[Intro]
Used to count caskets
Now I count blessings
Same hands
Same streets, different lessons
[Verse 1]
Got that call, phone dropped on the tile
Sister gone, whole world went quiet
Mama in the kitchen, staring at the sink
Tear in her eye, but it never even blinked
Brother hit the block, never made it back home
Name on a shirt, face on a stone
Father in a bed with a tube in his arm
Whispered "be the man," then he slipped into the dark
I was thirteen, stuck between rage and a prayer
Holes in my shoes, but I learned not to tear
Every funeral line
Became fuel in my spine
[Chorus]
I got ghosts in my rearview, pain in my drive
Every name that I lost put flame in my stride
Yeah the drama try to drown me, pull me under that tide
But I hustle like I owe ’em, every day I survive
I got ghosts in my rearview, watching me rise
Turned the hurt into hunger, you can see in my eyes
If I break then they vanish, so I sharpen my mind
I got ghosts in my rearview
Pushing me from behind
[Verse 2]
Late rent, landlord knocking on the door
Counting every coin on the cold kitchen floor
Rice in the pot, stretch it three damn nights
Still hit school clean, still gotta get right
Clocked in nights, stock shelves till dawn
Hands smell like dust, but the dream stayed strong
Tired of the pity, tired of the talks
So I turned every setback to steps I could walk
Used to curse at the sky, asking "why me?"
Now it's "try me," backbone like concrete
For my sister, every test that I ace
For my brother, every risk that I take
For my father, every fear that I face
I ain't running from the pressure
I'm embracing the weight
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
[low vocal register]
They ain't here but they hear me
Every time that I breathe through the fear, they near me
Every overtime hour that I grind, they cheer me
Every doubt in my mind, I bury it yearly
[spoken]
You can break my heart
You won't break my purpose
All this drama in my life
Only made me more focused
[Chorus]