Concrete Corners

Corner store cat

yelling “you again, kid?”

Counting loose change

for a warm can of fizz

Scuffed-up Jays

on the chipped red curb

Mom’s last text

still saved, still hurts

Notebook stuffed

with my crooked blue lines

Trying to flip pain

into rent, into shine

[Chorus]

Concrete corners

raised me rough

Same three blocks

never gave enough

But I still dream

on this busted train

Turn my broke little story

to a household name (oh yeah)

[Chorus]

Concrete corners

raised me rough

Same three blocks

never gave enough

But I still dream

on this busted train

Turn my broke little story

to a household name (yeah, yeah)

OG on the stoop

speaks half in code

Tells me, “stack skills

more than you stack those notes”

Late-night shift

in a humming back room

Mop in one hand

in the other, my truth

Blinking street sign

through a greasy pane

I’m plotting my exit

in the other, my truth

Blinking street sign

through a greasy pane

I’m plotting my exit

at the end of this stain

[Chorus]

Concrete corners

raised me rough

Same three blocks

never gave enough

But I still dream

on this busted train

Turn my broke little story

to a household name (yeah, yeah)

[Chorus]

Concrete corners

raised me rough

Same three blocks

never gave enough

But I still dream

on this busted train

Turn my broke little story

to a household name (yeah, yeah)

[Bridge]

If I slip, I learn

If I fall, I write

I’ve been broke in the morning

felt rich at night

Got a past that’s loud

and a future that calls

From the cracks in the sidewalk

to these studio walls

[Chorus]

Concrete corners

raised me rough

Same three blocks

never gave enough

But I still dream

on this busted train

Turn my broke little story

to a household name (household name)

[Chorus]

Concrete corners

raised me rough

Same three blocks

never gave enough

But I still dream

on this busted train

Turn my broke little story

to a household name (yeah, yeah)

But I still dream

on this busted train

Turn my broke little story

to a household name (household name)