[Intro: Wyclef Jean]
There's a war going on outside
Yeah, I
[Bridge: Wyclef Jean]
There's a war going on outside
That nobody's safe from
But here in my arms
I'll keep you from harm
There's no guarantee tonight
That we will wake up (That we will wake up)
When night takes to morning
But if no alarm rings, you can count on one thing
[Chorus: Wyclef Jean & VIC MENSA]
I'll be your shelter
Emergency
Please count on me, yeah, I
I'll be your superhero
When danger arise (Ugh)
I'll be by your side
You're my lucky dime
[Verse 1: VIC MENSA & Wyclef Jean]
Wyclef told me, "Call 9-1-1"
But who do you call when the ambulances don't come?
Or watch as the ones sworn by law to protect us
Wrongfully convict us, then call the corrections
Next, they bail the banks out when we in recession
Or hang us in a jail cell so they could swing the elections
I walk Chicago streets with potholes that's deep, and
Tahoes creep like TLC
Hospital workers in scrubs with no PPE
But they got money for riot gear, my nigga, we dying here, yeah
You tell me not to move with my gun
But we got more funeral homes than schools where I'm from
And on the news, all you view is homicides
Tell me why it ain't no trauma units when everybody traumatized? (Yeah, I)
Tryna get on your feet playing the hand they dealt ya
If your house is not a home, let this song be your shelter
Shelter, shelter
[Chorus: Wyclef Jean & Chance The Rapper]
I'll be your shelter
Emergency
Please count on me, yeah, I
I'll be your superhero
When danger arise (When danger arrives)
I'll be by your side (I'll be by your side)
You're my lucky dime
[Verse 2: Chance The Rapper]
It's a hunnid bags under the underpass
Rumbling stomachs, cups jingle when Hummers pass
Brisk wind, summer's done, winter is coming fast
And then they Zoom teacher wonder why they don't come to class
The internet been out, the hot water been out
She moved to her aunt's house, then to her friend's couch
Her abuser went to jail, but that nigga been out
Producer was in-house, they closer than pen pals
Homeless in the home of the slaves, I wonder how that would feel?
The manifested destiny, a bunch of land they could steal
Think about Kenneth Walker and Philando Castile
How they only wanted to protect they family
While it's niggas out here that make it worse for they folks
It's a deeper, hotter hell for the worst of these folks
It's a mystery, we never heard the murder she wrote
If we finally paid her back, the whole earth'd be broke
[Chorus: Wyclef Jean & VIC MENSA]
I'll be your shelter
Emergency
Please count on me, yeah
I'll be your superhero
When danger arise (Ugh)
I'll be by your side
[Verse 3: VIC MENSA]
I write for my niggas doing life with no possibility of parole
You playing Fortnite, that's how long he spent in the hole
Live from death row, free my nigga Julius Jones
I had a dream that Mumia was home, I speak freedom in song
'Cause all I see is racist faces
Where hate lives and they rape kids in cages
What kind of nation lynch Elijah McClain?
And send us to the Middle East to die for the flag?
They drive us insane to sell us medication
We demand reparations, and they tell us, "Have patience"
'Stead of cash payments, we get minimum wages
They give us the Black Plague, then send us a white savior
I found faith when I lost hope
That's when Julius reminded me of a bar I wrote
Behind bars, on the yard, where they dream of the street
On death row, singing, "We Could Be Free"
We could be free, we could be free
[Outro: Peter CottonTale & Jack Red]
I know you'll be my shelter from the storm
I know you'll be my shelter from the storm
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh
Oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh
There's a war going on outside
Yeah, I
[Bridge: Wyclef Jean]
There's a war going on outside
That nobody's safe from
But here in my arms
I'll keep you from harm
There's no guarantee tonight
That we will wake up (That we will wake up)
When night takes to morning
But if no alarm rings, you can count on one thing
[Chorus: Wyclef Jean & VIC MENSA]
I'll be your shelter
Emergency
Please count on me, yeah, I
I'll be your superhero
When danger arise (Ugh)
I'll be by your side
You're my lucky dime
[Verse 1: VIC MENSA & Wyclef Jean]
Wyclef told me, "Call 9-1-1"
But who do you call when the ambulances don't come?
Or watch as the ones sworn by law to protect us
Wrongfully convict us, then call the corrections
Next, they bail the banks out when we in recession
Or hang us in a jail cell so they could swing the elections
I walk Chicago streets with potholes that's deep, and
Tahoes creep like TLC
Hospital workers in scrubs with no PPE
But they got money for riot gear, my nigga, we dying here, yeah
You tell me not to move with my gun
But we got more funeral homes than schools where I'm from
And on the news, all you view is homicides
Tell me why it ain't no trauma units when everybody traumatized? (Yeah, I)
Tryna get on your feet playing the hand they dealt ya
If your house is not a home, let this song be your shelter
Shelter, shelter
[Chorus: Wyclef Jean & Chance The Rapper]
I'll be your shelter
Emergency
Please count on me, yeah, I
I'll be your superhero
When danger arise (When danger arrives)
I'll be by your side (I'll be by your side)
You're my lucky dime
[Verse 2: Chance The Rapper]
It's a hunnid bags under the underpass
Rumbling stomachs, cups jingle when Hummers pass
Brisk wind, summer's done, winter is coming fast
And then they Zoom teacher wonder why they don't come to class
The internet been out, the hot water been out
She moved to her aunt's house, then to her friend's couch
Her abuser went to jail, but that nigga been out
Producer was in-house, they closer than pen pals
Homeless in the home of the slaves, I wonder how that would feel?
The manifested destiny, a bunch of land they could steal
Think about Kenneth Walker and Philando Castile
How they only wanted to protect they family
While it's niggas out here that make it worse for they folks
It's a deeper, hotter hell for the worst of these folks
It's a mystery, we never heard the murder she wrote
If we finally paid her back, the whole earth'd be broke
[Chorus: Wyclef Jean & VIC MENSA]
I'll be your shelter
Emergency
Please count on me, yeah
I'll be your superhero
When danger arise (Ugh)
I'll be by your side
[Verse 3: VIC MENSA]
I write for my niggas doing life with no possibility of parole
You playing Fortnite, that's how long he spent in the hole
Live from death row, free my nigga Julius Jones
I had a dream that Mumia was home, I speak freedom in song
'Cause all I see is racist faces
Where hate lives and they rape kids in cages
What kind of nation lynch Elijah McClain?
And send us to the Middle East to die for the flag?
They drive us insane to sell us medication
We demand reparations, and they tell us, "Have patience"
'Stead of cash payments, we get minimum wages
They give us the Black Plague, then send us a white savior
I found faith when I lost hope
That's when Julius reminded me of a bar I wrote
Behind bars, on the yard, where they dream of the street
On death row, singing, "We Could Be Free"
We could be free, we could be free
[Outro: Peter CottonTale & Jack Red]
I know you'll be my shelter from the storm
I know you'll be my shelter from the storm
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh
Oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh
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singolo dall'album I TAPE, in uscita il prossimo 26 marzo
Vic Mensa and Chance The Rapper reunite over guitar notes to addressing everything from socioeconomic injustice to inner-city violence. Featuring a soulful vehemence chorus delivered by Wyclef Jean, fittingly as the song contains an interpolation of the vocalist’s classic song “911”, which this reincarnation builds off:
Tell them I just been shot down
Vic casts a light on the injustice facing falsely convicted death row inmate Julius Jones. In 2002, the then 19-year-old student-athlete was framed by his friend as the prime suspect in a murder.
Genius