Hold the Line

[Verse 1] I came up where the floorboards split Cold food, thin coats, still I grip Mama made gold from a broke-down week I learned to move when the whole block sleep [Female Insert] Tell me, how you still stand? [Male Response] 'Cause pain built legs, now watch me land Two in the room, four on the rent Half of my life just chasing a cent Still I kept my name on a clean blue line 'Cause the wolves out here smell fear in time [Female Whisper] Do you ever break? [Male Response] Only enough to rebuild the shape If I got it, you got it, that's law One wrong step, then the night takes all So I watch my back and I watch my crew 'Cause the things I survived came to take us too [Pre-Chorus] When the sky went black We stood up tall [Female Chorus Insert] Who held you up? When my knees hit stone You held me up I don't fold, I don't bend I don't leave my kin We were made for this [Chorus] Hold the line, hold the line We came from the bottom alive [Female Layered Chorus] Don't let go, don't let go Hold the line, hold the line We keep each other inside Hold the line, hold the line If I fall, you pull me high Hold the line, hold the line We don't die, we rise [Verse 2] Seen friends get low for a few fast nights Seen pride get sold for a plate and lights [Female Insert] Was it worth that pain? [Male Response] Every scar turned fire in my veins I kept my hands on the ones I trust Same scars in our skin, same dust in us If the door gets kicked, I stand at the front [Female Whisper] And if you fall? [Male Response] My people lift me, I give my all No peace in the pocket, just a heart that won't run They want my soul for a stack and a grin I tell 'em get gone, we came through the wind Every bruise on my body got a story in it Every hard-earned step got a glory in it I don't pray for luck, I work through pain Then I drag my name through the rain again [Bridge] [Female Soft Chorus] Can we survive? Can we get free? [Male Response Rap] As long as I breathe They breathe with me [Female Soft Chorus] Will hope stay alive? [Male Response Rap] Hope never dies It fights in me [Verse 3] Now the same street knows my stride Same hard rain still hits outside But I found a spark in the wreck I wore Found hope in the crack of a cracked-up floor [Female Insert] What keeps you strong? [Male Response] The ones beside me all along So take what you need, leave the rest to stone My people too strong to be left alone We built this trust with a lot of blood With a lot of no's and a lot of mud If fate wants war, then let fate come We don't back up, we just double up [Female Whisper] Till the end? [Male Response] Till my last breath, that's where it ends And when my last breath tries calling time I'll be with my crew on the front that night [Final Chorus] Hold the line, hold the line We came from the bottom alive Hold the line, hold the line We keep each other inside Hold the line, hold the line If I fall, you pull me high Hold the line, hold the line We don't die, we rise