{*sound of a camera taking a picture*}
[Jay] Millenium flow
[MTV] Serena Altschul's here live outside the criminal courthouse
[Jay] This is {bullshit} y'all
[MTV] in New York City for the first day in the trial of
[Jay] I'm gone {*car speeds off*}
[MTV] the State vs. Shawn Carter, a.k.a. Jay-Z
[Jay] Uhh, uh-huh-uh, uhh, uh-huh-uh, uhh
[MTV] Whatever the verdict in this trial may be
the effects will undoubtedly be felt worldwide
[Jay-Z]
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
{Hook:} 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
[MTV] 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"
{Hook}
[Jay-Z]
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