JAY-Z - Dope Man lyrics

Sound of a camera taking a picture

(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) car speeds off
The State vs shawn Carter, aka Jay-Z
(Uhh, uh huh uh, uhh, uh huh uh, uhh)
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 killin' the track
Testify 'til me spillin' the smack
Now they got me
For traffickin', racketeerin', audio crack
They call me dope man, dope man


I try to tell 'em I'm where hope, floats man
Ghetto spokes man a broke man
Approachin' the bench with intent
To bury me under the cell
Fingered me as the toast man
Evidence stemmin' from ninety-six
They say the world ain't
Recovered from his fix
While they was usin' cut
I was on some other shit
Gave it to you raw and
They just discovered it
Nowaday, the jury got they brow raised
Listenin' 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 spokes man

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 co-horts 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 overwhelmin' amount of evidence
The DA's presented
Things aren't lookin' good

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

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 spokes man

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
A hem, 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 spiralin', goin' 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 deliberatin'
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 spokes man

Well the verdict has just
Been announced: NOT GUILTY!
It is complete pandemonium out here!
People are cheerin' and huggin' - there he is
Jay-Z is exitin' the courtroom right now
There is a swarm of cameras
Surroundin' him pop bulbs flashing
And people are just rushin' up to him
Let's try and make our way over there
Jay-Z! Jay-Z!
Sounds of cameras keep flashin'