Zion I
Zion I
Zion I
Zion I
Zion I
Zion I
Zion I
Zion I & Talib Kweli
Zion I
Zion I & Aesop Rock
Zion I
Zion I & Gift of Gab
Zion I & Fred Hampton Jr.
Zion I & Casual & San Quinn & Turf Talk & Clyde Carson
This song explains gentrification, or the population changes that happen when wealthier groups move in to an area and displace the previous (poorer) residents.
It also uses the metaphor to contemplate musical and cultural changes in hip-hop.
[Verse 1: Zumbi]
I’m a stranger in a home I own
Been livin’ here twenty long years with my fam like a Corleone
But where did everybody go that I used to know?
I moved in back in ‘Eighty-Four’
We was very ‘poor’ -- wasn’t even sellin’ gold weight
Just movin’ in to the Gold State
I reminisce about the closed gate
That seemed to wrap around
The music that we made
It had a ghetto sound
Most cats was black and brown, in Urban areas
Was so infectious that it spread out like Malaria
New York to Cali, back to the Dirty-Dirty
We used to be sixteen, but now we pushing thirty
I seen it change early, I pulled a Jheri-Curly
On out to dready, but the next phase we wasn’t ready
It seemed enlightened as the years got longer
From black to white but the sales got stronger
We started going platinum, it was bound happen
We went pop, sleeping in beds of silk and satin
When I woke up from my sleep, pronounced
Saw the whole scene had changed, all my folks had bounced
But I ain’t leaving, ‘cause I own this block
Been paying off my mortgage steady with my bonds and stock
I be buying property, till I own the block
I love hip-hop, it’s all I got
[Chorus]
There’s a stranger in my home
And he’s watching
Yeah...Yeah...Yeah
There’s a Stranger in my home
And he’s watching
[Verse 2: Gift of Gab]
There’s a stranger in my home, my house has been invaded
Went out for just a second
Came back - it ain’t the same as it was
At times I felt, could leave the door unlocked
And let all come and go as they please
But knowing that was there
When I had left, was there when I returned
New faces, replications, some styles that they have learned
Like Greeks had did Egyptians - Complex to simplified
I suddenly realized: My cribs been gentrified
And if people don’t know, then how could people come
Big money - neglect the hood, suburban promotion
From urban emotion to corporation
Who really don’t have a clue where they got they taste from
There’s a stranger in my home and my peoples is gone
And I’m feeling like the outsider standing alone
There’s a stranger in here, but the strangest thing to see
Is the way it’s looking right now, the stranger is me
[Chorus]
There’s a stranger in my home
And he’s watching
Yeah...Yeah...Yeah
There’s a Stranger in my home
And he’s watching
[Verse 3: Zumbi]
There’s a stranger in my home
Infiltrating my throne
Stop messing with my crib
Won’t leave me alone
There’s a stranger, it’s danger, the call of hip-hop culture
When you’re feeling hot, when you’re not she’s a vulture
Know that we’re supposed to protect and respect
But it’s hard to stay righteous when you needing a check
There’s a stranger in my midst
Now I’m balling my fist
I never dreamed it would come to this
[Outro Hook]
There is so much to me, so they’re following me everywhere I go
I don’t know what to do, but I gotta stay true
There’s a stranger in my home
There’s a stranger in my home
And he’s watching
(Yeah...Yeah...Yeah)
There’s a Strange...
[Extended Outro]
From the root to the fruit
That’s where everything started at
This is God’s Act, we just act possessed
Stranger in My Home was written by Gift of Gab & Zumbi & Amp Live.
Stranger in My Home was produced by Amp Live.
Zion I released Stranger in My Home on Tue Apr 19 2005.