Cut the Lights

first off cut the lights, city dim, its 1:09

walkin' through a warzone wit a crooked spine

eyes behind my back like im readin' signs

lil bro said he saw death in the dotted lines

this block aint nothin' but chalk stains and prayer hands

niggas play judge and jury wit a bare hand

seen a pastor get clapped for his wristband

crucifix caught the light as he hit land

i was thirteen, mask on, hoodie black

stomach empty, but my pockets hold a fully pack

school lunch never fed me like the trap did

used to rob bikes, now im robbin' for the backend

store clerk screamed when we entered through the glass

he ai’t know i only came for the bag

but bro wilded out, shot him in the calf

leave no witness, he said, now we runnin' through the past

every step? flashbacks, every breath rewind

my shadow movin' strange like its got a separate mind

heard sirens hit the block, i aint blink twice

sprinted through the alleyway, duckin' the streetlights

my thoughts turn cold as december got

ran through a shortcut body dropped where the fences rot

a stray bullet hit him, thats my man, i aint even lie

tryna scream but my soul got no alibi

they caught me hours later in a trash lot

gun to my dome like talk or get shell shocked

i aint fold, but the look in my mamas eye

said everything i was dead even bein' alive

seventeen now, rap game my only exit

pen like a switchblade, bars be dissectin'

court date still hangin' like a necklace

lawyer said im lucky, judge showed me some benevolence

but karma she dance with a slow beat

each line i write feels like blood in a nosebleed

visualizers say speak truth, but it dont see

that my truth got graves buried where the soul sleep

i aint proud of the kid that i used to be

but he still breathin' in bars, still usin' me

these lines aint rap, they confessions

tryna build heaven outta hell through sessions

no lesson taught me better than that cold cell

where the silence scream louder than a dope sale

i met god in the flicker of a cop light

he aint speak words just showed me my whole life