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   (Uhh, uh huh uh, uhh, uh huh uh, uhh)   Whatever the verdict in this trial may be   The effects will undoubtedly be felt worldwide      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 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   Nowadays, 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   "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 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   (Jay-Z is taking the stand)   Ghetto spokes man      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 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 spokes man      Well the verdict isjust been announced not guilty!   It is complete pandemonium out here!   (They call me Dope Man, Dope Man)   People are cheering and hugging there he is   (I try to tell 'em I'm where hope, floats man)   Jay-Z is exiting the courtroom right now   (Ghetto spokes man)   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!