Chip on my shoulder
Big enough to feed Cambodia
See I never fit into they quotas
Sneakers wasn’t fittin’ and my knees needed lotion
Long before I knew the significance of a comb
I roam like phone with no vocal reception
Immigrant parents had me feeling like a step kid
And black Americans never did accept me
That’s why I thrive so much when they respect B.I.G
I never fit in with them light skins
I thought the lighter they was, the better that they life is
So I resented them and they resented me
Cheated on light skin Dominique when we were 17
I figure I hurt her– she evidently hurt me
And all women who have light features see
I never let a light broad hurt me
That’s why I strike first and the first cuts deep

Chorus
From a light skin girl to a dark skin brother
Shade doesn’t matter, heart makes the lover
Boy you so beautiful (2x)
Shade doesn’t matter, heart makes the lover
Honey brown, Caramel, Coffee brown, Chocolate, Toffee, Pecan, Licorice
Boy you so beautiful

Just another knotty head ni**a
Hoping Wes Snipes make my life a bit different
In middle school I had the right to be timid
I had beautiful words but girls never listened
Listen, blacker the berry, sweeter the product
Well I’m fruit punch concentrate and they water
Walk into my room thinking how to make moves
Ain’t thinking like a student, but how Ice-T do it
Light dudes had the girls looking there
Aww yea it’s not fair
The ones with the good hair
Couldn’t adapt to naps I wave cap
They napped and slept on me
Man I hate black…..skin tone
I wish I could take it back or rearrange my status
Maybe if I was khaki
Associating light skin with classy
The minstrel show, showed a me that was not me

Chorus
From a light skin girl to a dark skin brother
Shade doesn’t matter, heart makes the lover
Boy you so beautiful (2x)
Shade doesn’t matter, heart makes the lover
Honey brown, Caramel, Coffee brown, Chocolate, Toffee, Pecan, Licorice
Boy you so beautiful

They say black is beautiful
But ask them beautiful light girls if it’s black they attract to usually
What if Barack’s skin was all black
Truthfully would he be a candidate or just a black in the community
We as black dudes tend to lack unity
And them blacker girls ain’t on the tube usually
Right now at 23 I ain’t mad at the reds (light skin women) no more
But for a long time I had gone cold blind
Full of my own insecurity
It was holding me
Back to reds, I ain’t know how to act
They would get the cold shoulder
And know it was an act, a defense mechanism
What I thought that I lacked…

CONFIDENCE!

“Shades” from Wale’s upcoming album Attention Deficit.

I could relate to certain parts of this song looking back on my younger years…

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