[Intro]

You ever notice how two people can stand in the same storm and tell two different stories about the rain?

So when we argue, when we riot, when we cancel, when we crown, it’s not always hate

Sometimes it’s just history talking too loud

Division isn’t born overnight

Passed down like recipes for survival

[Verse 1]

I walk through blocks where the chalk lines fade slow

Young boys pledge allegiance to a flag that bang low

Corners raising kids while the parеnts work shifts

Peer pressure heaviеr than the steel on their hips

Homeless by the overpass, cardboard kingdom

Politicians drive by, tinted glass, can’t see ‘em

Tent cities growing faster than the GDP

While they debate what “great” even means on TV

Red hats, blue waves, whole nation divided

One man’s savior is another’s indicted

Tweets turn policy, policy turn to flame

Families at the table can’t mention his name

Trump-era echoes still ring in the air

Truth got blurry when the lies got a chair

Race still a wound that we cover with pride

But it bleed through the fabric no matter how wide

Black fatigue, yeah, I’m tired to the marrow

Explaining my pain make the room feel narrow

Justice on a t-shirt, hashtags trending

But the cycle keep spinning, it never stop bending

Kids want stripes like the OG set

‘Cause the OG got money and the OG get respect

System so crooked that the straight path rare

When survival look illegal, who really play fair?

[Hook]

Hear me when I speak, don’t just hear the sound

If you looking for a leader, I’m prepared for the fight

Hear me when I speak, don’t just hear the sound

If you looking for a leader, I’m prepared for the fight

[Verse 2]

I been dodging every conflict, tryna live and let live

But the past keep knocking like it’s something I owe it

Every bridge that I cross got a match at the end

I’m just tryna move forward, why they drag me again?

I don’t beef for the thrill, I don’t thrive in the mess

But the chaos find me even when I’m minding my desk

Got scars from restraint, from the times I ain’t swung

They mistake my peace for weakness, I’m done being young

I grew up on grey skies and a different slang tone

Now they question my pen like my passport shown

“Too proper,” they say, “you don’t sound like the streets”

Like the struggle got an accent or a regulated beat

I studied every cadence, every snare, every flow

But they hear where I’m from before they hear what I wrote

I’m balancing my heritage with 808 drums

Proving culture ain’t a border that you gotta succumb

I shook hands with the sharks, thought the water was safe

Now the same ones circling, got a grin on they face

Naive with the trust, I was eager to rise

Signed loyalty in ink, didn’t read the fine lines

Now the phone don’t ring like it used to at night

Industry love switch quick when you lose in a fight

Every favor got a receipt, every smile got a clause

Now I’m sweeping up the glass from my own applause

I said anything loud just to feel like I’m heard

Lit a match in a room just to watch it burn

Edgy for the clicks, controversial for the thread

Thought shock was a crown I could wear on my head

But the algorithm cold, it don’t care how you bleed

It’ll boost you for a moment then forget what you said

Now I’m staring at a screen full of nothing but static

Realized being reckless ain’t the same as being dramatic

And I seen that spiral happen in real time

How the timeline tempt you just to cross that line

Internet courage make a coward feel tall

But the fall offline? That’s the hardest of all

[Hook]

Hear me when I speak, don’t just hear the sound

If you looking for a leader, I’m prepared for the fight

Hear me when I speak, don’t just hear the sound

If you looking for a leader, I’m prepared for the fight

[Verse 3]

I went quiet for a minute, had to battle with the page

Writer’s block felt like a cognitive cage

Every bar I drafted felt hollow and thin

Like the passion moved out and the doubt moved in

Loneliness loud when the house go still

Fame don’t hug you when you losing your will

But I look at my daughter and the world get clear

Tiny hands grab mine, say, “Daddy, you here.”

Now I measure my words like she reading my breath

Every move that I make echo life after death

Legacy heavier now, I ain’t writing for trend

I’m writing so she got a blueprint to defend

They won’t let me forget what I did back then

Every apology drown in the echo again

I tried to outgrow it, tried to outpace shame

But the timeline freeze-frame every mistake in my name

So I fight the ghosts by feeding the fire

Clap back at critics, call it righteous desire

But the more that I swing, the more that I sink

I’m chained to a version of me I don’t even think

I was sitting on top, had the crown on tight

Views went crazy every drop, every night

Then one sunrise turned to digital ash

All it took was a whisper and the empire crashed

Sponsors vanished, friends went mute

Fans turned judge and they wore the suit

Now I scroll through memories like, “Where did it slip?”

From the throne to the floor in a single click

Falling from high teach gravity quick

Success got an elevator, failure brick

I’m learning how to stand when the stage ain’t mine

Rebuilding a name one breath at a time