"Die Before You Live" I was born with the war inside me. Didn’t need to learn how to sin— it came coded in my blood, stitched in my DNA like a curse I never asked for. Flawed from the gate. Crooked from the crib. Craving poison like it was peace. I didn’t become broken. I was broken. From the jump. From the womb. From the moment I opened my eyes and breathed in a world just as shattered as me. And I ran— God knows, I ran. Chased highs, chased money, chased lies that dressed up like love. Burned bridges, let people drown trying to keep my own head above water. I thought survival was victory. But really, I was just dying slow. Pain was my gospel. And I worshipped at the altar of escape. But escape is a liar. And every time I thought I found peace, it slipped through my fingers like smoke. And then came the death. Not of the body— but of everything I thought I was. The ego. The pride. The man I built in the image of sin. That man had to die so something holy could rise from the ruin. See, Jesus didn’t say, “Patch it up.” He said, “Pick up your cross.” “Crucify the flesh.” “Die before you live.” And I didn’t get it— not until the pain got so loud it sounded like truth. I thought it was killing me. But it was refining me. All that fire, all that suffering— it was breaking chains I didn’t even know I was dragging. My mind had to be reborn. Not just cleaned. Not just rinsed. Transformed. I had to bury that old mindset in a grave I dug with my own hands. Only then did I start breathing for real. Only then did I feel the weight lift and the light break through the cracks. Now I know: Redemption doesn’t come in comfort. It comes when you’re flat on your back with nothing left but truth. When grace finds you in the ashes of who you used to be and says, “Now—let’s build something better.” So here I am. Not perfect. Not fixed. But new. Made from scars. Held together by mercy. Driven by purpose. And if my pain can help one soul turn back before it’s too late— then let it bleed.

🎤 “Counted Out” They counted me out ‘fore I counted myself in Judged the book off the scars on my skin Said I’d lose before I learned how to win Now I walk in the room, feel the shift in the wind They was sleepin’ on a chosen one, now they wide awake Pressure built diamonds, I’m everything they couldn’t break Heart full of hunger, all I knew was elevate Now the same ones doubtin’ got that fear they can’t escape Life ain’t come sweet, I ain’t dine with a silver spoon Had to fight in the dark, learn to grow in a different room They labeled me a problem, but the problem wasn’t me It was people gettin’ paid who ain’t see what I could be Tried to cage my mind, said I move too different But I see what they don’t, I don’t need they vision ADHD, they say it like it’s somethin’ wrong Nah, I just see the world in a place where I belong I don’t read it out a book, I gotta touch it, feel it Every lesson that I learned, I went and lived it, breathed it I don’t fit they system, never asked to be accepted I was built for more, I ain’t wired to be corrected Now I’m everything they said I’d never turn into All the pain I carried turned into a better view Every scar speak truth, every loss was a lesson Now I’m standin’ on it all, ain’t no second guessin’ They counted me out… now I’m who they talk about Voice from the struggle, yeah I made it out the drought Chosen from the bottom, had to rise without a doubt Now I’m lookin’ at the sky screamin’ “this is what I’m ‘bout” 🔥 If you wanna push it even further: I can:

Mr. Beat The Odds Call me Mr. Beat the Odds ‘Cause life swung first, Tried to drop me where I stood. Tried to break me— Bend my spirit, crack my soul, Had me staring at the floor like “That’s as far as you go.” But I rose different. Had to stand on everything I am, Look pain in the face and say— “You don’t know who you’re dealing with.” I wasn’t built weak. I was made… By God. And trust me— It ain’t been easy. Depression knocking at my door at night, Devil in my ear like— “Stay down… You can’t win… You ain’t got nobody.” Yeah… I heard him. But I just smiled. ‘Cause what he don’t understand is— I never needed a crowd. Never needed applause. When the world went silent, God was still speaking. When nobody saw potential, He saw purpose. When I felt empty, He reminded me— “I made you in My image. You’re built for more than this.” So I fought. Through the dark. Through the doubt. Through the nights that felt endless. And every time I almost broke— He was in my corner, Whispering, “Get up… you’re not done.” So I did. Again. And again. And again. Now look at me. Still standing. Still swinging. Still chosen. Call me Mr. Beat the Odds— Not ‘cause it was easy… But ‘cause I never stayed down.

“Never Fold” I came in this world a wildfire spark, Too bright for the dark, too loud for their calm, They labeled me early, "too much to contain," So they bottled my soul with pills for the pain. A child with a heartbeat that rattled the cage, They tried to sedate what they couldn't engage. Didn’t know how to handle a spirit that roared, So they silenced my thunder, and I hit the floor. What started with medicine turned into chains, Thirty years running through hell in my veins. Federal cells and them cold metal bars, But I never let prison define who you are. I stayed who I was — a soldier, a man, Never took more than I gave with my hand. Respect in the streets, from suits to the block, ‘Cause my word is my bond and my soul never bought. I lost my old man to that cancerous thief, And my brother’s own war left him lost in the grief. Those six years that followed, I barely survived, My mind was a storm but my heart stayed alive. The world saw a ghost, but I knew I was here, God wasn’t through — He was drawing me near. And redemption, it came like a thief in the night, Snatched me from darkness, brought me to light. Now I stand unashamed of the path that I walked, Of the battles I fought, of the pain that I talked. I ain't no angel, my hands got their stains, But I kept it a hundred through loss and through chains. So to anyone listenin', don’t pity my scars, They map out the roads that I took to these stars. I’m a man of my word, and my word still means gold, In a world full of fakes, I refused to fold.

Glass Houses” In this cage of stone and steel, Where the air feels thick and the pain is real, A different kind of poison floods these halls, Crystal glass traded in bathroom stalls. More dope in here than out in the street, Ice so cold it’ll freeze your heartbeat. CO’s turn blind eyes, pockets get fed, While another soul’s strung out or dead. A hit for a book, a favor, a name, In a world where survival’s the only game. I seen men sell their future for a shard, Chasing a high while their hearts grow hard. The devil got a P.O. box in here, Letters written in blood, sealed with fear. And I was one of ‘em — lost in the smoke, Till God kicked my chest, and I finally woke. Whispers of death in the dead of night, But I saw beauty through flickering light. A bird on the wire, a cloud in the sky, Proof there's still life where most come to die. I put down the pipe, left it behind, Fought like a soldier for peace in my mind. It ain’t easy when the demons surround, When temptation’s the loudest familiar sound. But I walk through the yard with my head held high, A sober man under a crooked sky. Not perfect, not clean in the world’s sharp eyes, But redeemed by a God who hears convict cries. So yeah — this place is a graveyard dressed in gray, But I find beauty in the smallest way. A laugh, a letter, a beam of sun, And I know this fight ain't done till it's won.