Last of the Analog

My grandfather drove a taxi Moms and uncles drove a taxi Last of the analog First of the digital My generation's critical This is a story of us From Seattle, Ethiopia Broken Amharic bars Whippin' a used car Just new enough to push a Lyft If the month is hard Over 40, you can see it in my scars Got gray hair And a softer heart I know I played a part In the continuum That got us where we are Topped a few charts But I touched more hearts Been around the world And fell in love With the hardest parts Still drawn to sparking this match in the dark For the art that saved me And the people that raised me For that little kid That still feels alone and crazy On Sacred Texts I was heartbeat chasing Soul covered in dust Them crates in basements Wrote my whole life Over sample arrangements I'm a product of so many people and places Yet I never heard A story like my own Until I wrote it Left a piece on the wall Before anybody noticed Backpacks with spray cans and notepads Mix-tapes and a busted walkman I'm from an era when it meant so much That we'd break any law just to put our names up What Backpacks with spray cans and notepads Mix-tapes and a busted walkman I'm from an era when it meant so much That we'd break every law just to put our names up I used to write graffiti On the desk and the bleachers In middle school Trying to hide it from my teachers T-E-O In bubble letters Always loved my name Most could not pronounce it And I did not complain Met most of my relatives When they came off a plane The language that they spoke And what I know Are not the same Cause they showed pride But they instilled shame I do not blame them For the weight of those chains Was something that they carried too Lies that could bury you Be a doctor, lawyer, engineer Or you're through My mama told me I should love what I do Do your music, she would say To your heart stay true She struggled for so long And knew that I would struggle too I knew what I was doing When I dropped out of school Then moved a few states For the love of the crew I was the first Ethiopian rapper I ever knew Backpacks with spray cans and notepads Mix-tapes and a busted walkman I'm from an era when it meant so much That we'd break every law just to put our names up What Backpacks with spray cans and notepads Mix-tapes and a busted walkman I'm from an era when it meant so much That we'd break any law just to put our names up What Last of the analog First of the digital My generation's critical This is a story of us From Seattle, Ethiopia To the world Seattle, Ethiopia Seattle, Ethiopia