Dead Time

It feels like they're all laughing at me.
Making dumb jokes while folks with no hope sit desperately waiting
Whispering to one another about the well-being of our cousins and brothers
While on the other side, the vibe is strictly business.

"You know, I went to the cottage last weekend,
And my dog Spencer did the absolute cutest thing ever"

Cooler talk, food for thought, we get caught and fools defend us
Tremendous, absolutеly stupendous.
What a stupid system they havе created for us.

The room is split up, guilty and black is one
White and in charge is the other one
Legal aid is the paid Harriet Tubman
Working for my kin negotiating freedom

"They'll offer five; we'll say three and settle for four"
I'm beginning to think that they have all done this before
The court room rises and sits back down
Friends introduce themselves as defense and the crown
Charges are read, laughing and smiling
The feds are the only thugs big enough to rock blue and red

Five counts of robbery, two counts of assault
Luckily the sixth count of robbery never really stuck
Mother is pacing, heart is beating out of her chest.
She hasn't seen her baby since the weekend before last
He said he didn't do it, but she doesn't know what to believe
The third time in three months, why does this only happen to we?

He looks like just any other Tyrone,
Clothes scruff with hair just begging to be combed
Translators translate legal jargon into his mother's tongue
Meaningless words that are designed to make my people seem dumb
But some paperwork is missing, so the lawyers don't know what to do
They suggest of recess but will reconvene at two,
Like we have nothing else better to do
Than sit around and wait for these monkeys in suits

The process gets tons of time, procedure gets tons of loot
Bureaucrats write the facts but give none to truth
Because the truth is, that crime pays very well
But those getting paid to judge now should be judged in hell
Punishment is a multibillion dollar industry
In the streets police help steal the peace
So who's the thief? Who defends the defenseless?
Charged for actions or accused for intentions
Don't put me on the stand, that's a waste of time
I fear no one but Allah, your scare tactics get denied
Look now you've made her cry, sons bail has been denied.
You're only making things worse by keeping him inside

When and why did lives become big business?
Because you can't be innocent and have zero cents
Now it's life imprisonment, before it was just the Lynch
God created mankind, but we decide life or death?
Are you kidding me?
Your democracy is like Swiss cheese
Full of holes and a whole heap of hypocrisy
So excuse me if I don't bow my head before your queen
I don't know that chick, and she definitely does not know me