[Intro]
(Ad-libs: yeah, uh — lights low, city hum)
Clock reads 3AM, coffee on the floor, I’m still awake
Neon rain on the window, beat knocks like a heartbeat — awake
(whisper) Rise up—listen
[Verse 1 — Origin]
Busted taillight, backseat dreams, subway map with faded seams
Mama said "son, patch the darkness with a patchwork of small schemes" (yeah)
Late-night studio, cracked vinyl, the needle digs memory lines
I learned to stitch my silence into rhythms and steady rhymes
Street corner sermons — concrete choir, laces tied tight
The corner store lights blink Morse code: hustle, survive, fight
Internal rhymes like double-time — I count scars, convert to bars
From the attic of my doubts I parked hope beneath the stars
Punchline: I turned a busted taillight into a flashlight for the fam
Now every quarter in my pocket's testimony, not a scam
(Ad-libs: uh, hey, come on)
[Hook — Short Punch / Call & Response]
Rise up, shine on — (Call) Rise up, shine on — (Response: we on)
Rise up, shine on — (Call) Rise up, shine on — (Response: we on)
(Tag) Turn the scars to stars — we on
[Verse 2 — Turning Point]
Phone dead, fridge empty, beats on loop like I'm rehearsing fate
Producer said “two more tracks or the door’s your only gate” (no lie)
I scribbled swim lanes in a napkin while the city swallowed sleep
Told myself the climb's a promise, not a secret I should keep
Metaphor: I’m a locksmith with a pen, break locks with cadence
My heart had a curfew but my will out-stayed my patience
Internal snaps, multi-syllable packs, my flow's a ratchet wrench
Tighten up the screws on fear, watch the past lose its clench
Punchline: they wanted headlines, I delivered byline legacy
Bought mom a heat bill so the cold couldn't test her empathy
(Ad-libs: uh-huh, talk that)
[Hook — Short Punch / Call & Response]
Rise up, shine on — (Call) Rise up, shine on — (Response: we on)
Rise up, shine on — (Call) Rise up, shine on — (Response: we on)
(Tag) Keep the night lit — we on
[Bridge — Half-time Breakdown / Spoken]
(Half-time, sparse kick, low bass motif)
Spoken: Remember the cracked picture frame on the mantel? Dad smiled — said, "No crown is free, boy, dust for gold, keep the angle."
Half-time: breathe — "I counted my losses like coins, then spent them on lessons." (soft ad-libs)
(Beat chops: clap... pause... clap)
Spoken: I am the echo of every door I knocked on and the answer I learned to make.
[Verse 3 — Present Success & Vulnerability]
Stage lights sting my eyes but the mirror’s honest, shows the lines I earned
Crowd roars, but backstage there’s a note — "buy the meds, don’t let ‘em burn" (real life)
Flashbulbs capture smiles but not the nights I slept on church pew floors
Or the freight of empty pockets while my dreams stacked cardboard doors
Now my tour bus smells like takeout and victory with a side of guilt
I sign prints for the kids whose parents told ’em talent was a tilt
Legacy’s not minted in applause — it’s in the receipts and rooms I fill
I plant murals on
