[Intro]
(Ad-libs: yeah, uh, listen)
BPM: 92 — tight pocket, low roll kick
Vocal chop on hook; rhythmic ad-libs after lines
[Verse 1]
3AM city breath, bus stop, pocket lint and coffee stains,
Late-night hustle, two-dollar dreams, counting rent, feeling drained.
Lost a check, found a verse, handwritten on a paper bag,
Mama said keep walking — so I turned the struggle into swag.
Started in the gutter, gutters glint with neon scars,
Concrete poetry cracked but lit like distant stars.
First-stage victory — my name printed on the flyer,
Microphone a matchstick, I struck the flame, I rose higher.
Internal rhymes, spine of time, every line a lifeline,
Put my doubts in parentheses and let the chorus sign.
[Chorus — Hook]
Rise and flow — watch me glow
(Ad-lib chop: whoa whoa)
[Verse 2]
Late rent, late nights, keyboard clackin', write the lines till dawn,
Five a.m. with bloodshot eyes, still singing like the world's not gone.
Neon scars map out the routes I took to keep my hope alive,
Skywritten vows above my block, I learned to survive.
Lost girl, lost job, lost keys — found rhythm, found my lane,
Turned a busted cassette into a cassette of my name.
Tiny wins stack up, subway coins become a beat,
First applause, shaking hands, that first door opening on Fleet Street.
Internal multisyllabic, hustle muscle, hustle bustle flow,
I splice the pain into a chorus — watch the city glow.
[Chorus — Hook — Variation]
Rise and flow — watch me glow
Skywritten vows — we stole the show
(Ad-lib chop: yeah, come on)
[Bridge]
(Shift) I thought the prize was gold, I thought the crown would change my face,
Punchline: the victory was learning how to forgive my base.
Secret's out — it's not the lights, it's who stayed through the smoke,
The real applause came back as love when everyone else broke.
Turn the scar into a map, turn the map into a road,
Every handed-down excuse traded for a heavier load —
Which I used like weights to lift my voice, now listen close:
We traded fear for a melody and carved our names in notes.
[Verse 3 — Finale]
So when the rent check bounces, I bounce back with a verse,
When the crowd goes quiet, I plant a chorus like a burst.
Neon scars, skywritten vows, every loss a lesson sewn,
I walk the concrete altar where my battered hope is grown.
Late nights bred the muscle, daylight shows the shine,
From gutter grit to marquee grit, now watch these lines align.
I rhyme for the ones who stayed, and for the ones who left,
For the phone calls at midnight and the plates of cold-brew theft.
Small-stage triumphs build the mountains where the giants go,
One heartbeat at a time — rise and flow, watch me glow.
[Chorus — Hook — Final]
Rise and flow — watch me glow
Skywritten vows — we stole the show
(Ad-libs: yeah, we glow — whoa)
[Outro]
Keep the vocal chop, let the hook repeat soft and slow,
BPM fades to heartbeat — 92 till we grow.
(Production note: leave a breathy reverb tail, soft ad-libs — yeah)
