[Intro]
[Choir rising, slow and massive]
Ooh—ahh—
Ooh—ahh—
From the smoke
from the stone
from the bones of the old world calling
Raise your head
raise your heart
hear the march and the war drums crawling
Voices climb
like a flame
like a hand on your throat just tightening
When the gates
when they break
every doubt in your chest starts quieting
[Drop]
[YELL]
This that battle hymn
this that battle hymn
[Chorus]
This that battle hymn of the pit (of the pit)
Every scar on my skin gon’ spit (gon’ spit)
If you want war, better come legit
I don’t miss, I don’t quit, I commit (hey!)
This that battle hymn of the pit
Every step that I take leaves a split
You can pray, you can beg, that’s it
But your crown in my hand still fits
[Verse 1]
Walk in
crowd hush, air thick
Eyes locked
you can smell that fear quick
Talk tough
but your pulse say “not it”
Jaw twitch
’cause the truth don’t talk slick
I was raised where the love got taxed
Where the food got snatched
and the rules got scratched
Had to carve my name in the crack of the map
Heavy bag swing back, put my rage in the wraps
Whole life been a midnight round
Fists up, chin tucked, eyes on sound
Any time I got dropped, hit the ground
I was chewing on the dirt, found diamonds in the brown
You don’t know about fight with a busted lip
Still laugh with the blood on your busted fist
Swear oaths by the bruise, not the government
Every “L” that I took turned “love” from it
So I show up calm in the chaos storm
Every shot that you throw just shapes my form
You aiming at flesh, I done changed my norm
I’m a ghost with a pulse in a human swarm (yeah)
When I swing, I ain’t just throw hands
I’m defending every time they said “you can’t”
Every door that slammed, every broken plan
Got a whole damn army in a single stance
[Chorus]
This that battle hymn of the pit (of the pit)
Every scar on my skin gon’ spit (gon’ spit)
If you want war, better come legit
I don’t miss, I don’t quit, I commit (woo)
This that battle hymn of the pit
Every step that I take leaves a split
You can pray, you can beg, that’s it
But your crown in my hand still fits
[Verse 2]
Why you talk like your soul got sold?
I can see in your eyes that your heart turned cold
Act hard with a borrowed mold
But the mask gon’ crack when the truth unfold
You a stand-in
background mannequin
I’m the last one standin’, panicked management
Every bar that I brand is abandonment
Of the chains that they clamp on the passionate
I been down in the dirt with the outcasts
Where the hope and the hurt overlap fast
Where the cops ride slow, let the shots blast
Then blame us ’cause we live where the shells stack
That rage in my throat, that’s real
Every line that I write, that’s steel
Every “never” they said, that’s fuel I steal
Turn a locked gate door to a broke flywheel
So when you see me in the ring, don’t blink
I been shadowboxing doubt in the kitchen sink
I been training in the dark while you chase that drink
Got the sweat-soaked floor as my sacred ink
I don’t post my pain for applause
I just use that weight for a cause
You just flex on feeds for a clause
In a contract owned by your flaws
You a soldier to a trend, I’m a leader to the lost
You a purchase on demand, I’m the price of what it cost
Every bruise that I gained, every bridge that I crossed
Turned a kid from the gutter to a king from the frost
[Chorus]
This that battle hymn of