[Verse]
Flash of light the flash of life
Where am I? I’m confused in a big room
All by myself, walking around its been too
Long since I’ve seen anybody
What’s goin’ on?
Right then, a beautiful woman walks in
She says her name’s Amina
“Come with me” she said
“The council is ready to see ya”
I complied as if I didn’t have a choice
I couldn’t even say nothin’
It’s like I didn’t have a voice
She led the way and we started walkin’
Down this long bright hallway that kinda sparkled
Silence, only footsteps it was kinda awkward
It wasn’t before a minute when she started talkin’
She said, “The first thing you need to realize is you are dead”
“This is the first stop you make when it ends”
I froze up, ‘cause I thought I had lost Pascal’s Wager
I spent my whole life making music after greatness
She said, “We all die where our passion lies”
“It wouldn’t make sense for any other afterlife”
“You are a rapper, a backpacker an emcee”
“So you should only be judged by other emcees”
Besides the shock of being dead this gave me mixed feelings
What about injustice, and people like Hitler?
The whole thing was off the Richter—made my mind wander
Now who was on this council?
And how many were on it?
Amina led me to a big set of double doors
I didn’t know what to expect, was I in trouble or?
Could it be alright? Would I get a pass?
If they judged me as whack then would I get it bad?
With one swift motion she pushes the double doors open
And it was then I realized that she wasn’t jokin’
It was a smorgasbord, a buffet of emcees
A courtyard full, some friends, some enemies
Some of them were dope, some of them were tired
A lot of cats were whack while some of them spit fire
We kept on walkin’ ‘til we ran into a cypher where these two cats were battlin’ and one of ‘em was a biter
Amina said, “This is how we kill time”
“Waiting for judgement we be still kicking rhyme”
“But this kid’s a biter, I’ve heard him kick it before”
“I’ve even heard him spit somebody else’s lyrics before”
“Let’s move on”
We started walkin’ this time towards a building
But not before I heard a bunch of oooh’s in the distance
I guess the kid got the ‘biz with the quickness
‘Cause we all love rhyme and we all love spittin’
We made it to some steps of what looked like a courthouse
Amina, “Now when we get in, watch what comes out of your mouth”
“Show the judges respect, speak only when spoken to”
“And if they ever ask you to spit you better be open to”
I swallowed hard, I wasn’t prepared
I still didn’t know what was goin’ on or who would be there
Amina looked me over, started straightening my gear
Got up real close to me and whispered in my ear
“It’s gonna be ok, you’re gonna do just fine”
“I got yo back baby boy you’re gonna be alright”
I realized that I’ve heard this before
This was Candice, my girlfriend who died when the Compton Effect hit the planet
Do I tell her I know who she is or should I wait?
Until the council already has it’s decision made
I started walkin’, she saw the look on my face
The look I was willing to take what they put on my plate
We up in the courthouse, pacing in a lobby
Almost 20 minutes ‘till the bailiff came and got me
We walked in a courtroom, and I saw the gavel
The judge seating arrangements was laid out in a 6x4 panel
That's 24 seats for 24 heirs
24 hip-hop gods all sit there
“All rise” we all rose
The judges trickled in in all black long robes
I kinda froze, these were the gods of hip-hop about to judge me
And call in question if I served hip-hop honorably
Amina stands and says, “You’re honors, by your leave I request that my client be judged a dope emcee”
‘Pac looked up at me from behind his glasses
He started slowly shaking his head as he read my jacket
KRS brought his face in the light, Rakim to his right
He asked, “Ms. Kaplan am I reading this right?”
“This is the institution hip-hop and we have bylaws”
“And clearly you’re client hasn’t written enough bars”
I could see the other judges unconvinced
But I sat there quietly while Amina made my defense
“Your honors with all due respect, what about quality?”
“What about his depth and lyrical complexity?”
Snoop nodded his head and sparked up a blunt
Took a couple of tokes then passed it to Dr. Dre who was just taking notes
This wasn’t going so well
So I decided to stand up and speak for myself
“Your honors I can see that you don’t think that I’m great but I can also tell you aren’t fully convinced that I’m fake”
“If I may offer a solution—send me back”
“Let me earn my extension⁠—prove to the council I ain’t whack”
The council members erupt in a whisper frenzy
Some shaking their heads, some of ‘em agreeing with me
There was a call to order, then a cascading silence
One judge said, “We’ll take a short recess until we’ve decided”
So we back in the lobby
The minutes felt like hours
But I had Candice back⁠—I just wanted to be around her
Finally a decision
Would they judge me as whack or grant me my ascension
Or would they just send me back
And I don’t know if what the council will decide is final
But this may be the last time I’ll be in front of this panel
I’m ready, here we go, my women at my side
24 hip-hop legends about to decide my afterlife
“Mr. Square, after careful review”
“Of your complete body of work and your character too”
“It’s the opinion of the court that you’re not ready for ascension”
“But we have no record of you being whack or pretending”
“So after much deliberation, we’re sending you back”
“Give you a chance to solidify your position in rap”
He said, “Don’t be so quick to thank us because we’ll be watching”
“And we’ll hold you accountable if you get out of pocket”
“We’ll see you when we see you, Greydon”
“This court is adjourned”