[Intro] Axiom J [Verse 1] Mama said “baby, don’t let ‘em define you,” City full of snakes, gotta learn how to slide through, Friends turn ghosts when the money get shy too, Now I talk to my shadow, it’s the only one truthful. Brain like a warzone, thoughts go ballistic, Smilin’ in public, inside I’m a misfit, Dreams on my back like a bag full of bricks, Still I sprint from the past, every lap I get vicious. They want clout, I want peace, I want acres of quiet, But the demons get loud when the night start a riot, So I write in the dark, let the ink get violent, Every bar is a prayer, every verse is defiant. [Pre-Hook] I been drownin’ in doubt, learned to swim in the deep, Every loss taught a lesson I keep in my sleep, If I die on this mic, put my soul in the beat— Tell ‘em legends don’t fade, they just hide in the street. [Hook] I was down, now I’m up, yeah, I can’t slow down, From the dark to the light, hear my name in the crowd, They said “stop,” I said “watch,” now I’m breakin’ out loud, From the mud to the stars, yeah, I’m risin’ right now. I was down, now I’m up, yeah, I can’t slow down, From the dark to the light, hear my name in the crowd, They said “stop,” I said “watch,” now I’m breakin’ out loud, From the mud to the stars, yeah, I’m risin’ right now. [Verse 2] Mind split in two, angel whisper, devil talk, One say “fly,” other say “you gon’ crash when you walk,” I been tip-toein’ on hope like a tightrope vault, Every step is a risk, every breath is a fault. Pocket full of dreams, but my jeans full of dust, Had to learn how to bleed without breakin’ my trust, They see diamonds in chains, I see pain in the cuts, Every win taste sweeter when it came from the rust. I ain’t built for a box, I’m allergic to limits, Time is money, I’m broke, but I’m rich in the minutes, Got a heart full of storms and a mouth full of venom, But I hug my regrets ‘cause they taught me forgiveness. [Bridge – Switch Flow] Tick-tock, heart race, life on a stopwatch, Dreams in a Ziploc, hope in a sock, watch— Me turn scars into scripts, turn fear into fuel, Turn “you won’t” into “watch,” yeah, I’m bendin’ the rules. [Hook] I was down, now I’m up, yeah, I can’t slow down, From the dark to the light, hear my name in the crowd, They said “stop,” I said “watch,” now I’m breakin’ out loud, From the mud to the stars, yeah, I’m risin’ right now. I was down, now I’m up, yeah, I can’t slow down, From the dark to the light, hear my name in the crowd, They said “stop,” I said “watch,” now I’m breakin’ out loud, From the mud to the stars, yeah, I’m risin’ right now. [Verse 3] I was broke with a vision, now I’m rich in belief, Had my back to the wall, learned to talk to the bricks, Every “no” was a knife, every cut made me crisp, Now I bleed on the beat, watch the mic get baptized in this. Been alone in a room full of echoes and doubt, Had a crowd in my phone but no soul in the house, So I built me a kingdom from verses and vowels, Turned my hunger to thunder, let it open my mouth. They want beef for the net, I want bread for the fam, I want nights with no stress, I want days with a plan, I want peace in my head and a pen in my hand, ‘Cause a lyric can save what a pill never can. I ain’t chasin’ the wave, I’m the storm in the sea, Every loss made a boss, every thorn made a key, From the kid in the dark to the voice in the streets— I was born to be pressure, now the pressure is me. [Hook – Final] I was down, now I’m up, yeah, I can’t slow down, From the dark to the light, hear my name in the crowd, They said “stop,” I said “watch,” now I’m breakin’ out loud, From the mud to the stars, yeah, I’m risin’ right now. I was down, now I’m up, yeah, I can’t slow down, From the dark to the light, hear my name in the crowd, They said “stop,” I said “watch,” now I’m breakin’ out loud, From the mud to the stars, yeah, I’m risin’ right now. [Outro] If tomorrow ain’t promised, I’m livin’ today, Write my name in the sky, let it drip in the gray, I was built from the cracks, I was born in the fray— I’m the proof you can rise from whatever you face.
