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1. |
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Whittle me
Till I’m little me
Back to banyan trees
Cassava leaves
War torn screams
Maria
Birthing me
In a black cauldron (ooh, ooh)
Black cauldron (ooh, ooh)
Mm, yeah
Some things, they can take you right back
Some things, they can take you right back
Some things, they can take you right back
Some things, they can take you
One for the bible
Two for the children with the rifles
Three for survival
I’m running in the cycles
I’m running in the cycles
Some things, they can take you right back
Some things, they can take you right back
Some things, they can take you right back
Some things, they can take you
(Ooh, ooh)
Mama I don’t wanna cry no more
Mama the kids are burning church next door
Mama I can feel the breeze in my evening
Mama tell me there’s a reason for living
Mama I don’t wanna cry no more
(I walk, step forward into some blurry future)
Mama the kids are burning church next door
(My past far behind)
Mama I can feel the breeze in my evening
(Sometimes it calls)
(There must be a reason)
Mama tell me there’s a reason for living
(That you're on my mind)
Some things, they can take you right back
Some things, they can take you right back
Some things, they can take you right back
Some things, they can take you
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2. |
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Monrovia’s dissolved into chaos
This is the worst street fighting in seven years of civil war
West African peacekeeping troops have lost control
And aid agencies including the Red Cross and United Nations
Have joined the exodus
Heroine eyes
I can’t see you
Behind my disguise
The gun strap and boots that don’t fit right
The kids left to fight the war again
No kind of amends
I buried my mom, I buried my dad, I buried a friend
Hard to believe in an end when your heart is as hard as cement
Peace talks, but the peace talks are stalling again
(Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
After a long night
Who brings the sun to rise
Dressed in all white
Love knows no side
After a long night
Who brings the sun to sky
(And so they rise)
Dressed in all white
(The women have come and carry the light)
(Putting an end to all the fight)
Love knows no side
After a long night
(Through a merciful might)
(Pray the devil back to hell)
Who brings the sun to sky
(And so they rise)
Dressed in all white
(The women have come and carry the light)
(Putting an end to all the fight)
Love knows no side
After a long night
(Through a merciful might)
(Pray the devil back to hell)
Who brings the sun to sky
(And so they rise)
Dressed in all white
(The women have come and carry the light)
(Putting an end to all the fight)
Love knows no side
After a long night (ooh-ooh)
(Through a merciful might)
(Pray the devil back to hell)
Who brings the sun to sky (ooh-ooh)
(And so they rise)
Dressed in all white
(The women have come and carry the light)
(Putting an end to all the fight)
Love knows no side
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3. |
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I remember it
Like it was yesterday
RPGs looking feather weight
These kids did not come to play
As my body shakes
I feel my history
I’m terrified
Burned cities and my mother’s cries
Come back alive
No tears in their violence
Eerie fear in the silence
I remember it
Like it was yesterday
Ak40 pointed at my face
These kids came to celebrate
Snakish grins got ‘em
Ooh, looking devilish
I’m naked like a candlelight
Said a prayer and closed my eyes
Get home alive
History, repeated fate
Childhood, under a blaze
Black skin
Turning red
What the
Fucked up your head
Grown-ups stayed in bed
Emotionally I’ve digressed
I see resemblance scorn
We are far from home
(Hmm, hmm)
I hope we come back alive
(Hmm, hmm)
I hope we come back alive
(Hmm, hmm)
I hope we come back alive
(Hmm, hmm)
I remember it
Like it was yesterday
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4. |
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Ten thousand roads
I’ve walked on my own
Further I go
I’m closer to my ghost
Came a long way
Can’t fight my bloodline
My name, still ties
My bloodline
Still mmm, my bloodline
Still mmm, my bloodline
Dissolve what I know
Call it my own
(Ooh, ooh)
(Ooh, ooh)
I carry the salt
Of people who’ve come and gone
They say
Play on
Play on
Play on
Came a long way
Can’t fight my bloodline
My name, still ties
My bloodline
Still mmm, my bloodline
Still mmm, my bloodline
Still mmm, my bloodline
Still mmm, my bloodline
Dissolve what I know
Say it’s so
Call it my own
There is a reason for everything under the sun
And everything that happens
It happens for a reason
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5. |
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We were driving along
Do you remember it?
You and I alone in a car
On some Christmas Eve
She was out there then
Throwing bricks
But you opened the door
Said come on in
(Oooh, oooh)
Eye to eye with the skyline
Removing mist
Words she spoke over me
When I was a kid
But was it the fix or this
Vision you gave
For what it’s worth
I thank you for it
For what it’s worth
So it is
(Oooh, oooh)
(Oooh, oooh)
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6. |
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I don’t know when
But I feel we’re all going
It won’t be long
But it’s worth knowing
Little by little
Necrosis creeps
Whispering over them
Over you and me
Now time’s the ficklest charmer
Flirting with your sons
Promising your daughters
And as a youth
I too believed
It could never claim victory
Over them
Over you and me
(Mm-mm)
Big sky, little fear
Against the current
All you hold dear
Window fan through winter, I
Was raised out in the cold
Feelings I could
Never let go
Big sky, little fear
Why you lying though your tears
Left on the highway, I
Stood out there alone
Little by little, I’ve grown
Little by little, I’ve grown
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7. |
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Old Fort Steel Trail
Have I learned my lessons since then
Pierce through this veil
I’ve been digging up what’s left
And that train keeps carrying on
But the truth still stuck in the barn
Ooh
Is this a prison in my mind?
