Pain Into Fuel

[Verse 1] I used to feed the wolves my ribs and call it growing up Now every scar on my tongue still tastes like loading up Old me was bold in the cold, but broke at the core Smile on the surface, inside I was waging war Mama said, "Boy, don't let that hurt turn permanent" I heard her, then I earned the burn, then I learned from it Back on that block where the clocks ticked like verdicts I wore my worst years like a coat, too heavy, too nervous Bad luck in my backbone, black ink, half-truths Laugh while I crash through the past like "What you gon' do?" I was my own worst case, my own brick wall Every lie I told myself came back to hit hard Now I can name that pain, can aim that flame Turn every shame stain into a blade, same game If the devil got receipts, he can keep that stack I already paid in full, now I want my life back [Pre-Chorus] Hands up, heart cracked Still I lean into the impact Every bruise got a map Every loss made me half mad Then I breathe, then I rise Then I stare through the smoke in my eyes [Chorus] I turn pain into fuel Pain into fuel I turn pain into fuel Watch me go I turn pain into fuel Pain into fuel I turn pain into fuel I don't fold [Verse 2] Now I move with the ghost of the kid I was He still flinches at the flashes, still needs the love I got beef with the mirror, we both know the truth He says, "You made a mess," I say, "Yeah, but I made it through" Came up where the dreamers get chewed by the day shift Where hope got teeth and a grin made of faceless I was chasing fast cash, bad math, bad habits Then I watched my own future split like glass in a backhand So I cut all the dead weight, red tape, no slack Cold heart, but the pulse still taps in the track Every punchline lands like a brick through a skylight Dark jokes, hard truths, I don't hide from the fight If I fell, I fell forward, learned how to land loud Now the pain got a purpose and the purpose got a crown You can hear that thunder in my chest when I speak I built a bridge out of wreckage and I walk it like heat [Bridge] [Half-time drop] Tell the kid in the dark I'm here Tell the shame in my name disappear I was lost in the static, lost in the smoke Now I cut through the fear when I open my throat (Watch me) I don't break, I bend Then I come back mean again [Verse 3] Final lap, I snap the mask in the firelight Past tried to drag me back, I grabbed it by the jawline No more "maybe later," I made the pain work Turned a curse to a sermon, then I made the frame hurt Every setback set me up for the next swing Every dead end taught me how to build new wings So I spit like a drumline, sharp with the venom But the lesson in the wreckage is the strength in the sentence I remember empty pockets, cheap pride, long nights Now I see gold in the scars, I see grace in the fight And if the old me calls, I let him know the score You can live in the wound, I’m living for what's more I came up out the rubble with a monstrous calm Dark cloud, bright blade, and a fistful of songs So when the whole room shakes and the bass gets bold That's the sound of my damage turning into gold [Chorus] I turn pain into fuel Pain into fuel I turn pain into fuel Watch me go I turn pain into fuel Pain into fuel I turn pain into fuel I don't fold