Worth My Salt

This is the song that I was born to make My shine is something you thought was yours to take But by the end of this you're gonna give me my flowers We are not the same, I got the strongest of willpower A self-made man from a well-played hand But started with food stamps in Section 8 land Never met my biological or saw any pictures Only Father I knew was the one from the scriptures Every month a new crisis with old bills to pay off Lights or food on the table was the tradeoff Had my pick of where I got my ass kicked At home by alcoholics or at school by the cliques But that was before I learned to put up my dukes Went to war with them haters, hadda pull up my troops Blade under my tongue cuz coats were getting snatched But when it came to resilience that kid was unmatched Been through a lot But ain't coming to a halt Give it all I got Cuz I'm worth my salt My mother couldn't take it, so she left me stranded Dumped me on my aunt's doorstep and I was abandoned Family was a joke that wasn't funny My drunk ass uncle straight up pulled a gun on me And then life gave me one helluva bonus At the age of 15 ... I found myself homeless On top of it a two-time high school dropout Some would say I had every reason to cop out But quitting isn't in me ... "can't" doesn't exist So despite the obstacles I had to persist Hard to explain but when you're fighting to survive Something dies inside and something else comes alive An animal instinct kept me from danger Till by the Grace of God taken in by strangers On a different path and I'll never look back Now I'm living a dream while I'm making these stacks Been through a lot But ain't coming to a halt Give it all I got Cuz I'm worth my salt Thinking back on my past, that life feels like a blur Now I walk into rooms and the people call me "sir" Traveling the globe, I got some credentials I clean up nice, looking almost presidential Though my past was both humble and rough There's no doubt in my mind if I'm really good enough What didn't kill me just made me stronger I'm glad that my road to success took longer I love it when they ask why I choose to rap It's because I pulled myself up by the bootstraps And others deserve to know that they can do it too Stop letting the enemy skew your worldview I'm reaching for the summit in 2024 Don't test this bull though cuz you ain't no matador Can't tame my beast mode or even hurt me You may think I'm unworthy, but you will not outwork me Been through a lot But ain't coming to a halt Give it all I got Cuz I'm worth my salt