Intro
Corner store shutter, three a.m. hum
Young Ledger keep the count, never carry the sum wrong
This the book of the blocks, every name got a page
Loyalty the only interest that don't age
Verse
Copper pipes and porch lights, Cedar and Vine
Nine of us split one umbrella in the rain that time
Marcus had the map, I had the matches lit
Torch through the alley when the streetlamp quit
Ledger in my hoodie pocket, corners dog-eared
Every debt in pencil so the truth stay clear
Kept a tally on the wall behind the water heater
Who fed who when the fridge was empty, who the reader
Taught the young ones letters when the schools gave up
Passed the same coat down through three winters, still holds up
I don't forget who rode when the sirens came
Whose mama's rent got paid without a name
Block got torn down, they put condos where we slept
Still got the crew group chat, still keep the debt
Not a dollar debt, a "you got me" debt
Ledger of lost blocks, but the loyalty ain't left
Chorus
I keep a ledger of lost blocks
Every name that stood when the whole world knocked
Column one is love, column two is trust
Balance never zero long as we still us
Verse
Deja ran numbers, kept the crew paid straight
Tariq drove the getaway from every bad break
Lost him to a sickness, not a bullet, not a badge
Funeral in July, whole block wore his colors
Wrote his name in the front page, ink still fresh
Every entry after that I sign with his address
Crew scattered — Detroit, Charlotte, one upstate
Still send a line each Sunday just to check the weight
"You good?" three letters carry a whole ledger's worth
Loyalty compound interest, paid it since our birth
I could've flipped the block, sold the story sweet
Kept the receipts instead, kept the truth complete
See these plaques on my wall ain't for the flexing
They for the ones who showed when the streets got testing
Every column balanced by a hand that held mine
Ledger of lost blocks — but we still on time
Chorus
I keep a ledger of lost blocks
Every name that stood when the whole world knocked
Column one is love, column two is trust
Balance never zero long as we still us
Bridge
Some entries closed for good, some still open wide
New kid on the corner, I write him inside
Not blood, but he blood now, that's how the ledger reads
Loyalty the only currency that plants the seed
Ain't about the come-up, it's about who came
Stood in the same doorway, called each other's name
Outro
Close the book tonight, but the count still true
Every block I lost, I still owe it to
Young Ledger, steady hand, never miscounts
This the only wealth that really, truly counts