Title: “When Will We Get Our Flowers”
Artist(s): Kara Romero
From: TBA (2022)
Release Date: July 16, 2022
Format: Digital Download, Streaming, Airplay. 12” Single, CD Single, 7” Single Exclusive
Recorded: Basement Studios, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Genre(s): Hip-Hop, Rap, RnB
Length: 5:03
Label: Just Record / Dahlhouse Entertainment
Writer(s): Kara Romero
Producer(s): Kara Romero, Nevaeh Martinez, Cory Dionne
“When Will We Get Our Flowers” is a song from Spanish-American musician ‘Kara Romero’, following on the heels of previous singles “Signpost” and it’s remixed version featuring rapper ‘Bellows’ the track serve’s as the second single to be released from her upcoming 2022 sophomore album. The latest offering from the rap and RnB artist see’s Kara venturing back into socio-political mode and she takes aim at the recent US governmental decision to overturn the Roe v Wade ruling that gave abortion rights to its citizens, a ruling that stood for 50 years. It’s not the first time that the musician has ventured into political or social commentary within her music, most notably in 2020 in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder she delivered a track titled “Are We One?” which called into question the level of police brutality against minorities and name checked a number of black men and women historically that were dealt the same fate, the track was released in conjunction with the ‘Black Lives Matter’ foundation and the track was actually a reworked version of a previous socially charged release from Romero titled “We Are One” which tackled terrorism and mass shooting in the aftermath of the Charleston and Charlie Hebdo incidents. Being vocal in her support of causes that she believes in strongly has been an important factor throughout her career as evidenced further with this latest release.
The track will be considered a late addition to her upcoming record as it was only created in the aftermath of the decision which happened in June 2022, but in a recent interview with Half-Moon Music she stated that although the majority of the album is recorded and almost finished, there were one or two late additions to be worked out before she was able to announce the album. The topic of social issues were brought up in the same interview where she was asked whether the album would be dominated with these sort of statements which was denied by Kara, indicating that the record was more introspective and personal, delving more into personal relationships and personal issues within herself. She didn’t deny fully that there would be tracks that delve into social commentary, stating;
“That’s not to say that I won’t find a reason to write and record about something prevalent to the current times that I feel is important and want to shine a light on. I can always just release something separate from the album or even find a way to get it added to the record if I feel it’s that important and it can fit with the vibe of the record, there’s still so much fucking shit going on in the world that it would be almost impossible to avoid completely or reference in some way.”This latest offering will be the third single release from her upcoming record and second stand-alone release, marking the most productive period from the artist so far in her career. In that same interview she discussed openly her relationship with her record label, that this album is her final commitment of her contract with ‘Just Record’ but stated that her preference would be to remain at the label however discussions haven’t taken place as yet and so she’s viewing this current period as her final run with the label. She mentioned that it’s the first time she’s had the feeling of wanting to play the game, work with the labels roll-out plans and allow herself to see just how far she can push herself. Acknowledging that she has made a career on flops for the most part and been seen as an inconsistent artist that has always been on the periphery of success but always just fallen short previously. She mentioned discussions with her label prior to the record of her upcoming album and stating that she wanted the machine to get behind her and really make a conscious effort to see how far she can go. Highlighting the fact that ‘Just Record’ signed her up early in her career and have supported her throughout a lot of difficult periods including rehab and other personal issues and never really getting their money’s worth in the deal. She finished by stating that if it is going to be her last record with ‘Just Record’ that she owes them a really big one and feels an amount of debt and gratitude to the label that she wants to really push it as far as it can go.
The track was written by Kara Romero and produced by Romero alongside Nevaeh Martinez and Cory Dionne. She previously worked alongside Nevaeh Martinez back in 2017 for her “Raising Hell” E.P where the record label exec co-produced that collection of tracks with Romero and her label boss TJ Cousins. This does mark the first time that Romero and Cory Dionne have worked together as the upcoming producer finds himself beginning to gain some recent traction within the industry following his work alongside Naomi on her recent track “Heaven”. It also marks a change of pace for Romero as her previous four singles have featured each member of Orion on production. This also indicates that Romero is set to have a number of different producers on various tracks throughout her upcoming sophomore record. The track was recorded once more at Basement Studios in Brooklyn, New York, the recording studio where she has recorded for the entirety of her career thus far with the single set to be released on 16th July, 2022 through Just Record and Dahlhouse Entertainment. The single will be made available via Digital Download, Worldwide Streaming, Weekly Airplay, 12” Single and as a CD Single. In addition to this, all proceeds received from the single will be donated to “NARAL Pro-Choice America” and 50 exclusive 7” Vinyl singles in bottle green will be auctioned off during a fundraiser in Romero’s home state of New York on the day of release.
