Off The Block, On The Clock

[Intro]

Now it’s calls on the phone, new doors

Same hood, same name, but I want more (yeah)

[Verse 1]

I was up late, same block, same beef

Hand on my pride, other hand on grief

Mama said, "Son, that path too brief"

I was tryna turn rage into relief

Old friends got chalk on they page

New ink on my skin for the names

Old heads said calm all that flame

Old friends got chalk on they page

New ink on my skin for the names

Old heads said calm all that flame

But the hunger in my chest never changed

Now I’m up before the sun get born

Suit wrinkled but my heart transformed

Clock in, but I still feel torn

’Cause the past in my ear like a car horn (skrrt)

[Chorus]

Off the block, on the clock, I’m alive now (alive)

Same scars, same heart, different ride now (ride)

I left the corner but it stay in my mind

I ain’t what I was, I’m a new design

Off the block, on the clock, I’m in stride now (stride)

Turned the pain into flame I can’t hide now (nah)

They said we never gon’ change, but they blind

I ain’t what I was, I’m a new design (yeah, yeah)

[Verse 2]

Used to stash work in the busted bricks

Now I stash checks where the cufflinks sit

I remember cold nights, no heat, no mitts

Now the heat from my growth make the fear turn mist

Still hear dogs bark, still hear sirens

Still see blue lights cut through silence

Still got rage when I read them headlines

Still got ghosts at the edge of my bedtime

But I walk past that old park slow

See kids where the packs used to go

Lil man on the swing like, "Watch me, bro"

That’s the only kind of trap I wanna know (real)

[Chorus]

Off the block, on the clock, I’m alive now (alive)

Same scars, same heart, different ride now (different)

I left the corner but it stay in my mind

I ain’t what I was, I’m a new design

Off the block, on the clock, I’m in stride now (in stride)

Turned the pain into flame I can’t hide now (can’t hide)

They said we never gon’ change, but they blind

I ain’t what I was, I’m a new design (new design)

[Bridge]

If I make it out, then we all got hope (we do)

If I broke that rope, you can break that rope

If I found that door, you can kick that door

If I changed my route, you can change yours more

[Chorus]

Off the block, on the clock, I’m alive now (alive)

Same scars, same heart, different ride now (ride)

I left the corner but it stay in my mind

I ain’t what I was, I’m a new design

Off the block, on the clock, I’m in stride now (stride)

Turned the pain into flame I can’t hide now

They said we never gon’ change, but they blind

I ain’t what I was, I’m a new design (yeah)