Voucher Vultures ＆ Villians

[Intro] They called it a lifeline They called it relief But help with a loophole Comes hidden with fees [Build] Follow the check Don’t follow the shame The voucher ain’t the villain The design is the game Follow the rent Don’t follow the lie Somebody gets paid When the standards slide [Verse 1] Public money in a private pocket Tenant still coughing where the ceiling’s rotted They don’t fix the leak, they fix the inspection Paint over mold like cosmetic correction Voucher clears Landlord cheers Same broke stove been cold for years Government pays Tenant prays Owner delays it another thirty days They call it housing choice But choice got chains Three denied apps and a rent-hike game Unit got passed But who passed it though Same cracked glass Same basement mold Mama works doubles and still can’t breathe Kids got asthma from the walls they lease Inspector walks through They patch one thing Then the pipes start crying when the doorbells ring Slumlord got rich off helping the poor Won’t change the lock on the front damn door House got violations Owner got vacations Poverty audited Wealth got donations [Pre-Chorus] They say be grateful You got a roof But gratitude don’t patch bullet holes or truth They say it’s better than sleeping outside That’s how low they set the line They call it shelter They call it grace But safety shouldn’t need a waiting place A key don’t mean that a home is right If the walls still threaten you every night [Hook] Public check Private gain Same old mold Same old pain Raise the rent Shift the blame Section 8 became the game Who gets helped Who gets paid Who got rich while the pipes decayed Who gets blamed when the block gets high Follow the rent Don’t follow the lie [Verse 2] One voucher rate becomes the new floor Now every ragged duplex costs more Payment standards set the table Landlords eat first while tenants stay unstable Market don’t blink when the baseline climbs It raises the rent and calls it signs of the times When subsidy enters The rent gets brave Then the whole damn block gets priced like a wave They raise the rent Then blame the poor Like tenants changed the market score Help one household Squeeze out three That’s policy math in a landlord economy They say fair-market rent But fair to who The one who pays Who stays Or who’s passing through A voucher can save a family’s night While still pushing the neighborhood price upright They don’t build enough Then act confused When families fight for what’s been refused Ten people wait for one clean room While investors buy the neighborhood’s womb [Pre-Chorus 2] A voucher ain’t freedom if choices are fake A roof ain’t safe if the walls still ache A system ain’t mercy when mercy gets rented And every reform gets quietly dented Don’t blame the mother Don’t blame the child Don’t blame the family boxed in the file Blame every rule that lets profit rise While the people in need get supervised [Chorus] It ain’t the voucher It’s the vultures Circling rooftops Dressed like culture Public money Private feast Every lease got teeth underneath Rent goes up Blame goes down Poor folks pushed to the edge of town Landlord smiles City sleeps Somebody profits when the system leaks [Break — Percussion Break] Poverty got audited Wealth got assisted Tenant got inspected Property got missed Poor got questioned Rich got listed Need got measured Greed got gifted [Verse 3] Subsidy ladder But the rungs stay greased Policy dressed like a peace police Keep folks housed But keep them still Feed the owner Ration the will Affordable housing with unaffordable math Every solution got a profit path Tax credits Vouchers Contracts Fees Somebody turned need into industry Public solution Private gate Every reform got a landlord rate It’s not aid when the money climbs up And the family still drinks from a cracked-up cup You can’t charity through a rigged foundation When shelter became a speculation station They built the maze Then sold us the map Then charged poor people for falling in the trap And when the neighborhood rent gets raised They point at tenants like Look who came But tenants didn’t set the price Didn’t write the lease Didn’t roll the dice A broken window becomes a business plan When the poor are the product And the check is the brand [Final Chorus] Public check Private gain Same old mold Same old pain Raise the rent Shift the blame Section 8 became the game It ain’t the voucher It’s the vultures Circling rooftops Dressed like culture Public money Private feast Every lease got teeth underneath The voucher ain’t the villain The design got teeth And help that pays the landlord faster Before it makes the family safer Needs a new name [Outro] Follow the rent Don’t follow the lie A roof is not enough If the walls still bite