[Verse 1]
Look
I came from that “do it or lose it”
Clock loud, heart louder, I fused it
Pressure in my chest, I refused it
’Til I learned pressure’s the thing that improves it

I was dead broke, staring at the ceiling fan
Thinking, “Either I change or I’m still this man”
Every doubt in my ear like, “You can’t”
So I turned every “can’t” to a training camp

I don’t pray for a lighter load, I want strength
I don’t ask for a shorter road, I want length
Every setback, yeah, it paid that rent
Every bruise on my name turned to new cement

I been running on fumes, made fire from sparks
Had to sharpen my mind just to walk in the dark
Every scar on my soul like a watermark
Proof that I bled for this, piece by part

They don’t see that sweat on the hidden days
Just want the glow, not the gritty phase
They want the crown, not the gritty maze
I want the work, I want fifty plays

Over and over the mantra, repeat
“Stay locked in, never accept defeat”
I was knee-deep, now I’m neck-deep
In promises I made when I had no sleep

I remember when my phone didn’t make a sound
Now it’s buzzing, but back then it was vacant ground
Had to picture that stage with an empty crowd
Rap like millions were there when it echoed out

I was rapping in halls, just the echo and me
Every bar was a bet, every second a plea
Like “Believe in yourself ’til it’s destiny”
Till my doubt grew tired of testing me

Look at me now, still hungry, still pacing
Still talking to the fear that I’m facing
I don’t kill it, I keep it adjacent
’Cause that’s the fuel that accelerates greatness

You feel that? That’s pressure on your rib cage
That’s every single promise that you did make
That’s every faded dream that you hid away
Screaming, “Either we rise or we dig graves”

I’m the type to take pain, make poems
Take loss, make laws, then own ’em
Take “later,” rip it up, “now” only
If I’m terrified, that’s when I go in

I want the nights where the hands shake slightly
Voice low, heart hitting so wildly
Talk to the doubt like “You don’t define me”
Talk to the grind like “You will refine me”

Every “almost” that haunted my sleep
Now a ghost that I drag through the street
I don’t want peace if it comes with retreat
I want war with the weakness I keep (yeah)

You say you want wins, here’s the entrance fee
Sacrifice, silence, they don’t mention these
You will lose fake friends when you bend the dream
You will lose 10 plans for one centerpiece

I used to beg for applause, that external fix
Now I’m scoring inside, that internal mix
Now success is a side effect, not the wish
The mission is mastery inside the risk

What’s a trophy to a person that survived their thoughts?
What’s applause to a mind that untied its knots?
Every minor step forward, that’s a riot fought
That’s a war in the mirror that you finally stopped

I don’t care ’bout a “like” on a little screen
I care ’bout waking up where I didn’t think
I care ’bout looking back at a brittle dream
And saying, “You were small, but you lit a scene”

Voice used to crack, now it cuts like steel
Flow used to lag, now it sprints uphill
Pain used to own me, now it signs my deals
Fear used to choke me, now it sharpens skill

They gon’ tell you, “Be realistic, calm that fire”
’Cause your climb reminds them of what they retired
They don’t hate you, they just hate their quiet
You are noise in the room that they try to diet

You are living proof that excuses lie
You are living proof that the weak can rise
But you gotta