[Verse 1: Philly hard-rap male MC, heavy and direct] Sixteen with a backpack full of cans and no ladder Climbing up the El supports like the height didn't matter Tagged my name on every wall from Kensington to Broad Cops chased my ass through rowhomes, never caught me, thank God Till the night they did, cuffs tight, paint still wet Judge looked at my hands like a bill I ain't paid yet Said three hundred hours, son, and you gon' paint it gray Every wall you ever hit, you roll it back today [Pre-Hook: Philly hard-rap male MC] So I rolled it, block by block, in the cold And the gray looked like a cell, so I painted it gold [Hook: Philly hard-rap male MC, full force] I'm still doing community service Every wall in this city got my name on the surface They gave me three hundred hours to cover what I did I gave 'em thirty years and a mural for the kids [Verse 2: Philly hard-rap male MC, faster, proud] First wall was a laundromat on Lehigh, cinder gray Owner came out cursing, then he couldn't walk away I painted his mother from the photo in his wallet Fifteen feet of Sunday dress, the whole damn block went silent Corner store wanted one, then the barber, then the church Rec center wanted three and said, you pick which one goes first Hit three hundred hours, P.O. said, you're clear, you're through I said, clear? I got a waiting list, I'm booked till June [Hook: Philly hard-rap male MC, full force] I'm still doing community service Every wall in this city got my name on the surface They gave me three hundred hours to cover what I did I gave 'em thirty years and a mural for the kids [Bridge: Philly hard-rap male MC, triplet flip, the flow rolls into fast triplets] Rollers and brushes and buckets and scaffolds Primer and tape and the gold for the halos Gray on the bottom and sky on the top Every kid walking to school looking up at the block [Verse 3: Philly hard-rap male MC, back on the snare, calm and heavy] Twenty years later there's a plaque on the Broad Street wall City paid the budget, put my name above it all Same cop that chased me, gray beard and a cane Brings his granddaughter by and she asks me my name She asked me how I learned it, I said, come here, take a look They gave me one sentence, so I wrote the city a book [Hook: Philly hard-rap male MC, full force] I'm still doing community service Every wall in this city got my name on the surface They gave me three hundred hours to cover what I did I gave 'em thirty years and a mural for the kids [Outro: Philly hard-rap male MC] Still on the clock, still paying it back in color [End]
