(Verse 1)
Lights flicker on 5th and Main, snow tasting like change,
Sneaker soles on cracked concrete, dreams loud but the rent's strange.
Mama's kitchen smelled of coffee, two papers on the table,
Coach Ramirez told me lace up, told me 'son, be willing and able.'
I wrote lines on subway napkins, beat knocked in my ribcage,
Worked double shifts, midnight shifts, traded sleep for a mileage.
Punchlines packed like luggage — carry-on full of future, no pause,
I learned to turn a bruise into a blueprint, bend broken laws.
The night they shut the club down I kept my verse in the dark,
Spit truth into a cold mic, lit a match from a spark.
Scar maps on my palms, star maps in my head,
Every loss taught a lesson, every debt taught a thread.
I move like a locksmith — unlock locks with a line,
I turned fear into fuel and put my name in the sign.
(Pre-Chorus — sparse build, call-and-response)
Hear the hush? (Hear it) Hear the hum? (Feel it)
Step by step, drum by drum — we peel it.
Light the wire, raise the flame — (come on)
Hands up, no shame. (let's go)
(Chorus / Hook)
Rise up, take the crown now. (uh)
Rise up, take the crown now. (yeah)
Rise up, take the crown now. (say it)
Rise up, take the crown now.
(Verse 2)
Name on an audition list, heartbeat like a metronome,
Room smelled like old vinyl, future whispering, "come home."
I dodged the same old whispers — "that kid'll never make it,"
So I learned to make a movement when they tried to shake it.
Concrete confessions, neon prayers on sidewalks,
Saved change in a shoebox, watched my small wins talk.
I fought with my reflection in the cheap motel glass,
Told him 'we're not the sum of the nights that passed.'
I wrote a bar for every closed door, a chorus for each no,
Turned distant applause into steps — now the crowd's close.
I spit with a surgeon's calm, cut doubt clean, stitch hope tight,
I hustle like the dawn — inevitable, worth the fight.
(Pre-Chorus — build with more energy, call-and-response)
Feel the pulse? (I feel it)
Ground to pulse, ground to pulse — we seal it. (we seal it)
One breath, step, claim the vow — (claim it)
All in, here and now. (here and now)
(Chorus / Hook — variation with ad-libs)
Rise up, take the crown now. (rise, rise)
Rise up, take the crown now. (take it)
Rise up, take the crown now. (shout it)
Rise up, take the crown now.
(Bridge — new image, turning point)
Hospital fluorescents, waiting room, night-watch eyes,
I held a paper ticket to tomorrow, learned to recognize
That midnight isn't empty — it's a doorway with a code,
I traded fear for practice, learned the heavy loads.
Grew a backbone from the rubble of the last goodbye,
Found a mirror that reflected not the wounds but why.
So when the call came low and the world tried to slow me down,
I tapped the quiet thunder in my chest and looked around.
(Final Chorus — pared down, powerful)
Rise up, take the crown now. (soft)
Rise up, take the crown now. (build)
Rise up, take the crown now.
(Outro — ad-libbed, fading)
Rise up —
