From the Hood, From the Stoop

Intro

Ayy, yuh, listen — uh-huh

Block cold but my blood hotter (yeah)

Run it back, run it back — heyi ya

Verse

We grew up where the sirens hum like lullabies, (yuh)

Mama prayed on the stoop while the rain baptized the sky, (ayy)

Doorlocked dreams, coughin' smoke at midnight, (skrrt)

Counted pennies for a future that was lookin' tight, right? (right)

Trade school of hard knocks, diploma was a hustle, (hustle)

Lunchlines of ambition, nobody passed the buckle, (nope)

Lost a cousin to the concrete, learned to talk in code, (code)

Stashed hope in a shoebox under floorboards of the road, (under)

Weeing on slow nights, plotting exits on cheap maps, (maps)

Folded up ambition in the back of busted backpacks, (back)

My crew tongue-tied but our fists knew the language, (language)

Saved laughs for better days, turned pain into advantage, (ayy)

Cops circling like vultures, prayers get louder, (louder)

Trash fires in the alley but we kept our heads prouder, (proud)

Made deals with patience, not the devil in a suit, (nah)

Learned loyalty counts more than a thousand glitterin' views, (count it)

We chase checks, not clout, still remember who fed us, (who fed us)

Raised on second chances; first tries hardly bless us, (uh)

Chorus

From the hood, from the stoop, we rose up — from the hood, from the stoop, we rose up

From the corner where the nights taught us to grow up — from the corner where the nights taught us to grow up

From the hood, from the stoop, we rose up — from the hood, from the stoop, we rose up

From the corner where the nights taught us to grow up — from the corner where the nights taught us to grow up (yeah)

Verse

Clock ticks like bets, every block got a scorecard, (score)

Had to flip small change into a dream, then guard hard, (guard)

I seen friends leave in caskets, promises in writing, (writing)

Shed tears on stoops that pussied me into fightin', (fightin')

Hood taught me math different — multiply your hustle, divide your time, (multiply)

Add up trust, subtract fake smiles, protect your grind, (protect)

We hustle with a song in our chest, knives in the cold, (cold)

Platinum plans scribbled on napkins, stories left untold, (untold)

I spit for the homies who can't spit no more, (yeah)

For the moms who wear the same coat from the store, (mom)

For the kids who find joy in a busted ball in the park, (park)

For the nights when the light only flickered in the dark, (light)

I move silent, heart loud, keep a ledger with the scars, (scars)

Count the wins like I count hours on the job at the yard, (hours)

They told me play it safe, I said safe won't make it, (safe)

I hit lanes, I hit targets, break the chain, then I take it, (take it)

We celebrate small victories with loud horns and cheap beer, (yuh)

Raise a toast to the ones ain't make it, keep 'em near here, (near)

Bridge

We been down, we been quiet, we been loud, (we been loud)

We been