CONCRETE PSALMS
CONCRETE PSALMS
Before The Wound Had A Name
Before The Wound Had A Name
Embedded Files
THE WORLD THAT SHAPED HIM
THE WORLD THAT SHAPED HIM
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Concrete Psalms is the first concept album by Bishop Crooks, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and all production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis. The twelve-track album draws on experiences Francis either lived through or witnessed during his childhood, exploring poverty, friendship, racial suspicion, social pressure, family and faith. It is dedicated to his mother and was released on her birthday.
The album’s title and religious framework originate in Francis’ childhood experience of attending church every Sunday with his mother, older brother and younger sister. Throughout the writing, the language of scripture, commandments, prophets and prayer becomes a way of interpreting the lessons learned outside church. Pavement, playgrounds, shops and family homes form the settings in which those lessons unfold.
“Concrete Gospel” establishes this relationship between religious instruction and neighbourhood experience. Its street commandments describe the pressure to hide hunger, control emotion, judge intentions and guard against disappointment. These rules introduce the album’s central tension: the behaviours that help a child navigate difficult circumstances can also teach that child to conceal what they need.
The following songs develop this tension through specific experiences. “Suspect” examines the loss of ease that comes with being watched and distrusted, while “Borrowed Sneakers” connects clothing and appearance with the desire to move through the world without financial hardship defining every encounter. “Blacktop Lessons” presents the playground as a place where children learn social hierarchy, emotional restraint and the consequences of appearing vulnerable.
Friendship gives the album another dimension. “The Squad Outside” portrays the pleasure of being together, making limited money stretch and creating memorable evenings through music and humour. Its warmth gives the neighbourhood an identity beyond hardship, preserving the companionship and shared enjoyment within Francis’ childhood experience.
The phrase “Corner Store Prophets” has a specific origin in Francis’ friendships with Aqib and Rayan, also known as Anno. The three shared an inside joke about people who acted as though they knew everything, describing them as prophets. That joke became the basis for a song about the confident advice offered by older neighbourhood figures and the contradictions beneath their authority. The narrator learns to recognise insight without accepting every warning or opinion as truth.
“Silent Prayers” and “Letters” explore ways of communicating feelings that are difficult to express aloud. Prayer offers a private language for fear and uncertainty, while writing creates space for gratitude, connection and questions about the future. The church influence remains present, but spiritual expression also takes place at bus stops, in quiet rooms and on the page.
“Public Enemy Number None” expands the scrutiny explored in “Suspect” into a broader account of labels applied to young Black males. “Before the Wound” considers how distress can shape behaviour before a person has words for it. The title track then gathers the album’s biblical imagery into an extended interpretation of everyday struggle, connecting stories of endurance, rejection, mercy and renewal with the narrator’s surroundings.
Closing track “Nobody’s Baby” is observational rather than a direct account of Francis’ own childhood. It follows a neglected child whose repeated experiences of being let down gradually change his expectations of love and care. Ending with this portrait extends the album’s attention beyond its central narrator and asks listeners to consider the child behind behaviour that adults later condemn.
Concrete Psalms was conceived as the beginning of a connected body of work. While writing it, Francis was already considering “conflicted beauty” as the direction for his next project. References to nerves and the sublime in parts of the album anticipate that development, which ultimately became the title and thematic direction of his second concept album, The Nervous Sublime.
The production design supports the album’s settings through organ, Rhodes, piano, dusty drums and environmental details such as footsteps, school bells, traffic and shop ambience. Spoken introductions and outros connect individual narratives, while recurring religious imagery gives the collection a shared language.
As a debut concept album, Concrete Psalms establishes Francis’ approach to songwriting through lived experience, observation, character portraits and connections between songs. Its dedication brings the project back to the person whose weekly churchgoing helped shape its language: his mother. The album preserves both the difficult lessons of childhood and the faith, humour and relationships through which those years were experienced.
THE TWELVE PSALMS
THE TWELVE PSALMS
Every song tells a story, Every story has a blueprint
Every song tells a story, Every story has a blueprint
01. Concrete Gospel
01. Concrete Gospel
Track Bio
Track Bio
“Concrete Gospel” is the opening track on Bishop Crooks AI concept album Concrete Psalms, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and the production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis.
The song introduces the album’s central idea: a neighbourhood can become a child’s first source of instruction, teaching rules about survival before formal religious teachings are understood. Its opening contrasts doctrine and scripture with the lessons of the block, presenting hunger, unpaid rent and closed doors as forces that shape a young person’s understanding of the world.
The verses organise these lessons into eight commandments. They include concealing financial hardship, keeping the voice steady under pressure, interpreting other people’s intentions and protecting the heart from disappointment. Later commandments address self-presentation, reputation, the difference between wealth and genuine value, and the use of music to express pain. Together, they form an informal code learned through observation and necessity.
Religious imagery runs throughout the song. Streetlights become halos, scars become hymns and pavement becomes a place of preaching. These comparisons give everyday experience the language of testimony while exposing the emotional cost of the rules being taught. Instructions such as hiding need, laughing through hurt and dreaming privately suggest that survival can depend on making vulnerability difficult to see.
The hook’s distinction between knowing grace and knowing “how not to fall” establishes a tension that continues across the album. The narrator has learned to endure before learning whether he can safely trust, ask for help or show weakness. The interlude makes this tension explicit by reducing the neighbourhood’s expectations to a series of prohibitions.
The final verse previews several subjects developed elsewhere on Concrete Psalms, including clothing as armour, sidewalk friendship, corner-store wisdom and silent prayer. The closing instruction to “survive long enough to testify” gives the album a narrative purpose: the experiences that taught the narrator to remain silent will eventually become the material he speaks about.
Lyrics: Concrete Gospel
Lyrics: Concrete Gospel
[Intro]
Before I had a doctrine…
The block had commandments
Before I knew scripture…
The sidewalk had verses
No choir
No pulpit
Just rent due, pride bruised
Storefront lights, locked doors
And hunger teaching sermons
Before breakfast
[Opening Refrain]
Concrete gospel, block commandments
Every cracked curb had a standard
Every front step, every closed door
Taught me what the world don’t show
Concrete gospel, no stained glass
Just streetlights glowing through the overcast
Before I knew what faith could be
The pavement preached survival to me
[Verse 1]
Commandment one: don’t let the hunger show
Stand tall when the house lights low
Smile clean when the pockets got slow
Make broke look calm when the bill winds blow
Commandment two: don’t let your voice shake
Even when the whole room feel fake
Even when pride got too much weight
Even when hope show up late
Commandment three: learn the language of eyes
Who mean truth, who speak disguise
Who clap loud when your dream first rise
Then count your fall like a sweet surprise
Commandment four: keep your heart on guard
Love come soft, but the world hit hard
Trust got taxed like a credit card
Easy to spend, but it leave you scarred
[Hook]
Concrete gospel, I was raised by signs
Streetlight halos over warning lines
No choir, no preacher, no perfect calm
Just hard-earned hymns in these concrete psalms
Concrete gospel, let the pavement speak
Every scar got rhythm, every soul got reach
If the block had commandments, I learned them all
Before I knew grace, I knew how not to fall
[Interlude]
Thou shalt not look weak
Thou shalt not need too loud
Thou shalt laugh when it hurts
Thou shalt dream in private
Until the dream gets strong enough
To survive witnesses
[Verse 2]
Commandment five: make a throne from less
Fresh white tee over quiet distress
Turn “not yet” into “watch me next”
Keep a prayer tucked low where the chest stay pressed
Commandment six: know the price of names
Some get love, some get flames
Some get twisted in the mouth of shame
Some get buried where the gossip came
Commandment seven: don’t mistake gold for light
Some things shine just to hide the night
Some kings fall from a borrowed height
Some crowns crack when the grip too tight
Commandment eight: if the pain don’t speak
Put the beat underneath, let the silence leak
Turn a hard week into a hard sixteen
Make the whole block hear what the wound might mean
[Hook]
Concrete gospel, I was raised by signs
Streetlight halos over warning lines
No choir, no preacher, no perfect calm
Just hard-earned hymns in these concrete psalms
Concrete gospel, let the pavement speak
Every scar got rhythm, every soul got reach
If the block had commandments, I learned them all
Before I knew grace, I knew how not to fall
[Final Verse]
This the opening page where the curb turn holy
Where the proud move loud and the hurt move slowly
Where the broke talk rich so the shame don’t know me
Where the nights get cold but the bassline hold me
This where boys find armor in a fresh pair clean
Where the squad find joy in a sidewalk scene
Where silent prayers rise where the streetlights lean
Where every small life got a heavyweight dream
This where prophets preach from the corner store
Where locked doors teach what the heart keep for
Where blacktop lessons leave marks on the floor
Where nobody’s baby still ask for more
Before the wound had language, before the pressure had form
Before the rhyme found shelter, before the calm got torn
There was concrete gospel, first law, first song
The block taught survival I carried it on
[Final Hook]
Concrete gospel, I was raised by signs
Streetlight halos over warning lines
No choir, no preacher, no perfect calm
Just hard-earned hymns in these concrete psalms
Concrete gospel, let the pavement speak
Every scar got rhythm, every soul got reach
If the block had commandments, I learned them all
Before I knew grace, I knew how not to fall
[Outro]
This ain’t the whole story
This just where the book opens
Concrete under the feet
Pressure in the chest
Prayer in the breath
And the first commandment…
Survive long enough
To testify
02. Suspect
02. Suspect
Track Bio
Track Bio
“Suspect” is the second track on Bishop Crooks AI concept album Concrete Psalms, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and the production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis.
