27

Ma said pray before you leave, Pops said watch who you trust

I was tryna press both in my chest like a double-clutch

Block smell like smoke and pride, boys still rollin' dice

Angel on my shoulder whisper soft, demon talkin' twice

Kids I grew up with now treat the corner like a chapel

Baptized in the neon lights, every dream a battle

I’m the good kid duckin' both halos and hazard signs

Tryna decode the city like it's writin’ me warning lines

In the rearview I see shadows tryna chase me down

Every streetlight flicker feel like fate about to crown

I just keep my hands steady, tryna drive my soul straight

But the city love to test you when you tryna elevate

In the rearview I see shadows tryna chase me down

Every streetlight flicker feel like fate about to crown

I just keep my hands steady, tryna drive my soul straight

But the city love to test you when you tryna elevate

Told myself one day I’ll make it out, but the map tore

Homies swear they ridin' with you till the engine hit the floor

My cousin said he found God in the sirens one night

I said I found myself in the silence between fights

Grandma’s prayers sittin' heavy in my jacket like stones

Every step a sermon, every breath a poem

This life a tightrope walk between grace and crash

One wrong move and your dreams turn to ash

In the rearview I see shadows tryna chase me down

Every streetlight flicker feel like fate about to crown

I just keep my hands steady, tryna drive my soul straight

But the city love to test you when you tryna elevate

In the rearview I see shadows tryna chase me down

Every streetlight flicker feel like fate about to crown

I just keep my hands steady, tryna drive my soul straight

But the city love to test you when you tryna elevate

I can hear the block callin’ like a voicemail I never checked

Saying “Who you think you are, tryna rise above the wreck?”

But my heart’s a stubborn engine, it don’t stall no more

I done walked through storms that don’t fall no more

If tomorrow got a blessing, I’ll receive it with both hands

If the past come knocking, I’ll remind it where I stand

Still that good kid movin' cautious through a wicked town

Tryna turn a lifetime of pressure into royal sound