, I can't run from it
No matter how far you go
What you tryna run from will find you
I know
No matter how far you go
What you tryna run from will find you
No matter how far you go
What you tryna run from will find you
I know
No matter how far you go
What you tryna run from will find you
I wake up some nights screaming in bed
Cuz I'll feel I'm not alone, and then it's all in my head
I don't know if it's a ghost, or a shadow of my ex
I'm not used to these issues that you can't put to rest
And I honestly think it's just all the unsaid
But when it's unsafe to talk, this is what you got left
We gotta acknowledge
And move on cuz the best days are ahead of us
I know that I'm different than I was before all of this
That's just a part of it
We don't heal to go back
We heal cause we're new
And there's so much beautiful work for us to do
I been taking my time, to build a circle of trust
Cuz that's what got damaged up in the fabric of love
Facing it all
I can't do it alone
I'm thankful for everyone that has graced my home
Cuz y'all gave me the strength to face the world head on
When
No matter how far I go
What I'm tryna run from will find me
I know
No matter how far I go
What I'm tryna run from will find me
No matter how far you go
What you tryna run from will find you
I know
No matter how far you go
What you tryna run from will find you
Living outside the rules, beyond form
Beyond limits, beyond norms
The life was tight, but I outgrew it
Step first time to the mic, you just do it
My new homeland says Nike, not Nike
It's not likely you'll be just like me
Idris, Slick Rick, they chill with Spike Lee
Check me, British, but Pinay despite me
Missing Alki to the by and by
But you cannot fly no matter how hard you try
Bi-race, bi-sex, bi-continental
My face perplexed cuz my soul is gentle
That bass swing low, come to take me home
Heartbeat of the SEA anywhere I roam
Heat and the speed
Meet in the need
Food that I feed
Blood that I bleed