[Intro — Call & Response / Choir Build]
(Low, rhythmic, choir humming underneath)
Mmmmh… yeah…
They said I needed papers to prove my worth
But everything I know, I learned from this earth
(congregation whisper building)
Say yeah… say yeah…
Aye aye aye aye…
[Verse 1 — Afrobeat cadence, spoken-sung swagger]
Couldn’t afford the fees, but the dream was mine
Pre-enrolled in real life — straight down the line
Graduated with honors — honesty and grit
Wrote my own syllabus, I never quit
No lecture hall, no campus, no ivory tower
God gave me the rain and I planted the flower
Every scar is a credit, every wound is a grade
This degree I carry — can’t be bought or be paid
(choir echo) — Can’t be bought — can’t be paid!
[Pre-Chorus — Dancehall bounce, rising energy]
Who need diploma when you got the scars, eh?
Life is the greatest teacher, she leaves her marks
Rise up, rise up — tell dem who you are
From the bottom of the valley straight to the stars
(choir) — Straight to the starrrs!
[Chorus — Full Afrobeat Choir Explosion]
University of Life — I stand proud and free! (free!)
Electric lessons written in my history (history!)
No mortar, no walls — just my story (story!)
Honest and bold — walking in my glory (glory!)
Aye! — Ehn! — Aye! — Ehn!
University of Life — they can’t take it from me
I earned every lesson, now I move in victory
Outside the classroom, outside the system
God built the curriculum — I had to listen!
[Verse 2 — Dancehall patois flavoring, storytelling pulse]
Many said I couldn’t — tell me I would fall
But every time they counted me out, I answered the call
In the corridors of pain, I earned my degree
Living smart, doing right, just being free-ee
Dialysis machine couldn’t stop the vision
Civil war couldn’t kill what was God’s decision
From Liberia’s red clay to Minnesota snow
Every single station was a place I had to grow
(choir call) — Had to grow! Had to grow!
[Pre-Chorus — Repeat with more heat]
Who need diploma when you got the scars, eh?
Life is the greatest teacher, she leaves her marks
Rise up, rise up — tell dem who you are
From the valley of the shadow straight to the stars!
(choir) — Straight to the starrrs!
*[Chorus — Full reprise]
University of Life — I stand proud and free! (free!)
Electric lessons written in my history (history!)
No mortar, no walls — just my story (story!)
Honest and bold — walking in my glory (glory!)
Aye! — Ehn! — Aye! — Ehn!
[Bridge — Outside Church Moment / Testimony Drop]
(Music drops to a sparse Afrobeat groove — choir breathes)
I graduated from the school of hard knocks
Eleven years on machines, still I wouldn’t stop
Every fall left a mark — every mark left gold
In the school of life, this story must be told
(spoken, low and powerful)
They gave me six months… I gave them decades
They said it was over… I said it was just the beginning
(choir swells)
Ohhhhh — his story is glory!
Ohhhhh — the pain became power!
Ohhhhh — the te
NelDuo