Renegade - Jay-Z

I had to hustle, my back to the wall, ash y knuckle

Pockets filled with a lotta lint, not a cent

Gotta vent, lotta innocent lives lost on the project bench

What you hollerin'? Gotta pay rent, bring dollars in

By the bodega, iron under my coat

Feelin' braver, durag wrappin' my waves up, pockets full of hope

Do not step to me, I'm awkward, I box lefty

An orphan my pops left me and often my momma wasn't home

Could not stress to me, I wasn't grown

'Specially on nights I brought somethin' home to quiet the stomach rumblings

My demeanor, thirty years my senior

My childhood didn't mean much, only raisin' green up

Raisin' my fingers to critics, raisin' my head to the sky

Big, I did it, mult i before I die

No lie, just know I chose my own fate

I drove by the fork in the road and went straight