Intro
Fenwick and Third, bail bonds sign half lit
Ledger on the counter got my name written in it
Verse
Notary stamp still wet when I sign for Dre
Judge said flight risk, set it high to make him stay
I put my checking account where his freedom used to lay
Walked out the courthouse lighter, but he walked out free that day
Mrs. Okafor need a co-sign for the lease
Turrell Street, fourth floor, radiator wheeze
I ain't got credit but she trust the way I speak
Shook her hand at the counter, sealed it cheek to cheek
My cousin Nay need three hundred for the crib
Landlord change the locks unless the rent get did
I emptied out my pocket like I emptied out a rib
Told myself it's family, that's the price you pay to live
Ledger keep on growing, names in columns, ink turns pale
Every signature's a debt that don't come with a scale
I ain't never asked for interest, never asked to get paid back
Just asked the block remember when the whole thing came to that
Chorus
My signature's the only thing I own for free
So I sign it for the block, that's collateral loyalty
Every name I vouch for chips a piece of me
Still I sign it for the block, that's collateral loyalty
Verse
Twenty-six now, credit score look like a bad joke
Bank teller squint at me like I'm the punchline of a broke
Man's dream, but I remember why the numbers dropped
Every dip on that report is a name that didn't stop
Falling, so I caught it, palms open, no return
Nobody in the ledger ever paid me what I earned
But Dre got a daughter now, she call me Uncle Ro
Nay pay her own rent since ninety-eight, ain't gotta go
Through what her mother went through, cycle finally broke
I keep the old receipts folded in my winter coat
Not for proof, just reminders of the weight I chose to hold
Some men measure riches by the interest that they're owed
I measure by the doors still open on my block
The keys still turning smooth cause my name was in the lock
Collateral ain't collateral if you never lose a thing
I lost enough to know exactly what my word can bring
Chorus
My signature's the only thing I own for free
So I sign it for the block, that's collateral loyalty
Every name I vouch for chips a piece of me
Still I sign it for the block, that's collateral loyalty
Bridge
Somebody asked me once if I regret the cost
I said the ones I saved outweigh the ones I lost
Credit score don't measure what a name is really worth
Mine's been rebuilding since the day that Dre got birth
To his own daughter, watched him sign his first lease clean
No co-sign needed, cleanest paper I seen
That's the interest that don't show up on a screen
Outro
Ledger's still open, one more line, one more name
Fenwick sign flickers, still it burns the same
My name's the collateral, always been the flame
Collateral loyalty, that's the only game
