Black Love, Pt. II (feat. Sarah MK)

Black love I don't gotta explain too much My folks got my back like no one does Something bout loving you in our native tongue Opens up possibilities and heals where I'm from I love the way my name feels in your mouth I hope I hold yours as delicate and proud I wonder if the ancestors smile when they see us Something bout your happiness feels like freedom Black love is always, always there for you Black love is always, always there for you Black love is always, always there for you For us, for us Black love is always, always there for you Black love is always, always there for you Black love is always, always there for you For us, for us I sang about the quest on the first take Projected where I'd find love in a new way Landed on the motherland in February Still shaky from the jump But my soul was good to undertake what was to come New era and a new day Clean slate to start again with my family 18 years separated, no more shadowboxing Holding on to thoughts that weren't mine Time to get real with the storyline A vision of my father in the eyes of all his brothers Laughing at the kitchen table, teasing one another The aunties making sure that everything's in order Chilling in the living room, chatting up for hours Needed some connection that I didn't know I needed Needed a reflection of myself that's deeply seated Needed to find what I was told was long gone The future is bleak when you don't know where you're from Now moving forward Open-hearted conversations Healing in so many spaces Breaking down and picking up the pieces Bunna sipping, practicing tradition Quietly observing, catching up and navigating All that's in between worlds My head high, the more I discover What it means to be a member of the team Realizing that everybody had lost Mending what I thought and what it was Black love is always, always there for you Black love is always, always there for you Black love is always, always there for you For us, for us There was nothing like the first time that I touched home Saw every side of life right there on Bole Road Got to rock a show with Mulatu in the front row And then shared bunna every morning for the next week Connections were deep My Amharic, weak But I wasn't afraid to speak Saw friends become family I didn't want to leave I still can't believe it But one by one, my close ones started leaving I started seeing pictures of a different Addis And didn't recognize any of the places I've been I started making this album to remember In January 2020, but that November A war popped off Now I feel dismembered I got good friends with family members missing I got some friends that act like nothing's different And some wave flags like they celebrate the militants I just mourn my idea of home And this, too, is a pain that our parents have known How they all got through it, y'all, I just don't know But I don't think any of us can do it alone Black love is always, always there for you Black love is always, always there for you Black love is always, always there for you For us, for us For us Black love is always, always there for you Black love is always, always there for you Black love is always, always there for you For us, for us Black love is always, always there for you Black love is always, always there for you Black love is always, always there for you For us, for us