[Verse 1: Conscious-rap male MC, proud conscious-rap delivery] Ninth and Vine, six summers, I was standin' on this spot Sellin' what the block was buyin', watchin' every car that stopped Knew the school bell like a clock and I would scatter when it rang 'Cause the little ones would stare at me like I was somethin' strange Then a Tuesday sweep, a judge, a number and a cell Four years starin' at a ceilin', learnin' how to read myself Came home with a bag of clothes and a record nobody'd hire Till the city needed crossing guards and nobody else applied [Hook: Conscious-rap male MC, full force, pounding kick] Same corner, different sign Hold it up high and they cross on mine Same cracked curb where I lost my time Same corner, different sign [Verse 2: Conscious-rap male MC, steady conscious-rap flow] Seven-forty every mornin' in a vest the color of a warning Walkin' second graders cross the street while they're still yawnin' And across the way the young boys posted where I used to be Same lean against the same wall, lookin' over here at me One of 'em named Dante, he was ten when I went in Now his little brother crosses holdin' my hand with a grin Dante never says a word, he just watches every day How I hold the sign up, how the cars all wait, how the kids all wave [Hook: Conscious-rap male MC, full force, pounding kick] Same corner, different sign Hold it up high and they cross on mine Same cracked curb where I lost my time Same corner, different sign [Verse 3: Conscious-rap male MC, proud conscious-rap delivery, rising] Last day of school, Dante walks across with nothin' in his hands Says how'd you get that vest, and does the city need a man? I said the application's online, I can help you fill it out at four Wrote the number on his palm and watched him walk it to the store Next fall there's a vest on Tenth and one on Ninth and Vine Two of us on the same block holdin' up the same sign Little brother crossin' in between us every mornin' with a grin Same corner where I lost it, same corner where I win [Bridge: Conscious-rap male MC, callback line, the first line comes back changed] Ninth and Vine, six summers, I was standin' on this spot Ninth and Vine, six more summers, I'ma stand here like a rock Back then I watched for cars that stopped, now I'm the reason that they stop Back then I made the corner hot, now the corner's all I got [Final Hook: Conscious-rap male MC, full force] Same corner, different sign Hold it up high and they cross on mine Same cracked curb where I lost my time Same corner, different sign [End]
