The World Is a Hidmo Lyrics

Welcome

20th and Jackson

That empty building right across from Franz is

Where the last place I ever called home was

Four years, we watched a whole village grow up

C.D., Eri-ET, Hip-Hop

Community organizing on the block, what

Late nights, dirty dishes and injera runs

Candle-lit dinners after gates were locked up

That's why I jokingly called us an Abesh mafia

We smelled like onions and we eat with our hands

It's the first place that embraced all that I am

Under one roof, fully

And it always pulled me

Back to the kitchen when life was too much

If it wasn't for Rahwa

I don't even know what I'd be doing

Or if I'd eaten, slept, taught, organized another show, rocked

Lovework, manifest in a building

Filled with everything that life comes with

No exaggeration

Cause for celebration

We know shit'll never be the same again

Even when our buildings gone

We gon' keep building

Even when our buildings gone

We gon' keep building

Even when our buildings gone

We gon' keep building on

A legacy that is strong

Deep

Jazz history on Jackson

Where night clubs used to be the attraction

Seattle's only historically Black neighborhood

Where Jimi's house sat in an empty lot

For hella years while community fought

To make a landmark on a relevant block

Instead of pushed out to Renton like the people that lived there

Gentrification's never been so clear

Police intimidate and businesses fear

"You could do what you want, but no hip-hop around here"

A cop told her on the day that she opened

Dubbed a mecca by the day that we closed it

The only venue that was on that street

With live music several nights of the week

The first shows for many an emcee

It filled a void that is still empty

The Hidmo

Even when our buildings gone

We gon' keep building

Even when our buildings gone

We gon' keep building

Even when our buildings gone

We gon' keep building on

A legacy that is strong

And there's so much the Hidmo signified

Starting by respect where you occupy

Love, and be able to improvise

Provide what your people may actually need

It did a better job than any 501c3

With something simple as music and food

Good hearts and a couple of rooms

Real conversations

A world brand new

Is what it felt like

On a good night

Independence

No permission

Make it happen

You've got a dream

Well, here's a space

It is that simple

The world is a Hidmo

I'm starting to know, oh

The world is a Hidmo

I'm starting to know, oh

The world is a Hidmo

I'm starting to know

Thought you knew, you did know

Hidmo