Immortal Technique – aka Felipe Andres Coronel – is geboren en getogen in Peru (I’m from where people pray to the gods of their conquerors/And practically every president’s a money launderer), wat hem een – althans onder de grote namen in de Amerikaanse hiphopscene – uniek perspectief verschaft. In de titelsong van zijn derde album vat hij de hele koloniale geschiedenis kort, effectief en verbaal briljant samen.
Coronel laat het niet bij woorden: van de opbrengsten van The 3RD World financierde hij de oprichting van een kinderziekenhuis in Kaboel.
[Verse 1]
I’m from where the gold and diamonds are ripped from the earth
Right next to the slave castles where the water is cursed
From where police brutality is not half as nice
It makes the hood in America look like paradise
Compared to the AIDS-infested Caribbean slum
African streets where the passport’s an American gun
From where they massacre people and try to keep it quiet
And spend the next 25 years tryin’ to deny it
I’m from where they cut the hands off if you make a fist
And niggas grow coca, ‘cause the job market doesn’t exist
Except slave labor, modern-day company store
And peacekeepers don’t ever ever ever come here no more
From where the bombs that they used to drop on Vietnam
Still has children born deformed, eight months before they gone
I’m from where they lost the true meaning of the Quran
‘Cause heroin is not compatible with Islam
And niggas know that but grow that poppy seed anyway
‘Cause that food-drop parachute does not come every day
I’m from where people pray to the gods of their conquerors
And practically every president’s a money launderer
From where the only place democracy’s acceptable
Is if America’s candidate is electable
And they might even have a black president, but he’s useless
‘Cause he does not control the economy, stupid!
[Hook]
Lock and load your gun where I’m from, the Third World, son
Been to many places, but I’m Third World born
Guerrillas hit and run where I’m from, the Third World, son
You polluted everything and now the Third World’s gone
The water is poison where I’m from, the Third World, son
700 children died by the end of this song
Revolution’ll come where I’m from, the Third World, son
Constant occupation leaves the Third World torn
[Verse 2]
I’m from where the Catholic Church is some racist shit
They helped Europe and America rape this bitch
They pray to white Spanish Jesus, who’s face is this?
But never talk about the black pope Gelasius
I’m from where Soviet weapons still decide elections
Military’s like the Mafia: you pay for protection
Catamite sex tours is what the country sells
And rich white businessmen make the best clientèle
I’m from where they too pussy to come film Survivor
And they murder Coca-Cola union organisers
I’m from where the justice system está podrido
Fuck government, niggas politic over perico
Rebelde conocido, enterado vivo
Como otro Argentino desaparecido
‘Cause RICO laws don’t apply to the CIA
And motherfuckers make sneakers for a quarter a day
I’m from where they overthrow democratic leaders
Not for the people but for the Wall Street Journal readers
From where blacks, indigenous peoples, and Asians
Were once slaves of the Caucasians
And it’s amazin’ how they trained them
To be racist against themselves in the place they was raised in
You kept us caged in
Destroyed our culture and said that you civilised us
Raped our women, and when we were born you despised us
Gentrified us, agent provocateur divide us
And crucified every revolutionary messiah
So I’m a start a global riot
That not even your fake anti-Communist dictators can keep quiet
Fuck your charity medicine tryin’ to murder me!
The immunisations you gave us were full of mercury
So now I see the Third World like the rap game, soldier
Nationalize the industry and take it over!
[Hook]
Lock and load your gun where I’m from, the Third World, son
Been to many places, but I’m Third World born
Guerrillas hit and run where I’m from, the Third World, son
You polluted everything and now the Third World’s gone
The water is poison where I’m from, the Third World, son
700 children died by the end of this song
Revolution’ll come where I’m from, the Third World, son
Constant occupation leaves the Third World torn
Uitgelichte afbeelding: By InkwellDesignGroup – Hip Hop for Haiti, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11388865
