[Intro]
Late nights
Same block
Same fight
Same thought
[Verse 1]
Can I make it out
Or should I just quit
Watching homies roll dice
Till they vanish in a split
Grandma said “boy, that street love switch”
Smile in your face
Then it drop you in a ditch
Gang banging, slangin’
Never fit my skin
I was writing in the margins
While they tried to pull me in
Headphones on, little notebook, that’s it
Only thing I ever really trusted was this pen
[Pre-Chorus]
Every siren sound
Got me wide awake
Every yellow tape line
Looked like my mistake
If I stay here
I know how it ends
If I bet on this verse
Maybe I save my friends
[Chorus]
Can I make it out or should I just quit
Heart on the line every time that I spit
Gang banging and slangin’ wasn’t my thang
Music was all, I was married to the slang of the slang
(yeah, yeah)
Can I make it out or should I just ride
Pray that this mic be my ticket, my guide
Gang banging and slangin’ wasn’t my thang
Music was all, rap the blood in my veins
[Verse 2]
Seen a shooter in a cap and gown
Two years later, on a T-shirt
Name spelled out
I was in the back room
Staring at a beat
Thinking either I explode
Or I end up in that street
Mama working double, eyes so red
She said “if you got a gift
Better use it till you dead”
So I skip that call
When they say “come slide”
I just loop that bar
Let the pain inside ride
[Bridge]
I ain’t built for a R.I.P. wall (nah)
I’m built for a sold-out hall (yeah)
I’m built for a stage and a mic stand
Not a chalk line curve by the white van
If they clown me now
Let ‘em laugh out loud
When the hook come in
Bet they sing it with the crowd
[Chorus]
Can I make it out or should I just quit
Heart on the line every time that I spit
Gang banging and slangin’ wasn’t my thang
Music was all, I was married to the slang of the slang
(oh woah)
Can I make it out or should I just ride
Pray that this mic be my ticket, my guide
Gang banging and slangin’ wasn’t my thang
Music was all, rap the blood in my veins