VIC MENSA
SHELTER (Acoustic Version)
[Intro: Chance the Rapper]
There's a war going on outside
Ay ah
There's a war going on outside
Nobody's safe from
But here in my arms
I'll keep you from harm
There's no guarantee tonight
That we will wake up
When night hates the morning
You hear no alarm ring
You can count on one thing

[Verse 1: VIC MENSA]
Wyclef told me, "Call 9-1-1"
But who do you call when the ambulances don't come?
Or watch as the ones sworn by law to protect us
Wrongfully convict us, then call it corrections
Next, they bail the banks out when we in recession
And hang us in a jail cell so they can swing the elections
The Chicago streets where potholes is deep
And Tahoes creep like TLC
Hospital workers in scrubs with no PPE
But they got money for riot gear, my n***a, we dying here
Yet, you tell me not to move with my gun
But we got more funeral homes than schools where I'm from
And on the news, all you view is homicides
Ain't no trauma units when y'all are traumatized
Tryna get on your feet, playing the hand they dealt you
If your house is not a home, let this song be your shelter, shelter, shelter
[Chorus: Chance the Rapper & VIC MENSA]
I'll be your shelter
Emergency
Please count on me, yeah
(If your house is not a home, let this song be your shelter, shelter)
I'll be your superhero
When danger arrives
I'll be by your side

[Verse 2: Chance The Rapper]
It's a hundred bags under the underpass
Rumbling stomachs, cups jingle when Hummers pass
Brisk wind, summer's done, winter is coming fast
Then their Zoom teacher wonder why they don't come to class
The internet been out, the hot water been out
She moved to her aunt's house, then to her friend's couch
Her abuser went to jail, but that n***a been out
Wilson was in-house, producer was in-house
Homeless in the home of the slaves, I wonder how that'd feel?
The manifested destiny a bunch of land they could steal
Think about Kenneth Walker and Philando Castile
How they only wanted to protect their family
And now it's n***as out here that make it worse for they folks
It's a deeper, hotter hell for the worst of these folks
It's a mystery, we never heard the murder she wrote
If we finally paid her back, the whole Earth would be broke
[Chorus: Chance the Rapper & VIC MENSA]
I'll be your shelter
Emergency
Please count on me, yeah, I
I'll be your superhero
When danger arrives
I'll be by your side

[Verse 3: VIC MENSA]
I write for my n***as doing life with no possibility of parole
You playing Fortnite, that's how long he spent in the hole
Live from death row, free my n***a Julius Jones
I had a dream that Mumia was home
I speak freedom in song
'Cause all I see is racist faces
Where hate lives and they rape kids in cages
What kind of nation lynch Elijah McClain?
And send us to the Middle East to die for their flag?
They drive us insane to sell us medication
We demand reparations, and they tell us, "Have patience"
Instead of cash payments, we get minimum wages
They give us the Black Plague and then send us a white savior
I found faith the day I lost hope
That's when Julius reminded me of a bar I once wrote
Behind bars, on the yard, where they dream of the street
On death row, singing, "We Could Be Free"
(We could be free)
[Chorus: Chance the Rapper & VIC MENSA]
I'll be your shelter
Emergency
Please count on me, yeah, I
I'll be your superhero
When danger arrives
I'll be by your side
You're my lucky dime

[Outro: VIC MENSA & Chance the Rapper]
Dime, dime, you're my lucky dime (I'll be)
Dime, dime, you're my lucky dime, girl (By your side)
Dime, dime, you're my lucky dime (I will be)
Dime, dime, you're my lucky dime, girl
Dime, dime, you're my lucky dime (I'll be your shelter)
Dime, dime, you're my lucky dime (Emergency)
Dime, dime, you're my lucky dime
Dime, dime