Artist Database: A > Akala > Knowledge is Power > Behind My Painted Smile Lyrics
Knowledge Is Power Volume 1 is Akalas latest release since his album titled DoubleThink, as you can tell by the name of the mixtape Akala is back with and armed with more consious hip hop shedding light on the current stage of hip hop, misguided thugs, government bias, social class hierarchy.
The first track starts off with Akala's Fire In The Booth which features akala rapping for over 7 minutes about the modern day hip hop culture touching on ignorance which surrounds 'Being a thug', loss of self worth, forgeting the roots of culture and more.
- Prospering centres of economics and education to make you proud but
- Some people couldn’t bear that the former slaves would not just lie down
The next track on the album features another conscious rapper who goes by the name of English Frank, the track is titled 'Educated Tug Shit'. The track oozes rebellion, redefining what it means to be a thug - pushing education, self respect and standing up for yourself.
Moving past a couple of tracks we find ourselves at track number 7 titled 'A Message' which focuses on single-parenthood, male supremacy, role of women in society and social conditioning within in the UK. The track is exactly what Akala is about, heart-felt lyrics, speaking on personal experiences and touching on real subjects instead of Gucci & Champagne.
Knowledge Is Power Vol .1 is another great release from Akala and Illa State Records, the album has great lyrics, a flow which I personally think is one of the best within the UK but more importantly the subject matter is focused on real issues within society.
Behind My Painted Smile by Akala
Behind My Painted Smile Lyrics
- Behind my painted smile when all the revolutionary noise is nothing but a lost little boy
- Confused and insecure, arrogant and oversure
- An egotistical prick so come on please praise me more
- It's great that my music bettered you
- but I contemplate murder every day so don't put me on a pedestal
- Plus truly, this is just the vehicle, the music just runs through me
- In my better moments I could let the universe use me
- Behind my smile there's generations of pain, self-hatred, ingrained miseducated my brain
- Decimated the place where my dead relations were slain
- Not just physically but mentally penetrated our veins
- What you got inside hasn't gotta die once it can die a lot of times, that I promise my son
- Analyse every song that I've done - tryna fight colonialism with a colonised tongue
- Here I stand again
- Living in sin
- Caught up, in the dream
- Behind the painted smile
- Behind my painted smile is the most painful grimace
- This mental prison I live in cause I am so conditioned
- By my privilege, what a strange contradiction
- To grow up brown in Britain and know that your living
- Was paid for by a carcass that resembles yours
- Born in the heart of the empire
- You're worth more than I was just like you
- But less then the native ones, raised by my mum but in this world I am a father's son
- Behind my painted smile, a very flawed human being
- Done many things that I regret and never knew the reason
- What do you believe in, truth or freedom or are you deceiving?
- I don't wanna die in prostration to European's
- They say the answer is within you and nowhere else
- Understand the vision man on a mission to know himself
- This is for my co-defendants no retreat and no surrender
- You probably think that we don't remember Ota Benga
- Here I stand again
- Living in sin
- Caught up, in the dream
- Behind the painted smile
- The smile is painted on my face is tainted by a frown
- Picture in the pocket's of blood that decorate the town
- Trigger jum bullets sung and guns hum
- Then everyone that's dead was somebody's someone
- Behind my painted smile I feel like a naked child
- Maybe rapping ain't for now cos my passion is fading out
- Up early though I search and roam along this dirty road
- Just another traveller taking a long journey home
- All this talk of intervention to protect on what is the intention
- Same as it ever was the colonial past and present
- And more respect for most of the right wingers
- Than the paternalistic patronising liberal bigot
- Our way of life is so divine, we should intervene
- Select war and export the British dream
- Behind cinema screens there's much that isn't seen
- George Clooney war movies never bring our children peace
- Yo fam, you ever wake up and just feel like fucking off
- And never coming back to this place and just cutting off?
- All the time, almost did last year the trouble was the bloody cops
- Had me running in and out the bloody dock
- I been there brother, though I don't promote it in this rap shit
- I ain't a stranger to having my back on their blue plastic
- Can't keep us captive
- We see the tactics
- To keep us passive
- We beat the fascists
- Release the classics
- And reach the masses!
- Here I stand again
- Living in sin
- Caught up, in the dream
- Behind the painted smile
Lyrics taken from UndergroundHH, check out our full database of Akala Lyrics.
More: Akala lyrics, Knowledge is Power lyrics.
