"Manilla" is a song by Lupe Fiasco, released as the third track from his album, Drogas Wave (2018). Along with being the featured symbol on the album's artwork, Fiasco explained to Vibe its significance:
The manilla became for me this talisman for how I kind of view my life and how I approach things [...] We need to be careful about the things that we invest in, and the cost and consequences of the things that we do. The manilla is kind of an example of that: the complicity, and endurance, and commandeering something negative and pulling it into something positive, etc.[1]
The track itself reinforces this message, along with addressing the meaning of DROGAS—'Don't Ruin Us God Said'. It includes topics of "slavery, war, death, and the current climate of America."[2]
Critical reception[]
HipHopDX's Aaron McKrell said of the song, "articulates the plight of being Black in America [...] However, the song is bogged down by overindulgent rhymes."[3] Charles Holmes from XXL described its concept "at peak" and applauded its educational aspect for teaching listeners on how the currency was used.[4] PopMatters noted, "Lupe relates modern-day materialism to the rapacity that occasioned the slave trade" while Brian Josephs, writing for Pitchfork, remarked, "He reaches to use the tired materialism-as-slavery metaphor to set up Wave's concept. But his powerful mantra 'You can survive anything if you can survive blackness' adds gravity to this world."[5][6]
Tyler Parry of AAIHS argued in reference to Pitchfork, "[The track] speaks to an extensive historical record that shows how currency was manipulated to facilitate trade negotiations for enslaved people. Though some critics accused Fiasco of using a 'tired' metaphor in comparing modern materialism to slavery, the historical record validates the comparison." Parry continued discussing its social construction, where manillas were used by traders and enslavers, and how it "initiat[ed] patterns of consumption that asserted the worth of a human body could be valued through an inanimate object." He concluded, "Though manillas may not evoke the overt violence of other items that inflicted physical damage against the Black body, such as a whip or noose, its historical role in perpetuating the slave trade suggests it is as violent and anti-Black as any other object. As scholars continually engage the material culture and public memory of the transatlantic slave trade, we must continue to uncover the symbols of degradation that remain overshadowed by parochial histories of anti-Black oppression."[7]
Lyrics[]
[Intro]
We are a people who have historically been on the verge of extinction
Freeway
We have been at many times, under much stress
Since being brought into this country
On many, many slave ships
[Verse 1]
Preparations, reparations from segregation
Genius at Genesis, master system SEGAs
Punjabi mommy, dissecting Vedas on Sepulveda
Anointed players who coin phrases, that's metal paper
Level layers, several shades of grey and submission for it
MILF lover under silk covers who kiss her horses
Pilates central to preservin' the body temple (oh yea)
Jazz classics combatin' the fattest ass, status
Quotient; my potions soakin' like boats in oceans
Motion sickness, I overdid all my finesse pack
Multidecker, new refreshment, lessons from jet snacks
My momma wisdom, my competition is setbacks
Jetlaggin', very swaggered, my Jordans dirty
AMG performance, my foreign don't show no mercy
Mere products, objects, meaningless to the over-standers
Contemplatin' with industrialists and social planners
Manillas!
[Chorus]
Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us
Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us
Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us
Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us God said
[Verse 2]
Life's work, overseeing the Five Classics
You can accomplish anything if you survive blackness
Sober living, Kosher kitchen, and co-defendants
Soda sippin', the soca rhythms, and global vision
Fear no verdict, but I feel allergic to local prisons
My new resurgence, a due return into socialism
Youth moves pay dividends as an old man
Snake-headed Mayan goddess body with gold hands
Father sins, send his twins into the underworld
Though legendary, I weapon carry for same goals
My February's is necessary to save souls
Epilepsy diamonds flicker foolish on the cuff wrist
Do my duty to be useless to the fuck shit
Manufacture finished goods to service local needs
Dashboards lack the means to show my total speeds
Fast forward florists forge orchids to go with me
Construct the future with thirty bars
Long tenures, I'm returning home to dirty cars
Jasmine necklace from a poor woman on Hindu streets
I gave her Rupees, she gave me beauty, I temple creep
Manillas
[Chorus]
Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us
Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us
Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us
Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us God said
[Verse 3]
Roman logic, Greek prophets, and add tutors
B-more young'ns, they 12 o'clock, and then jump the scooters
Through entertainment, I end the training to run the future
Anton Chekhov my checkouts, too much for your computers
Chakra waves, singin' bowls, stirring, I'm Dalai Lama
Creation, step in my mental selection Bobby Konders
Nightmare women, dream girls, and body monsters
Don't confuse my temptation battles for batty mantras
Sole pilot 'til my reputation is bodhisattva
Word to Botticelli saw Venus in this topless opera
Lost the combination need security to come and pop-a-lock'a
Still no drinkin', just bought this champagne here to watch this vodka
Punk band merchandise patches on leather coats
Tell you tales of illegal sales by fetid boats
Swallowed by waves, the hollow graves, they'll never float
Sunken ships carried slaves, tokens to western coasts
Manillas
[Chorus]
Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us
Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us
Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us
Don't ruin us, don't ruin us, don't ruin us God said
[Outro]
Copper alloy bracelet forms were recognized and used for currency
As transactions from the end of 15th century to the mid 20th century
Their metal content varied from copper to brass
Most Manilla were manufactured in England or France
And like trade beads, were used for trades with Africa
The local chiefs on the slave coast of West Africa traded their human cargo
For many different commodities and the Manilla was one of them
This Manilla was manufactured in Birmingham between 1830 and 1850
Was being shipped to Africa to be bartered for one slave, each Manilla
These slaves were then packed into hulls of ships
And taken to the West Indies and the Americas
To be sold for vast profits if they did not die from the journey
The Duoro was one of the slave ships
With trade goods on her way to Africa to pick up her human cargo
When she hit a rock and sank in 1843
References[]
- ↑ Ketchum III, William (February 22, 2019). "Lupe Fiasco On New World Water, And Changing The World With His Bars Before Leaving Rap Behind". Vibe.
- ↑ Jahmal, Karlton (October 1, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco "DROGAS Wave" Review". HotNewHipHop.
- ↑ McKrell, Aaron (September 24, 2018). "Review: Lupe Fiasco's Technically Superior "Drogas Wave" Still Lacks Focus". HipHopDX.
- ↑ Holmes, Charles (September 25, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco's 'Drogas Wave' Album Is a Vast Story in Need of a Good Editor". XXL.
- ↑ Oliver, M. (October 1, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco's 'Drogas Wave' Could Have Been a Great Album with a Bit of Editing". PopMatters.
- ↑ Josephs, Brian (September 29, 2018). "Drogas Wave by Lupe Fiasco". Pitchfork.
- ↑ Parry, Tyler (May 2, 2019). "Lupe Fiasco's "Manillas" and the Material Culture of Anti-Black Violence". AAIHS.