Gold in the Concrete (version 2)

Verse

Rooftop skyline bleeding amber, nine a.m. light on chrome

Used to count the days in silence till this one became my own

Concrete cracked beneath my hands like it was holding back

Someday's gold was just a word I learned in a book on track

Six years hustling just for rent and a bill left unpaid

Now the city's mine before it happens, not what happened when

Every scar is proof I'm still alive today

Not yesterday's version begging for a way

Pre-Chorus

So how do I explain this to someone who don't understand

They look at me like I'm still that kid on the plan

Chorus

This gold in my chest wasn't always mine, it was just potential, unspent

I traded every fear for something that makes sense — confidence

Every brick I move down is a promise that the sun will rise again

The fire never left, it just learned how to shine through me like neon

Verse 2

My father worked three jobs but he still never made enough

Told me money don't buy happiness but it buys you proof

So I went back to every corner of this city that broke him

I bought them back, I lit them up so nobody's gonna choke again

The ones who doubted said the streets'd keep me chained

Now they're the ones who drive by flashing headlights and fame

Every tower rising higher is a version of the man I used to be

This was never about the gold — it was always just about me

Pre-Chorus

So how do I explain this to someone who don't understand

They look at me like I'm still that kid on the plan

Chorus

This gold in my chest wasn't always mine, it was just potential, unspent

I traded every fear for something that makes sense — confidence

Every brick I move down is a promise that the sun will rise again

The fire never left, it just learned how to shine through me like neon

Bridge

Maybe I don't need validation when my city's lit up

Standing here with my hands still shaking from the weight of what we built —

It ain't gold — it's proof that every version I had to fight was right

Chorus

This gold in my chest wasn't always mine, it was just potential, unspent

I traded every fear for something that makes sense — confidence

Every brick I move down is a promise that the sun will rise again

The fire never left, it just learned how to shine through me like neon