Dope Man

D**e Man - Jay-Z

Written by：Jay-Z/Shawn Carter/Ernesto Shaw/Ken Supa Engineer Duro/Darrell Digga Branch/Ken "Supa Engineer" Duro/Darrell "Digga" Branch

Serena altschul's here live outside the criminal courthouse

In new york city for the first day in the trial of

The state vs shawn carter a k a Jay z

Whatever the verdict in this trial may be

The effects will undoubtedly be felt worldwid

Aiyyo 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 d**e man d**e 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 sh*t

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 ou

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 d**e man d**e man

I try to tell em I'm where hope floats man

Ghetto spokes man

How come you label your brand of d**e

Volume 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 volume 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 overwhelming amount of evidence

The d a's presented things aren't looking good

They call me d**e man d**e 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 d**e man d**e 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 ni**a 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

F**k 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 d**e man d**e 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 hook serena keeps speaking

People are cheering and hugging there he is

Jay z is exiting the courtroom right now

There is a swarm of cameras surrounding him pop bulbs flashing

Let's try and make our way over there Jay z Jay z