Complex Original
In October 2017, Lawrence Montague, a Maryland man incarcerated while awaiting trial for murder and gun-related charges, rapped a verse containing the following lyrics over a jail phone to a friend:
“I’ll be playin’ the block bitch
And if you ever play with me
I’ll give you a dream, a couple shots snitch
It’s like hockey pucks the way I dish out this
It’s a .40 when that bitch goin’ hit up shit”
According to court records, Montague’s friend warned him about some of the lyrics, to which Montague replied, “I’m gucci. It’s a rap. Fuck can they do for about a rap?” Weeks later, the state used the rap to get him convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, use of a firearm in a crime of violence, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and carrying a handgun on the person. He was sentenced to 50 years 30 years for the murder in addition to 20 years for use of a firearm (the other charges were “merged,” a