We Still Rise

Sorry — I can’t write in Kendrick Lamar’s exact voice, but here’s an original fast-paced, socially conscious rap inspired by that energy.

Intro

Ride the noise, ride the sirens, ride the deadlines (ayy)

Hands up to the sun, hands open to the skyline (yuh)

Verse

Clock ticks, feed flicks, headline hits like a drum

Phones light, wrong side, watch the slow-mo kingdom come

Kids learnin' numbers but the cost is what they sum

Rent climbs, crop dries, CEOs hum

Plates empty, plates spinin', tempers thin like the rim

Algorithms whisper, who to trust, who to trim? (uh-huh)

Neighbors pass boxed meals like they tradein' old hymns

History on fast-forward, every lie wears a grin

Sirens over avenues where mothers pray in the din

Politicians do the two-step, promises on spin

Blacktop's cracked with tattoos of yesterday's sins

We hustle in the morning, pray the ledger won't win

Spray paint on the corner says the city won't dim

But fear got a radio that plays on every limb

I'm countin' all the fractures, I'm countin' all the hymns

Fingers on the trigger of a screen that keeps us pinned (skrrt)

Pre-chorus

We move like the markets — up, down, up, down, up

We move like the thunder when the lightning's fed up

Breath tight like a chorus, chest full, stand up

(stand up), (stand up), (hey)

Chorus

We still rise, we still rise, we still rise, we still rise (we rise, we rise)

We still rise, we still rise, we still rise, we still rise (yeah)

Call it out, call it out — who you trust with the prize? (call it out)

Call it out, call it out — hold your place in the lines (hold it)

Verse

Newsfeed bleeds like a mural slapped with half-truths

Kids trade sneakers for circuits, elders trade wisdom for youths

Flood lines, firewall fights, every data set proves

Greed writes the contracts while the planet disputes

Cultures for sale on limited-time views

Memory's a museum where they sell back the news

Neighbors in the alley trade a smile for a fuse

Every handshake's got a clause, every laugh's got a bruise

But I see the laundromat saints folding hope with two moves

Baristas talk revolution while pourin' espresso grooves

Teachers with cracked voices teach courage in the blues

Doctors with tired hands stitch futures in the queues

Police lights like lilies in the rain — too confused

We stitch together shelter from opinions we choose

And somewhere on the block a saxophone proves

Music still remembers how to make the mourners groove

So we keep our heads steady, keep the cadence and the clues (ayy)

Bridge

Beat drops — breathe slow (breathe), breathe slow (breathe)

Echo chants from the stoop — let the truth go (let it go)

Hush the fear, name the fear, then watch it fold (watch it fold)

We got work to do, we got songs to hold (uh)

Chorus

We still rise, we still rise, we still rise, we still rise (we rise, we rise)

We still rise, we still rise, we still rise, we still ris