Weight of the Chain

Verse

Three a.m., tint down, engine humming low

Six deep in the Civic, same block, same code

Tarek got the aux, playing something we all know

Everybody quiet till the hook hit, then we go

Grew up splitting quarters at the corner store

Now we split the profit, still keep the same four

Marcus took a charge that was never even his

Sat there for a summer, never gave up a name

That's the kind of debt you can't repay with cash

Only way to settle it is loyalty that lasts

I keep the chain heavy, cold steel on my chest

Every link's a name of somebody who passed the test

Pre-Chorus

Some nights the weight get hard to hold

Some nights I think about the ones we lost to the cold

But every time it pulls me down, I stand up straight

'Cause this ain't just metal, this is what I carry, wait

Chorus

I carry the weight of the chain

Every link is a name, every name is a debt I maintain

Through the fire, through the rain

Same six, same steel, we ain't never gon' change

Weight of the chain, weight of the chain

Verse

DeAndre lost his job, we ain't let him lose his rent

Passed the envelope around, nobody asking where it went

That's the code we living by, unspoken, understood

Nobody keeping score 'cause the love is understood

Priya driving through the night just to bring the food

When Jamal was in the hospital, room 202

I remember every favor like a scar up on my skin

Every time somebody bled, we made sure they'd win

Uncle called it weakness, said the loyalty's a trap

Told him watch the chain hold weight when the whole world collapse

Pre-Chorus

Some nights the weight get hard to hold

Some nights I think about the ones we lost to the cold

But every time it pulls me down, I stand up straight

'Cause this ain't just metal, this is what I carry, wait

Chorus

I carry the weight of the chain

Every link is a name, every name is a debt I maintain

Through the fire, through the rain

Same six, same steel, we ain't never gon' change

Weight of the chain, weight of the chain

Bridge

Truth is some nights I want to set it down

Truth is the weight got heavier since Kev ain't around

But his name's still on the chain, right next to mine

So I carry double now, that's just how we designed

Ain't about the shine, it's about who stayed

It's about who showed up when the debt got made

Chorus

I carry the weight of the chain

Every link is a name, every name is a debt I maintain

Through the fire, through the rain

Same six, same steel, we ain't never gon' change

Weight of the chain, weight of the chain