[Intro]
(Spoken) Busted stoops, midnight trains, pocket change dreams — listen.
Yeah, we rise up—shine. Uh.
[Verse 1]
Raised on busted stoops and flickering streetlight signs,
Mama worked the night shift, clocked in, counted dimes,
Corner store porch, kids kickin' glass, broken vines,
Diploma folded in a drawer with a coffee stain from '09.
I learned the rhythm of the city: grit, grind, repeat,
Sneakers scuff the pavement, heartbeat keeps the beat,
Coach said 'pass it' — I kept it, shot from the free,
Lost a scholarship in the mail, learned to eat defeat.
(Internal rhyme run: stoops/loops, night/knight, dime/time — tight cadence)
[Pre-Chorus 1]
No more whisperin', no more hushin' my tone,
Heart's a metronome, stompin' out the bone of where I come from.
This is pressure to diamond, pressure to stone,
I flip every 'can't' into a plan, into a throne.
[Chorus]
Rise up — shine! (Rise up — shine!)
We gon' rise up — shine! (We gon' rise up — shine!)
Say it back: rise up — shine! (Say it, say it!)
Uh: rise up — shine! (Ad-lib: whoo!)
[Verse 2]
They called me empty promises, a list of what-not-to-be,
I turned late-night hunger into hunger for the beat.
From busted rooftops to the morning subway seat,
Paper routes, pizza slices, hand-me-downs on repeat.
Had a night in a hospital waiting room, fluorescent glow,
Saw a man with blistered hands teach me how to throw a throw —
Not the ball, but a lifeline: faith in the flow,
He said, "Lose the fear of falling, that's how you grow."
(Shift: imagery sharpens — subway, hospital, blistered hands)
[Pre-Chorus 2]
Now the stakes got taller, sky's a rooftop of glass,
Every mirror in this city shows the past, let it pass.
I'm dialing up the volume, raising every class,
From back-alley promises to front-row cash.
[Chorus]
Rise up — shine! (Rise up — shine!)
We gon' rise up — shine! (We gon' rise up — shine!)
Call and answer: rise up — shine! (Answer: yeah!)
Uh: rise up — shine! (Ad-lib: ayy!)
[Rap Verse 3 — Tight Bars]
Check it: midnight manic, manicured ambition, mission-driven diction,
I stitch convictions into verses like prescription, no fiction.
Backstabbed by expectation, education—no tuition,
So I taught myself the math: hustle, multiply, commission.
Two AM on the stoop, head full of sermons and schemes,
Barbecue smoke, neon dreams, countin' up the seams.
I flipped a busted paycheck into a studio session scene,
Now the baseline's breathing like a heartbeat in between.
Multisyllabic ties — significance in cadence: calculations,
I navigate the noise with narrow-eyed patience.
Lost nights, bright fights, highlight the abrasions,
Turned driveway failures into runway proclamations.
(Space for ad-libs: "Yeah," "Let's go," vocal stabs between lines)
[Bridge — Beat switch, strings + low synth]
(Breakdown) Let the drums pause — let the light bend,
From the ash we ascend, every scar's a hand to lend.
Hear the city hum — lawless, law of the land,
We got calloused palms, we got plans in a jam-packed van.
(Production note: drop to half-t
