Intro
Yeah, still here
Water-stained ceiling, same view, different year
Still counting cracks
Verse
Rent's due Friday, radiator's coughing steam
Momma said I'm chasing paper like a losing dream
Uncle Ray said rappers starve, told me pick a trade
Now the same block watching every move I made
Sixteen years old, notebook under the mattress
Wrote sixty bars a night just to sharpen the accent
Corner store cashier used to short me on the change
Now she asking for a photo, funny how the tide range
I kept the receipts, every dollar, every doubt
Kept the rejection letters folded in a shoebox, no lie
Every "not right now" turned to fuel for the grind
Every closed door taught my knuckles how to climb
Cousin Trey said quit before the landlord catch you slippin
I said watch the cracks turn to blueprints I'm building
Ceiling never moved but my mind kept expanding
Still counting cracks while the whole block's understanding
Chorus
Still counting ceiling cracks, still holding on
Same room, same fight, but the fire ain't gone
They said I wouldn't make it past the county line
Now I'm still counting cracks, still counting mine
Verse
Studio time was a bus pass and a prayer
Booth made of blankets, egg cartons for the air
Producer named Solace, gave me beats on credit
Said "pay me when you eat," man I ain't forget it
Landlord taped a notice, thirty days to vacate
I turned that letter into sixteen bars I couldn't shake
Every skeptic became a character in my rhyme
Turned the static into rhythm, turned the doubt to time
Momma cried when the check finally cleared the light bill
Told her save the tears for when we leave this whole zip code still
Sister asked if fame gon' change the kid she grew up with
I said nah, same cracks, same room, same blueprint
Radio said my sound too rugged for the format
I said keep the polish, I'll just sharpen up the combat
Every "no" I got turned into ammunition
Still here, still building, still writing my own scripture
Chorus
Still counting ceiling cracks, still holding on
Same room, same fight, but the fire ain't gone
They said I wouldn't make it past the county line
Now I'm still counting cracks, still counting mine
Bridge
Funny thing about the doubt, it never really left
It just moved to the back seat while I drove myself
Uncle Ray came around, said he always believed
I just smiled, kept the cracks, kept the receipts
Some nights I still hear the echo of the "can't"
But it sounds like a beat now, sounds like a chant
Outro
Still here, same block, different sky
Ceiling cracked but the walls held tight
Count 'em up, every line, every scar
Still counting cracks, still who I are
