Where Did All My People Go

[Intro]
Where did all my people go
Hvshi yvt ishkobo
Ish kiyo tok osh ahosh
(hey) I still hear ’em in my soul
[Verse 1]
Where did all my people go
Namecha ish achokma, now they ghosts in the smoke
Chahta okla, katimma? I’m just searching the road
Faint drums in the trees, I can hear when it blows
They drew lines on the land, cut it up like a map
Put a price on our names, tried to throw it in back
But my grandma keep a story in the folds of her hands
Every wrinkle like a river running over this land
[Chorus]
Are we lost in time we can’t forget?
(Isht ia, isht ia) still ain’t left us yet
Every tear, every trail that they laid in the red clay
I can hear ’em say, “Hold on, hold on”
The future is for the children to see
(Chahta ohoyo, chahta oshki) singing over me
We must remember the past and the wrong that we made
So they can walk on a road we already paid
[Verse 2]
Hvshi taloa li, stars spelling our names
But the signs in the city try to hide where we came
They erased every vowel, every sound from our mouth
Taloa li na yukpa, I’ma sing it out loud
I see babies with braids, phones bright in their hands
Scrolling through a world that don’t show ’em our clans
So I talk in the tongue they tried to rip from my chest
“Chi hullo li,” little one, you the proof we ain’t left
[Chorus]
Are we lost in time we can’t forget?
(Isht ia, isht ia) still ain’t left us yet
Every tear, every trail that they laid in the red clay
I can hear ’em say, “Hold on, hold on”
The future is for the children to see
(Chahta ohoyo, chahta oshki) singing over me
We must remember the past and the wrong that we made
So they can walk on a road we already paid
[Bridge]
We stumbled, we fell, yeah, we made our mistakes
But we rise, but we rise, like the dawn through the haze
Yakoke to the ones who kept the fire awake
Little hearts gonna carry every step that we take
[Chorus]
Are we lost in time we can’t forget?
(Isht ia, isht ia) still ain’t left us yet
Every tear, every trail that they laid in the red clay
I can hear ’em say, “Hold on, hold on”
The future is for the children to see
(Chahta ohoyo, chahta oshki) singing over me
We must remember the past and the wrong that we made
So they can stand in the sun on the land that we saved

rap, Moody trap ballad with deep 808s, sparse piano plucks, and atmospheric pads; intimate male rap lead, soft female background harmonies on hooks and key phrases. Verses stay close and conversational, chorus swells with layered vocals and airy reverb. Occasional pitched vocal chops echo title line for a haunting, memorable hook.