I still remember what it was like to grow up in 1990s Lithuania. Violence, organized crime, and fear were part of daily life. I was six when my mother left, and music became my only way to escape a world of burning garages, street gangs, and constant tension. As a teenager, I turned to music not for rebellion, but for survival, while freedom around me was interpreted through crime, underground youth culture, or silence. Concrete Music is my personal essay about a generation raised during independence, forced to grow up too fast. Through Rokas’s journey, I ask the question that still defines us: which version of freedom do we choose, and what responsibility does it demand?