[Intro]
Midnight on the corner where the streetlights hum low
Phone buzzed — mama's voice, said "Be careful, son, go slow" (yeah)
Tape rattles in the deck, coffee gone cold, dreams on the stove
We write our names in constellations made from code
[Verse 1]
From the stoop where the pigeons peck change, I learned to count scars
Two-dollar dreams, one busted mic, endless nights with borrowed cars
Heart weighed down, soul iron-thin, but rhythm ran like blood in the bars
Late booth, city hum, I turned midnight confessions into charts
Mama’s breathin' in the line, told me, "Boy, don't fold to the lie"
I stayed up, rewired my why — ink bled truth under neon sky
Every scrape became a verse, every cold call a new try
Stacked the small wins like bricks, now I’m building the skyline high
[Pre-Chorus]
Concrete prayers, soft-lit prayers — fingers on the strings
Told the street my vows in whispers, now the whole block sings
[Chorus]
Rise up — ashes into the skyline
Wings wide, watch me rewrite my timeline (rise up)
Feel the pulse, feel the street in my spine
This is the hour — claim it, sign it, make it mine
(Rise up) — ashes into the skyline
(Wings wide) — watch me rewrite my timeline
[Verse 2]
They offered silver deals with hidden rust, paint over cracks
Said "Take fast cash, forget the draft," I laughed and passed the tracks
Kept mixtapes in shoeboxes, receipts, a faded map
Two a.m. studio prayers, folding dreams into each rap
Lost a friend to the winter of the block, snow on his shoes
Mama cried while I promised bigger altars, something true
I learned to pivot without losing the pulse — new verbs to use
Metaphors like crowbars — pry open nights, let the light move
[Chorus]
Rise up — ashes into the skyline
Wings wide, watch me rewrite my timeline (rise up)
Feel the pulse, feel the street in my spine
This is the hour — claim it, sign it, make it mine
(Rise up) — ashes into the skyline
(Wings wide) — watch me rewrite my timeline
[Bridge — Turning Point]
Deal on the table smelled of compromise, a cheap perfume
They wanted my voice on their clock, my truth in a glass tomb
I could've bought comfort, but comfort kills the tune
So I burned the clause, walked the night, chose the moon
Sacrificed lean paychecks, missed dinners and small stages
But I kept the name in my mouth, wrote freedom on the pages
Loss dug a pit — I chose to plant a garden in that space
Now every dollar earned feels like sunlight on my face
[Breakdown / Beat Switch]
(Beat drops — synth rise)
Call: "Who we for?" — Response: "For the ones who stayed"
Call: "What we want?" — Response: "To live, not just be paid"
Ad-libs: (yeah) (rise) (watch me) — layered like a choir
Let the hook breathe — let the heart wire up the fire
[Final Chorus — Lifted]
Rise up — ashes into the skyline (rise up, rise up)
Wings wide, watch me rewrite my timeline (rewrite it, watch me fly)
Feel the pulse, feel the city in my spine (city pulse)
This is the hour — claim it, sign it, make it mine (make it mine)
Rise up —
