Intro
Margin of the notebook where the doubt used to live
Erased every no they gave, kept the space where it sits
Ink still wet on the promise I made to myself
Echoes in the margin now, that's the only thing left
Verse
Nine years old, teacher said I'd never hold a mic right
Wrote it on the chalkboard, I erased it that same night
Cousin said the rap game only chews up dreamers
Told him watch the margin, that's where I plant my seeders
Broke laptop, cracked screen, still recorded sixteen bars
Landlord taped a notice, I taped lyrics on the door instead
Momma cried in kitchens counting quarters for the bread
I turned static into anthems playing loud inside my head
Uncle called it foolish, said go get a real trade
I said watch the margin, that's where the real gets made
Bus window fogging up, I'm writing with my finger
Every doubt's a metronome, I let the rhythm linger
Coach cut me from the team, said I moved too slow
I moved through verses faster than the doubts could grow
Now the same mouths humming hooks they said I'd never write
Echo in the margin turned to headlights in the night
Hook
They said I'd never make it, I wrote it in the margin
Every no's a needle and I turned it into stitching
Proof is in the echo, proof is in the pages
Told them watch the margin, now the margin's turned to stages
Verse
Two a.m. studio, the heater's on the blink
Breath like smoke signals rising over kitchen sink
Old rejection letters lining up my studio wall
Every stamped denial taught me how to stand up tall
Producer said my cadence wouldn't ever chart or sell
Now the cadence got a rhythm that the whole block yell
Sister said stop dreaming, get a job at the mill
I said the margin's where I'm planting, watch the harvest build
Traded sneakers for the bus fare, walked it in the rain
Every drop that hit my collar washed away the shame
Landlord's final notice folded into origami cranes
Sent them flying out the window while I counted out the gains
They said the sound too different, said the flow too strange
Different is the diamond when the coal refused to change
Now they play it at the party, now they sing along
Echoes in the margin turned into the whole dang song
Hook
They said I'd never make it, I wrote it in the margin
Every no's a needle and I turned it into stitching
Proof is in the echo, proof is in the pages
Told them watch the margin, now the margin's turned to stages
Bridge
Funny how the ones who laughed the loudest
Learned the words before the second verse arrived
Funny how the silence that they gave me
Became the space where all my truth survived
No apology required, I don't need the credit
Just remember when the margin was the only place I said it
Outro
Notebook's full now, cover's coming loose
Every empty page I filled with proof
Echo in the margin, echo down the hall
Told you watch the margin, now the margin holds it all
