Released: May 16, 1990
Featuring: Chuck D
Songwriter: Ice Cube Chuck D Bernie Worrell Garry Shider Eric Sadler Eddie Hazel Bootsy Collins George Clinton
Producer: The Bomb Squad
[Intro: Female News Reporter]
"At the bottom of our news tonight, there's been a new animal aimed at falling off the face of our Earth. Yes, young black teenagers are reported to be the oldest, and the newest, creatures added to the endangered species list. As of now, no efforts have been made to preserve the Blacks. When asked why, a top law official adds, 'Because they make good game'"
(A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown)
[Verse 1: Ice Cube]
Peace? Hahaha, don't make me laugh!
All I hear is motherfuckers rappin' succotash
Livin' large, tellin' me to get out the gang
I'm a nigga, gotta live by the trigga
How the fuck do you figure
That I can say "Peace" and the gunshots will cease?
Every cop killer goes ignored
They just send another nigga to the morgue
A point scored, they could give a fuck about us
They rather catch us with guns and white powder
If I was old, they'd probably be a friend of me
Since I'm young, they consider me the enemy
They kill ten of me to get the job correct
To serve, protect, and break a nigga's neck
Cuz I'm the one with the trunk of funk
And "Fuck tha Police" in the tape deck
You should listen to me cuz there's more to see
Call my neighborhood a ghetto cuz it houses minorities
The other color don't know you can run but not hide
These are tales from the darkside
[Interlude: Chuck D + sample]
All of us are endangered, damn!
(A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown)
(A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown)
[Verse 2: Ice Cube]
You wanna free Africa? I'll stare at ya
Cuz we ain't got it too good in America
I can't fuck with them overseas
My homeboy died over keys
Of cocaine, it was plain and simple
The 9mm went (buck) to the temple
(Buck, buck, buck) was the sound I put the bitch down
And ran to the schoolyard bathroom
Looked in the trash can, yo it had room
So I ducked my ass in it for a minute
Covered with trash I had to lay back
Mad as fuck, thinkin' about the payback
Tonight the crew gonna have a little fun
I went home and cut the barrel of my shotgun
It's gettin' critical - I stole a 5.0
I let it go - drive real slow
I yelled out "Ice Cube, sucka"
The shotgun kicked, and it murdered motherfuckers
I told you last album
"When I got a sawed-off, bodies are hauled off"
Its a shame, that niggas die young
But to the light side it don't matter none
It'll be a drive by homicide
But to me its just another tale from the darkside
[Segue: Sampled guitar riff]
[Verse 3: Chuck D]
Standing in the middle of war, the minute we flex
When we die, we won't make Jet
Ebony can't see to the light side
The term they apply to us is a nigga
Call it what you want, cause I'm comin’ from the corner
Same applies to a Ph.D
Who's black - don't wanna roll - sells his soul
Watch his head go rollin’
Who the fuck are they foolin’?
Nobody knows, but I suppose the color of my clothes
Matches the color of the one on my face
As they wonder whats under my waist
(Standin' on the verge) of them gettin’ brown
That's a fact, got a fear of the bozack
Run, run, run, their ass off, they can not hide
Yeah Cube, they can't fuck with the darkside!
"At the bottom of our news tonight, there's been a new animal aimed at falling off the face of our Earth. Yes, young black teenagers are reported to be the oldest, and the newest, creatures added to the endangered species list. As of now, no efforts have been made to preserve the Blacks. When asked why, a top law official adds, 'Because they make good game'"
(A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown)
[Verse 1: Ice Cube]
Peace? Hahaha, don't make me laugh!
All I hear is motherfuckers rappin' succotash
Livin' large, tellin' me to get out the gang
I'm a nigga, gotta live by the trigga
How the fuck do you figure
That I can say "Peace" and the gunshots will cease?
Every cop killer goes ignored
They just send another nigga to the morgue
A point scored, they could give a fuck about us
They rather catch us with guns and white powder
If I was old, they'd probably be a friend of me
Since I'm young, they consider me the enemy
They kill ten of me to get the job correct
To serve, protect, and break a nigga's neck
Cuz I'm the one with the trunk of funk
And "Fuck tha Police" in the tape deck
You should listen to me cuz there's more to see
Call my neighborhood a ghetto cuz it houses minorities
The other color don't know you can run but not hide
These are tales from the darkside
[Interlude: Chuck D + sample]
All of us are endangered, damn!
(A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown)
(A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown)
[Verse 2: Ice Cube]
You wanna free Africa? I'll stare at ya
Cuz we ain't got it too good in America
I can't fuck with them overseas
My homeboy died over keys
Of cocaine, it was plain and simple
The 9mm went (buck) to the temple
(Buck, buck, buck) was the sound I put the bitch down
And ran to the schoolyard bathroom
Looked in the trash can, yo it had room
So I ducked my ass in it for a minute
Covered with trash I had to lay back
Mad as fuck, thinkin' about the payback
Tonight the crew gonna have a little fun
I went home and cut the barrel of my shotgun
It's gettin' critical - I stole a 5.0
I let it go - drive real slow
I yelled out "Ice Cube, sucka"
The shotgun kicked, and it murdered motherfuckers
I told you last album
"When I got a sawed-off, bodies are hauled off"
Its a shame, that niggas die young
But to the light side it don't matter none
It'll be a drive by homicide
But to me its just another tale from the darkside
[Segue: Sampled guitar riff]
[Verse 3: Chuck D]
Standing in the middle of war, the minute we flex
When we die, we won't make Jet
Ebony can't see to the light side
The term they apply to us is a nigga
Call it what you want, cause I'm comin’ from the corner
Same applies to a Ph.D
Who's black - don't wanna roll - sells his soul
Watch his head go rollin’
Who the fuck are they foolin’?
Nobody knows, but I suppose the color of my clothes
Matches the color of the one on my face
As they wonder whats under my waist
(Standin' on the verge) of them gettin’ brown
That's a fact, got a fear of the bozack
Run, run, run, their ass off, they can not hide
Yeah Cube, they can't fuck with the darkside!
more tracks from the album
From the albums
- AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (1990)
- Featuring... Ice Cube (1997)
Ice Cube popular songs
- No Vaseline
- It Was a Good Day
- Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It
- Check Yo Self
- You Know How We Do It
- Hello
- Check Yo Self (Remix)
- The Nigga Ya Love to Hate
- Why We Thugs
- Good Cop Bad Cop
- Arrest The President
- You Can Do It
- Nobody Wants to Die
- Go to Church
- Hood Mentality
- Smoke Some Weed
- Ghetto Vet
- AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted
- Friday
- Steady Mobbin’
- Black Korea
- Everythang’s Corrupt
- A Bird in the Hand
- Ghetto Bird