[Verse 1: gritty male rapper] Third time in the county, same orange, same chair Same guard sayin', "Back again?" like he's glad I'm there Judge set it high 'cause he knew my face Said, "Fifty thousand," and he said it like I was a waste Mama didn't call, and Mama didn't write Mama took the bus downtown at the first light Walked into the bondsman with a folder in her hand Twenty-nine years of a deed and a little piece of land Said, "This is all I got, and he's all I got too" Bondsman said, "Ma'am, you sure?" She said, "Sir, I'm sure, are you?" [Hook: powerful female gospel vocalist, the gritty rapper under her] I put up the house, I put up with you I put up a fight when the judge said you're through Twenty-nine years on that deed, and I'd sign it twice Now put up or shut up, baby, make it right [Verse 2: gritty male rapper, raw] Walked out the gate, and she was waitin' on the curb Didn't hug me, didn't yell, didn't say a single word Rode the bus home quiet, forty minutes, not a sound Every bump in that road was a gavel comin' down Got home, there's a paper taped up on the fridge Said, "If you run, I'm sleepin' underneath the bridge" Every mornin' that I read it, I was holdin' up the roof Every night I wanted out, and that paper was the proof Old friends knockin', sayin', "Come ride, it's just a spin" I said, "Not tonight, my mama's roof is what I'm standin' in" [Hook: powerful female gospel vocalist, the gritty rapper under her] I put up the house, I put up with you I put up a fight when the judge said you're through Twenty-nine years on that deed, and I'd sign it twice Now put up or shut up, baby, make it right [Bridge: gritty male rapper, slower, piano and strings swell over the heavy drums] Seven court dates in a borrowed tie, I made 'em every one Judge said, "Case dismissed," and Mama didn't clap or run She just took the folder back and held it to her chest Like she got her baby back, and the house was just the rest [Verse 3: gritty male rapper, proud and hard] That was nine years back, now I frame houses for a livin' Swingin' hammers every day since the day I was forgiven Learned to read a blueprint, learned to plumb a wall Learned a house ain't wood, it's who you'd lose it all for Saved up for six years, bought a lot down the road Built it with my hands, every stud, every load Handed her the key on her sixty-fifth birthday Put the deed in her name, then I heard my mama say [Final Hook: female vocalist sings a long gospel run into the hook, full voice, the heavy drums under her] I put up the house, I put up with you I put up a fight when the judge said you're through Twenty-nine years on that deed, and I'd sign it twice Now you put up a house, baby, and you made it right [End]
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