Ooh
Or does a prism just need light?
Cause I’ve been circling, circling, circling (ooh)
I’ve been circling, circling, circling (ooh)
Old Fort Steel Trail
Getting tired of picking up stones
Dirt in these nails
Now I’m back on the side of the road
Cause it’s all I’ve ever known
Outgrown my winter clothes
Is the pain the thorn or the rose?
Can you change the color of bones?
Ooh
Is this a prison in my mind?
Ooh
Or does a prism just need light?
Cause I’ve been circling, circling, circling (ooh)
I’ve been circling, circling, circling (ooh)
No need being so head strong
You been robbing yourself for too long
Put the past down, put the past down
No need being so head strong
You been robbing yourself for too long
Put the past down, let it rest now
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8. |
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Janjay
Your father is a Senegali
But he never knew that our mother was pregnant with you
And he left
Hey Maria
Won’t you come down
I’ve been waiting far too long
Every passing mirror
Shows me someone I cried for
And I wanna know
Whose face am I?
I been reaching
Through lonely seasons
Trying to give meaning
To phantom feelings
Yearning in my soul
For a name I’ll never know
Hey soldier
What’d you go see her for
Was it love in the war
Or the vices of a man
Did you even know
You left something behind
Whose face am I?
I been reaching
Through lonely seasons
Trying to give meaning
To phantom feelings
Yearning in my soul
For a name I’ll never know
Whose face am I?
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9. |
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Even the trees shiver
When the wind passes through
Now I’m shivering too
At the thought of you
In my mind's eye you’re like a flower, daffodil
But I can’t pick you, rather let you sit still
Church bells and cooling choirs
When I’m down low
My father calls on a higher power
Some lightening bolt
At times peace washed over me
But I didn’t understand
Rather spend time with the vagabonds
I’m the ragged one
And ooh where’s the rest for the mind?
Ooh I’m closing my eyes
Running boy someday you might dance again
Running boy you almost lost your chance
And the cops showed up but I didn’t get shot, I
On the sidewalk with my mother pleading why
Won’t you tell them the truth?
Packed up my bags
Headed down to oceanside
There’s a warning sign
Where the river and sea collide
I can’t trust the law
They got quotas
They nickel-and-dime
A ticket for the truth, no fine for a lie
And ooh where’s the rest for the mind?
And ooh I’m closing my eyes
Running boy, some day you might dance again
Running boy, you almost lost your chance
And the cops showed up but I didn’t get shot, I
On the sidewalk with my mother pleading why
Won’t you tell them the truth
Running boy, some day you might dance again
Running boy, you almost lost your chance
And the cops showed up but I didn’t get shot, I
On the sidewalk with my mother pleading why
Won’t you tell them the truth
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10. |
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Baby I been working some things off
Tryna get right for myself
Not anybody
Thinking bout days gone by
Running near still water creek
Chasing huckleberries
Wish I was yours
But the sun been bearing badly
Tryna carry on
Still got miles to go
Don't go forgetting on me
Don’t go forgetting on me
Baby I been working some things off
Tryna get right for myself
Not anybody
Thinking bout days gone by
Running near still water creek
Chasing huckleberries
Wish I was yours
But the sun been bearing badly
Tryna carry on
Still got miles to go
Don't go forgetting on me
Don’t go forgetting on me
Honey leave a light on
Shining for the ride home
Put a little tea on the kettle
And I’ll pedal to the metal
Til I’m right home
Hold me through the valley
Steer me through the mountains
Honey I don’t mind the trouble
Long as it gets me where you are
Baby I been working some things off
Tryna get right for myself
Not anybody
Thinking bout days gone by
Running near still water creek
Chasing huckleberries
Wish I was yours
But the sun been bearing badly
Tryna carry on
Still got miles to go
Don't go forgetting on me
Don’t go forgetting on me
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11. |
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Old ghosts still walk along
Cotton fields turned parking lots
Steel and stone can’t hide these stains
History still grows in the cracks when it rains
Paint over the past
Build it high
It’ll never fall
Under magnolia leaves
I felt their pain, she told me all
These embers still remember
Somewhere down in Georgia
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Don’t let the sun
Go down on me
Bearing up
A violent history
Red, red blood
Down every street
They won’t look
Look to see
That curse still on Mississippi
Till still smiling from Tallahatchie
Countries full of crows and tin men
Who want love without a heart in them
Times are like the walls of Jericho
Raise your voice
It might begin to go
I’m ten toes
With many at the ready
And as it comes stay steady
Take this night away
The devils here, he’s trying to stay
Ooh you better run, mmm
Ooh you better run, before the bad man comes
Before the bad man comes
Ooh you better run before the man man comes
Ooh you better run before the man man comes
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12. |
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Trouble through the rubble of time
I’m feeling the weight of decline
Through broken bed seams
Lies a hopeful dream
There’s a place to find
(Ooh, ooh, ooh)
(Ooh, ooh, ooh)
Looking through the window unknown
At all of the places you could go
And the more you sit with it
