Five Years on the Clock

[Verse 1]
Heart stopped
When that gavel hit wood
Five years
Judge said it like it’s good
Clock froze
Mom cryin’ in the back row
I was already movin’ slow
In this fucked up hustle they call legal
Cold cuffs
Steel bite on my wrist
DA smirk
Like I signed up for this
Public defender lookin’ at the floor
Whole life reduced to a case file
And a slam on the oak door
[Chorus]
Five years on the clock
I feel that hammer in my chest
Time draggin’ in this box
Can’t kill the rage, I kill the rest
This government runs real
But it never run fair for us
Real hard rap, that’s how I deal
I bleed truth out the dust
[Verse 2]
Strip search
Fluorescents in my face
New number
They delete my name from the place
CO talkin’ like a god in a blue shirt
Tellin’ me the rules
Like I ain’t learned ‘bout hurt
Cell small
Like the limits they set
But my mind wide
I ain’t finished yet
See the homies through glass, same story
Black ink on white, same story
Whole game rigged, same story
[Chorus]
Five years on the clock
I feel that hammer in my chest
Time draggin’ in this box
Can’t kill the rage, I kill the rest
This government runs real
But it never run fair for us
Real hard rap, that’s how I deal
I bleed truth out the dust
[Bridge]
Yeah they locked my body
They ain’t lock my pen (nah)
Bars on the window
Still bars in my head (woah)
If I make it out
I’m gon’ talk my shit
Turn every scar on my soul
To a concrete script
[Chorus]
Five years on the clock
I feel that hammer in my chest
Time draggin’ in this box
Can’t kill the rage, I kill the rest
This government runs real
But it never run fair for us
Real hard rap, that’s how I deal
I bleed truth out the dust

rap, Gritty, hard rap over dark, minimal trap drums and a grinding bassline. Verses pushed forward by tight hi-hats and clipped piano stabs; hook explodes with distorted 808s and stacked gang vocals. Vocals raw and close-mic’d, breaths and ad-libs left in for tension; final chorus rides out with subtle synth drones and heavy low-end for that cell-block echo., slow