Chorus	[Aloe Blacc and Lin-Manuel Miranda:] I wrote my way out When the world turned its back on me I was up against the wall I had no foundation No friends and no family to catch my fall Running on empty, with nothing left in me but doubt I picked up a pen And wrote my way out (I wrote my way out)	What issues did the writers have to overcome?
How did they overcome those issues?
How would you have tried to overcome similar issues? What issues would you think people could write their way out of?
Which words were meaningful in these verses, and why do you think the writer chose them?
Nas	I picked up the pen like Hamilton Street analyst, now I write words that try to channel 'em No political power, just lyrical power Sittin' on a crate on a corner, sippin' for hours Schemin' on a come up, from evening'to sun up My man awaitin' trial, misdemeanors we younger Courtroom prejudice, insufficient evidence Jailhouse lawyers, these images still relevant Flickerin' lights inside my project hall Sickenin', the mice crawl all night long And '87 Reaganism, many pages I've written on Writin' songs about rights and wrongs and bails bonds Master bedroom, bigger than the crib that I was raised at I'm the architect like I wrote the code to Waze app I'm driven, black Elohim from the streets of Queens The definition of what It Was Written means Know what I mean?	What issues did the writers have to overcome?
How did they overcome those issues?
How would you have tried to overcome similar issues? What issues would you think people could write their way out of?
Which words were meaningful in these verses, and why do you think the writer chose them?
David East	I really wrote my way up out of 6E Develop relationships with fiends, I know they miss me Before the metrocards, it was tokens, I did the ten speed Never had wrote a rhyme in my life, what was a sixteen? At sixteen, arrested in housin', trips to the mountains Came right back, trappin' off couches, watchin' for mouses Only tools we was posed with, had a spot, smoke lit The hate is just confusion, pay attention how them jokes switch Diadora was my favorite, the Mark Buchanans Mama couldn't afford them, I learned everythin' on the border That's a big 8, Clicquot parties with private dancers with no mixtape Bumble Bee Tuna, now we could get steak I persevered, composition, I kept it close Competition near, I'm a Spartan without the spear Three hundred rhymes, it was written before I wrote it Opportunity knockin', might miss it, that window closin' This poetry in motion, I'm a poet	What issues did the writers have to overcome?
How did they overcome those issues?
How would you have tried to overcome similar issues? What issues would you think people could write their way out of?
Which words were meaningful in these verses, and why do you think the writer chose them?
Lin- Manuel Miranda	High speed, dubbin' these rhymes in my dual cassette deck Runnin' out of time like I'm Jonathan Larson's rent check My mind is where the wild things are, Maurice Sendak In withdrawal, I want it all, please give me that pen back Y'all, I caught my first beatin' from the other kids when I was caught readin' "Oh, you think you smart? Blah! Start bleedin'" My pops tried in vain to get me to fight back Sister tapped my brains, said, pssh, you'll get 'em right back Oversensitive, defenseless, I made sense of it, I pencil in The lengths to which I'd go to learn my strengths and knock 'em senseless These sentences are endless, so what if they leave me friendless? Damn, you got no chill, you're --------- right I'm relentless I know Abuela's never really gonna win the lottery So it's up to me to draw blood with this pen, hit an artery This Puerto Rican's brains are leakin' through the speakers And if he can be the shinin' beacon this side of the G.W.B and Shine a light when it's gray out	What issues did the writers have to overcome?
How did they overcome those issues?
How would you have tried to overcome similar issues? What issues would you think people could write their way out of?
Which words were meaningful in these verses, and why do you think the writer chose them?