The song examines how repeated suspicion affects a child’s sense of innocence and belonging. Its opening establishes that other people have already assigned the narrator a description before he has developed a voice of his own. Across three verses, the story follows him from a childhood visit to a shop through school and into adolescence, showing how scrutiny becomes part of his everyday behaviour.
The first verse places a nine-year-old in a store, keeping his palms visible and holding his receipt while still feeling watched. Small actions become sources of anxiety: even bending down to tie a shoelace seems open to misinterpretation. The security mirror, intended to observe the shop, becomes an image of distorted perception, making an ordinary child feel as though his presence requires a defence.
The second verse moves into the classroom. The narrator describes how both speaking and remaining quiet can attract negative attention. The contrast between other children having “moods” and him receiving “patterns” suggests that his behaviour is treated as evidence of a fixed character rather than a temporary feeling. He responds by controlling his voice, handwriting, expression and anger.
By the third verse, this self-monitoring has become a routine performed before leaving home. The line about rehearsing innocence captures the song’s central conflict: innocence itself offers little reassurance when the narrator expects others to doubt it. He prepares his appearance and manner in the hope of preventing a threatening interpretation.
The repeated hook mirrors the accumulation of these experiences. Each statement begins before an action has occurred, emphasising that judgment precedes conduct. The outro completes the song’s reversal: although the narrator never stole from the shop, something was taken from him—the ability to enter a room without preparing to justify himself.
Within Concrete Psalms, “Suspect” turns the survival rules introduced in “Concrete Gospel” into a specific childhood experience. It also establishes themes of external judgment and learned guardedness that return in “Public Enemy Number None.”
Lyrics: Suspect
Lyrics: Suspect
[Intro]
Before I had a record…
They had a description
Before I had a voice…
They had a reason not to trust it
I wasn’t hiding nothing
I was just learning
How much of myself
The world had already accused
Yeah
Suspect
[Verse 1]
I was nine in the store with my palms in view
Candy by the counter, clerk watching every move
Security mirror bent the whole aisle cruel
Made a child feel guilty just for wanting something new
Backpack on my shoulder, receipt in my fist
Still felt followed like the air had a list
Shoelace loose, but I feared if I bent
They’d say my little hands had suspicious intent
I counted every step between the shelves and the door
Learned the floor creaks different when they think you’re poor
Learned a smile gets smaller when the room keeps score
Learned innocence don’t fit where they expect war
Outside, I checked my pockets though I knew they were clean
Couldn’t name what it was, but I knew what it mean
First time shame wore somebody else’s respect
I walked home feeling like a suspect
[Hook]
Suspect
Before I touched a thing, they checked my hands
Before I said a word, they judged my stance
Before I made a move, they moved their plans
Suspect
I learned to smile small, learned to walk light
Learned every quiet room had eyes
I wasn’t hiding nothing just trying to survive
[Verse 2]
In class, my laugh sounded louder than the rest
Same joke, same room, but mine got pressed
If I leaned back once, they called it disrespect
If I stayed too quiet, they watched what came next
They read my face like a warning on glass
Made my growing pains look older than class
Other kids got moods, I got patterns attached
They saw thunder in a boy who was trying not to crack
I learned to fold my anger under neat handwriting
Keep my voice low, keep my eyes less lightning
Swallow whole sentences, make my answers inviting
Be harmless on purpose, make my breathing polite
That kind of training don’t leave when the bell rings
It follows your shadow, teaches your nerves things
You don’t become guarded by accident
You get watched into shape by being called suspect
[Hook]
Suspect
Before I touched a thing, they checked my hands
Before I said a word, they judged my stance
Before I made a move, they moved their plans
Suspect
I learned to smile small, learned to walk light
Learned every quiet room had eyes
I wasn’t hiding nothing just trying to survive
[Verse 3]
By sixteen, I could read a room through my skin
Who got tense when I walked in
Who clutched bags, who locked doors thin
Who said “I’m not racist” before I asked them
I knew the elevator silence, the lobby glance
The shopkeeper pause, the neighbor’s stance
The way people make space like fear got hands
Then act confused when you notice their plans
So I rehearsed innocence before I left home
Checked my tone, checked my walk, checked my phone
Checked my face in reflections like, “Don’t look grown”
A child shouldn’t have to make peace look known
That’s how suspicion becomes part of your breath
How a soft heart learns to survive by depth
I wasn’t born dangerous, I was watched till kept
In a world that called me everything but blessed
[Final Hook]
Suspect
Before I touched a thing, they checked my hands
Before I said a word, they judged my stance
Before I made a move, they moved their plans
Suspect
I learned to smile small, learned to walk light
Learned every quiet room had eyes
I wasn’t hiding nothing just trying to survive
Suspect
Before my story, they had already guessed
Before my future, they had already checked
I was just a child trying not to look like a threat
[Outro]
Funny thing is…
I never stole nothing from that store
But something still got taken
The part of me
That used to walk in rooms
Without preparing a defence
03. Borrowed Sneakers
03. Borrowed Sneakers
Track Bio
Track Bio
“Borrowed Sneakers” is the third track on Bishop Crooks AI concept album Concrete Psalms, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and the production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis.
The song explores the relationship between poverty, appearance and a child’s desire for dignity. Its central object is a borrowed pair of sneakers: worn, oversized and carrying another person’s history. Through this ordinary possession, the lyrics examine how financial hardship becomes visible in social settings and how a young person attempts to control what others see.
The first verse builds the story through physical details. Tissue fills the toes, the laces do not match and the loose sole makes a sound the narrator fears others will notice. His efforts to clean, tie and walk carefully in the shoes show the attention he gives to concealing circumstances he cannot change. The classroom line-up turns a routine school moment into an occasion for embarrassment.
In the second verse, footwear becomes a form of social identification. Shoes function as “passports and proof,” giving their wearers access to recognition before anyone knows them personally. Cleaning borrowed white sneakers with an old toothbrush becomes an attempt to remove the visible signs of struggle. The mother’s reassurance that clothing does not define a person exists alongside the child’s experience of a world that often judges appearance first.
The hook connects borrowed footwear with borrowed confidence. The narrator tries to carry himself as though he possesses the security his clothing cannot provide. His repeated insistence that he was not chasing leather identifies the deeper need beneath the desire for new shoes: to be seen without pity, ridicule or an immediate judgment about poverty.
The final verse introduces a more compassionate understanding of the child. The sneakers were a stand-in for acceptance, and their condition never determined his worth. The movement from borrowed shoes toward steps that become his own suggests a growing ability to separate identity from possessions.
Within Concrete Psalms, the song develops the opening track’s instruction to conceal hunger and make hardship appear manageable. Its closing wish to enter a room before his struggle does condenses the album’s recurring concern with being recognised as a person before being reduced to circumstances.
