[Intro]
New kid on the floor, flexing at the mirror
Says "the old man's washed — I'd smoke him on a stage"
Hold my clipboard.
[Verse 1]
I compete. I've got the tan lines and the trophies in the truck
Twelve-week peaks, posing coaches, carbs cut down to the ounce
So hear me when I say it, 'cause I've earned the right to say it:
everything I build is seasonal
That man is geological
I peak for a weekend
He's been the peak for thirty years
[Chorus]
Stages are rented (rented)
Mornings are owned (owned)
I flex for the judges
He lifts for nobody — and still got judged
the best thing in the building
You'd smoke him onstage? Cute.
Stages are rented, junior
Mornings are owned
[Verse 2]
Eight years I've trained this floor and never gave that man a tip
You know what a certification teaches you? Enough
to recognize who's past one
Clients point across the gym — "can you make me THAT?"
And I tell 'em straight, 'cause lying's bad for business:
No. That's not a program. That's a life.
He's the best ad in the building and the worst comparison
I sell the map, kid
He walked the miles
[Bridge]
And yeah — my curls are ugly. I've heard it all.
That man never said a word about 'em. Eight years. Not one.
You know what that is? Manners from a higher floor.
He lets everybody be exactly what they are —
that's scarier than correction
That's a man with nothing to prove and nothing to fix in you
'cause you were never his project
The iron's his project
Been his project since before you had teeth
[Chorus]
Stages are rented (rented)
Mornings are owned (owned)
My physique's got a season
His has got a deed
You'd smoke him onstage? Maybe. For a weekend. At a weigh-in.
Then Monday comes. Seven thirty comes.
And stages are rented, junior —
Mornings are owned
[Outro]
Rerack your ego
Fix your depth
And if you ever watch him lift —
count the tempo, not the number
That's the whole certification
Right there