About the song
A story for this song hasn’t been added yet.
Words from the artist’s archive
CONCRETE COURTS lyrics
Artist-supplied lyric sheet, matched by title. The sheet may differ from this released performance. Production notes and alternate promotional cuts are omitted.
Read the lyric sheet
Intro
Ninth floor Pork-n-Beans, window cracked, heat one-twelve Every jit got a crossover before a bank account
Verse 1
Posted 27th Ave, Opa-Locka dusk settling gold and grime Backboard zip-tied to a light pole, net made of grocery bags And1s two sizes big, hand-me-downs from cousin Trey Caught a fed case at nineteen, never saw the league His floater was church, wrist so soft the ball was praying Learned the game between gunshots and gospel, Carol City Sweat tracing my neck like foul marks on that court Played till streetlights told us who survived the day
Pre-chorus
They don't scout these courts, no cameras, no scores Every bucket cost something, every dribble was war
Chorus
Two-K couldn't render what I lived through Joystick can't feel concrete in my knees Whole county on my shoulders, 954 to the 305 Play the game, play it like your life the fee
Verse 2
Moms two shifts at Jackson Memorial, home smelling like iodine Section 8 voucher on corkboard like a jersey number Watched League Pass at the Cricket store, Hallandale Blvd Face to glass like a kid outside an arena he can't afford Lost Dee off Sistrunk, he was the real point guard Eyes like Penny, saw the floor 'cept the one he ain't see AAU trophy on his mama mantle, dust thick as grief Broward raised us on broken promises and oops to nowhere
Pre-chorus
They don't scout these courts, no cameras, no scores Every bucket stitched from a wound, every assist a lifeline
Chorus
Two-K couldn't render what I lived through Joystick can't feel concrete in my knees Whole county on my shoulders, 954 to the 305 Play the game, play it like your life the fee
Verse 3
In my whip outside Miramar Rec, engine off, crying Radio highlights, kid from Akron just got drafted That could've been Dee, nah, let me stop lying Wasn't good enough and that truth burns different Hustle from that court is the real position I play now Architect systems like guards read defenses, vision ain't ball The bean taught me: can't go through, go around
Bridge
Still hear the ball bouncing midnight on blacktop That sound just a heartbeat looking for a chest to live in
Chorus
Two-K couldn't render what I lived through Joystick can't feel concrete in my knees Whole county on my shoulders, 954 to the 305 Play the game, play it like your life the fee whole city watching
Verse 4
Crossed poverty like Iverson crossed Jordan, kept moving Built infrastructure while they built excuses, racks and dunks Storefront glass to owning screens running analytics In the paint and the blockchain, both need post moves South Florida weatherproof, hurricanes and heartbreak Every mint a free throw for the culture, automatic Broward bred, Miami fed, spread like a full-court press Jit from the bean went no-name to the league knowing
Verse 5
To the zoes shooting bent rims off 441 Jits in Liberty City running suicides on cracked pavement Game ain't what's on screen, it's what you build off-camera Crossover don't gotta be hardwood, could be code, a chorus County gave us scars and something they can't patch in updates Load that Two-K, hear this in The City, a real one wrote it Concrete courts never made SportsCenter, we still made the game
Outro
954 to the 305, game don't stop
Inside the recording
Ninth floor Pork-n-Beans, window cracked, heat one-twelve Every jit got a crossover before a bank account
They don't scout these courts, no cameras, no scores Every bucket cost something, every dribble was war
954 to the 305, game don't stop
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.