The more that you stiffen
The more your fear corrodes
Oh this wide world of mine
Only exists outside the lines
Oh this wide world of mine
You get what you give if you decide to try
Shiver till the river runs out
Or follow those whispering winds south
And what you thought a frightful dream
Becomes another thing
And your worries return to the clouds
Oh this wide world of mine
Only exists outside the lines
Oh this wide world of mine
You get what you give if you decide to try
(Ooh, ooh, ooh)
(Ooh, ooh, ooh)
Oh this wide world of mine
Only exists outside the lines
Oh this wide world of mine
You get what you give if you decide to try
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13. |
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I’m wishing on a star
I’m praying to some god
I walked into a bar
Life on cards
Tryna restart
(Ooooh)
I’m wishing on a star
I’m praying to some god
I walked into a bar
Life on cards
Tryna restart
I can feel a revolution
I stuck to my intuition
Oh no
They don’t listen
How do you start when you run into the dark
One night I screamed
I couldn’t walk
I was in a dream
You came after me
Showing me all
If I believe
Whole world gone mad
We just want to know
What this all means
If I stand tall
Will I finally see
What’s over the trees?
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14. |
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Do you hear the sound of the bell
Did you wish your family well?
Times ain’t the same in the neighborhood
Got the parents all going through hell
Cause the guns keep flying off the shelf
Do you see the man on the street
Just fighting for a meal to eat
You can write him off as a lunatic
But it coulda been you or me
If we didn’t ever find our feet (hm)
Love me now
Hold me down
And the government
Staying on heavy foot
And they tried to keep us all down
No they never gonna keep us all down (woo)
Do you see the birds in the cage
On the highway working like slaves
It’s a con it’s a rouse it’s a gaslight
Ain’t it funny how far we came
For them to go n change the name
Do you see the man on the screen
Just a puppet but you never see the strings
Calling it a war n not a genocide
Telling us it isn’t what it seems
Man that’s a different kind of greed
Love me now
Hold me down
And the government
Staying on heavy foot
And they tried to keep us all down
Love me now
Hold me down
And the government
Staying on heavy foot
And they tried to keep us all down
No they never gonna keep us all down
And they tried to keep us all down
No they never gonna keep us all down
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15. |
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I wake up
Close my eyes again
I see my time outlined
By what I’m living in
Gloom under fingernails
I’m digging through what’s mine
Hard to find acceptance
Through the infinite pines (ahh)
There’s fear ahead
Steady as a ghost
Rain falls heaviest
On what you can’t let go
There’s a chalk outline
For all my mistakes
I’ve been on the backend
Trying to turn the page
There’s a change that’s coming
Like veins keep running our blood
Though the lights keep fading
There’s a peace that’s waiting for us
I’ve been kicking that can so long
And that river keeps carrying on
Not a drop too late
Breathing in again
Amen
Sun’s comin’ up
Rising in the east
Must be dark somewhere
Somewhere under me
I’m clearing out the cobwebs
Covering the soul
The beauty of the road is
Not knowing where it goes
And there’s a change that’s coming
Like veins keep running our blood
And though the lights keep fading
There’s a peace that’s waiting for us
Oh I’ve been kicking that can so long
And that river keeps carrying on
Not a drop too late
Not a drop too late
No, we’re still singing that same old song
Let that river keep carrying on
Not a drop too late
Breathing in again
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
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16. |
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Let me take you to a place
Only I know
I try to capture the lightning in a bottle
Hourglass falls in a way that moves time slow
Sands in the canyon of Topanga
Roads wind
But lead me right to ya
Lay down my arms to bare my soul
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Became what I saw when my eyes closed
Painful became what I prayed for
I came a long way but got longer still
They wanna be great
I wanna be grateful
Trying hard but still tryna lay low
But life is short made long through love
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
(Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh)
Man, I don’t like talkin’ too much, you already know
But, uh, something came to me
Ah, in the last seconds of this so
(Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh)
And through all of man’s tirade
A few of us believe
In something beyond ourselves
And I can say this with absolute joy
That I am so happy
Truly
To exist the same time as you
Man
What a time
(Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh)
(Ooh-ooh)
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I’m Mon, born in Mon Rovia, Liberia. My life can be summed up by being born into a civil war, escaping the life of a child soldier, rescued by the hands of missionaries. Spent a lot of my developmental years living in a variety of places with a number of life experiences. And then layered on top of all of this is the assimilation I felt being a transracially adopted refugee. My music in a nutshell is a culmination of these experiences blended with the empathy I feel for the experiences with others. The mission of my music is to heal with others - with every nation and tongue, in due time.
released January 9, 2026
