Zoné Korae - Timber Trade Lyrics

[Intro]
Chainsaws and dollar signs, they cut deep into our spine
Taking what was mine, selling it back with a shine

[Verse 1]
Mahogany memories stripped bare for the West
My father's wisdom echoes while they harvest what's left
They sample our souls like timber from the grove
Package it clean while our roots decompose
F*ck your exotic taste, this ain't your souvenir
Generations of pain that you'll never hear
Cultural vultures circling overhead
Feasting on traditions till everything's dead

[Chorus]
They take, they break, they make it their own
Cut down our culture right to the bone
Money talks while history walks
Now watch me profit off my people's loss
(What have I become?)

[Verse 2]
Aminata called me out, said I sold my soul
But bills don't pay themselves when integrity's your goal
Split between worlds like a tree torn in half
Roots in the soil but my branches chase cash
Label execs want that "authentic sound"
Same ones who kept our ancestors bound
Now I'm caught in the game, playing both sides
Cultural merchant, got nowhere to hide

[Bridge]
The sawmill's turning, culture's burning
Pages of history, they keep on turning
From Mali to Manhattan, shit keeps returning
Same old story, just new players learning

[Verse 3]
Export my pain in neat little bars
Package my struggle like Cuban cigars
Watch how they dance to our suffering now
While our elders weep, wondering how
But I'm in too deep, can't turn back the clock
Built my empire on this auction block
Every track I drop, every beat I sell
Got me questioning if I'm heaven or hell

[Outro]
(Kora strings fade)
They take our timber, they take our tunes
Cut down our forest, left nothing but wounds
But still we grow, still we rise
Through concrete cracks, toward darker skies