Narration by Koname Florah Mphahlele

INTRO
I Am Mas
Ghetto prisoners rise, rise

VERSE 1
Alive and present, a gift, so priceless
Reality a fight, beasts colliding
Big whole to fill or fall inside it
Rise like the sun from the east horizon
You fall you rise and keep on rising

Man's character not defined by falls
Tried it all to stab my spinal cord
Rather get even I defy the odds
Confide in God and rely on the Lord
Overcome tribulations, trials of scores
Goals high above take flight aloft

Success, failure, all a mental state
It ain't a contest for a medal race
Incremental scales at a turtle pace
Let the candle blaze light to handle flames
Break ankle chains and leave angle trace
Running in circles they tried to box us
Rat race would have you tired exhausted
Wordless pictures, mind as thoughtless
In the hit of the moment icily frosted
If you know the value the price is costless
If it's not at all worth your time is nonsense
Highly exalted through righteous orders

Something gotta give you you never give up
Get up to run to better results
Travel with love when the devil erupts

Flow state, youth fountain with endless streams
Boiling emotions, rise as kettle steam
Hot water determines if you can handle heat
Born to rise like Jesus, ascend to lead

Gloomy dreams, doom or live, lose and win
Tried to keep me down but I grew some wings

CHORUS
Ghetto prisoners rise, rise

VERSE 2
Pull myself above with a sense of love
The path I'm on is written by the hand of God
From ground zero to the clouds as eagles
Shook the crowd of people than greeting hands
With blood on it, the sin of greedy man
Keep rising for the life we deserve
Stepping outta shadows, shifting curves
From broken half empty leaking glass
Nightmares of reality with dreams deferred

The road ain’t easy, but ours to walk
Turning whispers of doubt into powerful talk
Empires rise and evil towers to fall
Never wait for the eleventh hour on the clock

I'm molded by the burnout ash is clay
Actions shaped by how my earth is framed
A sham or shame as we self engaged
Know your value, you can't purchase change
There's no denial in a search delayed

A dream in motion God's work in the making
Chronicles of the entrapped in enslavement
Roses growing from cracks in pavements
Rising from all the shacks we were raised in
The rise of African land reclaiming

Walk through the valley of the shadow to cease
This for my fellow kings with ghetto dreams
LBK to Seshego and Soweto streets
In the devil mist of colder storms
On the roads across
Sober as a judge
My owners arm
As abode for warmth
Jehovah lord so assuring much
When they closing doors
Keep showing up, showing off and showing love

CHORUS
Ghetto prisoners rise, rise