Verse 1 Candle smoke curl in the tenement air, Project stairwell prophets preaching hope through despair. Chrome reflections in a cracked hallway mirror, Young kings turn sinners when the system don’t hear us. Brownstone theology, policy hypocrisy, Dollar-bill philosophy carving scars in me. Subway steel symphony scream under my feet, Heartbeat sync with the drum of the street. Mama on a double, trouble shift subtle, Hustle built muscle in a city rebuttal. Judges throw numbers like a dice game habit, Freedom shrink quick like a dream in a casket. Graffiti scriptures on the back of the bus, “Trust nobody” echo louder than us. Every handshake got a snake in the grass, Every smile got a file on your past. Cold world sermon from a corner-store clerk, Truth hit harder when the overtime hurt. Vest on my chest but my spirit exposed, Trying to find light where the shadows froze. Time don’t heal, it conceal what it scars, We shoot for the moon from a roof full of stars. Paper bag wisdom and a bottle of gin, Learning how to survive before we learn to win. ⸻ Chorus Living in the shadow of the night, Trying to do wrong but I’m praying for right. Every step feels heavy on the street, Tell me Lord, is this my last heartbeat? Shadow of the niiiiiiight, Yeah, I’m praying for riiiiiiiight Hm Shadow of the niiiiiiight, Yeah, I’m praying for riiiiiiiight Hm ⸻ Verse 2 Metaphors heavy like a cross on my spine, Every bar coded like a federal line. Mindstate militant, elegant venomous, Sentences sharp with a predator emphasis. Politicians paint pictures vivid but hollow, Kids learn survival before they can follow. Schoolbooks thin but the prison walls thick, Hope move slow but the trigger move quick. Crack-era residue stain in the blood, Pain passed down like a family flood. Fast money math subtract the soul, Add a gold chain still lack control. Raised by the static of a police dispatch, Dreams get scratched like a worn-out patch. Streetlight halos on midnight faces, Lost generations running time in circles like races. Ink bleed fury on a loose-leaf pad, Trying to turn trauma to a gift I never had. Cycle so tight it suffocate breath, Life feel chess but we pawns to death. Still I rhyme like survival depended on breath, Like every sixteen resurrect something left. From the rubble I rise with a fist and a pen, Trying to rewrite where the nightmare begin. ⸻ Final Chorus (Harder Delivery) Living in the shadow of the night, Trying to do wrong but I’m praying for right. Every step feels heavy on the street, Tell me Lord, is this my last heartbeat? Shadow of the niiiiiiight, Yeah, I’m praying for riiiiiiiight Hm Shadow of the niiiiiiight, Yeah, I’m praying for riiiiiiiight Hm
