Paki So What?

[Intro]
They look, then hush
Same old stare on the bus
Brown face, big deal
Let me tell you how it feels (yeah)
[Verse 1]
School yard, lunchtime, sat alone
They laughed at my name, laughed at my home
“Where you from?” then “go back” in the same breath
Funny how they claim my food, still fear my flesh
Teacher said, “ignore it, that’s just how kids play”
But that “joke” hit my mum when I walked in that day
Her eyes tired
Hands cracked from the night shift
Said, “beta, stand tall, we ain’t built to die quick”
[Chorus]
I’m a Paki, so what?
Say it loud from the block
You can hate how I look
But you can’t kill what I got
From the grind, from the graft, from the pain they forgot
Yeah I’m brown, yeah I’m proud
I’m a Paki, so what? (so what?)
[Verse 2]
Job hunt, suit on, CV clean
Face-to-face? “Position filled,” if you know what I mean
Online, same voice, “we love your ambition”
Turn the camera on, now there’s “changed conditions”
Friday night, high street, hood pulled, head down
Stopped twice in ten minutes, “you don’t match this town”
But my tax pays the lights in the station they flex in
My uncle stitched these roads they’re still stepping
You call me slur, then eat biryani for lunch
Ask me for “spice,” then flinch when I’m on the bus
Pick the culture, ditch the people, that’s the trick
Still we turn that poison into pride real quick (hey)
[Chorus]
I’m a Paki, so what?
Say it loud from the block
You can hate how I look
But you can’t kill what I got
From the grind, from the graft, from the pain they forgot
Yeah I’m brown, yeah I’m proud
I’m a Paki, so what? (so what?)
[Bridge]
For my sisters in hijab on the platform alone
For my brothers in hi-vis building your homes
For the dads in the cab, mums sewing till late
We carried this place, they just carried the hate
But we’re here, still here, can’t wipe us out
We turn every slur to a war-cry shout (woah)
[Chorus]
I’m a Paki, so what?
Say it loud from the block
You can hate how I look
But you can’t kill what I got
From the grind, from the graft, from the pain they forgot
Yeah I’m brown, yeah I’m proud
I’m a Paki, so what? (so what?)

rap, Gritty UK hip hop beat with swung drums and deep bass. Verses sit close-mic and conversational, slight distortion on ad-libs. Hook opens up with layered gang vocals, simple chant melody, and subtle synth stab answering the last bar. Energy grows from verse one’s simmering anger to a defiant, chest-out final chorus. Male vocals with sharp, percussive delivery., hip hop