Concrete Codes

[Verse 1]
Keys on my hip
Coffee gone cold
Steel door breathes
Like it’s growing old
Barcode buzz
Red light
Green
Faces I know
From every bad dream
Tattooed fingers
Wrapped round bars
Eyes like knives
Counting scars
They shout my name
Like a curse
Like a dare
I stare straight through
But I feel that stare
[Chorus]
Behind these concrete walls
I walk the line
I walk it all
I hear the screams
The hate
The threats
The codes they speak
The quiet debts
Behind these concrete walls
I’m just a shadow in the hall
I keep the keys
I feel the stress
I hold the peace in this hard mess (yeah)
[Verse 2]
Radio whispers
“Unit to tier”
Every short word
Can flip to fear
Kites in the cracks
Messages slid
“Watch your back”
From a lifer kid
Silence hits harder
Than all their rage
Whole block holding
The same blank page
I lock one door
Another mind breaks
Guard my heart
Till the morning shakes
[Chorus]
Behind these concrete walls
I walk the line
I walk it all
I hear the screams
The hate
The threats
The codes they speak
The quiet debts
Behind these concrete walls
I’m just a shadow in the hall
I keep the keys
I feel the stress
I hold the peace in this hard mess
[Bridge]
I go home late
But I don’t leave
Metal and echo
Stuck in my sleeve
Pray they change
Pray I don’t
Think I’m tough
Till I know I won’t (yeah)
[Chorus]
Behind these concrete walls
I walk the line
I walk it all
I hear the screams
The hate
The threats
The codes they speak
The quiet debts
Behind these concrete walls
Name on a badge
That’s all
Between their hell and my small life
I’m just a man in fluorescent light

Gritty minor-key hip-hop with male vocals; moody piano loop over sparse, knocking drums and a pulsing sub-bass. Verses stay tight and close-mic’d, almost whispered in spots; hook widens with doubled vocals, distant gang-style shouts, and a metallic reverb that echoes like a cell block. Subtle siren swells and clanking textures ride the back of the beat to build tension, then drop for a stark, breathless final chorus.