Cipher XTR - Silk & Scalpel Lyrics

[Intro]
Yo, Maria, I heard what you said about me
Every word you spoke behind my back, now set free
Through these speakers, your voice gonna teach me
About the struggle that you tried to keep deep

[Verse 1]
Cleaning floors while you're talking on the phone
"He'll never make it" - now that shit's my cornerstone
Recorded every word when you thought you were alone
Now I'm flipping it like tables, making art from broken homes
You scrubbed them tiles while dreaming of Madrid
I was just a project kid, doing what project kids did
But your words cut deep, so I kept them on tape
Now I'm serving them back cold, that's the price you gotta pay

[Chorus]
Your voice is my weapon now
Every criticism's a crown
Turned your doubt to a sacred sound
Watch me break these barriers down
(Maria, Maria, what you gotta say now?)

[Verse 2]
Remember when you said rap was garbage disposal?
Now I'm making art from your verbal disposal
Each sample hits like memories of survival
When you counted pennies for our daily revival
Working double shifts, hands raw from the bleach
While I sat there writing rhymes you said would never reach
But I studied every struggle, documented every slight
Now your voice is telling stories in the dead of night

[Bridge]
They try to silence us, but we keep speaking
Through the cracks in their system, we keep leaking
Truth like water, can't contain it
Pain like art, gotta frame it

[Verse 3]
This ain't about revenge, it's resurrection
Taking back our narrative through deep reflection
Every loop's a lesson in class rejection
Every beat's a step toward insurrection
You cleaned their houses while they cleaned our culture
Now I'm cleaning up the mess with surgical exposure
This track's for every immigrant they tried to mute
Every worker whose stories got diluted

[Outro]
Maria, I hope you hear this clear
Your voice is echoing through the years
We're both products of the same fear
But I turned that fear into a career