Dope Man

(album: Vol. 3... Life And Times Of S. Carter - 1999)

(Millennium flow)
Serena Altschul's here live outside the criminal courthouse
(This is bullshit y'all)
In New York City for the first day in the trial of
(I'm gone)
The State vs. Shawn Carter, a.k.a. Jay-Z
(Uh, uh-huh-uh, uh, uh-huh-uh, uh)
Whatever the verdict in this trial may be
The effects will undoubtedly be felt worldwide

Ayo, stand forward, 'fore you take notice
Or witness to me killing the track
Testify 'til me spilling the smack
Now they got me for trafficking, racketeering, audio crack
They call me dope man, dope man
I try to tell 'em I'm where hope, floats man
Ghetto spokesman
A broke man, approaching the bench with intent
To bury me under the cell, fingered me as the toast man
Evidence stemming from ninety-six
They say the world ain't recovered from his fix
While they was using cut, I was on some other shit
Gave it to you raw and they just discovered it
Nowadays, the jury got their brow raised
Listening to testimony about my foul ways
Exhibit A: Reasonable Doubt
They say this was the first thing that turned the peoples out

You can feel the tension building here
As an unprecedented number of people have turned out
For what may be the trial of the century

They call me dope man, dope man
I try to tell 'em I'm where hope, floats man
Ghetto spokesman

How come, you label your brand of dope
Vol. 1 and spread it through the slums?
Fed it to the young with total disregard
Your honor, the State seeks the maximum charge
And how could you turn right around
And release a lethal dosage called Vol. 2
And is true you operate the criminal enterprise
Known as Roc-A-Fella in charge of his meteoric rise?
And do you deny you're responsible for the demise
Of record execs, and do you object?
Your distribution's Polygram, and through your connects
Def Jam, you pushed over five million SoundScan
And not to mention your cohorts and henchmen
Dame, Biggs, Lyor, Kev' and Russell Simmons
And we ain't gon' talk about Murder Inc
That just establishes a darker deeper criminal link

The State is seeking the maximum penalty
And with the overwhelming amount of evidence
The D.A.'s presented, things aren't looking good

They call me dope man, dope man
I try to tell 'em I'm where hope, floats man
Ghetto spokesman

Despite the grim outlook at this point the rapper has been known to emerge triumphant in the face of adversity

They call me dope man, dope man
I try to tell em I'm where hope, floats man
Ghetto spokesman

Jay-Z is taking the stand

Right hand on the Bible, left hand in the air
Before I spoke one word, made sure my throat was clear
Ahem, I'm a prisoner of circumstance
Frail nigga, I couldn't much work with my hands
But my mind was strong, I grew where you hold your blacks up
Trap us, expect us not to pick gats up
Where you drop your cracks off by the Mack trucks
Destroy our dreams of lawyers and actors
Keep us spiraling, going backwards
At age nine, saw my first hate crime
Blindfolded, expected to walk a straight line
Mind molded, taught to love you and hate mine
Climbed over it at a early age, Jay shined
Fuck the system at Lady Justice I blaze nine
Your Honor, I no longer kill my people, I raise mine
The soul of Mumia in this modern day time

While the jury is inside deliberating outside the crowd is frozen with anticipation

They call me dope man, dope man
I try to tell 'em I'm where hope, floats man
Ghetto spokesman

Well the verdict has just been announced: "Not guilty"!
It is complete pandemonium out here!
People are cheering and hugging – there he is
Jay-Z is exiting the courtroom right now
There is a swarm of cameras surrounding him
And people are just rushing up to him
Let's try and make our way over there, Jay-Z! Jay-Z!