Glass Ceilings & Side Streets

[Verse 1]
Court date on a Tuesday
Cap and gown on layaway
Mama circlin’ late fees
On the back of a résumé
Block talk loud as the sirens
Storefront dressed up with violence
Liquor sign flicker on eyelids
Dreams marked “clearance” in silence
Teacher said “aim for the summit”
Boss said “watch how you run it”
Cop said “hands where I see ’em”
Judge read “facts” from a script, didn’t study us
Heard a kid practice his alibis
On the bus, seat two from the back
Said “I wasn’t there”
Before he even knew the facts
[Chorus]
We livin’ by headlines and half-truths
Glass ceilings, cracked shoes
Same story, new angle on bad news
They profit off panic, then blame you
I’m tryna write light in the side streets
Turn prayers into side deeds
If the system ain’t built for my heartbeat
Then watch me redraw the concrete (yeah)
[Verse 2]
She clock in, two kids, one oven
Cold world, three jobs, no husband
Newsfeed say “values and family”
Rent say “pay me or vanish”
Politician on stage with a handshake
Camera flash, then a scapegoat name
Point at her block like a crime tape
Never once spell “power” the right way
Homie got loans that outlived him
Cap tossed up, then a closed casket
They framed his face in a slideshow
Talked bright future in past tense
Preacher said “change starts inside”
Law said “stand in this line”
Ad said “buy what you ain’t”
I said “who benefits from your shame?”
[Chorus]
We livin’ by headlines and half-truths
Glass ceilings, cracked shoes
Same story, new angle on bad news
They profit off panic, then blame you
I’m tryna write light in the side streets
Turn prayers into side deeds
If the system ain’t built for my heartbeat
Then watch me redraw the concrete (hey)
[Bridge]
Who owns the frame on the picture?
Who edits pain from the scripture?
If every voice here’s a fixture
Why they only quote us as figures?
Hands up don’t heal old wounds
But hands linked might shift whole rooms
If they won’t carve out our seat soon
We’ll build our own table in full bloom (yeah)

rap, Moody cinematic hip-hop with male vocals; smoky jazz piano over dusty drums and deep bass. Verses stay intimate and close-mic’d, with subtle horn swells and vinyl crackle. Hooks widen with stacked vocals, lush chords, and a heavier low-end push. Dynamic drops into near a cappella lines before the beat slams back for impact., smooth, beats, jazz, deep, hip-hop, moody, dynamic