Lights Low, Guard Up

Intro

Corner store lights off, block breathing at three

Guard up, lights low, that's the only company

Every no they handed me still stacked like receipts

I've been cashing out the silence since the day that I left

Verse

Coach said I was too slow to ever run with the pack

Laced my shoes in the dark, ran the block and back

Landlord taped a notice on the door where I stayed

Taped my bars right under it, said watch what I made

Teacher said my future looked like static on a screen

Now the static turned to platinum, ask what that means

Cousin said the booth was just a hobby for the broke

Sawdust floor, cracked mic, that's the seed that I woke

Momma counted quarters while the kettle hissed and steamed

I was counting bars at midnight, chasing down a dream

Sirens on the block turned into snares in my chest

Turned the chaos into cadence, gave the noise a test

Uncle said the rap game chews you up and spits you thin

I said watch the margin, that's exactly where I win

Every "you won't make it" turned into a mantra loud

Guard up, lights low, I turned the doubt into a crowd

Hook

Lights low, guard up, I don't sleep on the doubt

Every shadow told a story, now the story's out

Lights low, guard up, watch the numbers grow

Turned the never into now, that's the only flow

Verse

Studio on Ferris Street, hundred dollar rent a week

Engineer said sharpen up, my flow was still too weak

Slept behind the mixing board, blanket made of coats

Woke up to the sample looping, wrote it note for note

Radio said my sound too rough to ever hit the air

Burned a hundred CDs, passed them out with steady stare

Promoter tried to shortchange me the night the show sold out

I recounted every dollar, made him watch me count it out

Ex told all our friends that I would never leave the block

Now the block got my initials carved into the clock

Bank account was hollow like a drum without a skin

Now it's thick as winter coats, still keep the hunger in

Every skeptic get a front seat when the tour bus roll

Every silence that they gave me turned into the goal

Lights stay low so I can see the ones who kept it real

Guard stay up because the wolves still circling for a meal

Hook

Lights low, guard up, I don't sleep on the doubt

Every shadow told a story, now the story's out

Lights low, guard up, watch the numbers grow

Turned the never into now, that's the only flow

Bridge

Truth is some nights I still hear the old no's ring

Truth is the crown gets heavy when you're carrying everything

But I traded all my sleep for a seat at the table

Guard never drops, even when the story's stable

Every scar's a receipt for a debt that I paid twice

Lights low so the doubters can't read my eyes

Outro

Lights low, guard up, that's the code I keep

Every doubt they planted, watch it bloom while I don't sleep

Guard up, lights low, still the same me at the top

Proved it in the silence, never needed them to stop