Manilla

## Song by Lupe Fiasco

"**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.
>
>

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."

## 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." Charles Holmes from *XXL* described its concept "at peak" and applauded its educational aspect for teaching listeners on how the currency was used. *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."

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."

## Lyrics

**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

1. ↑ Ketchum III, William (February 22, 2019). "Lupe Fiasco On New World Water, And Changing The World With His Bars Before Leaving Rap Behind". *Vibe*.
2. ↑ Jahmal, Karlton (October 1, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco "DROGAS Wave" Review". *HotNewHipHop*.
3. ↑ McKrell, Aaron (September 24, 2018). "Review: Lupe Fiasco's Technically Superior "Drogas Wave" Still Lacks Focus". *HipHopDX*.
4. ↑ Holmes, Charles (September 25, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco's 'Drogas Wave' Album Is a Vast Story in Need of a Good Editor". *XXL*.
5. ↑ Oliver, M. (October 1, 2018). "Lupe Fiasco's 'Drogas Wave' Could Have Been a Great Album with a Bit of Editing". *PopMatters*.
6. ↑ Josephs, Brian (September 29, 2018). "*Drogas Wave* by Lupe Fiasco". *Pitchfork*.
7. ↑ Parry, Tyler (May 2, 2019). "Lupe Fiasco's "Manillas" and the Material Culture of Anti-Black Violence". *AAIHS*.