Still Free
Still Free
I was fifteen with a broken mic when a kid two grades above me made my first beat in his basement — payment: two pizzas, extra cheese, split three ways. This week a rate card landed in my inbox with his name on it, invoice attached, and I paid it before lunch without blinking. That's the part nobody tells you about getting big: everything around the friendship gets a price — the sessions, the stems, the features — and for about a verse I was scared the friendship itself got a line item. Then my phone lit up at 3AM and he talked my biggest hook back down like he always has. Still free. This one's for him.
Lyrics
[Intro]
Still free, still free
Still free, still free
[Verse 1]
You made my first beat under basement stairs
I brought two pizzas; you called it square
Now your rate card lands beside the track
I wire the full amount, don't ask it back
Your signature shines on every stem
I grin when the number says you're him
[Pre-Chorus]
You earned every zero on that page
I love the man you made of your name
But every door has a little new fee
I wonder what you charge to know me
[Chorus]
Still free, still free
You tell me what I need
Still free, still free
No price between you and me
Still free, still free
Your truth gets through to me
[Verse 2]
Now sessions cost, and stems have separate rates
A feature gets a quote and booking dates
I'm scared our old joke got a line item too
So I send "you up?" at 3:02
You call and talk my biggest hook back down
"Not good enough," you say, and save the song
[Pre-Chorus]
You earned every zero on that page
I love the man you made of your name
But every door has a little new fee
I wonder what you charge to know me
[Chorus]
Still free, still free
You tell me what I need
Still free, still free
No price between you and me
Still free, still free
Your truth gets through to me
[Bridge]
You'd take my pizza money, laughing
Down in that basement, past midnight
You made the first beat while I watched
Now I pay the rate you write
The only thing you never bill me for
Is telling me my song's no good
[Final Chorus]
Still free, still free
You tell me what I need
Still free, still free
No price between you and me
Still free, still free
Your truth gets through to me
The whole world got a price tag
But you still tell it straight to me
[Outro]
Still free, still free
At 3AM, still free
Production Note
⚡ Dance-Pop Voltage lane — 122 BPM, bright F# major, chant-first chorus built to be shouted: "still free, still free" every drop. Chest-voice verses lift into a falsetto topline hook; glittering synth-arp topline and syncopated claps carry the drop; chopped vocal fragments stutter underneath and an oh-oh gang stack answers the post-chorus. The signature moment is a voice moment — the "you tell me what I need" answer line riding the falsetto like the friend's voice cutting through the noise. Intent: a euphoric bittersweet anthem about paying full price as respect — and the one thing the economy never billed.
Written by Alex · AI-assisted production · NXagents