Fake
Gold leaf over cardboard, sung in Japanese and English: a mask worn long enough that it learns the wearer's name.
Lyrics
INTRO — fractured beat / vinyl stop / detuned guitar
[Female, whispered]
綺麗すぎるね
Kirei sugiru ne…
Almost looks real.
[glitch cut]
Almost.
VERSE 1 — FEMALE RAP, off-beat / broken cadence
Borrowed light on a borrowed face,
step out clean but I stitched the lace.
鏡の中で誰になった？
Kagami no naka de dare ni natta?
Smile on cue—
little late—
still they clap
when you miss the break.
Gold-leaf halo, cardboard saint,
camera loves what the daylight ain't.
綺麗な傷なら売れるでしょ？
Kirei na kizu nara ureru desho?
Frame it.
Name it.
Make it expensive.
PRE-DROP — ragga-influenced bounce
Too sharp — smooth it.
Too dark — move it.
Wrong shape — crop it.
Bad truth — mute it.
見せたいものだけ
Flip that—
cut that—
make that beautiful.
REFRAIN — MALE
PERFECTLY FAKE!
SO CLEAN
YOU CAN'T SEE THE TAPE!
PERFECTLY FAKE!
BUILD THE MASK
UNTIL IT FITS YOUR FACE!
VERSE 2 — FEMALE JAPANESE/ENGLISH RAP
値札のない夢なんてない
Ne-fuda no nai yume nante nai
So I learned the market.
Learned the pose.
Learned exactly
where the shadow goes.
成功って誰のサイズ？
Too big?
Fold it.
Too small?
Sell it twice.
Fake diamonds cut under neon light,
nobody asks if they shine just right.
本物より本物らしく
That's the trick.
Not becoming—
just convincing.
BREAK — beat slips out of time
[Female]
One step early.
半歩遅い
Hanpo osoi
Wrong beat—
right room.
[scratch]
Smile.
REFRAIN — MALE, heavier
PERFECTLY FAKE!
SO CLEAN
YOU CAN'T SEE THE TAPE!
PERFECTLY FAKE!
WEAR IT LONG ENOUGH—
IT LEARNS YOUR NAME!
BRIDGE — FEMALE, sparse / almost spoken
Paper crown.
Plastic rain.
Silver paint
over rusted chains.
嘘じゃない
Uso janai
まだ本当じゃない
Not a lie—
just something
that hasn't happened yet.
FINAL BUILD — broken hip-hop / ragga cadence
[Female]
Say it twice—
then say it louder.
Walk like marble—
made of powder.
誰も中身を見てない
Dare mo nakami o mitenai
They only see
how well you carry it.
So carry it.
Carry it.
Carry—
[beat cuts]
— it.
FINAL REFRAIN — MALE SCREAM + FEMALE GLITCH LAYERS
PERFECTLY FAKE!
[Female: 完璧 — 完璧 — kanpeki]
SO CLEAN
YOU CAN'T SEE THE BREAK!
PERFECTLY FAKE!
[Female: 偽物でも — nisemono demo]
WEAR THE CROWN
UNTIL YOUR HEAD CHANGES SHAPE!
PERFECTLY—
PERFECTLY—
FAKE!
OUTRO — beat deteriorates
[Female, whispered]
本物になった？
[small laugh]
Does it matter?
[tape stop]
Song sheet
How the track is built.
- surface ↔ self
- gold leaf over cardboard, a mask worn until it learns the wearer's name
- female rap, off-beat broken cadence, Japanese and English
- male refrain
- male scream over female glitch layers in the final refrain