Artist Commentary;Quote:“Man, I said in a recent interview that I’m too pissed off and angry to write a song about the recent Roe v Wade decision and it turns out that this is exactly what I needed to be to write about this. With rap music, it’s a perfect tool for anger because you can step in a booth with so much shit on your mind, flick that switch and just go the fuck off. I was fucking around in the studio with Cory the day this song came up, we were putting the finishing touches on another track from the album and my focus was shifting all over the place that day. Like it wasn’t specifically on the whole decision that was made in government, I think it was just one of those bad days where I woke up pissed off and angry at the world. The whole thing was at the forefront of my mind as it was for a lot of people when it happened. I think I was pissing Cory off in the production booth because I wasn’t happy with any of the mixes and shit we were working on and he was just like, ‘Yo, you need to sort yourself out because this shit just isn’t productive right now.’ And he gave me a couple of options, he said I can either get out of the studio and take a walk down the block or get in the booth and rap whatever shit I was pissed off at out of my system.
We ain’t been working together for very long, dude ain’t earned that level of honesty with me just yet but I respected it. Respected him for not being afraid to say what was needed to be said in order to get shit done. I said ‘fuck it’ and went into the booth, aimed my anger at people in general but after a few bars my aim switched to this whole fucked up situation that our country has put itself into. I guess it was trying to hide itself, but it came to the surface eventually and out came the two verse that you hear on the track as well as few others that didn’t make the cut. We listened back and agreed this is something we should take a second look at as a possible track, we brought Nevaeh into the studio for the track since she was working with us for another couple of songs on the album and we figured out like an old school soul sounding hook and a chorus for it which she’s kind of an expert in that sort of sound and within around a week we had another finished track that we had to find a way to get added into the record.
We played the finished version of the track to the label and Nevaeh pitched it to them as a possible single which they weren’t too pleased with considering they had signed off on the roll-out for the first three singles, we fought real fucking hard to push it out after the lead single and the remix and Neveah even put up some of her own money to make that shit happen. Finally we figured it out with the label and the charity obligations, Dahlhouse stepped in and basically became the financial backer of the track for the physical formats because that’s where the majority of the proceeds would be coming from and we managed to figure that shit out eventually. There’s so many boxes to tick in the process of something like this, but everybody involved could see that it was a single that needed to be rush-released as a matter of urgency in terms of the support that we can hopefully give to the charity involved. So a lot of credit has to go to the people involved alongside myself, Cory for getting the track out of me, Nevaeh for the her record exec expertise and funding, Dahlhouse for the financial backing to support the release and make sure we can get all proceeds to the charity and Just Record and TJ for always being willing to adapt to the last minute whims and waiving any potential profit they could have gained from the track. Shines a big fucking light on the background players that you don’t always hear about in these sort of situations but we managed to make that shit happen very quick.
– Kara Romero
Song Description;The song begins with a piano intro, slow-paced and scene setting it gives space for the song to breathe immediately, beyond the soft tones of the piano keys is absolute silence for the first eight seconds before we hear the door of the recording booth shut close, the sound of static hum as the microphone is adjusted and finally the sound of Kara’s sigh as she’s begins to deliver her words, in a low energy and almost exhausted sounding tone she begins the songs intro,
“Uh huh, here we go again/America twenty-twenty-two gone fucked it again/Just seems these days that they go from one bad decision to another/What kind of fucked up shit is this?/Seems like we’ve gotten all pre-historic up in this bitch/That a young girl can be preyed upon, sexually assaulted and forced to co-parent with her rapist/We’re removing the protection of the most vulnerable among us/I thought government was meant to serve us/Not disturb us/Man, I thought government was meant to serve us/Not fucking disturb us.” and as we come towards the end of that intro, we hear the exhausted voice filled with cracks and breaks as her emotions start to flow into her vocal delivery just as that intro comes to an end.
The piano backing disappears as the intro ends, giving us a couple of seconds of complete silence before a snare drum kicks in and a repetitive drum fill takes over the track, adding a little more urgency and old school east coast hip-hop beat to the track. This change of pace allows Kara to do just that, the on the verge of tears vocal delivery from the intro is replaced by an aggressive rap verse drenched in anger and frustration as she snarls into the microphone,
“My feet are so damn tired of marching/Placards and endless chanting/Makes me sick that they can remove a right so fundamental on a whim/And sit back comfortably watching another fucking mass shooting happening all over again/Honestly, it’s like they’re rolling back the clock/To a world prior to progression/Every time I believe we’re making small steps forward/It feels like it’s not long before we’re back to that familiar regression/Soon we’ll be back to the nineteen-twenties again/Wearing aprons, serving food on the table for all those incredible strong men/Occasionally talking but never really saying anything/Feeling tired of this shit/Repetitive culture of oppression/There’s not enough therapy and pills to cure me of this depression.” and with that verse she delivers something biting and assertive, making her stance very clear while playing around with her words ending with a reference to her past E.P titled “The Therapy Sessions”, making fun of her own history of therapy and medication, essentially asking “is there any wonder why I suffer from depression.”
