[Intro]
[low vocal register]Yeah
Lil Jonn
From the stairwell to the skyline
Listen up[/low vocal register]
[Verse 1]
Used to hear my own echo
Concrete floor, one spoon, one plate
Hand-me-down coat in the winter
Whole fridge lookin’ like fate came late
No mates round, just the hallway shadows
Old paint peel, you can smell that rain
Mama said "son, keep your head up high"
Eyes red, I was married to pain
Then Squeak pulled up with a ripped backpack
Coins in a jar, said "we flip that fast"
Buster had lines, not the ones you sniff
He was scribblin’ plans on the back of his math
Dangerous Dan had scars on his knuckles
Said "I bled so you boys don’t fold"
Put his arm round me at the bus stop
"Make the block rich, not cold"
[Chorus]
Legacy on the block, that’s bloodline talk
Came from the dust, now the whole road watch
Used to have none, now we built this strong
Lil Jonn with the fam, yeah we live in these songs
Legacy on the block, we don’t ever run
Turned all that hurt to a kingdom won
All of that pain where the roots grew long
Lil Squeak, Lil Buster, Dan—live on
[Verse 2]
We ain’t start with a blueprint
Just late-night calls and a cracked screen glow
Squeak count notes in a shoebox
Buster lock doors when the temp get low
I was in the booth, heart on the table
Telling that truth they ain’t wanna replay
Dan by the door, eyes on the angle
Said "I see threats ‘fore they move this way"
First show, twenty people in a basement
Mic kept cuttin’ but the lines stayed raw
Walked off stage to a laugh from the mandem
Next year sold out to the ones who saw
Now the kids round here say "Jonn made it"
But they never saw nights when the room went black
Power cut, candles, plans in the middle
Four chairs, one dream, can’t crack
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
[whispered vocals]From the lifts to the top floor
We were built for the long war
From the rain on the glass pane
To our names on the landlord’s door[/whispered vocals]
Now the youths in the block see hope
When they look in my tired eyes
Tell ‘em "hold your rage like rope
Climb up, don’t let it slice"
[Chorus]