Lyrics: Borrowed Sneakers
Lyrics: Borrowed Sneakers
[Intro]
Funny what make a child feel poor
Not the empty fridge
Not the bills on the table
Sometimes it’s looking down
And realizing your feet
Got somebody else’s story on them
Yeah
Borrowed sneakers
[Hook]
Borrowed sneakers, walking like the world was mine
Creased-up dreams with the pain tucked inside
Couldn’t afford pride, so I wore disguise
Trying to look rich where the hunger had eyes
Borrowed sneakers, soles thin, heart loud
Same old shame with a fresh-laced smile
I wasn’t chasing leather, I was chasing being seen
Trying to stand tall in somebody else’s dream
[Verse 1]
I had borrowed sneakers with the tongue worn loose
Cousin’s old pair, two sizes past truth
Tissue in the toe just to make ’em feel mine
Sole flapped soft like it whispered each time
I dragged my feet slow so the crease wouldn’t speak
Tried to keep them clean through a rain-heavy street
Kids came fresh with the box-smell heat
I laughed with my head down, studying their feet
Teacher said line up, I prayed nobody stared
Scuff on the side like a secret declared
Laces mismatched, but I tied them with care
Walked like a king with a throne made of air
Poverty got loud in the smallest things
The bend of a toe, the shine of a string
I wasn’t chasing leather; I was chasing a face
That didn’t look sorry when I walked in a place
[Hook]
Borrowed sneakers, walking like the world was mine
Creased-up dreams with the pain tucked inside
Couldn’t afford pride, so I wore disguise
Trying to look rich where the hunger had eyes
Borrowed sneakers, soles thin, heart loud
Same old shame with a fresh-laced smile
I wasn’t chasing leather, I was chasing being seen
Trying to stand tall in somebody else’s dream
[Verse 2]
By thirteen, shoes became passports and proof
Hallway turned runway with jokes in the roof
Everybody measured what your family couldn’t do
Fresh kicks spoke first when they ain’t know you
I learned to stand still like the logo was armor
Learned envy had a voice that could sound like hunger
Watched boys trade labels for a little more thunder
Watched shame turn slick when it hid undercover
I cleaned borrowed white with an old toothbrush
Like I could scrub struggle off before the bus
Mama said clothes don’t make you, but the world don’t hush
When the room sees the stain before it sees your trust
I wanted my walk to announce I’m enough
Wanted price tags to lie where the years got rough
Couldn’t afford pride, so I wore disguise
Fresh-laced smile with the hunger in my eyes
[Hook]
Borrowed sneakers, walking like the world was mine
Creased-up dreams with the pain tucked inside
Couldn’t afford pride, so I wore disguise
Trying to look rich where the hunger had eyes
Borrowed sneakers, soles thin, heart loud
Same old shame with a fresh-laced smile
I wasn’t chasing leather, I was chasing being seen
Trying to stand tall in somebody else’s dream
[Verse 3]
Now I know the sneaker was never the dream
It was dignity dressed in leather and seams
It was wanting the mirror to soften its scene
Wanting no one to translate broke when they looked at me
Every borrowed pair carried someone else’s miles
Someone else’s summer, someone else’s child
I was learning identity could be styled
When your name feels small and your shame gets loud
Some boys chase jewels, some boys chase cars
I chased clean steps through a world full of scars
Tried to outrun rooms where the laughter hit hard
Tried to look untouched by a life that left marks
If I shine now, it’s not to stunt on the past
It’s to tell that little boy every scuff didn’t last
He was never less whole for the shoes on his feet
He was walking through fire in borrowed self-belief
[Final Hook]
Borrowed sneakers, walking like the world was mine
Creased-up dreams with the pain tucked inside
Couldn’t afford pride, so I wore disguise
Trying to look rich where the hunger had eyes
Borrowed sneakers, soles thin, heart loud
Same old shame with a fresh-laced smile
I wasn’t chasing leather, I was chasing being seen
Trying to stand tall in somebody else’s dream
Borrowed sneakers, but the steps became mine
Scuffed-up soul with a still-bright shine
If you ever felt small where the whole world gleamed
You know what it means to borrow a dream
[Outro]
I used to think I wanted new sneakers
Really…
I just wanted to walk into a room
Without my struggle
Getting there first
04. Blacktop Lessons
04. Blacktop Lessons
Track Bio
Track Bio
“Blacktop Lessons” is the fourth track on Bishop Crooks AI concept album Concrete Psalms, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and the production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis.
The song presents the school playground as an early training ground for the codes of pride, status and emotional concealment that appear throughout the album. Its opening places playground borders before street corners, suggesting that children begin learning how to defend their place in a group long before those behaviours are associated with adult life.
The first verse describes a social hierarchy built through jokes, rumours, dares and physical intimidation. Chain-link shadows divide the ground while the children divide themselves into roles. A haircut or moment of fear can become a public judgment, and the approval given to a fight teaches a lesson that a teacher’s whistle cannot easily reverse. The narrator learns to calculate eye contact and laughter as carefully as any formal school subject.
The second verse examines how this environment shapes affection and belonging. A crush becomes something to conceal after public embarrassment, while cafeteria seating determines who is included and who is exposed. Being picked last and pretending it was a choice illustrates how children learn to disguise rejection before they can name its effect.
The hook describes children “playing grown,” connecting their harshness with insecurity and imitation. Its repeated warning about appearing soft captures the pressure to turn vulnerability into an object of defence. The playground’s familiar markings become the setting for lessons about emotional risk.
The final verse broadens the perspective without excusing cruelty. The children are shown passing hurt among themselves because they lack a better way to understand or express it. The image of pain being passed like a ball connects their games with the circulation of fear and humiliation.
Within Concrete Psalms, “Blacktop Lessons” continues the school-based experiences of “Borrowed Sneakers” and explains another source of the narrator’s developing armour. The outro’s observation that some lessons remain after the bell distinguishes the official school day from the emotional education that continues beyond it.
Lyrics: Blacktop Lessons
Lyrics: Blacktop Lessons
[Intro]
Before the block had corners…
the playground had borders.
Before the streets taught codes…
the blacktop taught posture.
How to laugh it off.
How to stand still.
How to bleed quiet.
Yeah.
Blacktop lessons.
[Hook]
Blacktop lessons, bell rang, pride woke
Lunch tray drums where the small boys spoke
Laugh too soft, they gon’ test your name
Cry one time, they gon’ dress your shame
Blacktop lessons, chalk dust, cracked lines
Kids playing grown with their scared little minds
Before the block taught us weapons and codes
The playground showed us how a soft heart folds
[Verse 1]
Breaktime hit the yard like a bell for the brave
Everybody found a role, every joke found a grave
Chain-link shadows cut squares on the ground
Where the loud got crowned and the quiet got found
Lunchbox legends with a bruise in their laugh
Trading little rumors like jewels in the class
One bad haircut, whole week turned glass
Kids can make a courtroom out a moment that pass
I saw boys get baptized by a dare and a shove
First fight won applause, first fear lost love
Teacher blew whistles like that settled enough
But the real rules lived where the asphalt got rough
I learned smile timing, learned eye-contact math
How long to stare back, how quick to let it pass
Childhood had games, but the games had teeth
Blacktop under my feet, pride under siege
[Hook]
Blacktop lessons, bell rang, pride woke
Lunch tray drums where the small boys spoke
Laugh too soft, they gon’ test your name
Cry one time, they gon’ dress your shame
Blacktop lessons, chalk dust, cracked lines
Kids playing grown with their scared little minds
Before the block taught us weapons and codes
The playground showed us how a soft heart folds
[Verse 2]
Girls by the fence with their names in the air
Boys acting colder when they knew they cared
One little crush turned a whole face red
Then the whole yard laughed, so the feeling played dead
That’s where love first learned how to hide
Behind rude jokes and a too-loud pride
You could like somebody, but you couldn’t let it show
So hearts moved strange where the young egos grow
Cafeteria tables had a kingdom in rows
Who sat with who, who got left exposed
Who had new stories, who wore old clothes
Who got picked last and pretended they chose
I watched soft kids sharpen just to stay in the frame
Watched kind turn quiet when the crowd knew their name
Nobody called it trauma, nobody called it stress
We called it growing up and carried the mess
[Hook]
Blacktop lessons, bell rang, pride woke
Lunch tray drums where the small boys spoke
Laugh too soft, they gon’ test your name
Cry one time, they gon’ dress your shame
Blacktop lessons, chalk dust, cracked lines
Kids playing grown with their scared little minds
Before the block taught us weapons and codes
The playground showed us how a soft heart folds
[Verse 3]
Now I see the yard like a map of the mind
Hopscotch squares where we stepped out of line
Basketball rims with the rust on the spine
Every missed shot felt like judgment divine
We were little kings with cardboard crowns
Little scared souls making war out of sounds
Nobody had language for the hurt going round
So we passed it like a ball till it knocked somebody down
I don’t blame the children, they was learning from pain
Repeating grown storms in a miniature frame
Every cruel little joke had a house in its name
Every fist had a fear it was trying to explain
That’s where I learned rhythm in the pressure and breath
How to turn humiliation into quiet respect
Before the wound spoke, before the world got cold
The blacktop wrote lessons on the bottom of my soul
[Final Hook]
Blacktop lessons, bell rang, pride woke
Lunch tray drums where the small boys spoke
Laugh too soft, they gon’ test your name
Cry one time, they gon’ dress your shame
Blacktop lessons, chalk dust, cracked lines
Kids playing grown with their scared little minds
Before the block taught us weapons and codes
The playground showed us how a soft heart folds
Blacktop lessons, we was young, we was loud
Small hearts hiding in a hard little crowd
Before the streets knew the names we chose
The playground taught us how the armor gets sewn
[Outro]
Funny thing is…
we thought we was just playing.
But some games
teach you where to hide your heart.
Some jokes
stay longer than the laughter.
And some lessons
don’t leave
when the bell rings.
05. The Squad Outside
05. The Squad Outside
Track Bio
Track Bio
“The Squad Outside” is the fifth track on Bishop Crooks AI concept album Concrete Psalms, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and the production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis.
The song portrays neighbourhood friendship as a source of pleasure, confidence and temporary relief from financial pressure. Its opening describes the block as a stage without tickets or formal lighting, establishing a world where music, clothing, humour and companionship create their own sense of occasion.
