CHICAGO STAND UP!
HOOK (anthemic – 8 bars)
Welcome to Chicago (uh)
Beautiful skyline, but the hate run hollow (grrah)
Wind cut deep, better move like you know (woo)
Love got a price, and the pain gon’ follow
Welcome to Chicago (uh)
Dreams on ice, but the block don’t thaw though (nah)
Pray when you step, every breath feel borrowed
Still we rise — we gon’ see that tomorrow (woo!)
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VERSE 1 – “THE MAP” (16 bars)
This city a diamond inside of the dirt,
Every block got a choir that’s singing through hurt.
We walk through the valleys with angels alert,
In a land where the pretty can get you a hearse.
North Side glow—Uptown jazz with the lake breeze hummin’,
Lincoln Park zoo, but the wolves still comin’.
Lakeview flags where the Cubs keep drummin’,
Rogers Park poets paint pain in abundance.
West Side pride: Humboldt swing with the flags in the sky,
Garfield roots where the flowers still try.
Austin got heart, you can see in they eye,
Pilsen walls talk if you walkin’ on by.
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HOOK
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VERSE 2 – “THE SOUTH” (16 bars)
Bronzeville brass, history in our veins,
Black Wall Street dreams, gospel over pain.
Hyde Park thinkers with the world in they brain,
South Shore kings with the lake as they chain.
Englewood pray just to breathe in peace,
Every block build like a masterpiece.
Roseland stand on industrial ground,
Pullman taught hustle, no layin’ down.
East Side steel—South Chicago grind,
Factories closed but they left that spine.
South Loop shine with the towers and glass,
But the block still bleeds while the tourists pass.
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HOOK
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VERSE 3 – “DOWNTOWN & REFLECTION” (16 bars)
Magnificent Mile got the gold and the glare,
But the pain in the eyes never leave from there.
Navy Pier spin with the lights in the air,
While the cold wind whisper: “They don’t really care.”
Take our culture, remix our tone,
Sell our slang, but they leave us alone.
We birth the style that the world been shown,
But they fear that truth when it stand on its own.
Pray for the city, block by block,
This ain’t just rap, it’s a shepherd’s talk.
If you come through here, better move with grace,
‘Cause the Chi got beauty but a scarred-up face.
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BRIDGE (spoken drill, organ only, choir hums)
"Move wise.
This ain’t just a city — it’s a kingdom.
Respect it, and it’ll love you back."
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FINAL HOOK (choir added – 8 bars)
Welcome to Chicago (uh)
Beautiful skyline, but the hate run hollow (grrah)
Wind cut deep, better move like you know (woo)
Love got a price, and the pain gon’ follow
Welcome to Chicago (uh)
Dreams on ice, but the block don’t thaw though (nah)
Pray when you step, every breath feel borrowed
Still we rise — we gon’ see that tomorrow (woo!)
(Beat fades with choir chanting “Welcome… Welcome… to Chicago…")
KalCityMusic
