Artwork for The Rise — Struggle — Hidden CrowdTrack 01

Hidden Crowd · VIRTUAL ARTIST

Echoes from the Underground

The Rise — Struggle · 3:44 · Hip-hop

This track is part of the catalogue. Its video will be added after publication on the label’s channel.

WITHIN THE ALBUM

The cost of moving upward.

The first side of The Rise considers obstacles and the gestures that help people continue. Echoes from the Underground, Down for the Count, and Concrete Roses provide the opening images for a journey where perseverance does not remove contradictions.

In Hidden Crowd’s fiction, the characters learn that rising also involves relationships with others. Roots and Wings and Phoenix Protocol offer two ways of thinking about this passage. Struggle speaks to Success without turning imagined lives into real results or figures.

Listen to this chapter before The Rise — Success to follow the two perspectives offered by the label.

Explore the full album ↗

Original lyrics

Text supplied in the project files. The original language is preserved.

Crawled out the shadows with my demons and my pride
Had nothing but a vision and my crew standing beside
Big Mike the bouncer, kept me safe when things got heated
At the corner store cyphers where legends were defeated

Rosa from the laundromat, she washed my only hoodie
Never charged me extra when my pockets looking goody
Pastor Johnson prayed for me though I rarely hit the pews
Said "Son, your gift's from heaven, don't you ever sing the blues"

Grinding in the darkness, every scar became a lesson
Tommy taught me beatboxing in detention sessions
Old school cats like Reggie showed me how to ride the rhythm
While the world was sleeping on the fire burning in 'em

These are echoes from the underground
Every voice that lifted me when I was falling down
Built my throne from concrete, now I wear the crown
Echoes from the underground, that's my sound

Look, Destiny was written in the margin of my notebook
Guidance counselor Miss Baker said "Take another look"
At opportunities hidden in the struggle and the pain
Every rejection letter just more fuel for my brain

Corner store owner Mr. Khan, he let me hustle candy
Taught me business principles when times were getting sandy
Neighborhood kids would gather when I'd freestyle on the block
Their energy was gasoline, my words became the rock

Samantha from the library, she never kicked me out
Even when I'd practice verses, getting loud without a doubt
She knew I had potential buried underneath the noise
These people saw my future when I was just another boy

These are echoes from the underground
Every voice that lifted me when I was falling down
Built my throne from concrete, now I wear the crown
Echoes from the underground, that's my sound

Now I'm on the mountain looking down at where I started
Every single blessing from the day that we departed
From that old neighborhood, but I carry all their love
They're the reason I ascended to the heavens up above

Success is just an echo of the people who believed
When the world was telling me I'd never achieve
Nothing but a dreamer with his head up in the clouds
Now I'm screaming their names to sold-out crowds

Chef Maria fed me when my stomach touched my spine
Never asked for payment, said "Your dreams are divine"
Mailman Carlos always asked about my latest track
Promised he'd keep pushing till the world would hear me rap

To the substitute teacher who let me write instead of math
You saw my calling clearly, helped me find my path
Every person matters in this symphony of life
Cut through struggle and success just like a knife

These are echoes from the underground
Every voice that lifted me when I was falling down
Built my throne from concrete, now I wear the crown
Echoes from the underground, that's my sound

Underground, echoing forever
These voices in my head, I'll forget them never
From the bottom to the top, we rose together
Echoes from the underground, forever and ever
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