[Intro: tribal percussion and a deep bass pulse, dark piano chords] [Hook: soulful male voice, the MC doubling the last line] Over here, they call me small change Over there, I'm a house going up Same hands, same name, different money It's the exchange rate, and the rate is rough [Here: deep male MC, cold and low] Four a.m. in a warehouse, scanning boxes with a gun that only beeps Supervisor says my name wrong like it costs him, three syllables he won't keep Bus home in the dark, and the lady by the window moves her bag across her knee I just smile, ma'am, I'm a building on the other side of the sea, you can't afford me [There: MC, warmer but still hard] Same hour over there, it's noon, and a mason's laying brick behind a gate with my name My little sister's in a uniform I paid for, walking to school like she runs the game My uncle's shop has got a Wi-Fi password, and the password is me Every dollar that I sweat over here lands over there as a key [Hook] Over here, they call me small change Over there, I'm a house going up Same hands, same name, different money It's the exchange rate, and the rate is rough [Here: MC, the bass heavier] Here I'm a "where you really from," I'm a "say it again," I'm a "slow it down, what?" I speak four languages, motherfucker, and you can't say my name in one Landlord raised the rent, the heat clanks twice and quits like it's on my shift I eat standing up, I sleep in pieces, and every piece of it's a gift [There: MC, proud] Over there, the roof went on in March, they sent a video, the whole street cheered the beam My mother sat in the doorway on a plastic chair, the proudest woman I have ever seen They say my name like a blessing at the market, they say it right, every vowel Same name the supervisor drops on the floor like a dirty towel [Bridge: the singer and the MC trading, here and there at once] When it's midnight here, it's morning there I go to sleep where nobody knows me, and I wake up where they care When I'm tired here, a whole table's fed somewhere That's the math, that's the rate, and I pay it like a fare [Final Hook: full groove, the MC doubling every line] Over here, they call me small change Over there, I'm a house with a gate You can convert every dollar I make But you can't convert me, I don't fluctuate [Outro: percussion alone, then one deep bass hit] [End]
