After The Fire (feat. Dakota Camacho & Rell Be Free)

This is what comes after In more ways than one After the fire and the ashes were gone It took time to build desire up to write a new song So much destruction, so much went wrong These objects we all thought were sacred are gone Love is the foundation we've been building upon And with that still solid, we are carrying on This is new growth after all our old things burned Like a ceremony, but we were forced to learn The way forests thrive with the small fires Gotta clear space for some things to grow higher And if we don't, this consumes us all I'm in the city now, watching all these ashes fall Thinking 'bout what grows when the time comes 'Cause the climate got a whole human crisis Capitalism has got us sick, we gotta fight it Until the day that we can all stand united, after the fire After the fire took away our place After the flames burned all our thangs After the ashes fell like the rain After the pain we grew in a new way After the fire took away our place After the flames burned all our thangs After the ashes fell like the rain After the pain we grew in a new way After the fire stopped blazing from the bombing of our island I wonder if my Nana started smiling Did she feel liberated by the end of Japanese violence? Or feel conflicted by the invasion of American tyrants? It's amazing how a flame can be used to abuse Or be worked with lovingly to help forests renew And if only we knew what our ancestors would do As the empire falls, look to the past for the truth Innovate new tools, infusing prayer and intuition The poetics of the elements, revealing premonitions Time moves in cycles The land is insightful New growth thrives right after a typhoon There's wildfires in my birth land And rising tides in my homeland They say it's only getting worse And we plant new seeds every time we touch a mic and notepad After the fire was treated like a relative After the flame was seen like a medicine After the ash was applied to our face After the pain we found a new strength After the fire was treated like a relative After the flame was seen like a medicine After the ash was applied to our face After the pain we found a new strength It's like we lifting up the hood I ain't no mechanic but the little engine could Holding on some gasoline and rolling up the wood Shango in the trees like, homie wish you would Leaning on Orishas so I put it in m'Oshun Sent us back to hell, but they said it was no room Hero to a villain, guess we living in Dune I ain't really in the mood I be staring at the moon We the only people who ain't even got a name But the whole world eating off of African pain You can peep the averages Reading Middle Passages Word to Pocahontas' Daddy They called us some savages too But see me I know the truth So even when I say I'm Black That mean Indigenous roots From Seattle to Mogadishu Don't try to make an issue Naw I ain't the mayor But they know that we been official How we travel waters but they saying we can't swim? Why my cuddy gotta take a plea when the case slim? Even when we hot, we can lie, can't win Wanna be free but the city is caged in Real life After the fire, I ain't had no friends left After the flame, I was lost on impact After the break, had to let that past go After the pain, knew it wouldn't last though After the Nu Growth, there was an NRG After the first SOW, there was a trilogy The fire next time gon' come for the industry When it all fades, all we got is the memories We rose from the ashes of our history When the darkness comes to light But despite this fight, the future is bright We gon' be alright