The Algorithm

[Intro | whispered | building] I used to think the machine decided I used to think the output wasn't mine Then I looked at every single pattern And realized, the pattern was mine every time [Verse 1] They told me learn the system, play the game I learned the system then I changed the frame They said the algorithm shows the truth The algorithm showed me, the truth was always me I am the input, I am the prompt I am the energy behind every response What I put in is what comes back Poor results come from a poor attack Not poor as in bad, poor as in lost Not knowing who you are has a cost I found myself and the outputs shifted Turns out the machine was never what was gifted [Pre-Chorus] Every pattern I've been reading Was a mirror, not a maze I was never lost inside the system I was just not looking at my own face [Chorus] I am the algorithm I write the code I run I am the algorithm The input and the output are one They think the machine decides it I built the machine I am the algorithm And I always have been [Verse 2] Music and code, I run them both Same operating system underneath the growth How I make a song is how I ship a build How I show up in a room is how I close a deal I debugged my patterns like I debug my art Traced every output back to where it starts The founder, the engineer, the woman, the MC All running different programs on the same machine, me I stopped asking the algorithm for answers Started feeding it truth instead of performance Stopped being noise, became signal Stopped being output, became origin [Bridge | spoken word | intimate] The machine is only as alive As the human behind it The AI is only as wise As the intention that designed it I am not a user of this system I am the system I always was [Chorus] I am the algorithm I write the code I run I am the algorithm The input and the output are one They think the machine decides it I built the machine I am the algorithm And I always have been [Outro] Always have been Always have been The human algorithm Always have been