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Free Skin (ft. Kimmortal & Sol Diana)

by Francis Arevalo

/

about

Free Skin is about the importance of kinship relations in the pursuit of liberation. It's about the imaging a better future both for and with the communities one is accountable to. Free Skin gives feelings of hopefulness, inspiration, encouragement, and empowerment. It is like an uplifting letter of love to Filipinos and people of colour. Free Skin is the sound of remembering the poetry in our skin and reading it aloud for ourselves and community to hear, whether in the present, past or future.

lyrics

I found a poem in my skin
I'm a person of colours, synesthetic melanin
Storytelling riddling
Somewhere in the middle of flexing, reflection, a bit of love
What we're becoming and the kid in us
I found purpose in crisis
I fight curses with cursive, from worthless to priceless
Got pennies for the billions
Music is the medicine
Tomorrow isn't given, so forgive and be giving to fellow citizens
Each one, teach one
Freedom, freedom
I might not be young but I'll never be done
All things circle, season, season
Imagine if ancestors could see us
And how far we've come, and how far we've come
Even if we leave, don't mean that we're free
We're finding roots in our family trees
Systems try to bury me but they don't know I'm a seed
Grow

Poems in my skin
They all will teach me how to love me
Poems in my skin
They all will teach me how to love me

The breath-rhythm of my people
Clad in purple, storm-like, beautiful in my belly
The distance encoded in our DNA
Was supposed to fragment us
Like the islands that we hail from
Yet here we are
Lion-hearted
Lyric hurlin'
Melody swervin'
Balisong twirlin'
Barbed-wire pentongue
Beckon us to be
We are a template for smashing templates
In the temples of our youth
Are blueprints to smashing the emperor's temples
I wear my poetry on my sleeve
Like the translucence of our barongs
So come take a seat, beside me, kapatid
Come and read the poetry in our skin
Exhale the breath-wind of our kin

Poems in my skin
They all will teach me how to love me
Poems in my skin
They all will teach me how to love me

If tomorrow isn't now, it's always soon to be
That's why I'm always thinking that it's you and me
We could learn unity
And make more opportunities for our community
Some gratitude for getting through to me
We could think local and act beautifully
And collaborate not only musically
Hip hop's the best medium for revolution, see
Whether it's systemic confusion or mental delusions
Use the beats and allusions to beat the illusions
We didn't pay all these dues
Or all these dudes
Or make all these tunes for free
We still found food to eat
And made food to feed
The crew that knew that we
Could do it big with the truth we speak
I wanna start a school for the youth and save you a seat
Space where safety ain't a statement, to play in it
Poems in my skin, it illuminates
And I ain't sorry for the shade or the shade of it
So stay a bit

Poems in my skin
They all will teach me how to love me
Poems in my skin
They all will teach me how to love me
Poems in my skin
They all will teach me how to love me

You give me light
You give me soul
We could have freedom
You help me grow

You give me light
You give me soul
We could have freedom
You help me grow

credits

released March 12, 2021
Featuring Francis Arevalo, Kimmortal & Sol Diana
Co-produced by Francis Arevalo and Mary Ancheta
Vocals recorded by Braeden Rangno
Mixed by Olivia Quan
Mastered by Elisa Pangsaeng / CPS mastering

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Francis Arevalo Vancouver, British Columbia

Francis Arevalo is a Filipino-Canadian artist and producer based in Vancouver, BC. Known for his personal storytelling, clever lyricism, and colourful production, he makes music to uplift, inspire, and energize himself and his community.

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