Immigrants (We Get The Job Done) Lyrics by K'naan, Snow Tha Product, Riz MC, Residente

[Intro: J. Period]
You know, and it gets into this whole issue of border security, you know, who's gonna say that the borders are secure? We've got the House and the Senate debating this issue, and it's... it's really astonishing that in a country founded by immigrants, "immigrant" has somehow become a bad word. So the debate rages on and we continue....

[Intro: "Yorktown" sample]
[Hercules Mulligan]
And just like that it’s over, we tend to our wounded, we count our dead
[John Laurens]
Black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom…
[George Washington]
Not yet

[Verse 1: K’Naan]
I got 1 job, 2 job, 3 when I need them
I got 5 roommates in this one studio, but I never really see them
And we all came America trying to get a lap dance from Lady Freedom
But now Lady Liberty is acting like Hilary Banks with a pre-nup
Man, I was brave, sailing on graves
Don’t think I didn’t notice those tombstones disguised as waves
I’m no dummy, here is something funny, you can be an immigrant without risking your lives
Or crossing these borders with thrifty supplies
All you got to do is see the world with new eyes

[Chorus]
Immigrants, we get the job done

Look how far I come
Look how far I come
Look how far I come
We get the job done


Look how far I come
Look how far I come
Look how far I come
Immigrants, we get the job done

[Verse 2: Snow Tha Product]
It’s a hard line when you’re an import
Baby boy, it's hard times
When you ain't sent for
Racists feed the belly of the beast
With they pitchforks, rich chores
Done by the people that get ignored
Ya se armó (And it started)
Ya se despertaron (And they awoke)
It’s a whole awakening
La alarma ya sonó hace rato (The alarm went off a while ago)
Los que quieren buscan (Those who want, search)
Pero nos apodan como vagos (But they label us hoodlums)
We are the same ones
Hustling on every level
Ten los datos (Here’s the details)
Walk a mile in our shoes
Abróchense los zapatos (Better buckle your shoes)

I been scoping ya dudes, ya’ll ain't been working like I do
I'll outwork you, it hurts you
You claim I’m stealing jobs though
Peter Piper claimed he picked them, he just underpaid Pablo
But there ain't a paper trail when you living in the shadows
We're America's ghost writers, the credit's only borrowed
It’s a matter of time before the checks all come
But…

[Chorus]
Immigrants, we get the job done

Look how far I come
Look how far I come
Look how far I come
We get the job done

Look how far I come
Look how far I come
Look how far I come
Immigrants, we get the job—
Not yet

[Bridge: Snow Tha Product]
The credit is only borrowed
It’s America's ghost writers, the credit's only borrowed
It’s America's ghost writers
America's ghost writers
America's ghost writers, the credit's only borrow-borrowed
It’s Americas ghost writers, a credit is only borrowed
It’s Americas ghost writers, a credit is only borrowed
It’s Americas ghost writers, a credit is only borrowed
It's

[Hook]
Immigrants, we get the job done

[Verse 3: Riz MC]
Ay yo aye, immigrants we don’t like that
Na they don’t play British empire strikes back
They beating us like 808’s and high hats
At our own game of invasion, but this ain't Iraq
Who these fugees what did they do for me
But contribute new dreams
Taxes and tools, swagger and food to eat
Cool, they flee war zones, but the problem ain't ours
Even if our bombs landed on them like the Mayflower
Buckingham Palace or Capitol Hill
Blood of my ancestors had that all built
It's the ink you print on your dollar bill, oil you spill
Thin red lines on the flag you hoist when you kill
But still we just say "look how far I come"
Hindustan, Pakistan, to London
To a galaxy far from their ignorance
Cos-

[Hook]
Immigrants, we get the job done

[Verse 4: Residente]
Por tierra o por agua (By land or by water)
Identidad falsa False identity
Brincamos muros o flotamos en balsas (We jump over walls or float on rafts)
La peleamos como Sandino en Nicaragua (We fight like Sandino in Nicaragua)
Somos como las plantas que crecen sin agua (We are like plants that grow without wáter)
Sin pasaporte americano Without an American passport
Porque La mitad de gringolandia Es terreno mexicano (Because half of gringolandia is really Mexican terrain)
Hay que ser bien hijo e puta (One has to be a real cabron)
Nosotros Les Sembramos el árbol y ellos se comen la fruta (We plant the tree and they reap the fruit)
Somos los que cruzaron
Aquí vinimos a buscar el oro que nos robaron (We are the ones who cross)
Tenemos mas trucos que la policía secreta (Here we come to look for the gold that was stolen)
Metimos la casa completa en una maleta (We have more tricks than the secret police)
Con un pico, una pala (We packed our entire house in one suitcase)
Y un rastrillo (With a pick, a shovel)
Te construimos un castillo (And a rake
Como es que dice el coro cabrón? (We built you a castle)
How’s the chorus go again cabron?

[Chorus]
Immigrants, we get the job done

Look how far I come
Look how far I come
Look how far I come
We get the job done

Look how far I come
Look how far I come
Look how far I come
Immigrants, we get the job done

Look how far I come
Look how far I come
Look how far I come
Immigrants, we get the job done

Not yet