

Prompt / Lyrics
[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
3:45
No
4/21/2026