The first verse introduces the group through individual gestures: someone boasts about a car he has not driven, another makes his own beat, and a shared joke interrupts everybody’s performance of confidence. The arrival of women changes the group’s posture and tone, adding humour to the scene. These details make the gathering feel social and spontaneous rather than simply symbolic.
Money remains limited, but the characters make what they have feel significant. Sharing one soda and stretching two dollars illustrate the practical intimacy beneath the exaggerated talk. Religious imagery appears in the comparison of the drink to communion, giving an everyday act of sharing a place within the album’s broader language of fellowship.
The hook holds poverty and enjoyment together. Fresh haircuts, white T-shirts, cheap cologne and bass provide a temporary feeling of abundance. The line about pain becoming quiet for a few hours acknowledges that the problems have not disappeared; the gathering changes how heavily they are felt.
The final verse looks back on the laughter as a form of mutual support. The group does not describe its time together in therapeutic language, but jokes, music and familiar company create space in which people can feel lighter. Small achievements become stories worth celebrating, and ordinary evenings acquire lasting emotional value.
Within Concrete Psalms, “The Squad Outside” provides an important expression of joy between songs about shame, suspicion and survival. It gives the neighbourhood a fuller identity by showing the affection and creativity present within it. The closing claim that the block “sounded expensive” brings the song’s central idea together: shared experience can create a feeling of richness that exceeds the money available.
Lyrics: The Squad Outside
Lyrics: The Squad Outside
[Intro]
Every block got a stage.
No tickets.
No lights.
Just bass in the trunk,
sun on the curb,
and everybody acting famous for free.
Whole squad outside.
[Verse 1]
Car doors thumped like drums on the curbside pavement
Sunset gold on the block, made broke look famous
Fresh fade, clean tee, fake chain stainless
Everybody had a pose, every pose had fragrance
One dude bragging ’bout wheels he ain’t drove yet
One dude rapping with a beat in his throat, bet
One dude quiet, but his grin had a whole set
One joke hit, then the whole squad broke left
Girls walked by, and the volume got lower
Shoulders got square, voices came slower
Somebody said, “That’s you,” knowing nobody know her
Everybody became smooth when the summer breeze showed up
We passed one soda like communion in plastic
Made two dollars stretch cinematic
No throne, no throne room, no spotlight guide
Just the whole world glowing with the squad outside
[Hook]
The squad outside, sun low, bassline sliding
Fresh-cut halos, white tees shining
Broke as a promise, but the talk stayed royal
Sidewalk stage with the whole block loyal
The squad outside, laughs hit like snares
Cheap cologne floating through the summer air
No big money, but the whole mood priceless
For a few good hours, even pain moved quiet
[Verse 2]
Speakers in the trunk made the concrete loosen
Old soul sample with the new-school movement
Somebody freestyled, half wild, half useless
Still got crowned like the boy had produced it
Dice in the palm made a rhythm out of chance
Hands tapped pockets, shoes slid dance
Story got taller every time it advanced
Yesterday normal, today felt enhanced
Barber-shop sharp with the mirror still talking
Curbside kings with a broke-man’s doctrine
Laughter kept jumping, the bass kept walking
Whole block bright when the squad got clocking
This was joy with a scuff on the border
Pride in a cup with a little tap water
Pressure stayed home when the groove took a ride
For a minute, we was stars with the squad outside
[Hook]
The squad outside, sun low, bassline sliding
Fresh-cut halos, white tees shining
Broke as a promise, but the talk stayed royal
Sidewalk stage with the whole block loyal
The squad outside, laughs hit like snares
Cheap cologne floating through the summer air
No big money, but the whole mood priceless
For a few good hours, even pain moved quiet
[Verse 3]
Now I hear that laughter like a loop in the vinyl
Every punchline spun with a little survival
We ain’t call it healing, we called it arrival
Same curb daily like the block had a title
No therapist couch, just a joke and a speaker
No silver spoon, just a beat getting sweeter
No fame yet, just a dream in the ether
Everybody played legend when the day got weaker
Small talk turned myth, small wins turned massive
Fresh air felt rich when the rent looked tragic
Style made magic out of almost-had-it
Whole crew shining off a borrowed little habit
Concrete psalms ain’t all tears and grieving
Sometimes it’s bass when the block still breathing
Sometimes God smiles through the joy we provide
And lets heaven lean low with the squad outside
[Final Hook]
The squad outside, sun low, bassline sliding
Fresh-cut halos, white tees shining
Broke as a promise, but the talk stayed royal
Sidewalk stage with the whole block loyal
The squad outside, laughs hit like snares
Cheap cologne floating through the summer air
No big money, but the whole mood priceless
For a few good hours, even pain moved quiet
The squad outside, whole world felt wider
No crowns, no cars, just the soul on fire
If hurt had a door, then joy had a ride
And we found that ride with the squad outside
[Outro]
We ain’t have much.
But listen…
the bass made us taller.
The jokes made us lighter.
The sun made us golden.
And for one little evening,
the whole block
sounded expensive.
06. Corner Store Prophets
06. Corner Store Prophets
Track Bio
Track Bio
“Corner Store Prophets” is the sixth track on Bishop Crooks AI concept album Concrete Psalms, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and the production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis.
The song examines the informal education offered by older neighbourhood men and the difficulty of separating useful advice from unresolved pain. The corner store becomes a classroom, with milk crates serving as thrones and conversations taking the form of sermons. Younger listeners approach these men as sources of knowledge about a world they are still learning to navigate.
The first verse establishes a mixture of authority and contradiction. The speakers offer rules about friendship, fear and money, but their own behaviour complicates those claims. One man delivers a confident observation before borrowing money and leaving. Such moments reveal how certainty can be performed even when a person’s life remains unstable.
The second verse gives the older men individual identities. Ray’s account of freedom remains shaped by imprisonment. Duke keeps a Bible alongside lottery slips, placing patience and the hope of an immediate financial escape in the same pocket. Slim speaks about relationships through the language of disappointment while carrying photographs of children with whom he appears disconnected.
These portraits explain the phrase “cracked wisdom.” The men have knowledge gained through experience, but the lessons they offer also contain fear, bitterness and restrictive ideas about masculinity. Their authority comes partly from having survived, although survival does not make every conclusion reliable.
The final verse follows the narrator’s growing ability to distinguish between advice that protects him and advice that could limit his emotional life. Instructions never to cry, trust or love are reconsidered through the hurt visible in the men giving them. He retains gratitude for what they taught him while refusing complete obedience to their worldview.
Within Concrete Psalms, the song develops the idea that the neighbourhood teaches its own commandments. Its closing statement listening without bowing to everything heard marks a movement from absorbing survival rules toward evaluating them. The “prophets” remain human, and the narrator’s task is to understand both their insight and their limitations.
Lyrics: Corner Store Prophets
Lyrics: Corner Store Prophets
[Intro]
Every block got a classroom
with no desks in it.
Mine had a corner store.
Old heads.
Brown bags.
Bad advice dressed like wisdom.
And every young boy listening
like survival had a syllabus.
Yeah.
Corner store prophets.
Yeah.
Corner store prophets.
[Verse 1]
Neon buzz over glass where the grape soda sweats
Scratch-off dreams in a pile full of beautiful debt
Old men lean back like the curb paid rent
Talking ’bout life with a cough and a bent cigarette
Store bell sang every time hunger walked through
Cashier knew names, knew tabs, knew who wasn’t true
Young boys bought chips, made a court out the queue
Laughing like pain was a joke we outgrew
One said, “Keep your friends close when the wins look near”
One said, “Never let love smell fear”
One said, “Money make a soft man weird”
Then borrowed five dollars and disappeared
I watched kings with no castles hold court after noon
Gold teeth flashing under half-dead moon
Every word had dust, every laugh had proof
That truth can wear lies when it’s missing a roof
[Hook]
Corner store prophets with the gospel in a brown bag
Milk-crate throne where the broke kings crown facts
Smoke curls, sun drops, dice kiss the pavement
Every old warning got a young boy adjacent
Corner store prophets, cracked wisdom, gold teeth
Lost men preaching what the lost streets won’t teach
Half sermon, half scar, every lesson came costly
Told me, “Watch the world close even mirrors move falselyely”
[Verse 2]
Old Ray had a limp and a prison-yard stare
Said freedom ain’t free when your mind still there
Showed scars like maps, but the route wasn’t clear
Told us, “Be men,” with a child in his tears
Duke kept a Bible with the lottery slips
Psalm in his pocket, bad luck on his lips
Said God love patience, then cursed when it missed
Faith looked tired where the numbers wouldn’t hit
Slim spoke women like wounds with names
Said, “Trust gets expensive when the touch feels plain”
Had three baby pictures in a cracked phone frame
And none of them called when the rain came
They preached survival with their pride half-broke
Mixed jewels with poison every time they spoke
I learned early, before my heart got cold
Some men give wisdom from the holes in their soul
[Hook]
Corner store prophets with the gospel in a brown bag
Milk-crate throne where the broke kings crown facts
Smoke curls, sun drops, dice kiss the pavement
Every old warning got a young boy adjacent
Corner store prophets, cracked wisdom, gold teeth
Lost men preaching what the lost streets won’t teach
Half sermon, half scar, every lesson came costly
Told me, “Watch the world close even mirrors move falsely”
[Verse 3]
I took some lessons, left some where they stood
Not every warning from the block was good
Some taught me honor, some taught me fear
Some taught me silence when the truth came near
They said, “Never cry,” I saw rot in the phrase
Said, “Get yours,” I saw graves in the praise
Said, “Love nothing,” I saw pain in their face
Men call it game when they can’t call it shame
Still, I owe them for the edge in my vision
For the coded little prayers in the corner-store wisdom
For the way they made a young mind listen
To the difference between fate and decision
Now I write what they meant, not just what they told
Turn brown-bag sermons into black-and-gold soul
Every prophet was broken, but the message still crossed me
Watch the world close even mirrors move falsely
[Final Hook]
Corner store prophets with the gospel in a brown bag
Milk-crate throne where the broke kings crown facts
Smoke curls, sun drops, dice kiss the pavement
Every old warning got a young boy adjacent
Corner store prophets, cracked wisdom, gold teeth
Lost men preaching what the lost streets won’t teach
Half sermon, half scar, every lesson came costly
Told me, “Watch the world close even mirrors move falsely”
[Outro]
Some of them was wrong.
