Manilla Lyrics - Lupe Fiasco

We are a people who have historically been on the verge on extinction 

Freeway 

We have been at many times, under much stress 

Since being brought into this country 

On many, many slave ships 

Preparations, reparations from segregation 

Genius at Genesis, master system SEGAs 

Punjabi mommy, dissecting Vedas on Samaveda 

Anointed players who coin phrases, that's metal paper 

Level layers, several shades of grey, submission for it 

MILF lover under silk covers who kiss her horses 

Pilates central to preservin' the body temple 

Jazz classics combatin' the fattest ass, status 

Quotient; my potions soakin' like boats in oceans 

Motion sickness, I overdid all my finesse pack 

Multidecker, new refreshment, lesson from jet snacks 

My momma wisdom, my competition is setbacks 

Jetlaggin', very swaggered and my Jordans dirty 

AMG performance, my foreign don't show no mercy 

Mere products, objects, meaningless to the over-standards 

Contemplatin' with industralists and social planners 

Manillas! 

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Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us 

Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us 

Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us 

Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us God said 

Life's work, overseeing the Five Classics 

You can accomplish anything if you survive blackness 

Sober living, Kosher kitchen, and co-defendants 

Soda sippin', the soakin' rhythms, and global vision 

Fear no verdict, but I feel allergic to local prisons 

My new resurgence, a due return into socialism 

Youth moves pay dividends as an old man 

Snake-headed Mayan goddess body with gold hands 

Father sins, send his twins into the underworld 

Though legendary, I weapon carry for same goals 

My Februarys is necessary to save souls 

Epileptic diamonds flicker foolish on the cuff wrist 

Do my duty to be useless to the fuck shit 

Manufacture finished goods to service local needs 

Dashboards lack the means to show my total speeds 

Fast forward floors forge orchids to golden me 

Construct the future with thirty bars 

Long tenures, I'm returning home to thirty cars 

Jasmine necklace from a poor woman on Hindu streets 

I gave her Rupees, she gave me beauty, I temple creep 

Photos 

Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us 

Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us 

Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us 

Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us God said 

Roman logic, Greek prophets, and add tutors 

Be more young'ns, they 12 o'clock, and then jump the scooters 

Through entertainment, I end the training to run the future 

In time check off my checkouts, too much for your computers 

Chakra waves, singin' boats, stirring up Dalai Lama 

Creation, step in my mental selection Bobby Konders 

Nightmare women, dream girls, and body monsters 

Don't confuse my tempation battles for batty mantras 

Sole pilot til' my reputation is bodhisattva 

Worked the Boticelli saw Venus in this topless opera 

Lost the combination need security to come and pop-a-lock'a 

Still no drinkin', just bought this champagne here to wash this vodka 

Punk band merchandise patches on leather coats 

Tell you tales of illegal sales by fedded boats 

Swallowed by waves, the hollow graves, they'll never float 

Sunken ships carried slaves, tokens to western coasts, Manillas 

Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us 

Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us 

Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us 

Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us God said 

Copper alloy bracelet forms were recognized and used as currency for 

transactions in the 15th century to the mid 20th century. 

Their metal content varied from copper to brass. 

Most Manilla were manufactured in England or France, 

and like trade beads, were used for trades with Africa. 

The local chiefs on the slave coast of West Africa traded their human 

cargo for many different commodities and Manilla was one of them. 

This Manilla was manufactured in Birmingham between 1830 and 1850, was 

being shipped to Africa to be bartered for one slave, each manilla. 

These slaves were then packed into hulls of ships and taken to the 

West Indies and the Americas to be sold for vast profits if they did 

not die from the journey. 

The Duoro was one of the slave ships, 

would trade goods on their way to Africa to pick up 

their human cargo, when she hit a rock and sank in 1843