Luca Rosso - Cardboard Crown Lyrics

[Intro]
Paper crown on my head, yeah, I'm playing pretend
Dollar store royalty, watch this story unfold, my friend

[Verse 1]
Mama's hands raw from scrubbing marble floors
While I'm crafting kingdoms from Amazon boxes by the store
Dumpster diving for some status, what a f*cking joke
Building castles out of cardboard till the dreams get broke
Instagram flex with borrowed Gucci, ain't that sweet?
While the rent's three months late on this broken street
Playing dress-up in these hand-me-down schemes
Fake it till you make it, ain't that what they preach?

[Chorus]
My cardboard crown (crown), falling apart
Designer dreams (dreams), with a Walmart heart
This cardboard crown (crown), what a damn charade
Climbing social ladders made of lemonade

[Verse 2]
From street corner rhymes to streaming numbers now
Still feeling like that kid with the paper crown
Mama watching rich folks living large and clean
While we're recycling their trash into our dreams
Got a blue check mark but still feel like a fraud
Trading authenticity for social media applause
Look at me now, I made it... or did I?
Same old hustler with better packaging to buy

[Bridge]
They say "pull yourself up by your bootstraps"
But my Payless kicks don't even got straps
Now I'm selling stories of the struggle
While sipping lattes, feeling subtle

[Verse 3]
Every verse I write's just origami
Folding poverty into poetry, ain't that funny?
Got a million views but can't fix mama's car
Trading realness for likes, now who's the f*cking star?
This cardboard kingdom that I built myself
Might look good on TikTok, but it's bad for my mental health
Guess I'm just another clown in this circus show
Wearing paper dreams, putting on a show

[Chorus]
My cardboard crown (crown), falling apart
Designer dreams (dreams), with a Walmart heart
This cardboard crown (crown), what a damn charade
Climbing social ladders made of lemonade

[Outro]
So here's my crown, it's made of shit
But at least it's mine, and I admit
That I'm just playing dress-up in this game
Cardboard king of my own shame