We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Power LP (LUNGS​-​143)

by MASS ARREST

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $9 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    **From now on 100% of the profits from physical sales of this album will be donated to BLM organizations that continue to amplify Black voices and help to improve Black lives.
    -Jensen // June 2020

    Includes unlimited streaming of Power LP (LUNGS-143) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $17 USD or more 

     

1.
Spooks 01:20
Spirits are low and just getting by Bereft and unsettled and a little bit high Injustice of death - forgotten or worse Blamed for abuses, neglected since birth What’s it matter anyway? These streets are filled with ghosts But all you see are spooks Sickle to prison - a life among cells Derision for victims “unfit and unwell” Ignored by physicians - reviled by the state Dying in labor from a life filled with hate This is one way that racism kills Biased doctors pushing sugar pills Assume we’re addicts and we’re just seeking meds Or supernatural - no pain till we’re dead Black women giving us life Are more likely to die under the knife Our ghosts are lingering demanding the truth But you ain’t listening - you hear nothing but spooks
2.
You got a new agenda Gonna take it all away Don’t even try to mysterious Your ass is out here on display Just a whistling dog peddling hate Doesn’t matter to you who you denigrate You’re gonna bring back the good times When my people hung from trees Peace was no reality And you’re not pushing fantasies Proclamations made by torchlight Murders committed in the sun It’s all a Southern Strategy To keep us all at odds and dumb I’m ashamed to admit I thought we’d gotten past this shit I had the fucking nerve to hope Will my dreams die at the end of a rope? So now I’m bitter inside while real lives are being threatened You flaunt white nationalist pride just to get elected You weaponize lies while you line your pockets Create a lethal divide while you fucking rob us
3.
White World 01:23
Bodies are not our own and this is not our home We’ve built a legacy that we won’t own Red lined to ghettos and prison cellblocks Ignored minority “best left alone” Ooh, baby, it’s a white world Robbed of our history Blamed for our misery We’re told that we are free  but whips still crack Given no destiny They want the best of me you think that you’re exempt but Black’s still Black Ooh, baby, it’s a white world I’ve never seen this world this dark before The faces and the rage are Black
4.
Young Pac 01:56
Can’t you tell you’ve got a ticket to sell? They seen you mumbling along with the tapes and you’ve got something that they wanna take You look so dangerous to the whites in their eyes They want your Soul and that’s no surprise You represent the very things that they crave They’ll represent you right into your grave They know the thing that takes a hit to the top is a rapper lying dead in a box Can’t you tell you’ve got  ticket to sell? All these money making record execs selling gangsters to whites in Midwest They watch the videos and practice the flow but to them it’s just a minstrel show They don’t see the heart you put in your craft They wanna see your fucking heart on a slab When you die they’ll sigh and say it’s a shame and take a selfie while they crouch on your grave There ain’t no way to win You know the fix is in Been fighting since inside the womb but they fight behind doors in board rooms They sell the guns, the drugs but they call you a thug GET OUT
5.
Been getting waisted for generations on 911 Lead Reserve The overseers and the officers became the agents of slash and burn But white fragility can’t watch brutality so they changed the tactics of their war They built a system and filled their prisons so they can kill us behind closed doors I’ve got records in my jacket I know my name is in a file I won’t be taken with distractions I know that my life is on the line So fuck the Courvoisier and pass me the dossier 100 to 1: Odds are stacked from the gun How’s a Brother supposed to live on the run They’ve got intelligence on half my relatives in a dossier as thick as my thumb I’ve got records in my jacket I know my name is in a file I won’t be taken with distractions I know that my life is on the line So fuck the Courvoisier and pass me the dossier
6.
Shuck & Jive 01:45
I’ve learned to shuck and jive Been told “keep hope alive” Jazz hands obstruct and hide this fraud that is my life Grew up in welfare lines Got told to bide my time Someday this life will shine Ignore the pistol in your spine Don’t you give me affirmations Don’t you give me no “hold your station” Always hearing about self control Well I’m the king of dodge ’n’ roll I’ve switched my codes correct but I’m still hooked by the neck I’ve dodged the prison death Too early to party yet This system’s got my scent Changed my name - they don’t forget Don’t you give me no affirmations Don’t you give me no “hold your station” Don’t you give me no “keep your voice down” Don’t you give me no “it’s alright now” Don’t try to tell me it’s getting better Don’t try to tell me “have hope” I’ve got no hope
7.
Till The End 01:49
Those sure were the good old times Your enemy was always mine I swore I’d give my life for you I enlisted in the heard And sang along with every word Naive enough to think that they were true Deep in the cut but fucking forgot When push came to shove and it went there a lot Outnumbered and pummeled and beat to the ground When push came to shove you were never around We talked big about unity But that never included me When our differences were laid out on the line You fixed your vision right on yourself And couldn’t see anyone else Turned out my enemies were just mine I was out there all alone With my fight deemed to be my own Just because you couldn’t relate I fought through decades of this hate
8.
Liberation 02:14
