The Streets Raised a Monster

[Intro] (Raised a monster) (Raised a beast) [Verse 1] Heavy metal on the latch, catch the spirit fast Every patch of the past is a cast on the bone I’m the scattered stone in the walls of the throne Polishing the lead until the edges look like chrome Inherited the debt before I had a name to own Mama had a prayer, I had a heavy hand instead Drawing circles in the dirt where the giants tread Every brick a burden, every block a cage Writing my survival on a tattered, bloodied page I didn’t choose the teeth, they grew in thick Chewing on the truth until the air got sick Born in the basement, raised in the gray Taught to catch the bullet, never run away [Verse 2] Now the predator is looking through the stained glass Watching all the pretty little hollow ghosts pass I became the thing that kept the wolves at bay A monster in the parlor at the end of day Armor turned to skin, skin turned to stone King of a kingdom that I built all alone Stitched the fabric of the struggle to my chest No time for the weak, no room for the rest I am the orchestration of a lethal, quiet dance Not a victim of the whim or the circumstance Built a fortress out of broken window panes Running liquid iron through my heavy, aching veins The asphalt is the altar where I laid my youth Trading every comfort for a jagged piece of truth [Chorus] The cost of the crown is a heart turned cold Buying back the spirit that the city sold (They raised a monster) (They raised a beast) Now the hunger’s coming for the final feast [Verse 3] They want the loud roar but they fear the claw Living by a logic that ignores the common law Every handshake feels like a loaded gun Calculating damage when the day is finally done I see the ledger, I know the real cost Counting every person that I protected and lost Selling my trauma by the ounce and the gram Forgetting the woman standing behind the I am The industry is machinery, a grinding of the wheel Trying to commodify the way the broken feel But I am the architect of a private, holy hell A regal exhaustion in a hollow, iron shell Conversations with a power that I used to fear Now I’m the only deity that I can hear [Verse 4] Do not mistake the stillness for a lack of force The river is deep and I am the source When the lamps go out and the stage is bare I’m the only one left standing in the cold air A monument of scars and a steady, rhythmic pulse Nothing left here that is fake or false Look me in the eye, see the ancient ancestry The weight of the struggle and the heavy legacy I protected the porch until I lost the home Now I sit in silence on a jagged, ivory throne What I became was the only way through A monster for me and a monster for you (A monster for you) The transformation is complete, the cage is wide open [Outro] Regal exhaustion (Raised a monster) The cost of protection (Raised a beast) [End - 3:58]