Carbon Copies

They want the substance of my suffering, the coverage and public ring

The blood to bring, the ugliness, the thuggish-ness theyre summoning

Discover me when troubles in the vicinity, specifically

When tragedy hits differently, then suddenly theyre list'ning, see?

Flick the screen, pick a theme, victim clean for the algorithm

Clickin' streams, slick with schemes, stickin' dreams in a prison system

Digital visions of division, wasnt with us on the mission

Now you posture with precision, dollar figures your religion

Capitalize on capitals, the casuals turn activists

Actually, just actin' it, attraction to the pageantry

Fashionably mad at shit, rapidly attacking it

Backwards how they package it, truth gets lost in all the theatrics

Where were you before the cameras came?

Where were you before they branded pain?

Monetize the moment, own the frame

But when it fades, will you remember names?

carbon copies, carbon copies

Duplicating outrage for the profit

carbon copies, carbon copies

Revolution sold inside your pocket

Manufactured fury for the jury of your followings

Hollow men who swallow trends, tomorrow bends to politics

Modeling a monolith, acknowledge its apocalyptic

How you polish up the obvious then profit off the consequence

Conscience isnt optional, the obstacle is logical

when standing for the principle means actually being topical

Beyond a photo-op or two, beyond the hashtag hospital

Where movements go to die slow, denied growth, thats comical

Optical illusions of solutions that youre peddling

Meddling in everything, unsettling, youre settling

for less than what the message brings, youre leveling the playing field

by playing with the pain we feel, parading round the graves revealed

They want me woke until its costly, then they want me quiet

Want my voice until its choice between my morals or defiance

Appliance to compliance, reliance on the silence

of the ones who built the systems that theyre claiming now to fight against

Where were you before the cameras came?

Where were you before they branded pain?

Monetize the moment, own the frame

But when it fades, will you remember names?

carbon copies, carbon copies

Duplicating outrage for the profit

carbon copies, carbon copies

Revolution sold inside your pocket

Performance activism, endorsement of the gimmicks

Importance dismissed when the clicks aint consistent

Your conscience is business, response to the system

Is talking real loud while youre walking real timid

Consistencys a rarity, apparently sincerity

dont carry weight in charity, disparitys hilarity

When narratives are varying depending on severity

of whats trending in the clarity, Im staring at the parody

Watching you parade around with borrowed pain

Tomorrow came, youre gone again, the sorrows just your honored name

upon a chain youre rocking, claiming, stopping all the horror, claiming

common ground while pocketing the dollars that youre doctoring

No doctrine in your doctrine, just adoption of whatevers popping

Shopping for a cause that costs you nothing but appears profound

Appearing down, endearing now, but really youre just steering 'round

The real work, the field work, the kill-yourself-rebuilding

Peeling back the systems that you claim you have a feel for

Still more concerned with image than with actual implementation

Infatuation with ovation, no foundation, just inflation

of your ego through the peoples pain, youre see-through, it's insane

Where were you before the cameras came?

Where were you before they branded pain?

Monetize the moment, own the frame

But when it fades, will you remember names?

carbon copies, carbon copies

Duplicating outrage for the profit

carbon copies, carbon copies

Revolution sold inside your pocket