[Verse 1] I knew a kid who got raised by the pain, No food in the fridge, just a roach in the drain. Streetlights flicker while he scribbled in a book, Mom cryin’ in the kitchen, pops never even looked.

He was 16, mad with a cause, Heart full of trauma, never learned no laws. Only rule was survive: keep ya head on a swivel, Sleepin’ with the devil, playin’ life like a fiddle.

He had dreams, yeah, of stages and tours, But the dealers on the corner had the open doors. So he danced with the needle, whispered lies to the pipe, Said, “I’ll quit tomorrow,” but tomorrow wasn’t right.

[Hook] Ayo, the game don’t sleep, and the river runs cold, It’ll swallow your soul while you’re flexin’ in gold. Keep your circle tight, watch the ones who creep, Ain’t no lifeguards out here, and the river runs deep.

[Verse 2] He had bars, venomous lines in his teeth, But his homies sold him out while he bled on the beat. He spit truth in a booth with a fifth of Jack, But the labels want glitter, he just gave ‘em facts.

Tried to warn the youth, said the pills ain’t healing, But they wanted TikTok, he was speakin’ to the ceiling. Got jumped for his kicks, stitched up in the night, Still wrote a verse in the ER under surgical light.

Never needed gimmicks, he was forged in the flame, While they chasing likes, he was carving a name. Said, “You can’t break me, I was born in the storm,” They threw him to the wolves, he came back transformed.

[Hook] Ayo, the game don’t sleep, and the river runs cold, It’ll swallow your soul while you’re flexin’ in gold. Keep your circle tight, watch the ones who creep, Ain’t no lifeguards out here, and the river runs deep.

[Bridge] This world don’t owe you nothin’ but pain. You want peace? Earn it. You want life? Fight for it. ‘Cause they’ll drag your name through the dirt, Then sell the soil.

[Verse 3] Now he back in the booth, spit flames from his lung, Every bar like a bullet from a rusted gun. He seen both sides: the dealer and the dream, The killer and the priest, the silence and the scream.

Now he mentors kids with a mic in his hand, Tells ‘em, “You ain’t defined by the cards you been slammed.” Still haunted by the mirror from a decade ago, Where he saw his own corpse in a puddle below.

Said, “Nah, not today, I ain’t dyin’ this cheap.” So he stood, wrote his will on a page that week. Now every line’s a lifeline, beat is his confession, Ink in his veins, every rhyme a resurrection.

[Final Hook] Yeah, the streets still whisper, but he don’t lose sleep, ‘Cause he walked through the fire and the river runs deep. No flex, no fraud, just scars and belief, He turned pain into purpose, and he earned his peace.

About: Inspired by a motivational speaker I met when I was in high school.

Copyright 2025 Danilo Stern-Sapad