[Intro]
(Beat: mid-tempo boom-bap blended with trap-soul keys, 90 BPM. Vocal double on hook, sparse piano, dusty kick)
Yeah — late nights, bright fights
Listen.
[Verse 1]
Corner of 3rd and Pine, my sneakers split at the seam,
Missed the 2AM bus, crammed my dreams in an old jean beam.
Late-night studio, fluorescent hum, tape hiss in my ear,
Wrote bars on the hood of a Civic, paid dues with a changed beer.
Mama crying on the porch when the rent came due again,
I learned to stack small wins — subway coins, cabs, and Zen.
Cold bench, warm mic, spit truth till the dawn broke clear,
From a busted amp in the basement to the rooftop where they cheer.
(Internal rhymes — grit and glitter: grit/grind, rain/reign)
[Pre-Chorus]
Feel that ember, memory to ember — it’s alive,
Pulse tight, head right, every scar taught me how to strive.
[Chorus]
Rise up — now watch us shine (yeah)
Hard nights — we earned this grind (uh)
Wings up — it's our time tonight (wings up)
Wings up — it's our time tonight (ad-libs: "rise, rise, uh")
(Production cue: hook doubled, light vocal ad-libs after each line — "yeah," "let’s go")
[Verse 2]
There was the night the label ghosted, demo burned on my phone,
A café open-mic where I swallowed doubt and found a tone.
Turnin' point — winter gig at the Y, twenty people, one mic,
I spit a verse, a kid mouthed the words, and the crowd got tight.
I failed the first run, busted strings, missed flights, closed doors,
But cashed my first $200 check off a rented hall on 8th and Morse.
Victory tasted like coffee and the smell of new strings,
Signing my name on the back of a flyer — that was the small-ring bling.
Punchlines quick, cadence switch, slant rhymes cut like a seam,
From payless nights to playlists, now my voice rides the stream.
[Pre-Chorus]
Heat in my chest, keep the rest — steady climb,
Eyes on the skyline — counting beats, clockin’ time.
[Chorus]
Rise up — now watch us shine (yeah)
Hard nights — we earned this grind (uh)
Wings up — it's our time tonight (wings up)
Wings up — it's our time tonight (ad-libs: "rise, rise, yeah")
[Bridge]
(Flip — small confession, vulnerable)
Sometimes I still wake up fearing silence after lights die, (soft)
I call my mother, tell her I’m almost home but I’m not quite. (raw)
[Chorus — Final]
Rise up — now watch us shine (double-time ad-lib)
Hard nights — we earned this grind (snap)
Wings up — it's our time tonight (main hook — landing line)
Wings up — it's our time tonight (vocal doubles, harmonize)
[Outro]
(Beat fades to a single piano loop, heartbeat kick)
From 3rd and Pine to the skyline, we carry names and maps,
Worn sneakers, late tapes, banned beats turned into tracks.
So when the crowd chants, when the lights land, remember the climb —
Quiet moments to loud moments: wings up — it’s our time.
(Production note: outro ad-libs: "yeah," "we rise," layered backing vocal)
