We have to drink the cup

Lyrics

[Intro — Juno-60 haze + distant strings] From Haiti to Harlem, Kingston to London, Lagos to Paris, São Paulo to Toronto… Different countries, same scars. Different languages, same dreams. [Verse 1 — Melodic Rap] They scattered our people across the map, Took pieces of history, never gave them back. Generations growing up asking, “Who are we?” Trying to find the roots underneath the concrete. Some wake up fighting just to make it through, Some carry a name the world already judged before they knew. We built cities, music, culture, dreams, Still sometimes treated like we don’t belong in the scene. They call it bad luck, call it destiny, But history got a memory longer than we see. We inherited wounds we never chose, Still planted flowers where the cold wind blows. [Pre-Chorus — Trap-Soul] They told us we were cursed, But maybe we were carrying a burden first. They tried to break the spirit in us, Still somehow we rise from the dust. [Chorus — Afrobeat + 808 + Strings] We have to drink the cup, Even when the world keeps pouring pain in us. We have to face the storm, We’ve been carrying this weight for way too long. Oh-oh, from the islands to the motherland, Oh-oh, scattered people, still we stand. They can’t erase what’s inside of us, We have to drink the cup… But we don’t have to drink it alone. [Verse 2 — Melodic Rap] A Black kid somewhere dreaming past the stereotype, Trying to prove his future doesn’t have to match the headlines. A mother working two jobs just to keep the lights on, A father telling his children, “Keep your head strong.” Different borders, different struggles, same pressure, Trying to turn survival into something much better. Sometimes we fight each other from the pain we inherited, While the real story stays buried and edited. But look at what survived through every generation: Rhythm, language, art, faith, imagination. They took the people, but they couldn’t take the soul, Every broken piece became another part of the whole. [Pre-Chorus] They told us we were cursed, But maybe we were carrying a burden first. They tried to break the spirit in us, Still somehow we rise from the dust. [Chorus] We have to drink the cup, Even when the world keeps pouring pain in us. We have to face the storm, We’ve been carrying this weight for way too long. Oh-oh, from the islands to the motherland, Oh-oh, scattered people, still we stand. They can’t erase what’s inside of us, We have to drink the cup… But we don’t have to drink it alone. [Bridge — Strings rising + stripped 808] We are more than the suffering, More than the statistics, More than the history written By somebody who wasn’t there. We are the children of survivors, The dreamers of tomorrow. Our past may explain our scars, But it does not own our future. [Final Chorus — Full Afrobeat + 808 + Strings] We have to drink the cup, But we won’t let the bitterness define us. We have to face the storm, Then turn the pain into something we can build from. From Africa to the diaspora, From the Caribbean to America, From Europe to South America, We’re still here. Oh-oh, scattered but connected, Oh-oh, wounded but resurrected. They tried to bury the story in us, But the story keeps rising… We have to drink the cup, But we’re still standing.