[INTRO—4 BARS] [Warm synth loop, deep funk bass, vinyl crackle] [RJ—calm, low spoken voice] Ayo... Funny thing about dreams... Everybody wants to wake up rich. Nobody asks what happens when you wake up different. Three of us. One reflection. [VERSE 1—RJ—16 BARS] Upstate, two a.m., the snow came sideways, One headlight alive on the long road to payday. Diner sign flickered like it knew my account, Four dollars in change, got a dream I can't count. Rent taped to the fridge, red ink on the notice, I was busy staying broke, never stopped to notice. Everybody wants a piece of the pie when it's warm, Nobody wants the flour on their hands in the storm. Boss said we're family, then he shortened my hours, Funny how a little money gives a coward his power. Yankee brim low, saw my face in the glass, Looked a lot like my father, looking back at his past. I don't need a mansion with a driveway of gold, Just a door I can lock and a hand I can hold. Then my shadow stood taller than the man in the frame, Said, "You lived through the struggle—let me give it a name." [HOOK—8 BARS—SMOOTH MALE RAP] Three street dreams, same rain on the glass, One chasing peace, one chasing plaques, One in the back with a match and a laugh, Rearview mirror got three faces attached. Three street dreams, but the rent comes due, One wants a life, one wants proof, One wants the night to swallow the truth, Same set of footsteps, three ways through. [VERSE 2—STiLT—16 BARS] Ayo, STiLT on the curb where the telephone hums, Made a metronome out of the rattle of trucks. Give me sixteen clean and a needle that skips, I'll build a staircase from the syllables I split. My commas do time, my consonants hustle, Put a knot in the rhythm just to teach it some muscle. Long division, I divide what they claim, Then multiply silence till they scream out my name. No diamonds on my neck, I got pressure in my pen, Every carbon-copy rapper gets reduced to lead again. I'm a grammatical criminal, critical with the syntax, Put a period on a sentence, then I bring the beginning back. RJ counting hours, I'm accounting for rhymes, Same debt, different ledger, both due by the ninth. They wanna measure my reach? Put a ruler to the sky, I ain't standing on shoulders—I'm the reason they look high. [HOOK—8 BARS] Three street dreams, same rain on the glass, One chasing peace, one chasing plaques, One in the back with a match and a laugh, Rearview mirror got three faces attached. Three street dreams, but the rent comes due, One wants a life, one wants proof, One wants the night to swallow the truth, Same set of footsteps, three ways through. [VERSE 3—SKiN—16 BARS] [Beat strips to bass and drums; sinister grinning delivery] Ha! Who left the back door open? I was getting bored, RJ praying for a blessing, STiLT collecting awards. I'm the grin in the mirror when the mirror gets cracked, The little voice saying something you can never take back. Got skeletons in my closet charging rent for the space, They filed a class-action lawsuit against my face. Sold the devil his pitchfork, charged him double for shipping, Now he calls me every Sunday asking what he's been missing. RJ said, "Behave." STiLT said, "Focus." I said, "Both of you need me, but neither will own it." I'm the footnote nobody wants read in the trial, The reason every family photograph loses its smile. Don't make me the villain just to polish your halo, You borrowed every ugly thought the crowd came to pay for. I'm not the third wheel, I'm the tread on the tire, You can keep your street dreams—I want the whole damn empire! [BREAKDOWN—8 BARS] [Beat stops. Three deliveries, one male voice.] [RJ—restrained] You want the whole world? You can't manage your temper. [STiLT—sharp] Every word that you waste is a word they'll remember. [SKiN—mocking] And every bridge you preserve is another to cross! [RJ] Every bridge that you burn is a way out you've lost. [STiLT] I can put us on the map without losing the road. [SKiN] I can make 'em remember when the lights go cold! [RJ] Neither one gets the wheel when the road gets steep. I'm the man who has to live with whatever we reap. [FINAL HOOK—8 BARS—FULL BEAT RETURNS] Three street dreams, same rain on the glass, One chasing peace, one chasing plaques, One in the back with a match and a laugh, Rearview mirror got three faces attached. Three street dreams, and the rent came due, One found a voice, one found proof, One finally learned what a match can't do, Same set of footsteps—I decide where they move. [OUTRO—4 BARS] [Instrumental fading, vinyl hiss] [RJ] I had a dream I could finally be free. [STiLT] I had a dream they'd remember me. [SKiN—whispered laugh] I had a dream they were scared to sleep. [RJ] Three street dreams... and they all belong to me.
