Never claimed

Pops never claimed me, said I wasn’t his

Turned his back on a fatherless kid

Watched from the bleachers but never came close

I was scoring touchdowns, he was ghost

Coach said, “Kid, you got a shot at the league”

But Pops pulled the plug like, “You ain’t leavin’ me”

College letters stackin’, dreams gettin’ loud

But he crushed ’em all just to keep me down

He ain’t teach me love, he taught me rage

Left me locked in my own cage

And every time I hit that field

I was runnin’ from the way he made me feel

⸻

I was never claimed, never held, never heard

Just a broken boy with a choked-up word

Mama turned her back, Pops said, “Nah”

So I made my name with these battle scars

You ain’t gotta love me, I love me now

And I made it out — look at me now

They gave me pain, I gave it flame

This is for the kid who was never claimed

⸻

Mama had a man, her ex, her pride

She let him in, I wish she never tried

He touched me young, stole what he could

And Mama… she just stood where she stood

I screamed without makin’ a sound

Wore my hurt like a chain, weighed me down

How you let a boy bleed in your home

And let a devil call your arms his own?

I ain’t forget, and I won’t forgive

But I learned how a wounded kid lives

I found God when the world stayed blind

He saw what they missed every time

⸻

I was never claimed, never held, never heard

Just a broken boy with a choked-up word

Mama turned her back, Pops said, “Nah”

So I made my name with these battle scars

You ain’t gotta love me, I love me now

And I made it out — look at me now

They gave me pain, I gave it flame

This is for the kid who was never claimed

⸻

Now I hold my babies close at night

Give ’em love like I never got right

I swore I’d never pass it down

So I’m breaking every chain in this battleground

Got a queen who stood through all the war

Got two little girls I’d die for

And they’ll never feel the hate I knew

I’m the dad I wish I always knew

⸻

I was never claimed, but I rose up still

Turned every scar into sharpened will

Pops, you lost the best of me

Mama, you missed the rest of me

But God saw gold in the ash and flame

He whispered, “Son, I know your name”

Now I walk with pride in my own lane

I’m no one’s shame — I’m my own name