Meaning of “Testimony” by Kodak Black

“Testimony” is a track from American hip hop artist Kodak Black’s second studio album, Dying to Live. This track focuses on a number of important subjects in Black’s life. The most prominent of these topics is salvation.

Intro

The song’s intro sees Black talking about being “God-sent” before proceeding to address the many struggles and obstacles life brought his way and how he surmounted them. To him, being able to surmount these mighty obstacles of life had to be the work of God.

Verse 1

Black kicks off the first verse by reiterating once again that he is “God-sent”. Black begins the song by rapping about being”God-sent” and how God is using him as “His vessel” and”an instrument”. He talks about his enemies locking him in a box and doing everything within their powers to destroy him. According to him, he feels they are doing this because they hate seeing the abundant blessings he is receiving from the good Lord. We strongly suspect Black is referencing his time spent in prison with the phrase “they locked me in a box”.

It is in this verse that he mentions the word “testimony” for the first and only time. He proudly raps about being a “living testimony”. To him, every album he releases can be likened to “a testament”.

He goes on to talk about not being bothered the struggles he’s gone through in life. To him, all the obstacles life put in his way are what made him who he is today. In other words, those struggles were blessings in disguise.

He proceeds to rap about a bunch of things, including how he doesn’t take drugs, being neglected by his father, and how God speaks through him as though he was a prophet. He concludes the verse by talking about dying in order to live again.

Chorus

In the chorus, Black details the dark times of his life on the rough streets. The chorus has just one main theme – Black’s days of hustling and darkness in the streets.

Verse 2

This verse starts with Black saying he can’t sleep because he shot someone. It’s not clear if he means this literally or metaphorically. However, he goes on to talk about being washed down with bleach after committing that “crime”. It’s possible that bleach Black is talking about might actually be Holy Water. He goes on to touch briefly on his success and how it wasn’t easy achieving it. He then takes the listeners back to some of the dark days of his life. But before doing that, he addresses his mother and apologizes to her. He tells her he is sorry for falling victim to the streets.

After his apology, he mentions some of the negative things he did in the past. One of which was selling weed in middle school.

At the end of the verse, Black speaks directly to God and shows his appreciation to Him for being his guide through the dark episodes of his life.

Facts about “Testimony”

•  Kodak Black wrote every single lyric of “Testimony”. However, the song’s production was done by Miami based music producer, Major Nine.
• Black released “Testimony” as a single on December 7, 2018 through Atlantic Records. Upon its release, the song became the fifth single from his 2018 album Dying to Live. The global hit song “Zeze” is also a single on that album.
• The word “testimony” only appears once in the lyrics. It can be found in the sixth line of the first verse.