[Intro – Jon Batiste & Choir Call-Out] (Batiste shouts over the band warming up) All right, now! We gon’ take it back to the block — where the Word wear sneakers and the horn say Amen! (Trumpet fanfare cuts in, drums drop tight groove.) ⸻ [Verse 1 – Lil Wayne] 🎶 Church ain’t open, but the block still praisin’, Every bassline feel like raisin’. Hands in the air like a traffic stop, Holy Ghost jump when the snare pop-pop. Mama read Psalms by the streetlight’s hum, Daddy said God in the bottle — still some. But I seen grace in a doorman’s grin, Faith walk dirty, but it don’t walk thin. 🎶 ⸻ [Hook – Choir + Batiste + Wayne] 🎶 We got gospel in the gutter, hallelujah swing, Every sinner got a solo, let the trumpet sing! Ain’t no roof, but the spirit stay covered, Joy got rhythm when the pain discovered. 🎶 ⸻ [Verse 2 – Lil Wayne] 🎶 I talk to angels through 808s, They reply in harmonies and bass. Every verse a sermon, I don’t fake — Even my flaws make heaven shake. Concrete choir, barefoot band, Tambourines made of broken plans. They said, “You ain’t righteous,” I said, “Cool, God love rebels too — that’s Sunday school.” 🎶 ⸻ [Bridge – French Gospel Refrain (Batiste & Choir)] 🎶 La rue est sainte, écoute-la chanter, (The street is holy, listen to her sing.) La foi danse où le cœur est blessé, (Faith dances where the heart’s been hurt.) 🎶 (Wayne ad-libs under it: “Yeah, dance on that hurt… we turnin’ pain into percussion.”) ⸻ [Hook – Full Brass & Choir Explosion] 🎶 We got gospel in the gutter, faith on beat, Mercy wear Jordans, grace in the street! Every crack a story, every shout a prayer, The church been here — right here. 🎶 ⸻ [Verse 3 – Wayne Spoken/Sung Flow] See, the gutter ain’t shame — it’s survival. Every scar a psalm, every tear revival. I don’t need no steeple, no priest, no suit — just a band, a beat, and the truth. 🎶 Turn my losses into choirs singin’, Turn my storms into horns still ringin’. 🎶 ⸻ [Final Hook – Crowd Chant, Jon on Fire at the Piano] 🎶 Gospel in the gutter, where we find the light, Dance through struggle, shout through night! We don’t ask — we testify, Even broken voices qualify. 🎶 (Choir repeats “Even broken voices qualify” as brass jam outro.) ⸻ [Outro – Spoken over Instrumental] They say gospel belong in the church. I say gospel belong wherever somebody still breathin’. And baby… New Orleans still breathin’. (Drums fade, horns echo one last hallelujah riff.)

Gospel in the Gutter