We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. By using our website and our services, you agree to our use of cookies as described in our Cookie Policy.

In what I hope was driven by a Judge Judy binge watch, Hannibal Burress has released what may be considered the purest form of art in the time of Covid-19, 2020. Clocking in at just under 3 minutes, Hannibal presents himself as an ex-defendant on the show. But he also does a little more than that. Who knew that this track would be full of such in depth analysis of not only the character Judge Judy, but the sub-genre of court based reality tv shows. So in honor of this 3 minute song, here’s a quick in-depth analysis of “Judge Judy”

The track starts off with some stats on Judge Judy’s show. An impressive streak that we will get to later. I’ll admit, I never watched the show but I am familiar. And based on the clip, Judge Judy was not to be fucked with. Which is exactly what Hannibal goes on to do in the first verse. He presents himself as a past defendant on the show who was trying to squat so that he could avoid paying rent to save money because of all his baby momma’s. And he ended up getting the last laugh. Thug moves in the purest form. Whether on accident or not, it’s extremely relevant given the times. Cancel The Rent movements and Rent Strikes are going on across the country due to the pandemic. 30 million unemployed in a matter of weeks?!?!?! But I won’t go into the details and analysis of renting during a pandemic because this isn’t a think-piece (it’s actually the complete opposite) and because economics.

The hidden gem of this track is the analysis of the reality subgenre of true court cases. “Judge Judy” first ran in September, 1996 and will continue to run until 2021 when her current contract expires. But like a phoenix, Judy will return on a show called “Judy Justice”. This woman worked the same job for over 20 years, closed that business, flipped the script, and is back on tv. Wow. [Side Note: There was a tv show from the beginning of the century. In it, there was a scene where a drug kingpin was having a discussion with his economics professor on a challenge he was having with his product and brand.] Long story short: Worldcom becomes MCI, Deathgrip becomes Pandemic, Judge Judy becomes Judy Justice. And you know what, during this time Judge Judy was the QUEEN of daytime tv. I know nothing about tv ratings and syndications, but I can count to 1. In 2019 ?sweeps? “Judge Judy” was #1 for 11 out of 12 weeks. There was even a period of time where “Judge Judy” was out drawing OPRAH. This should not go unrecognized.

Another topic that Hannibal touches on is how “Judge Judy” was not only the queen of TV, she obviously dominated any other court oriented show. “Judge Judy”, “The Peoples Court”, “Judge Mathis”, “Divorce Court”, “Judge Faith”, “Lauren Lake’ Maternity Courty” “Judge Rinder”. None of them could touch Queen Judy. She’s the Lebron James of TV judges, and I have to thank Hannibal Burress for reminding all of us of the power held by Judge Judy Sheindlin.