From the jump, they made up lies
Threatened by us, afraid of us winning
Started fake rumours pertaining to size
Cause they were scared of us taking their women
Shaming our skin, shape of our eyes
Breaking our pride to make us feel different
They wanna de-masculate us
Cause white fragility is the base of racism
Growing up I never had a role model
With the same ethnic makeup as me
Foreigners, villains and nerdy sidekicks
Were the only roles I saw us play on TV
Ranked on the totem pole, down at the bottom
But we're their fetish now, K-Pop is in
We just want to be accepted as human
Seen for our character, not for our skin
Not to be measured by standards that's Eurocentric
Can't colonize what beauty means
Representing like I'm Sessue Hayakawa
When you see me on your movie screens
This for that Asian kid bullied in middle school
Ridiculed on the school bus
Mock us then copy us, just like the Fox Eye Trend
They hate us but want to be us
Who told you that you're not beautiful?
(Beautiful)
They a lie, I just want you to know
(Want you to know)
Who told you that you're not beautiful?
(Beautiful)
They a lie, I just want you to know
(Want you to know)
I'm sitting, reflecting
I'm thinking bout all of the days that I used to be so ashamed
Look in the mirror, but I wasn't proud of the person
The value and worth of my name
Didn't feel like I could ever see me
And so I would just find all things I could change
Stuck in this frame, just a pawn in the game
And I'm wearing this mask and pretending the same
But who was I playing'?
I never saw my life like the ones in the books that my peers might like
The ones in the movies with a real nice life
So I promised myself that I just might write
Myself - living and exist as me
There's power in my voice so I speak this free
I never saw the void til' I found my peace
So I write this piece for the kids like me
Thinking 'bout the days I was growing up
More or less it made me hate showing up
Thinking it's okay to feel not enough
My name and then this face that they never loved
But I own my name and I won't change, I'll make my way
Remember the history, carry the legacy
Telling my story they'll never erase
So what's it mean for our light to grow?
We wanna be seen, do we wanna be known?
Or we wanna be free by livin' a life that means we fight for our rights, just know
We plant the seeds and we watch them grow
Blossom from the ground 'til the roots will show
'Til the seeds are flowers for Vincent Chin
And our kids have power and we let them know
Who told you that you're not beautiful?
(Beautiful)
They a lie, I just want you to know
(Want you to know)
Who told you that you're not beautiful?
(Beautiful)
They a lie, I just want you to know
(Want you to know)