The Air - FreshAir Soul

[Verse 1] Concrete breath in my lungs, still coughin' Caught between coffins and corporate auctions Whole block talkin' in foreclosure notices Prayers on the fridge next to pink eviction slips Scroll in my hand like a digital rosary Thumbs go numb doomfeed, dopamine Politician smile look photoshop clean But the water from the tap run brown, not clean [Chorus] I hear sirens in my head but I keep marchin' Whole world on the edge but my heart hardened Every scar that I bled make a war garden Turn the pain into bread keep the torch sparkin' (hey!) I hear sirens in my head but I move sharper Cut chains from my legs I'm my own warden If they want us all dead we go larger From the dirt, from the dread rise darker [Verse 2] Mama said watch what they sell you as hope 'Cause a bottle, a loan and a slogan the same rope They brand our hunger then ban our hustle Teach quiet mouths in a loud struggle They love our slang but they hate our stance Stream our rage then erase our chants Turn our pain to a playlist mood But they never knew the nights we was stretchin' food [Chorus] I hear sirens in my head but I keep marchin' Whole world on the edge but my heart hardened Every scar that I bled make a war garden Turn the pain into bread keep the torch sparkin' (oh yeah!) I hear sirens in my head but I move sharper Cut chains from my legs I'm my own warden If they want us all dead we go larger From the dirt, from the dread rise darker [Intro] Ghost town clock Hands stuck, still move Smoke in my lungs But I see straight through (yeah) [Verse 3] Cold floor, food stamps on the counter Mom praying, past due on the power Landlord banging like a battering ram I was eight, learned money ain't about who you am Old heads on the corner talk change, but they stuck Say the system is a rigged dice game, loaded up I heard "pull yourself up," same time, boot on my neck Teacher said, "Dream big," then marked me as a threat I was raised in a maze with the walls made of ads Selling poison as pride, calling trauma a fad Scroll screens, see kings flex chains for the feed Same streets, see scenes where kids bleed for a feed You call it "bad choices," I call it design Red lines like chalk on the map, not the crime If the roof always leaks on the block where we stay Don't blame the rain when the ceiling gives way [Chorus] I got ashes in the air But my lungs still full of prayer Whole world built on fear But my voice cut clear, cut clear From the ground where the cracks run deep I don't bow, I don't break, I speak If they sleeping on the truth we share Let it burn, let it burn Ashes in the air (uh) [Verse 4] Politicians in a suit play god with a pen Sign bills, sign lives, then they smile for the lens Talk peace on the stage, drop bombs on the side Put a flag on a coffin, call that national pride You wonder why we wild at the cop on patrol When his hand on the holster, not a hand on our soul Body cam glitch when the shots ring close Whole clip, then they claim they was scared of a ghost They teach history light like they bleaching the page Skip chains, skip coups, skip the wage and the cage Say "move on," like the wound ain't fresh Like the past ain't a knife still stuck in our chest I'm a glitch in their script, I exist out of frame Turn pain into proof, every bar, every flame If the law built a wall just to box us inside Then my rhyme is a crack where the daylight slide [Chorus] I got ashes in the air But my lungs still full of prayer Whole world built on fear But my voice cut clear, cut clear From the ground where the cracks run deep I don't bow, I don't break, I speak If they sleeping on the truth we share Let it burn, let it burn Ashes in the air (yeah) [Bridge] If the sky fall Who you call, who you trust When the mask off Every saint full of dust Still I stand tall With the cut lip, bruised fist If the world small I expand it with this [Chorus] I got ashes in the air But my lungs still full of prayer Whole world built on fear But my voice cut clear, cut clear From the ground where the cracks run deep I don't bow, I don't break, I speak If they sleeping on the truth we share Let it burn, let it burn Ashes in the air (ash in the air)