Released: June 24, 2008
Songwriter: Immortal Technique
Producer: DJ Green Lantern
[Intro]
Let me welcome both of you to the show this morning to talk
About what I consider a very, very important topic of the Harlem Renaissance
But before we get into that
[Verse 1: Immortal Technique]
Harlem once was red line district rated
Designated ghetto like the yellow star of David
And you wonder why people don't own their homes
Cause the racist bank wouldn’t fucking mortgage a loan
Until after the invasion of gentrification
Eminent domain intimidation
That's not negotiation, and it's frustrating to look at
Every day, like watching a porno, on 56k
Biohazard labs instead of storerooms
Whats next motherfucker, projects as dorm rooms
You ain't fooling nobody in this community duke
With your little fake Manhattanville community group
Ivy League, real estate firms are corrupt
They lay siege to your castle like the Moors in Europe
They treat street vendors like criminal riffraff
While politicians get the corporate kickback
[Refrain]
Harlem Renaissance, a revolution betrayed
Modern day slaves, thinkin' that the ghetto is saved
Till they start deporting people off the property
Ethnically cleansing the hood, economically
They wanna kill the real Harlem Renaissance
Tryna put the Virgin Mary through an early menopause
The savior is a metaphor for how we set it off
Guerrilla war against the rezoning predators
[Verse 2: Immortal Technique]
When I speak about Harlem I speak to the world
The little Afghan boy and the Bosnian girl
The African of Sudan, the people of Kurdistan
The third world American, indigenous man
Palestinians, Washington Heights Dominicans
Displaced New Orleans citizens
Beach front Brazilian favelas that you livin' in
The hood is prime real estate, they want back in again
I didn't write this to talk shit, I say it because
Some of ya'll forgot what the Harlem Renaissance was
We had revolution, music, and artisans
But the movement was still fucked up like Parkinson's
Cause while we were giving birth to the culture we love
Prejudice kept our own people outta the club
Only colored celebrities in the party
And left us a legacy of false superiority
W.E.B. Du Bois versus Marcus Garvey
And we ended up, selling out to everybody
The Dutch Schultz and John Gotti's
Banksters, modern day gangsters
Immobile army
They wanna move us all out the NYC
Like they did to the Jews
With the Alhambra Decree
So support your own businesses and do the knowledge
Cause the real Harlem Renaissance is economic
[Refrain]
[Outro]
When they were saying it is the renaissance of Harlem
They didn't mean that we had stake in that
They meant to say that they could make money out of us
They are coming in with all kinds of prejudices
In Brooklyn they're doing the same thing
In Queens they're doing the same thing
The Bronx, there's hardly any place which is affordable
I mean those people are putting up condominiums which start from a million dollars
How many people in this community make that kind of money
How many people HAVE that kind of money
People of Harlem, they are the natural allies of the oppressed people of the world
Whether the struggle is in Panama, in Africa, Cuba
We spend money with the wrong people
We are looking for love with people
Who don't love us
What's wrong with loving each other and making sure we are protected
Let me welcome both of you to the show this morning to talk
About what I consider a very, very important topic of the Harlem Renaissance
But before we get into that
[Verse 1: Immortal Technique]
Harlem once was red line district rated
Designated ghetto like the yellow star of David
And you wonder why people don't own their homes
Cause the racist bank wouldn’t fucking mortgage a loan
Until after the invasion of gentrification
Eminent domain intimidation
That's not negotiation, and it's frustrating to look at
Every day, like watching a porno, on 56k
Biohazard labs instead of storerooms
Whats next motherfucker, projects as dorm rooms
You ain't fooling nobody in this community duke
With your little fake Manhattanville community group
Ivy League, real estate firms are corrupt
They lay siege to your castle like the Moors in Europe
They treat street vendors like criminal riffraff
While politicians get the corporate kickback
[Refrain]
Harlem Renaissance, a revolution betrayed
Modern day slaves, thinkin' that the ghetto is saved
Till they start deporting people off the property
Ethnically cleansing the hood, economically
They wanna kill the real Harlem Renaissance
Tryna put the Virgin Mary through an early menopause
The savior is a metaphor for how we set it off
Guerrilla war against the rezoning predators
[Verse 2: Immortal Technique]
When I speak about Harlem I speak to the world
The little Afghan boy and the Bosnian girl
The African of Sudan, the people of Kurdistan
The third world American, indigenous man
Palestinians, Washington Heights Dominicans
Displaced New Orleans citizens
Beach front Brazilian favelas that you livin' in
The hood is prime real estate, they want back in again
I didn't write this to talk shit, I say it because
Some of ya'll forgot what the Harlem Renaissance was
We had revolution, music, and artisans
But the movement was still fucked up like Parkinson's
Cause while we were giving birth to the culture we love
Prejudice kept our own people outta the club
Only colored celebrities in the party
And left us a legacy of false superiority
W.E.B. Du Bois versus Marcus Garvey
And we ended up, selling out to everybody
The Dutch Schultz and John Gotti's
Banksters, modern day gangsters
Immobile army
They wanna move us all out the NYC
Like they did to the Jews
With the Alhambra Decree
So support your own businesses and do the knowledge
Cause the real Harlem Renaissance is economic
[Refrain]
[Outro]
When they were saying it is the renaissance of Harlem
They didn't mean that we had stake in that
They meant to say that they could make money out of us
They are coming in with all kinds of prejudices
In Brooklyn they're doing the same thing
In Queens they're doing the same thing
The Bronx, there's hardly any place which is affordable
I mean those people are putting up condominiums which start from a million dollars
How many people in this community make that kind of money
How many people HAVE that kind of money
People of Harlem, they are the natural allies of the oppressed people of the world
Whether the struggle is in Panama, in Africa, Cuba
We spend money with the wrong people
We are looking for love with people
Who don't love us
What's wrong with loving each other and making sure we are protected
more tracks from the album
The 3rd World
- The 3rd World
- Adios Uncle Tom (Skit)
- Golpe de Estado
- Hollywood Drive By
- Watchout (Remix)
- Stronghold Grip
- Rebel Arms
- Lick Shots
- Crimes of the Heart
- Mistakes
- Parole (Evil Genius Mix)
- Apocalypse (Remix)
- Death March
- Open Your Eyes
- Payback
- Reverse Pimpology
- That’s What It Is
- Harlem Renaissance
- Apocrypha (Interlude)
From the album
- The 3rd World (2008)
Immortal Technique popular songs
- Dance with the Devil
- You Never Know
- The Point of No Return
- Obnoxious
- The 4th Branch
- The Cause of Death
- Leaving the Past
- The Poverty of Philosophy
- Industrial Revolution (Dirty)
- Bin Laden
- Rich Man’s World (1%)
- Peruvian Cocaine
- Harlem Streets
- The 3rd World
- Caught in the Hustle
- Civil War
- The Martyr
- Dominant Species
- Creation & Destruction
- Black Vikings
- Toast to the Dead
- Internally Bleeding
- Angels & Demons
- Natural Beauty