Some of them was wounded.
Some of them was both.
But every word they left on that pavement
taught me how to listen
without bowing to everything I heard.
Corner store prophets.
07. Silent Prayers
07. Silent Prayers
Track Bio
Track Bio
“Silent Prayers” is the seventh track on Bishop Crooks AI concept album Concrete Psalms, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and the production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis.
The song explores private faith expressed without formal language, public ceremony or certainty about being heard. Its opening suggests that prayer can exist in a glance upward or a silence that carries more than the speaker can articulate. The narrator’s relationship with God develops within everyday hardship, including financial pressure, fear and the need to appear composed.
The first verse places this faith in hallways, kitchens and a cold bus stop. Bills and an empty refrigerator become part of the setting in which spiritual questions arise. The narrator prays internally partly because pride makes asking openly difficult. Prayer therefore becomes both a source of support and an expression of needs he struggles to reveal to other people.
The second verse broadens the perspective to the neighbourhood. Gestures surrounding chance, love, imprisonment and grief contain unspoken appeals for protection or relief. The song reads these moments as signs of a spiritual life that may remain unnamed. Its image of a “choir of silent prayers” gives a collective form to experiences that appear isolated.
Religious imagery repeatedly meets imperfect circumstances. Mercy has “mud on its pants,” suggesting that care can arrive within difficult lives rather than requiring them to look respectable first. The narrator does not present himself as consistently righteous; his faith includes uncertainty, wrong turns and persistence.
In the final verse, the match held against the weather captures belief as fragile but maintained. Silence becomes potentially meaningful rather than automatically empty: a quiet person may be struggling to communicate with God while remaining physically present in the world.
Within Concrete Psalms, “Silent Prayers” develops the spiritual language introduced by “Concrete Gospel” and prepares the transition into “Letters.” Both songs seek forms of expression for feelings the narrator cannot easily speak aloud. The outro preserves uncertainty about how help arrived while affirming the significance of feeling heard.
Lyrics: Silent Prayers
Lyrics: Silent Prayers
[Intro]
Some prayers don’t sound like church.
Some don’t even leave your mouth.
Sometimes you just look up…
and hope heaven know
what your silence mean.
Silent prayers.
[Hook]
Silent prayers under streetlights flickering
Heart full of thunder, but my lips ain’t whispering
I don’t always know the words, I just stand there listening
Trying to hear God through the noise I’m living in
Silent prayers when the whole night heavy
Soul feel tired, but the feet stay steady
If grace still moves where the broken get buried
Then Lord, walk with me when my hands ain’t ready
[Verse 1]
I learned faith where the hallway lights stuttered
Where hope moved quiet and the door locks muttered
Where bills spoke loud and the fridge hummed hunger
And every small blessing had to stretch through summer
I ain’t have scripture memorized in gold pages
Just fear in my chest and a face full of patience
Trying to look calm through the daily abrasions
Asking heaven questions with no clean translation
Bus stop cold with my thoughts in a fist
Streetlight blinked like it knew what I missed
I watched cars pass, watched the night turn thick
Prayed in my head so my pride wouldn’t snitch
Some folks kneel down, some look to the ceiling
I kept mine inside where the pain kept breathing
Didn’t know if God heard me through the static in the air
But I survived some nights off silent prayers
[Hook]
Silent prayers under streetlights flickering
Heart full of thunder, but my lips ain’t whispering
I don’t always know the words, I just stand there listening
Trying to hear God through the noise I’m living in
Silent prayers when the whole night heavy
Soul feel tired, but the feet stay steady
If grace still moves where the broken get buried
Then Lord, walk with me when my hands ain’t ready
[Verse 2]
I seen tough men blink when the room got hollow
Pride too full, but the spirit couldn’t swallow
Everybody got a god when the dark start to follow
Even if they call it luck by tomorrow
I seen dice hit concrete with a prayer in the wrist
Seen love turn cold with a prayer in the kiss
Seen jail calls end with a prayer in the click
Seen broke hearts laugh with a prayer in the ribs
We don’t always say “amen” where the pain can hear
Sometimes faith look like making it here
Sometimes grace don’t shine, it just disappears
Then returns as breath when you drowning in fear
I used to think holy had to look like clean hands
Now I know mercy got mud on its pants
If heaven got room for the bruised and the scared
Then every block got a choir of silent prayers
[Hook]
Silent prayers under streetlights flickering
Heart full of thunder, but my lips ain’t whispering
I don’t always know the words, I just stand there listening
Trying to hear God through the noise I’m living in
Silent prayers when the whole night heavy
Soul feel tired, but the feet stay steady
If grace still moves where the broken get buried
Then Lord, walk with me when my hands ain’t ready
[Verse 3]
Now I carry faith like a match in the weather
Small flame fighting to hold itself together
Not every storm broke me, some taught me measure
Some wounds made the soul learn pressure into treasure
I don’t pray loud just to prove I believe
I pray low when the grief pull teeth
When the room go still and the past won’t leave
When the man I’m becoming need the boy to breathe
Concrete psalms written where the night got long
Every step had a hymn, every scar had a song
I was not always righteous, but I held on
Even wrong turns taught me where grace belong
So if you see me quiet while the world gets rare
Eyes on the ground like I’m not all there
I might be talking to the sky through the smoke in the air
Surviving one more mile on silent prayers
[Final Hook]
Silent prayers under streetlights flickering
Heart full of thunder, but my lips ain’t whispering
I don’t always know the words, I just stand there listening
Trying to hear God through the noise I’m living in
Silent prayers when the whole night heavy
Soul feel tired, but the feet stay steady
If grace still moves where the broken get buried
Then Lord, walk with me when my hands ain’t ready
Silent prayers, no choir, no witness
Just one soul asking heaven for distance
From the fear, from the rage, from the old nightmares
I made it this far off silent prayers
[Outro]
I ain’t always know how to ask for help.
So I prayed without speaking.
And somehow…
something heard me.
08. Letters
08. Letters
Track Bio
Track Bio
“Letters” is the eighth track on Bishop Crooks’ concept album Concrete Psalms, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and the production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis.
The song uses three letters—to the narrator’s mother, his brother and his future self—to express feelings that pride and circumstance have kept unspoken. Writing becomes a way to remain emotionally present, communicate gratitude and preserve connection. The repeated hook presents the page as a place where words can gain the breath they lacked in conversation.
The first letter revisits the mother’s care from a position of greater understanding. The narrator recognises the fear beneath her warnings and the effort behind the reassurance she offered during financial strain. His apology for talking back describes anger as a frightened child’s imperfect form of communication. The letter allows him to acknowledge work and patience he could not fully appreciate at the time.
The second letter addresses a brother in prison. Rather than assuming moral superiority, the narrator acknowledges their shared background and the unreliable codes they learned. He promises recognition even if imprisonment changes his brother’s voice or manner. The act of writing places affection beside a name that might otherwise be defined by confinement and judgment.
The third letter turns toward an unknown future. The narrator hopes that writing will give his anger somewhere to go and that he will learn which protective habits have become restrictive. The contrast between armour and a casket considers how attempts at self-preservation can leave a person emotionally closed.
The future-self section also preserves the perspective of someone who has not yet found a complete vocabulary for his experiences. He leaves questions and hopes rather than a finished account of healing. Asking his future self to tell the boy that his letter was delivered creates a connection between the person writing and the person he may become.
