Second Heartbeat (feat. Sampa the Great & OKENYO)

There's nothin' I'm runnin' from

Tell you where I'm comin' from

I know where I've been

I've been with you

You've been with me

Leatherbound diary, faded handwriting

Great-granddad thought it was a war worth fighting

He ended up surviving, had a daughter named Dot

That's my grandma

Fell in love and married her boss

That's my grandpa

Had a little hairdressing shop in Lakemba

First child, ninth of December

In the years following the war ending

A baby boom set in

And now we call 'em boomers (Hey, mom)

You were a straitlaced girl, say what

Went and got hitched to a chainsmoking guy, say what

I got a bit of both sides, no surprise, say what

Like you're looking through my different colored eyes, say what

I got blue from brown and green

Song of Donald Byrd, the trumpets that came

From a thirty-three and a third, maybe they got me

My memory is a cluster of notes

Forming a familiar melody, I swear that I know

Stress in the mornin', stress in the evenin'

Stress is what I'm feelin', it's no wonder I ain't breathin'

Music is my life from before I could breathe

'Cause my daddy sang my mommy some melodious keys

Melodious G, melodiously

In the end was the birth of melodious me

I picked up the tune when I was in the womb

And I promise I would pride 'em with the songs that I'm doing

I wonder if they thought that I could change the world

If I could change the world, well, I would change myself

First borns always seem to know better

The past is in the future so I get to know better

Get to breathe better, get to dream better

You paid for my college so I get to eat better

I saw you in the past, working long hours, daddy

I saw mama give dreams so we could be happy

It's deep

Like my African lin'age

I bet you're gonna need a African minute

Owed it to the ancestors

'Cause they answered prayers

'Cause they answer

There's just nothin' I'm runnin' from

Tell you where I'm comin' from

I know where I've been

I've been with you

You've been with me, oh baby

The past beats inside of me

You may not even know

Things you don't know, somethin' you feel

Fadin' like photos, somethin' so real

It's like there's a second heartbeat

A light to lead me home

Things you don't know, somethin' you feel

Fadin' like photos, somethin' so real

Subconscious is monstrous

Underneath like the Loch Ness

Never seen but ever present like my blackness

Puffin' out my 'fro to check my bestness

Makin' waves like the flowing song of my ancestors

Dig beneath the layers

Tryna see what they are saying

Looks like I found a treasure worth displayin'

I take it down from the shelf

Shine it up like a diamond, see what it's worth

And I know some things they are forever

Know some things they hold together

I won't walk this road alone

I won't walk this road alone

And I know some things they are forever

Know some things they hold together

I won't walk this road alone

I won't walk this road alone

There's nothin' I'm runnin' from

Tell you where I'm comin' from

I know where I've been

I've been with you

You've been with me

The past beats inside of me

You may not even know

Things you don't know, somethin' you feel

Fadin' like photos, somethin' so real

It's like there's a second heartbeat

A light to lead me home

Things you don't know, somethin' you feel

Fadin' like photos, somethin' so real

There's nothin' I'm runnin' from

Tell you where I'm comin' from

I know where I've been

I've been with you

You've been with me, oh baby

There's nothin' I'm runnin' from

Tell you where I'm comin' from

I know where I've been

I've been with you

You've been with me