[Intro] stone doubt! Let’s get it! (Yeah… uh) The American dream wasn't a lie That's what makes it dangerous (Think about that) It works just enough for one or two to climb through So they can point and say "See? The ladder's right there" They never mention it costs different depending on who's climbing They never mention some people started on the roof And called it a journey (Ha!) But yeah - the ladder's real And that's the trick The ones who made it become the reason nobody fixes it [Instrumental Break] [Verse 1] Yo, I keep the books, call me keeper of the ledger (Facts) Peep the way they move the money like a game of three-card treasure Some of us got leverage - barely - had to sweat for every measure (Barely!) But wait, that's the pitch They let a few through so the rest don't question pressure (Ha!) Self-made is the brand but who supplied the raw material? Bootstrap myth imperial, they peddle it like cereal Somebody made it out the mud? (Yeah!) Good - now watch 'em use that story as a burial For everybody still stuck in it (Wow) [Verse 2] From plantation to the station to the gentrified location (Uh-huh) Peep the cycle, it's a rotation, different math but same equation Yeah some graduated - caps and gowns and celebrations (True) Then the loans hit Forty years of reparations dressed as education (Forty!) Every paycheck's an oblation to the gods of corporation But you climbed though, right? (Right?) Corner office, nice While your cousin got incarceration Same brain, different zip code on the application Got us grateful for a ration on a planet full of grain I said grateful for a ration (What?) On a planet full of grain (How?) They just gave it a gift shop [Chorus] They don't balance the ledger (Nah) They don't balance the ledger (Never did) They let a few names through So we forget about the ones they never did [Verse 3] They don't pick cotton, they pick winners (Bup-bup-bup!) Token at the table, poster child for beginners Wall Street profits built on prison-bed deposits (Locked!) But your boy made it out so everything's honest? (Really?) They put your face on the brochure while they're robbin' your mama A promise for a few ain't a promise for the many Oh, you didn't know? (Nah) They bank on your success It's the collateral (Facts) [Bridge | Call and Response] Some got yachts and they earned it (Some) Some got yachts off your back though (Most) Got degrees but the debt keeps you crawling back Got the job - but they watch you different (Watch) Got the house - but they appraise you different (Different) Should we celebrate or agitate? Should we kneel or should we stand? Nah - the answer's definitely both [Verse 4] They selling hope and some of it's real (Some!) They say pull up, some pulled up - and still got cut at the sleeves (Wow) Land of the free? Depends on the zip code, check the receipts (Check 'em!) Ha - you thought liberty was uniform? Nah, read the fine print, it's a spectrum I'm reading Frederick Douglass in the courthouse (Uh-huh) While they reading profit margins in the penthouse Some of us built tables (Some!) But most are still under 'em That's the ratio they're comfortable with And they did the math on purpose (On purpose) [Verse 5 | Crescendo] The ledger never balanced and it wasn't meant to Not because nobody climbs - they do - that's what they spent on Marketing the staircase while the elevator's rental History's a spreadsheet and the red is monumental (Cook!) They been cooking books since Plymouth Rock was continental Just a pencil through the line where your life became a decimal Let that settle [Outro | Diminuendo] It's not that nobody's name is on the winning side Some are - that's real But they use those names to balance out the blood on every other page Like a few success stories cancel a few centuries The ladder's real? Cool (Cool) Then make the price the same for everybody on it Every receipt we kept is a weapon (Weapon!) Every scar is a record Every record is evidence The ones who climbed And the ones who were climbed on Hand 'em back the book (Take it!) (I’m out the box) (Fuck they game) (Time to switch it up)
