Judge JohnnieB - JohnnieB

Lyrics

( Johnnie B On The Beat ) Yeah. Court is in session, motherfucker. Y’all brought rumors. I brought evidence. Verse 1 Now I’m walking in the courtroom with my notebook in my hand, Gray suit, black shoes, whole damn truth on the stand. They tried to make a case from a line they couldn’t understand, But I got dates, got drafts, got proof of where it began. Objection, your honor, they keep twisting the art, Taking one dark bar and trying to call it my heart. Trying to judge the whole man from the ugliest part, Like a shadow means the sun never had a damn spark. They got screenshots with no context, clips with no frame, Fake witnesses pointing at a half-lit name. They swear they know JohnnieB from the songs that he made, But they don’t know the man underneath all the pain. So I slam the gavel down, let the whole room shake, Put the lies on the table, watch the fake ones break. Cross-examine every snake, every smile, every claim, Then read back their own words when they try to shift blame. Exhibit A is the pain, Exhibit B is the pen, Exhibit C is every time I got back up again. Exhibit D is Little Johnnie crawling out of my head, Exhibit E is Big John trying to forgive what they said. I’m not guilty of the shit that you projected on me, I’m guilty of surviving what you didn’t want to see. I’m guilty of the balance, guilty of the in-between, Guilty of making art from a mind that won’t sleep. Hook Judge JohnnieB, let the gavel hit hard, Put the truth on the stand and the lies behind bars. They can talk that shit, but they won’t get far, I got receipts in the pad and scars in the yard. Judge JohnnieB, case closed on the fake, I don’t need your court when I carried the weight. You can question my name, but you can’t question fate, I sentence every damn lie to the truth I create. Verse 2 Bring the jury in, let ’em sit and observe, How they call me guilty before hearing one word. How they took entertainment and made it a charge, Like every foul line means the full man’s dark. They confuse Little Johnnie with the whole damn face, Confuse one persona with the full damn case. Confuse the mask with the man in the place, Then act like they solved it with a low-rent take. But JohnnieB is the judge and the one on trial, The witness to the pain and the file with the miles. The prosecutor of himself when the truth gets wild, The defendant still standing with a crooked-ass smile. I know what I wrote, I know what I meant, I know what was rage, I know what was vent. I know what was character, I know what was bent, I know what was therapy when the heart got spent. So don’t bring me a charge if the facts ain’t straight, Don’t point at my past like you cracked the safe. I already opened that vault and walked through the gate, You’re late to the hearing and weak with the case. Call me crazy, call me fake, call me lost, call me wrong, But the record shows I carried both sides all along. Big John with the prayer, Little Johnnie with the bomb, JohnnieB in the center still writing the song. I’m the black and the white, the day and the night, The sinner with faith and the wrong with the right. The courtroom got quiet when I stepped to the mic, ’Cause the truth don’t stutter when it’s ready to fight. Hook Judge JohnnieB, let the gavel hit hard, Put the truth on the stand and the lies behind bars. They can talk that shit, but they won’t get far, I got receipts in the pad and scars in the yard. Judge JohnnieB, case closed on the fake, I don’t need your court when I carried the weight. You can question my name, but you can’t question fate, I sentence every damn lie to the truth I create. Verse 3 Now let’s call the first witness, bring my own doubt in, Ask him why he tried to make me feel boxed in. Ask him why he whispered I should quit again, Then watch him plead guilty when the beat kicks in. Call my pride to the stand, make it answer for shit, Ask why it gets loud when the pain gets hit. Ask why it wants revenge when the heart gets split, Then remind it growth don’t mean being a bitch. Call Little Johnnie in, let him laugh in the chair, He’ll say, “I’m the bad side, yeah, I came from there.” He’ll say, “I stole his lines, I stole his air, But JohnnieB made me, so the truth is still fair.” Call Big John next with his hand on the Word, He’ll say, “Forgive, but remember what hurt.” He’ll say, “Grace don’t mean you let snakes in first, And love don’t mean you forget your worth.” Then call JohnnieB, let the whole room see, The full damn man that they tried to misread. Not just the rage, not just the peace, But the whole damn balance with blood on the lease. The verdict came back, and the charge didn’t stick, They tried to frame the art, but the case got split. The judge looked down and said, “Here’s what it is: JohnnieB ain’t perfect, but the truth is his.” So I bang that gavel, let the echoes ring, Courtroom full of ghosts that couldn’t bury the king. I don’t need a robe to know what I bring, I turn every accusation