[Intro]
(Ad-lib: yeah, Lil Warden)
Warden on watch — keep your ears open
Heartbeat to the 808, we rise
[Verse 1]
Raised on 14th & Pine, stoop sermons, corner time
Neon deli sign at 3 AM — pen slides, plan's in line
Pavement paid my patience, payment waits, patient grind
Silver W on my watch, wrist talk, signature shine
Cold mornings, folded coats, mixtapes in a milk crate
Counted beats like blessings, late nights, opened gates
I flip the static to the classic, hardship to a classic rhyme
Internal lines, tight timing — patience to payment, patient to prime
Hustle's a language, I speak it in cash rolls and cues
I stitch scars into bars, stitch bars into truths
They called me restless, called me reckless — I called it proof
Every knock at the door taught me move, taught me to choose
[Pre-Chorus]
They said I wouldn't make it, counted me out, wrote the clause
But the night the landlord came with a notice, I found applause
Sold a verse for a rent check, bought my mama lights back
Turned a shaky hand to steady craft — now listen when I rap
(Ad-lib: ayy)
[Chorus]
Warden on watch — (Warden on watch)
Warden on rise — (Warden on rise)
Warden on watch — (Warden on watch)
We chant, we climb, we never stop
[Verse 2]
90 BPM in my chest, heart drum, slow stress, thunder
Heavy 808, hi-hat flickers — roll the night under
Snapbacks and notepads, ledger of ledgers, corner ledger spin
Signature hustle: drop a line, flip a hook, make a win
I write in syllable stitches — imperfect rhymes, diamond lines
Pavement/payment/patient — I turn the waiting to timed shines
From busted subway seats to studio suites with a glass view
From spilled coffee bills to headline deals that pass through
I navigate alleys with metaphors and maps unseen
My voice — a flashlight; my bars — the beam
They doubted the vision till the vision became the scene
Now the crowd echoes the tag: Lil Warden, keep it clean
[Pre-Chorus — Build]
One call changed the clock — midnight, cops, lights off
I kept a verse in my pocket, a plan in my cuff, a vow on the top
I traded silence for sound, fear for the route, doubt for the proof
That’s when I learned to chant — short lines, loud moves
(Ad-lib: let’s go)
[Chorus]
Warden on watch — (Warden on watch)
Warden on rise — (Warden on rise)
Warden on watch — (Warden on watch)
We chant, we climb, we never stop
[Bridge]
Signature hustle — ledger in the bodega where the lights hum low
My watch ticks W, every tick a debt I turned to dough
I keep a coin with my mama’s name folded in the back pocket
Legacy in the margins, every margin's a locket
From the neon deli to the rooftop where the sunset bled gold
I carved my name on the nights that tried to leave me cold
(Ad-lib: Warden tag)
[Chorus — Variation]
Warden on watch — (on watch)
Warden on rise — (on rise)
Warden on watch — (on watch)
Echo it loud, make the block mine
[Outro]
Lil Warden, wrist lit, watch hit — tick to the top
Vibrant heart, heavy 808, never stop the drop
Unforgettable, unstoppable — chant it, a
