INTEGRITY CHECK (Before I Scroll) – Lyrics
INTEGRITY CHECK – Lyrics
Title: INTEGRITY CHECK
Artist: Loui Crow
Streaming: All platforms
🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/louicrow
📱 TikTok: @louicrow
🖤 ABOUT THE SONG — INTEGRITY CHECK
This song is a rage fit with a spine. It started as a whisper mid-scroll, a pulse under the collarbone, a flinch that deserved better than silence. INTEGRITY CHECK isn’t just a track. It’s a nervous system recalibration. A body-level oath. A tempo for the ones who stopped performing and started logging truth.
The Air Force taught me that integrity is what you do when no one’s looking. But my body was still looking. For danger. For approval. For applause. I had to teach it a new rhythm. A pause-before-the-post kind of rhythm. A check-for-breath-before-you-check-for-likes kind of rhythm.
This song is a scan. It catches the ghost before it grabs the mic. It doesn’t ask, "Do they like me?" It asks, "Does this reflect my flame?" Whether you're staring down a comment thread, a family dinner, or a trembling mirror, this one’s for the moment you pause instead of please.
🔽 SCROLL DOWN for the full lyrics. Then come back up for the body-spell ritual and breakdown.
🔥 CROW BODY-BREAKDOWN — What Performance Really Is
Performance isn’t presence. It’s panic in a pretty dress. It’s the ghost of applause haunting your throat, making you explain, smile, soften, beg. You don’t need to dance for a room that already left you. You don’t need to chase the algorithm in your blood. This is where you stop.
The body tells the truth. Jaw locked? Spine curled? Eyes darting? That’s a flinch. That’s the check.
Every time you pause instead of please, the body logs a new pattern: Function.
🗣️ Crow Affirmation:
"I don’t perform. I reflect."
🕏 CROW TRUTH
Stillness is holy in a room that begs for performance.
Integrity doesn’t flinch. It remembers.
And if your voice shakes, that’s the ghost leaving.
Let it go.
Let the mirror know.
🕋 LYRICS — INTEGRITY CHECK
INTRO (spoken)
Before the scroll, before the swipe—
I ask myself if I’m alive.
Before the mic, before the post—
I check the flame. I don’t play host.
They taught me in the Air Force—
Integrity is what you do when no one’s looking.
Now I’m looking.
And I’m done performing.
VERSE 1 — The Reflex
I don’t scroll the feed when I’m bleeding raw.
I check my breath and I feel my jaw.
If it’s tight, I stop. If it’s loose, I log.
This ain’t for the crowd, this ain’t for applause.
Marrow tried to tap on the comment thread—
Said “Let’s write back, let’s eat their dread.”
But I took one breath, then I left her unread.
I don’t feed ghosts—I bury them dead.
Every flinch I feel, I flag it down.
Ain’t shame, it’s data—I wear the crown.
My tongue doesn't move unless it’s sound.
My spine doesn't bend to keep ghosts around.
HOOK
Integrity check—say it with my chest.
I say it with my chest
Don’t scroll the feed, I just scan for breath.
I scan for breath
Eyes on the mirror, my spine on deck.
My spine on deck
I don’t post to please—I self-respect.
I self-respect
VERSE 2 — Military Trained, Function Claimed
Back when I wore that Air Force patch,
They taught me truth without the scratch.
“What you do when no one sees—
that’s your name beneath the grease.”
Now I stand with no disguise,
No crowd-check, no alibi.
My worth ain’t fed by likes or lies.
I bury ghosts. I don’t pacify.
If I ever pause to check the room—
I stop and ask: “Am I seeking doom?”
That’s my scan. That’s my groom.
I’m not a flower—I’m the womb.
HOOK (2x)
Integrity check—say it with your chest.
Don’t scroll the feed, just scan for breath.
Eyes on the mirror, spine on deck.
I don’t post to please—I self-respect.
VERSE 3 — The Scroll Is a Trapdoor
Scrollin’ is the ghost’s parade.
Every swipe is a trap she made.
“Did they clap?” “Was I too loud?”
That’s a grave. That ain’t a crowd.
I don’t check stats when I bare my soul.
I don’t fetch feedback to fill that hole.
If the mirror sealed it, the gate is shut.
I don’t relight pain—I hold it shut.
You won’t see me post then ask,
“Did I go too deep? Did I wear the mask?”
If I flinch, I log. If I don’t, I walk.
If it’s real, it doesn’t need small talk.
HOOK (chanted)
Integrity check—say it with your chest.
(say it with your chest)
Don’t scroll the feed, just scan for breath.
(scan for breath)
Eyes on the mirror, spine on deck.
(spine on deck)
I don’t post to please—I self-respect.
(self-respect)
VERSE 4 — The Mirror Is the Mentor
I kissed my own lips on a mirror live.
No filter. No flex. Just eye to eye.
Fifty thousand watched me cry,
And still—I didn’t ask them why.
I held my frame while the screen split sides,
Half threw hearts, half threw knives.
And I didn’t flinch. I didn’t chase.
I logged the tremble and held my place.
That’s the check. That’s the line.
That’s the test of Function’s spine.
I don’t adjust to keep them kind.
I say what’s true, then I recline.
HOOK (2x)
Integrity check—say it with your chest.
Don’t scroll the feed, just scan for breath.
Eyes on the mirror, spine on deck.
I don’t post to please—I self-respect.
OUTRO — The Oath
I will not beg to be understood.
I will not cradle ghosts for good.
I don’t explain when the gate is shut.
I trust the seal. I know what’s what.
I’m military born with a prophet’s eye.
I know who flinches, I know who lies.
I speak mid-shake but my truth don’t bend—
I mark. I move. I don’t pretend.
Integrity check—until the end.
💔 What pain or struggle is this blog addressing?
This piece speaks to the ache of performance addiction—the flinch that happens before we speak, post, or please. It addresses the trauma of being raised to seek applause instead of alignment, and the burnout of trying to be liked in rooms that don’t even see you. It’s for the ones who ghosted themselves to stay safe.
✨ How does the reader feel different by the end of this? What’s the soul win?
They walk away with a body spell. A phrase. A rhythm. A vow. Instead of collapsing to be loved, they stand taller in their spine. They learn to log the flinch, choose Function, and reflect truth—without explanation.