Within Concrete Psalms, “Letters” follows “Silent Prayers” by giving private appeals a physical form. Its final comparison of prayer with a pen moving across paper connects songwriting, testimony and the struggle to communicate before silence becomes disappearance.
Lyrics: Letters
Lyrics: Letters
[Intro]
I ain’t know how to say it out loud.
So I wrote it down.
Before the anger had language.
Before the pain had a name.
Letters.
[Hook]
I wrote letters in the dark with the hallway light humming
To the ones I lost, to the man I’m becoming
Ink hit the page like my heart started running
If I never said it right, then I hope this says something
Letters from a young soul with the block in his sweater
To Mama, to my brother, to the pain I couldn’t measure
Every word I never spoke found breath under pressure
I wrote letters just to keep from disappearing forever
[Verse 1 - To Mama]
Dear Mama, this the stuff I was too proud to mention
You made dinner out of faith and stretched love through tension
I saw bills on the table doing rounds like debt collectors
You smiled through the worry just to keep us feeling better
I heard you pray low when the house got colder
Asking God for strength while the world got bolder
I was young, full of rage, trying hard to look older
You was carrying storms I was too blind to hold up
I used to think your warnings were you trying to cage me
Now I know fear spoke every time you tried to save me
You saw the block turning boys into headlines daily
And still kissed my forehead like the dark couldn’t claim me
If I talked back, that was hurt with no translation
A scared child wearing pride like decoration
I never said thanks for the nights you stayed patient
So I wrote this letter with my heart in formation
[Hook]
I wrote letters in the dark with the hallway light humming
To the ones I lost, to the man I’m becoming
Ink hit the page like my heart started running
If I never said it right, then I hope this says something
Letters from a young soul with the block in his sweater
To Mama, to my brother, to the pain I couldn’t measure
Every word I never spoke found breath under pressure
I wrote letters just to keep from disappearing forever
[Verse 2 - To My Brother]
Dear brother, I heard they got you sitting behind doors
Same name, same laugh, but the smile ain’t yours
I picture cold walls trying to make your soul small
And the phone cutting dead when the truth starts to fall
I ain’t writing like a saint, I got mud on my trainers
Got questions in my chest, got rage in containers
We both learned pain from the same entertainers
Old heads talking codes they ain’t live when it changed us
You said, “Stay sharp,” I said, “Stay breathing”
We was boys acting grown in a world full of reasons
Corners taught lessons, but the lessons was deceiving
Everybody sold hope with the profit uneven
If you come home different, I’ll still know your spirit
Even if your voice got distance when I hear it
I won’t judge the scars that the system put near it
I’m writing so your name got love sitting near it
[Hook]
I wrote letters in the dark with the hallway light humming
To the ones I lost, to the man I’m becoming
Ink hit the page like my heart started running
If I never said it right, then I hope this says something
Letters from a young soul with the block in his sweater
To Mama, to my brother, to the pain I couldn’t measure
Every word I never spoke found breath under pressure
I wrote letters just to keep from disappearing forever
[Verse 3 - To My Future Self]
Dear future me, I hope you made sense of the damage
Hope the rage found a page before it turned into a habit
Hope you learned the difference between armor and a casket
Both can keep you closed, only one lets you manage
Right now, I’m young with a war in my breathing
Writing from the floor while the ceiling keeps leaning
Sirens outside got the whole night screaming
And I still act calm like my hands ain’t freezing
I don’t know trauma yet, I just call it normal
Don’t know grief got roots till the silence turn floral
Don’t know love can bruise when the touch feel cordial
Don’t know God keeps notes in the margins of morals
If you became the man that the pain couldn’t finish
Tell Mama her prayers had a pulse when I hid it
Tell my brother we survived more than they predicted
And tell the boy I was that his letter got delivered
[Final Hook]
I wrote letters in the dark with the hallway light humming
To the ones I lost, to the man I’m becoming
Ink hit the page like my heart started running
If I never said it right, then I hope this says something
Letters from a young soul with the block in his sweater
To Mama, to my brother, to the pain I couldn’t measure
Every word I never spoke found breath under pressure
I wrote letters just to keep from disappearing forever
[Outro]
Some prayers don’t sound like church.
Some sound like a pen scratching paper
while everybody else asleep.
That was mine.
09. Public Enemy Number None
09. Public Enemy Number None
Track Bio
Track Bio
“Public Enemy Number None” is the ninth track on Bishop Crooks AI concept album Concrete Psalms, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and the production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis.
The title reworks the phrase “public enemy number one” to describe a young Black male treated as dangerous despite having little power, status or influence. “Number none” captures the contradiction between being socially disregarded and being made highly visible as a supposed threat.
The opening strips the narrator’s circumstances down to what he does not possess: a record, money or power. The first verse then follows the labels applied to him by teachers, shopkeepers and police. The contrast between being described as having potential and being recorded as a problem shows how institutional approval can change when a child expresses frustration.
The mother’s instruction to avoid giving others a reason reflects an attempt to protect him. The narrator questions how much control careful behaviour provides when suspicion is already present. School gates and searches become images of children learning to anticipate accusation.
The second verse expands the focus from individual encounters to public narratives and restricted opportunities. News coverage assigns familiar descriptions to danger, while the closure of a youth club represents a loss of support. The song links these pressures with the emotional armour young people develop, challenging the tendency to condemn the result without examining the conditions surrounding it.
The final verse gives writing a role in resistance and self-definition. The stairwell becomes a place where anger is organised into language. The narrator presents his work as an effort to name a pattern and preserve the childhood obscured by public judgment.
Within Concrete Psalms, the track revisits the scrutiny explored in “Suspect” on a broader scale. “Suspect” concentrates on the child’s internal response to being watched; “Public Enemy Number None” addresses the institutions and narratives that help produce that experience. Its closing contrast between being called dangerous and being recognised as children returns the argument to the innocence at stake.
Lyrics: Public Enemy Number None
Lyrics: Public Enemy Number None
[Intro]
They looked at me like trouble
before I knew what trouble was.
No record.
No money.
No power.
Just a young Black male
standing where fear already had a file.
Yeah.
Public enemy number none.
[Hook]
Public enemy number none
They feared me before I learned what I’d become
No crown, no gun, no name, no funds
Just a young Black male where the sirens come
Public enemy number none
They wrote my guilt before my story begun
No trial, no proof, no father, no sun
Just a shadow in the system tryna run
[Verse 1]
Teacher looked through me like my future came cracked
Said I had “potential” with her hand on my back
Same hand wrote “problem” when my patience snapped
Same room, same child, different label attached
Corner store clerk kept his eyes on my sleeves
Like hunger got louder when it looked like me
Police slowed down when I crossed that street
I learned early how suspicion got teeth
Mama said, “Walk straight, don’t give them a reason”
But reason don’t matter when the season is policing
Skin got read like a crime in progress
Before I knew guilt, they was checking my pockets
School gates felt like a courtroom door
Friends got searched by the wall before
We laughed it off, but the wound stayed numb
Just kids being trained to become what they run from
[Hook]
Public enemy number none
They feared me before I learned what I’d become
No crown, no gun, no name, no funds
Just a young Black male where the sirens come
Public enemy number none
They wrote my guilt before my story begun
No trial, no proof, no father, no sun
Just a shadow in the system tryna run
[Verse 2]
News had a villain before morning had names
Black coat, black male, same old frame
If we stood in a group, then the street had gangs
If we ran from the rain, then the fear had claims
They shut down the youth club, opened more cells
Told us choose peace where no peace dwells
No books in the room, but the block gave lessons
Every closed door turned pressure to weapons
Little man learned pride from a cracked shop glass
Learned shame from the trainers he never could have
Learned rage from the jokes that the rich kids passed
Learned fast that soft hearts don’t last
Then they ask why the youngers walk heavy with armor
Why grief turn sharp when the world don’t calm ya
You can’t plant thorns, then cry when they come
You made public enemies out of number none
[Hook]
Public enemy number none
They feared me before I learned what I’d become
No crown, no gun, no name, no funds
Just a young Black male where the sirens come
Public enemy number none
They wrote my guilt before my story begun
No trial, no proof, no father, no sun
Just a shadow in the system tryna run
[Verse 3]
I was nobody till they needed a threat
Needed a mugshot before I had debt
Needed my name with a chain on its neck
Needed my silence when I learned to object
So I wrote from the stairwell with the lights half dead
Concrete cold, but the fire got fed
Every bar was a brick that the system misread
Every rhyme was a riot that I kept in my head
I ain’t asking for pity, I’m naming the pattern
How boys become ghosts while the whole world clapping
How mothers keep praying when the raids start cracking
How childhood disappears without anyone asking
Before the sublime, before nerves had language
Before I knew trauma had roots in the anguish
I was young, Black, breathing where the sirens come
Public enemy to them but really number none
[Final Hook]
Public enemy number none
They feared me before I learned what I’d become
No crown, no gun, no name, no funds
Just a young Black male where the sirens come
Public enemy number none
They wrote my guilt before my story begun
No trial, no proof, no father, no sun
Just a shadow in the system tryna run
Public enemy number none
They built the fear, then blamed what it done
No peace, no proof, just smoke in my lungs
A child of the pressure they taught me to run from
[Outro]
They called us dangerous
before they ever called us children.