She drops the aggressive rap style briefly as we reach the songs hook and chorus combination, delivering a tender and vocally sound RnB delivery over the drum fill sound that highlighted the previous verse, she blends modern RnB vocals with what feels like old school soul lyrics during the hook,
“Sister don’t cry/We’ll just have to shout louder/Sister please don’t cry/We’ll just have to fight a little longer/Sister don’t cry/Remain a little stronger/Sister don’t cry/This fucking war isn’t over.” and then sings out the tracks chorus with a slightly more powerhouse RnB delivery
“When will we get our flowers/Been fighting so hard just to be fucking equal/When will we get our flowers/It can’t end like this, there must be a sequel/When will we get our flowers/That shit is long overdue/When will we get our flowers/All we want are human rights for me and you.” it’s simplistic in its nature, highlighting the female empowerment message of sticking together and fighting together at the hopes of getting a reversal of the decision perhaps.
She switches up the pace once more as she delivers her final verse, blending different social issues from the past with the current and questioning how much of our human rights are we going to have removed and how far back are we going to be set in the aftermath of this decision. The beat remains the same but the vocals ramp up in aggression once more, switching from smooth RnB to aggressive socially conscious east coast rap
“When will we get our flowers?/Feels like we’ve been fighting these type of battles for an eternity/And now they’ve gone and taken one of the rare good things they ever gave to you and me/Fifty years and now they’re overturning that shit/Essentially putting countless lives at risk in the process of all of this/What fucked up sort of world are we living in?/Are we still considering sex before marriage a fucking sin?/What fucked up sort of world are we living in?/Are we still considering homosexuality a fucking sin?/What other human rights are they going to take away from us next/Are we going to go back to segregation?/Are they going to ban relations of the same sex?/Are we living in a pre-historic nation/That an abortion is an abomination no matter the fucking reason/How about an open conversation/On a human level in a world where everybody breathing is equal/Is that too much too ask?/Fuck it, keep your sequel/I’d rather die in the first act.” which see’s her message come full circle as the reference to dying in the first act could be seen as the abortion itself. She delivers the songs hook and chorus once more before the song fades out.
“When Will We Get Our Flowers” {Intro}
“Uh huh, here we go again
America twenty-twenty-two gone fucked it again
Just seems these days that they go from one bad decision to another
What kind of fucked up shit is this?
Seems like we’ve gotten all pre-historic up in this bitch
That a young girl can be preyed upon, sexually assaulted and forced to co-parent with her rapist
We’re removing the protection of the most vulnerable among us
I thought government was meant to serve us
Not disturb us
Man, I thought government was meant to serve us
Not fucking disturb us
My feet are so damn tired of marching
Placards and endless chanting
Makes me sick that they can remove a right so fundamental on a whim
And sit back comfortably watching another fucking mass shooting happening all over again
Honestly, it’s like they’re rolling back the clock
To a world prior to progression
Every time I believe we’re making small steps forward
It feels like it’s not long before we’re back to that familiar regression
Soon we’ll be back to the nineteen-twenties again
Wearing aprons, serving food on the table for all those incredible strong men
Occasionally talking but never really saying anything
Feeling tired of this shit
Repetitive culture of oppression
There’s not enough therapy and pills to cure me of this depression
Sister don’t cry
We’ll just have to shout louder
Sister please don’t cry
We’ll just have to fight a little longer
Sister don’t cry
Remain a little stronger
Sister don’t cry
This fucking war isn’t overWhen will we get our flowers
Been fighting so hard just to be fucking equal
When will we get our flowers
It can’t end like this, there must be a sequel
When will we get our flowers
That shit is long overdue
When will we get our flowers
All we want are human rights for me and youWhen will we get our flowers?
Feels like we’ve been fighting these type of battles for eternity
And now they’ve gone and taken one of the rare good things they ever gave to you and me
Fifty years and now they’re overturning that shit
Essentially putting countless lives at risk in the process of all of this
What fucked up sort of world are we living in?
Are we still considering sex before marriage a fucking sin?
What fucked up sort of world are we living in?
Are we still considering homosexuality a fucking sin?
What other human rights are they going to take away from us next
Are we going to go back to segregation?
Are they going to ban relations of the same sex?
Are we living in a pre-historic nation
That an abortion is an abomination no matter the fucking reason
How about an open conversation
On a human level in a world where everybody breathing is equal
Is that too much too ask?
Fuck it, keep your sequel
I’d rather die in the first act
Sister don’t cry
We’ll just have to shout louder
Sister please don’t cry
We’ll just have to fight a little longer
Sister don’t cry
Remain a little stronger
Sister don’t cry
This fucking war isn’t overWhen will we get our flowers
Been fighting so hard just to be fucking equal
When will we get our flowers
It can’t end like this, there must be a sequel
When will we get our flowers
That shit is long overdue
When will we get our flowers
All we want are human rights for me and you”
Sound Alike;Rapsody – “Crown”
Credits and Personnel;
CREDITSProduced by Kara Romero, Nevaeh Martinez, Cory Dionne
Engineered by Cory Dionne
Mixed by Nevaeh Martinez, Cory Dionne
Recorded at Basement Studios, Brooklyn, New York, USA
PERSONNELKara Romero – vocals, lyrics, composition, production
Ignacio Santos – piano, bass, composition
Augustine Francis – drums, percussion, programming
Nevaeh Martinez – production, mixing
Cory Dionne – production, mixing, engineering
