Corruption Is Currency

Intro

Listen up, listen up — this one ain't quiet, uh

(Ayy, ayy)

Verse

They turned truth into tolls, kept the gate with a grin, yeah

Dreams sold by the dozen, receipts stained with sin, oh

Name on a marquee, promise in a speech, clap for the show

But the ledger never lies — the poor got less, the fingers grow

Cash for a conscience, whispers sold at the bazaar (shh, shh)

They sign with a smile and cash the future like it’s collateral

School bells ring, hospital lights flicker and die

Kids eat hope from a paper plate and no one asks why (no one asks why)

“Progress” on a billboard, dust on the doorstep

They build monuments for votes while the rest of us wept

Paper crowns, empty vows — perform for the frame

Everyone wants woke poses, nobody wants the change

Pre-chorus

Oh, we clap, we pose, we swipe, we pretend (pretend)

Close the door, count the bills, act like friends (act like friends)

Woke on the feed, asleep on the street (asleep, asleep)

Say you care, then walk past the beat (walk past the beat)

Chorus

Corruption is currency, corruption is currency (yeah)

They sell our mornings and buy our quiet, buy our quiet (uh-huh)

Laughing at the jokes that punch down, laughing at the jokes that punch down (no)

Memes for the mask, hate for the sound — hate for the sound (hey)

Corruption is currency, corruption is currency

They sell our mornings and buy our quiet, buy our quiet

Verse

She’s a comment, a caption, a thing to scroll past quick

They make her a storyline and then forget the conflict

Respect is a hashtag, dignity's out of stock (out of stock)

They joke about color like it’s cheap light in a shop

Racist punchlines pass like casual air (yuh)

While the real hurt sits at the table and nobody cares

Memes hide the malice — laugh track for the smear

Share it, like it, forward it, then pretend you don't hear

Teachers with empty pockets, policemen with deep pockets

Justice writes IOUs and stamps them in rockets

The system feeds on hunger, trains us to bow

And we keep filming the fall while we clap from the crowd

Bridge

This ain’t comfort, this ain’t lullaby — it's a slap, it's a siren

Wake up, wake up, (wake up) take off the silence, take off the silence

You can wear woke like armor but that armor’s got rust

If you don’t fight the rot, your mirror will adjust

Chorus

Corruption is currency, corruption is currency (yeah)

They sell our mornings and buy our quiet, buy our quiet (come on)

Laughing at the jokes that punch down, laughing at the jokes that punch down (no)

Memes for the mask, hate for the sound — hate for the sound (hey)

Corruption is currency, corruption is currency

They sell our mornings and buy our quiet, buy our quiet

Outro

(Ayy) Open your eyes — open your eyes (open, open)

No more cheap applause, no more quiet buys (no more)