Then acted surprised
when innocence learned how to hide.
10. Before The Wound
10. Before The Wound
Track Bio
Track Bio
“Before the Wound” is the tenth track on Bishop Crooks’ concept album Concrete Psalms, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and the production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis.
Built around the refrain “before the wound had a name,” the song explores distress experienced before the narrator possesses a vocabulary for it. Behaviour that once seemed like growing up becoming quieter, harder or less trusting is reconsidered as a response to fear and pressure.
The first verse locates these changes in childhood observations. Lowered voices, police lights through blinds, bills on the table and a mother’s expression communicate danger without a full explanation. The child learns to read the room and control his outward response. Outside, loud jokes and an appearance of maturity offer ways to keep vulnerability concealed.
The second verse follows those habits into adolescence. Anger becomes easier to express than fear, and emotional distance can resemble confidence. Different observers give the same behaviour different names, revealing how easily its underlying purpose can be missed. The narrator’s claim that he was guarding what remained of his mind challenges the idea that his change was simply a rejection of kindness.
The hook uses visible appearance to explore hidden distress. A clean face, a casual reassurance and a controlled jaw create a convincing impression that everything is manageable. The widening difference between that presentation and the narrator’s experience is central to the song.
The final verse introduces retrospective understanding. Photographs, crowds and apparently quiet years are reinterpreted through the feelings they concealed. Writing becomes an early attempt to leave evidence of something the narrator could not yet explain directly.
Within Concrete Psalms, “Before the Wound” gathers the emotional consequences of the album’s earlier scenes. Suspicion, shame, playground pressure and household strain become parts of a developing inner life. The closing reversal that the wound already knew his name gives those experiences a presence before conscious recognition, leaving the listener to reconsider how early the process began.
Lyrics: Before the Wound
Lyrics: Before the Wound
[Intro]
Before I had words for it…
I just called it growing up.
Before the prayers got heavy.
Before the silence got loud.
Before the wound had a name.
[Hook]
Before the wound had a name, I was bleeding in plain view
Laughing with the boys while the silence became truth
Mama saw the shift, I said, “I’m cool,” like I ain’t move
Young with a locked jaw I mistook for breakthrough
Before the wound had a name, I was learning how to hide
Face stayed clean while the fear sat inside
You’d have thought I was fine if you looked from the side
But the crack came early it was waiting on time
[Verse 1]
Before I knew trauma, I knew how a room could switch
Voices dipped low, then the whole house twitched
Blue lights brushed blinds, made the cartoons glitch
Mama said, “Go play,” but her eyes said, “Sit”
Bills on the table like guests with demands
Fridge light cold on the little we had
I studied her silence, learned the shape of a plan
Learned hunger got quiet in the face of a man
Outside, boys laughed loud with their hurt tucked deep
Jokes flew sharp just to keep wounds asleep
We had scuffed-up shoes and impossible dreams
Trying to look grown in the mouth of the street
Fear came early with no name on the letter
Pride came quicker ’cause it looked like shelter
Before the wound opened, it had already climbed
I was carrying signs I was too young to define
[Hook]
Before the wound had a name, I was bleeding in plain view
Laughing with the boys while the silence became truth
Mama saw the shift, I said, “I’m cool,” like I ain’t move
Young with a locked jaw I mistook for breakthrough
Before the wound had a name, I was learning how to hide
Face stayed clean while the fear sat inside
You’d have thought I was fine if you looked from the side
But the crack came early it was waiting on time
[Verse 2]
Teenage years came with a lock on my chest
Pride got polished where the fear got pressed
Smile got sharper, patience got shorter
I built brick walls out of missing support
Teachers called it attitude, I called it defence
Friends called it confidence, I called it sense
Couldn’t let softness sit under my skin
World kept knocking, trying to get in
I joked first when the pain came near
Stared hard when I smelled fear
Walked like the dark couldn’t touch me
But loud bangs still knew how to rush me
Anger was easier than saying I was scared
Fed it my breath till it lived in the air
They said I changed when I stopped being kind
I was guarding what was left of my mind
[Hook]
Before the wound had a name, I was bleeding in plain view
Laughing with the boys while the silence became truth
Mama saw the shift, I said, “I’m cool,” like I ain’t move
Young with a locked jaw I mistook for breakthrough
Before the wound had a name, I was learning how to hide
Face stayed clean while the fear sat inside
You’d have thought I was fine if you looked from the side
But the crack came early it was waiting on time
[Verse 3]
Now I look back, every sign stands clear
Silence was a seed, not a quiet year
Rage was a language I hadn’t translated
Smile was a bridge where the weight congregated
I was gone in small ways no one could see
Laughing in pictures with a storm off-screen
Standing in crowds where my spirit stayed distant
Calling it strength when the truth was resistance
Before therapy words, I had songs
Before healing, I knew something was wrong
Before I could name it, I wrote round the bruise
Ink on the page like a child leaving clues
That’s where the nerves first learned how to sing
That’s where the dark put a hand on my wings
Before the sublime, before I knew time
I carried the wound before I knew it was mine
[Final Hook]
Before the wound had a name, I was bleeding in plain view
Laughing with the boys while the silence became truth
Mama saw the shift, I said, “I’m cool,” like I ain’t move
Young with a locked jaw I mistook for breakthrough
Before the wound had a name, I was learning how to hide
Face stayed clean while the fear sat inside
You’d have thought I was fine if you looked from the side
But the crack came early it was waiting on time
Before the wound had a name, I was already gone
Still in the room, but my spirit moved on
Nobody knew what the quiet would become
Before the wound had a name, I was already one
[Outro]
I thought I was becoming a man.
But some of that growing
was just pain learning my shape.
Before the wound had a name…
it already knew mine.
11. Concrete Psalms
11. Concrete Psalms
Track Bio
Track Bio
“Concrete Psalms” is the title track and eleventh song on Bishop Crooks AI concept album Concrete Psalms, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and the production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis.
The song brings the album’s spiritual framework into its most explicit form by connecting biblical narratives with contemporary neighbourhood experiences. Pavement, corners, debt, ambition and grief become settings through which the narrator reads stories of hardship, judgment, faith and renewal.
The first verse moves through Genesis, Exodus, Job and David. These references connect beginnings with financial obligation, escape with economic restriction, suffering with unwanted advice, and resistance with the power of language. David’s sling becomes an image for rhythm and words, positioning songwriting as the narrator’s means of confronting forces larger than himself.
The second verse develops these comparisons through Proverbs, Cain and Abel, Joseph and Jericho. Corner-store advice echoes wisdom literature but remains compromised by the behaviour of those offering it. Envy threatens brotherhood, dreams encounter rejection, and emotional defences take the form of walls. The Jericho image allows repeated musical expression to become a way of approaching and gradually breaking through those barriers.
The final verse draws on lament, denial, mercy and restoration. Lamentations provides a language for exhausted people who continue standing, while Peter’s denial introduces the narrator’s recognition of his own fear and shame. Lazarus becomes a metaphor for hopes revived through music and belonging.
The hook presents scars as verses and tears as ink, giving the narrator’s experiences the form of a record that can be heard. The pairing of wounds with praying palms connects what life has inflicted with the act of making meaning from it.
Within the album, the title track returns to the religious imagery introduced by “Concrete Gospel.” The opener describes commandments absorbed from the neighbourhood; “Concrete Psalms” shows the narrator actively interpreting those experiences through writing. Its final image of prayer rising from the concrete gives the album its governing idea: ordinary, damaged lives can become the subject of serious spiritual reflection.
Lyrics: Concrete Psalms
Lyrics: Concrete Psalms
[Intro]
They said scripture was written on paper.
But I seen verses carved in pavement.
Seen parables on corners.
Seen Job in the jobless.
Seen David in boys
throwing stones at giants
they couldn’t name yet.
