Old ways

Intro

Yeah — check the ledger, check the ledger

Old ghosts still cashin’ checks at the corner store

Chorus

Stuck to my old ways, concrete, can’t wash off the stain

Money changed the address but it never changed the frame

Stuck to my old ways, rose to a throne but kept the pain

Crown heavy on the head, but the streets still whisper my name

Verse 1

From stoop nights to flight nights, I kept my old blue jeans

Learned to bend but not break — discipline behind the scenes

Paper stacked in the vault, but the instincts stay the same

Respect is taught in corners where they taught me how to play the game

Mama prayed for better, papa prayed for steady hands

I turned hustle into habit, turned small plans into plans

Champagne on the table but I still count the cost

Victory’s expensive when you remember what you lost

You can teach a man the ledger, you can show him how to buy

But you can’t teach him how to sleep when the city’s got him tied

So I move like I earned it, but my mirror’s got a past

Old ways like tire tracks — deep, they’re built to last

Chorus

Stuck to my old ways, concrete, can’t wash off the stain

Money changed the address but it never changed the frame

Stuck to my old ways, rose to a throne but kept the pain

Crown heavy on the head, but the streets still whisper my name

Verse 2

Loyalty’s a language — I only speak what I been taught

Never snitched, never folded, never pawned my last thought

Trust is a currency I spend on chosen few

Gave the world a smile and kept a fist for the crew

Love tried to soften edges, time tried to rearrange

But habits are like blueprints — hard to flip the page

I’m generous with wisdom, stingy with my heart

Built a palace from the pavement, but don’t confuse the parts

I still call the old block home when the spotlight die down

Where the lessons echo loud and the reasons all sound

They say growth means changing — yeah, I learned that play

But growth don’t mean forgettin’ where you got your name

Bridge

You can polish the shoes, put a suit on the frame

But the soul remembers hunger, remembers where it came

Old ways ain’t a prison, sometimes they’re a spine

Keep your head from bending when the weather redesigns

Chorus (lifted)

Stuck to my old ways, concrete, can’t wash off the stain

Money changed the address but it never changed the frame

Stuck to my old ways, rose to a throne but kept the pain

Crown heavy on the head, but the streets still whisper my name

Verse 3 (short, reflective)

I don’t preach perfection — I preach the math I used

Balance books and broken hearts, knowin’ what I choose

If loyalty’s a habit, then this habit keeps me whole

If survival is a rhythm, then I’ll move to that drumroll

Still learnin’ how to soften, still learnin’ how to bend

But I ain’t sellin’ the blueprint that raised me to ascend

Outro

porque music

See you when I see you

Otro