Released: January 26, 2018

Featuring: Black Thought Joyner Lucas Royce da 5'9"

Songwriter: !llmind Black Thought Royce da 5'9" Joyner Lucas

Producer: !llmind

[Chorus: Samples]
"—I wrote my way—"
"—out
Wrote everything down far as I could see"
("Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it—")
"—I wrote my way out"

[Verse 1: Royce Da 5'9" + Royce Da 5'9" & sample]
Uh, they said I wouldn't amount to nothin'
Now I hold the head of he who could give the crown concussion
Fuck it, my new 'vice is stay off my old vices
Even though my new life is gon' cost me my old life
"I wrote my way out" of it, out of that hellhole
Shoes that don't even gotta be tied up, that's velcro
My freedom sittin' on the other side of that cell door
The other side of the track where I'm from like railroads
My daddy slapped the shit out my momma in front of me
Couldn't do shit about it at that time, I was young and weak
All I could do was write a hundred rhymes to a hundred beats
'Bout what I plan to do in spite of what was done to me
"I wrote my way out", out of the poorhouse
Accomplished my goals somehow, I never sold out
I'm a product of Motown and now I'm in the public eye
So if you ever seen me solve a problem before
Just know before I solved a problem
That the problem got wrote down

[Chorus: Samples]
"I wrote my way out
Wrote everything down far as I could see"
("Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it—")
"—I wrote my way out"

[Verse 2: Joyner Lucas]
Back to the store to get some bare essentials (Yeah)
Government cheese, a half a gallon milk, and a pair of pencils (Ugh)
I write my life inside this journal, hope they hear my info
And if you think this shit is dope then you should hear my intro
Yeah, I used to argue with my teachers and go back and forth (Yuh)
Told them one day I'd be famous and be back for more (Ufh)
Maybe blow all of my bread to make it back on tour (Yeah)
And smash all the rich hoes that I never had before
I ain't had no paper, I was plotting on them racks on racks (Woo)
Niggas sneaking in your crib with the black-on-black (Ugh)
Just rumblin' through your shit, like, "Lemme have all that"
'Cause I was lost, now I'm back on track
Look, I ain't never been shit and that's just me being real (Yeah)
I gotta call it how I see it, that's just me being trill (Ugh)
And I ain't trying to take advice, just take it easy and chill
But if I gotta pay the price, fuck it, then leave me the bill
Joyner (Yeah)

[Chorus: Samples]
"I wrote my way out
Wrote everything down far as I could see"
("Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it—")
"—picked up a pen and I wrote my way out!"

[Verse 3: Black Thought]
Yeah, I wrote words on a page, symbols on a surface
Graffiti on the wall where my ancestors were purchased
I contemplate when the day I'm due to inherit the earth is
I'm a subversive nation awaiting the birth of his own
Where shots get thrown and spots get blown
And the convicts roam on the streets of a conflict zone
It's not his home, adrenaline, testosterone
And pride keep the throne speaking in a toxic tone
I feel like I wrote my way up out of a burnin' building
To earning millions in this world of soldiers and civilians
I burn the oil every night as I return to brilliance
Under the gun, I'm under pressure, under surveillance
But I'm spitting the bigger picture, sending the benediction
Some people write and live what I'm pennin', this literature
Paper begins to rip while I'm illustrating the difference
And a fake-out and a way to break out
I Shawshank the great escape route, yeah

[Chorus: Samples]
"I wrote my way out"
"Oh, I was born in the eye of the storm
No loving arms to keep me warm
This hurricane in my brain is the burden I bear
I can do without, I'm here (I'm here)
'Cause I wrote my way out!"

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lin-Manuel Miranda is an award-winning American writer, composer, playwright, and actor. He created and starred in two hit musicals, In the Heights and Hamilton (2015), an epic adaptation of Ron Chernow’s biography of the American founding father. Miranda also co-wrote the music and lyrics for Disney’s Moana (2016). The film’s main theme, “How Far I’ll Go”, was nominated for the 2017 Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Personally, Miranda has received a Pulitzer Prize for Drama (Hamilton), three Tony Awards (Best Original Score for both ITH and Hamilton, Best Book of a Musical for Hamilton), two Grammys (Best Musical Theatre Album ITH, Hamilton), and an Emmy (Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for “Bigger”). He was the recipient of the 2015 MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant”. He has a star on the Puerto Rican Walk of Fame and will receive a Hollywood star in 2018.

Awards for musicals