History Thievery Corporation (Ft. Mr. Lif & Sitali)

You got the soul
Live with it every day
You got the role
That everybody gotta play
Break out the rows
Learn your history
You got the soul
Live with it every day

First and foremost
I'm a black Barbadian man
A Bajan Yankee
Who was born in this American land
My role?
Well, I'm the griot
Blessed with free flow
And a pea coat
My callin'
I came to connect with the people
My history is spotty just like yours
I've lied to myself
I've broken laws
I've told untruths to others
I love my father and my mother and my brother
You love your family too?
Well, let's consider this our glue
As we're bonded through this common experience
Don't get distracted by the variants
I'm holding pain
Here it is:
I can't be black without historic, systematic oppression
I can't look at a cop without second guessing
These are confessions of the heaviness & stress I hold daily
But still light on my feet like Alvin Ailey
I'm just a mortal man talking with you
We all cling to the things we hold true