Fam Jam (Fe Sum Immigrins) Lyrics

[Hook]
(Not bad huh, for some immigrants) [x4]

[Verse 2:]
To the guys that draw lines and make the borders real
But then bend the rules when there's more to drill

Don't turn away the stateless, think of the waste
If one in 3 refugees is a Lauryn Hill

Come along way, you can move forward still
From the poorest to up by Lawrence or Forest Hill

But more than that, skrillery banks just chill
Make a home, just build in a zone, less ill
In a place to be safe, few found an escape route
Where we come from, so we grateful to Jesus

And now the top is the next stop, this drop
Oughtta have my Aunts on the guest spot, red hot
I'm talking going from sweatshops to tech stocks
Doctors Without Borders, with dreadlocks
We quoting S.Dot Carter on Otis
Turns out some fresh off the boat kid wrote this
...Not bad


[Hook]

[Verse 3]
Check it out
Now when you're Third World born, but First World formed
Sometimes you feel pride, sometimes you feel torn
See my Mother's tongue is not what they speak where my Mother's from
She moved to London with her husband when their son was 1

And one time after Family Ties, I turned on the news and saw my family die
(Why?) Pops said there's murder in the motherland
Things about colonialism I didn't understand

All the things that shape a man in his mind state;
A community income, and crime rate

If times change, why my people still in dire straits
If it's a big world, show me where's my place
In it, I had to talk to Pops for a minute
He said, "Shad, this world wasn't home to begin with

Just keep defending the oppressed, take steps
And keep rapping, you might just be the best"
Well, yes
[Hook]

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About

Genius Annotation

The second single off of Shad’s upcoming 4th studio album Flying Colours sees him return to his roots, in this passionate ode to immigrants.

Shad released the song with this note on his website,

Working on Flying Colours in the city of Toronto offered a daily reminder of the diversity of stories in our midst. This diversity is often and rightly celebrated, but the innumerable stories that comprise our treasured multiculturalism here in Canada can also hold a lot pain, as well as some complicated questions around what it means to succeed, and what it means to belong. As I started writing and reflecting on the different joys and struggles within our stories, I was reminded of the community parties we had with other families who arrived in London, On from East Africa when I was growing up. I thought about the fun we had as kids and the various difficulties that our families encountered over the years.

I wanted to make something to celebrate some of that; a throwback to our old fam jams, and a toast to the trials and triumphs of many. The video features some of my “cousins” (not real cousins but… you might know what I mean), some of whom I first met at those old community parties. I’m proud to say we’re mostly grown up now; a few even have kids of their own who also appear in the video.

Hope you enjoy,
Shad

Samples include The Fugee’s “Killing Me Softly” and The Throne’s “Otis”.

Credits
Produced By
Written By
Release Date
August 28, 2013
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