[Hook]
Concrete psalms where the pavement cracked
I wrote my prayers where the world wrote back
No choir, no pulpit, just pain with a rhythm
Streetlight scriptures from the life I was given
Concrete psalms, every scar got a verse
Every blessing came wrapped in a curse
If God read tears like ink in the dark
Then heaven heard me through these concrete psalms
[Verse 1]
Genesis started where the streetlights flickered
First breath, first debt, first dream delivered
Clay in my shoes like Adam after the garden
Learning every paradise got exits and bargains
I saw Exodus in sneakers leaving homes with no promise
Red Sea traffic where the broke move honest
Pharaoh wore a suit, but the chain was economic
Freedom looked close, then the rent got demonic
Job sat quiet with his faith on trial
Lost more than money, still forced a smile
Friends gave speeches from a safe little aisle
But grief don’t need judges when the night gets wild
David had stones, I had words in my fist
A sling made of rhythm and a prayer in the wrist
Took aim at giants with my fear still calm
Turned every hard place into concrete psalms
[Hook]
Concrete psalms where the pavement cracked
I wrote my prayers where the world wrote back
No choir, no pulpit, just pain with a rhythm
Streetlight scriptures from the life I was given
Concrete psalms, every scar got a verse
Every blessing came wrapped in a curse
If God read tears like ink in the dark
Then heaven heard me through these concrete psalms
[Verse 2]
Proverbs on corners from men with cracked teeth
Wisdom came dirty but it still spoke deep
They said, “Guard your heart,” then sold theirs cheap
Taught me some commandments get broken for sleep
Cain knew envy before blood hit ground
I seen brothers fall out when the hunger came round
Abel had a name, but the story got drowned
Grief still echoes when the jealous get crowned
Joseph had dreams, got a pit for the vision
I had big thoughts in a room full of limits
Coat wasn’t colored, but the pride felt vivid
Even family can fear what the future is giving
Jericho walls in my chest stood tall
I marched round pain till the old bricks fall
Trumpets weren’t brass, they were bars from the calm
Every verse blew breath through these concrete psalms
[Hook]
Concrete psalms where the pavement cracked
I wrote my prayers where the world wrote back
No choir, no pulpit, just pain with a rhythm
Streetlight scriptures from the life I was given
Concrete psalms, every scar got a verse
Every blessing came wrapped in a curse
If God read tears like ink in the dark
Then heaven heard me through these concrete psalms
[Verse 3]
I read Lamentations in the faces at dawn
People still standing with their last hope worn
Revelation in the sirens, but I won’t stay there long
Even endings make room when the spirit gets strong
Peter denied truth when the pressure got near
I knew that shame, knew the taste of that fear
Still, mercy found fishermen drowning in tears
So maybe grace still walk through the blocks round here
Lazarus rose when they called through the stone
I seen dead dreams wake when the beat hit bone
Seen lost souls move like they finally came home
Seen light get born where the dark felt grown
So I don’t write pain just to polish my scars
I write maps from the cracks to the stars
If the streets gave wounds and God gave palms
I press both together into concrete psalms
[Final Hook]
Concrete psalms where the pavement cracked
I wrote my prayers where the world wrote back
No choir, no pulpit, just pain with a rhythm
Streetlight scriptures from the life I was given
Concrete psalms, every scar got a verse
Every blessing came wrapped in a curse
If God read tears like ink in the dark
Then heaven heard me through these concrete psalms
Concrete psalms, not clean, not calm
Still sacred where the damage came from
If the pavement kept record of what made me strong
Then my whole life became a concrete psalm
[Outro]
I used to think holy
had to look untouched.
Now I know…
some prayers got dust on them.
Some scriptures got scars.
And some psalms
don’t come from temples.
They rise
from the concrete.
12. Nobody's Baby
12. Nobody's Baby
Track Bio
Track Bio
“Nobody’s Baby” is the closing track on Bishop Crooks AI concept album Concrete Psalms, released on February 11, 2026. All lyrics were written and the production was designed by Nathan Jamaiah Francis.
The song portrays childhood neglect as a sequence of repeated absences rather than a single abandonment. Its opening identifies small failures of care a missed pickup, a cold meal, an overlooked birthday that gradually change what a child expects from other people.
The first verse builds the boy’s experience through domestic and school details. Breakfast consists of what remains available, a permission slip has no signature, and reassurance that somebody is coming covers the fear that nobody will arrive. A birthday card from classmates becomes precious because it offers evidence that he has been remembered. Saving its sticker turns a minor object into a record of recognition.
The second verse considers the mother’s circumstances without removing her responsibility. Her affection arrives inconsistently, and promises of improvement fail to provide dependable care. The boy notices her distress but learns to conceal that knowledge. The brief visit from a caseworker extends the song’s concern beyond the household, presenting another occasion when being seen does not lead to sustained help.
The third verse follows the consequences as the child grows older. He learns to distinguish different silences, uses anger to cover disappointment and claims not to care in order to make further rejection less visible. The street becomes attractive partly because its presence feels more predictable than the people who promise love.
The hook contrasts the number of people willing to blame him with the shortage willing to hold him. Its image of adults watching him grow thorns and then criticising their shape summarises the song’s central challenge: behaviour must be understood alongside the relationships and absences that helped form it.
As the closing track of Concrete Psalms, “Nobody’s Baby” returns the album’s survival codes to a vulnerable child. The outro redirects attention from the moment he supposedly changed toward the earlier moments when others stopped showing up. It leaves the album with a question about responsibility: who recognised a problem before recognising the child who needed care?
Lyrics: Nobody's Baby
Lyrics: Nobody's Baby
[Intro]
Some children don’t get abandoned all at once.
They get left in pieces.
A missed pickup.
A cold plate.
A birthday nobody remembered
till the candle burned itself out.
Yeah.
Nobody’s baby.
[Hook]
Nobody’s baby, everybody’s blame
Love got passed around till it forgot his name
Too many hands pointed, not enough held tight
Too many doors opened, none stayed through the night
Nobody’s baby, but they all knew his face
Watched him grow thorns, then complained ’bout the shape
Before he was trouble, before the world went crazy
He was just a little boy nobody’s baby
[Verse 1]
He learned breakfast from cereal dust and tap water
Cartoons raised him louder than the ones that brought him
School shirt wrinkled with the collar sitting wrong
Still smiled for the picture like nothing was gone
Permission slip folded with no signature there
Teacher sighed heavy like he chose not to care
He kept lies in his pocket for the questions they asked
“Somebody’s coming,” while the bell time passed
Birthday came quiet, just a card from the class
He read every name like love might last
Saved the little sticker from the front of the page
Stuck it on his mirror like proof of an age
At night he watched headlights crawl over the ceiling
Learned hope by the sound of a key not appearing
Everybody said, “He’s grown,” like it made it less heavy
But he was eight years old making childhood ready
[Hook]
Nobody’s baby, everybody’s blame
Love got passed around till it forgot his name
Too many hands pointed, not enough held tight
Too many doors opened, none stayed through the night
Nobody’s baby, but they all knew his face
Watched him grow thorns, then complained ’bout the shape
Before he was trouble, before the world went crazy
He was just a little boy nobody’s baby
[Verse 2]
She loved him in flashes, then disappeared in weather
Said, “I’ll do better,” like better lived forever
Kissed his forehead when guilt got loud
Then left him with the silence and a half-lit house
She wasn’t born cruel, she was broken in layers
Life kept taking from the parts meant to save her
Men came smiling with the wrong kind of warmth
Left doors unlocked and her spirit out of form
Bills on the counter, bottles near the sink
Phone full of numbers she was scared not to ring
He heard her cry once through the bathroom wall
Pressed his ear close, then pretended not to at all
Caseworker came, smelled perfume over pain
Asked two soft questions, then vanished in rain
He learned grown-ups could see him and still look away
So he stopped needing rescue by the end of the day
[Hook]
Nobody’s baby, everybody’s blame
Love got passed around till it forgot his name
Too many hands pointed, not enough held tight
Too many doors opened, none stayed through the night
Nobody’s baby, but they all knew his face
Watched him grow thorns, then complained ’bout the shape
Before he was trouble, before the world went crazy
He was just a little boy nobody’s baby
[Verse 3]
By ten he knew silence had different meanings
One meant sleep, one meant someone was leaving
One meant hide, one meant don’t ask why
One meant swallow that lump before it reaches your eyes
By twelve he wore anger like a coat in December
Said he didn’t care so no one had to remember
School called home, but home didn’t answer
Pain learned his name and became a slow dancer
He started laughing at things that should’ve hurt him
Started acting like love had to earn him
Started choosing the street ’cause the street stayed consistent
At least when it harmed him, it didn’t call it distant
That’s how a child becomes a warning in motion
A locked little heart with an ocean of emotion
I wrote this for the boy they kept calling crazy
He was somebody’s child but nobody’s baby
[Final Hook]
Nobody’s baby, everybody’s blame
Love got passed around till it forgot his name
Too many hands pointed, not enough held tight
Too many doors opened, none stayed through the night
Nobody’s baby, but they all knew his face
Watched him grow thorns, then complained ’bout the shape
Before he was trouble, before the world went crazy
He was just a little boy nobody’s baby
Nobody’s baby, and the hurt don’t leave
It just changes its clothes when the child can’t breathe
Before the wound spoke, before pain got wavy
He was somebody’s child nobody’s baby
[Outro]
They asked when he changed.
Wrong question.
Ask who stopped showing up
before he stopped waiting.
Ask who taught his little heart
that needing people was dangerous.
Ask who looked at a child
and saw a problem…
before they saw a baby.
THE STORY CONTINUES...
THE STORY CONTINUES...
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