Off The Block

I came up off the bus pass

Holes in my shoes, still I ran past

Every little limit that they hand-crafted

Turned late bills into game-plan habits

Mom on the phone with the lights due

I was in the notes, writing haikus

Turned every L to a how-to

Now I’m the one they point at like “that’s you?”

Off the block, but the block still in me (yeah)

Turned that doubt to a whole new city (woah)

They threw dirt, grew roots so pretty

Now the kid from the back row runnin’ the committee (hey!)

Off the block, but the block still callin’

I was dead broke, now the bag keep fallin’

Same old name, new way I’m talkin’

From the cracks in the pavement to the top, still walkin’

Big dreams in a small lunch

Split fries with the squad, that was all us

Now the calls come through, they want all cuts

Funny how they never showed when the car stuck

Had to work two shifts, then I write eight

Sleeping on the rhyme till the line wake

Every little “can’t” made the spine straight

Now the “maybe one day” got a time frame

Off the block, but the block still in me (yeah)

Turned that doubt to a whole new city (woah)

They threw dirt, grew roots so pretty

Now the kid from the back row runnin’ the committee (uh)

Off the block, but the block still callin’

I was dead broke, now the bag keep fallin’

Same old name, new way I’m talkin’

From the cracks in the pavement to the top, still walkin’