[Spoken Word]
We Outsiders sitting facing the wall
Prayin God’ll provide us, wishin he’d give us all
Wish he’d give me home a place where i belonged
Been Pulled in all these different directions for so long
They told me to make connections not friends
Ain’t told me shit about the means, all they want is the ends
Is it Queens or Manhattan
Is it Egypt or America
Or Poetry or rappin
My skin is olives and carmel
Hair is some angelica
Prolly younger than Seneca
Tourist on my steinway streets
And Back at school i walk my eyes at my feet
They had me hating myself they had me beat
Embarrassed of my family give em the back seat
How do I belong, how do I kill this doubt

[Verse 1]
To All of my Aikos in envy of michaels
To all my Aminas housains and khadejas
They never have a problem with the Zanes and the Ginas
Who never have to fight for their names in Areas
We change them ourselves cause we ashamed to be us
It pains me to see this they gentrifying minds here
Shine spears and point them at our own behinds here
We refined here, still we have no place in their success
It won’t even matter how we doing on the test
Cause they were born to be the best
Unless we dress and we talk like they do, act and walk like they do
Fuck whatever they say do
Imma do what I say to
I’ll be newer than page two
I’ll be fresher than zaitown
I’m from Steinway just like you
Fuck a starbucks spill they brew
Into the nile and chase you
U in denial say shoo
I’m tryna figure it out too, cool?

[Bridge]
How can I still believe in culture when I’m changing
My heart is lost and I don’t know how to rein it
My dreams are like a nightmare to my own but I’m feeling like I’m dying to escape it

[Verse 2]
There ain’t nothing more important than success
Some people make it
Others just ain’t blessed
Everybody stressed about the homework and the test
But I’m just wondering if in the end it’s really for the best

[ Sax Solo]

[Verse 3]
Takling Empty Promises in sonnets is my solaces I harness bliss in bonnets
That’s on darlings since
We garnered this in 96
We thought of this
And it was writ without a doubt
Hip hop was this
Message or diss
You’d rather kiss than front that clout

Figure it out