Burning Down the Bottom Line (version 2)

Intro

Haze on the block, I'm the smoke that don't clear

(Mazur)

Talkin' low but they hear me from here

Verse

Three a.m., ledger open, calculator glow

Cousin said I'm reachin', said the ceiling's too low

Same cousin callin' now, wanna borrow a stack

Funny how the doubt turns to "put me on, that's a fact"

Started off with folding chairs and a busted mic stand

Now the studio got carpet, everything's climate-planned

They said I'd fold up quiet like a lawn chair in rain

I turned the static into stackin', turned the pressure to a chain

Every no I banked it, kept it in a mental vault

Every closed door taught me how to pick a better fault

Walked through Fenwick Avenue when nobody knew my name

Now the corner store got my face up on the frame

Margins thin as paper but I'm thick with the plan

Book-keepin' at midnight with a torch in my hand

Burnin' every excuse that used to hold me back

Bottom line was red ink, now it's black on black

Hook

I'm burning down the bottom line, watch it turn to gold

Every doubt you handed me, I made it mine to hold

Told me I would fall off, told me I was through

Burning down the bottom line, watch me start anew

Burning down the bottom line, watch me start anew

Verse

Landlord knocked at seven, said the rent's overdue

Two weeks later same landlord askin' for a interview

Teachers said distracted, said I'd never see a stage

Now the stage light hotter than the anger from that age

Momma kept the porch light on for hopes I'd walk it right

I turned the doubt to diesel, drove it through the night

Every hater's whisper turned to background static noise

I'm the signal breakin' through it, static never poised

Bank account was skeleton, now it's growin' meat

Used to skip the dinner just to make the numbers meet

Now I'm splittin' plates with people who forgot my name

Karma got a memory, karma plays the long game

Bottom line was crumblin' like a wall of dry cement

I rebuilt it brick by brick with every doubt they sent

Foundation made of failure, that's the strongest kind

Burnin' every ceiling that they built up in my mind

Hook

I'm burning down the bottom line, watch it turn to gold

Every doubt you handed me, I made it mine to hold

Told me I would fall off, told me I was through

Burning down the bottom line, watch me start anew

Burning down the bottom line, watch me start anew

Bridge

Funny how the silence sounds like static now

Funny how the ones who left keep circlin' back around

I don't need the apology, I just need the proof

So I keep it running, keep it burning, keep it loose

Every scar's a ledger line that adds up in my favor

I ain't chasin' validation, I'm just settlin' the labor

Outro

Bottom line was ashes, now it's smoke that clears to sky

Told 'em watch me burn it, never once had to ask why

Burning down the bottom line, that's the only proof I keep

Turn the doubt to embers, let the legacy run deep