Concrete Scripture

Intro

(vinyl crackle)

Mm-hmm

Verse 1

Concrete scripture carved on the stoop steps

Where the fiends lean heavy and the truth rests

I learned the alphabet from a broken bodega sign

Every letter laced with a lesson I had to refine

Pain on the pavement wrote my first crooked line

Now I flip those scars into rhymes that redefine

Hook

(DJ scratch)

From the block to the booth I recite the scars

Turn the hurt into words that we nod to hard

From the block to the booth I read the scripture plain

Every scar on the curb is a stanza in my name

Verse 2

Momma's hands folded over cold radiators

Chalk outlines faded like the summer I debated

Whether dreaming was a luxury or just a liability

But the pen in my pocket drowned out the hostility

Subway cars rattled my heartbeat to a cadence

Whole borough hummed like a hollow basement

Hook

(DJ scratch)

From the block to the booth I recite the scars

Turn the hurt into words that we nod to hard

From the block to the booth I read the scripture plain

Every scar on the curb is a stanza in my name

Verse 3

Now the stitches of my youth hold the seams together

I turned the ache to ink that never fades in weather

Preacher on the corner swore I was bound for prison

I wrote my sermon down and put the block to listen

Every baptism was a verse I had to earn

Concrete scripture's the only gospel that returned

Outro

(jazz loop fades)

Mm-hmm

Mm