I’m living for liberation I’m living with my fist in the sky I’m dying for liberation I’m dying for the right to survive Land, bread, and education Housing, clothing, justice and peace End mass incarceration, and murder at the hand of police I won’t be complicit I won’t tow the line I won’t believe in humanity until you recognize mine I’m living for liberation I’m living with my fist in the sky I’m dying for liberation I’m dying for the right to survive No more intimidation I’ve given all that I can give I don’t need reparations I need a life that I can live
9.
You’ve got your laws in state. They keep you safe You’ve got amendments and a polished slate You’ve got a license now, no need to run Time to get out there, boy, get on the hunt But those laws aren’t there for me They’re just tools of white supremacy You hunt us down, you gun us down But I’m gonna stand my ground There is no law to save me if I have a gun or if I’m unarmed and I try to run Criminalize my rights. Call me a threat Then put a bullet in my fucking head But those lies aren’t there for me They’re just tools of white supremacy You hunt us down, you gun us down But I’m gonna stand my ground
10.
I’ve got an X on my chest Bullseye for mass arrest And all the president’s men Want to see me in chains again They’re in the streets with swastikas But I’m the extremist They want to bring another Holocaust Somehow I’m the extremist Get your shit together That ain’t me There’s no equivalency Fuck you I’m not the one The biggest threat I see Is racist white men packing guns They’re shooting churches and synagogues But, yo, I’m the extremist They’re writing manifestos - shipping package bombs Somehow I’m the extremist Don’t talk about both sides Don’t tell me we’re as bad as each other No room for compromise No fence walking - pick a fucking side Death toll is on the rise They’re stacking bodies and their getting away Don’t act so surprised They’re issuing threats every fucking day Get your shit together That ain’t me.
11.
Wait 01:28
Late night, both hands in my pocket Comm Ave and Allston Street Cops stop - “Lay down on the sidewalk” Submit to search or feel the heat It’s nothing new - nothing incidental For some of us it’s a way of life It doesn’t matter if you think it’s anecdotal I’m done waiting for you to take our side This is not a conversation This is not up for debate We’re tired of your invalidation We’re dying but you’re still telling us to wait Jim Crow’s cashing in investments Bank rolling in a white-washed truck Heads shake but I know the reality News Flash: No one gives a fuck This is not a conversation This is not up for debate We’re tired of your invalidation We’re dying but you’re still telling us to Wait. Hold Stop thinking ‘bout the rope that’s tightening around your throat Wait. Hold Stop or we’ll shoot
12.
Urban Blight 01:38
Never ran the block but always in the cut Kicking up the sidewalk or post up in the spot Looking out for neighbors and fending for ourselves Never thought that someday we’d be something else These streets we used to get along in We now just don’t belong in New money got the streets on lock And they love to call the fucking cops This neighborhood changed overnight And now we’re the urban blight It wasn’t all that long ago They called this a ghetto and now it’s their home Now I live uneasy on the other side of town Racial isolation - no other Black or brown Neighbors all ignore me - won’t look me in the eye Act like I’m a threat but never question why
13.
Boy, this neighborhood sure has changed Now it doesn’t feel quite the same We moved here all together Brought our friends and now it’s lame New town drag - it’s lost it’s ghetto feel New town drag - it’s lost it’s poor appeal New town drag - new neighbors look like me but I moved to this side of town to save on rent and prove I’m down It was cool to have some bragging rights about the gun shots we heard at night This place was super cool and sketchy Now I don’t feel quite as edgy New town drag - it’s lost it’s ghetto feel New town drag - it’s lost it’s poor appeal New town drag - new neighbors look like me but I moved to this side of town to save on rent and prove I’m down The old town is gone and it’s not coming back The landlords and the realtors are done with betting on Black So who’s betting on Black?
14.
Been denying that there’s lines to connect Think we’re lying ‘bout the noose on our necks Got your finger on the pulse - I can see But you ain’t listened to a word out of me You’re afraid that if you hear what i say you’ll be culpable and you’ll have to pay So you’re better off to push me aside to live with skeletons that you try to hide I don’t need no white validation You’ve seen the videos. You’ll even retweet Broken bodies getting cold in the street Yet you hand us condescending rebuke if our protests dare disturb your commute You’ve accepted that the game has been rigged You thin it’s tragic but "it is what it is” So the thing that seems to get on your nerves We ask for justice that we fucking deserve I don’t need no white validation I don’t need it ‘cause you’re never gonna give it up I’m tired of so much pain Exhausted, accosted everyday You see our needs but save yourself I play the race card because it’s the one you’ve dealt I don’t need no white validation

about

MASS ARREST - Power LP w/download (LUNGS-143)
Debut LP from this Oakland quintet. 14 songs that are sure to get stuck in your head. Equal parts joy and rage, classically influenced but originally executed, circle pits and 12 strings, d-beats and Hammond organs, fist fights and tambourine breaks, angry and aggressive while thought provoking and danceable. Is it hardcore or punk, OR hardcore and punk? That’s the one dichotomy you’ll have to figure out. Black Liberation Now and Forever.
500 copies on black vinyl housed in a spot varnished black on black 24pt jacket with poster insert, sticker and download card included. Recorded and mastered by Jack Shirley. Art by Boo Boo.

credits

released November 22, 2019

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

IRON LUNG Records Seattle, Washington

We know what We like and what We don't like.

contact / help

Contact IRON LUNG Records

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Power LP (LUNGS-143), you may also like: