Shades

[Verse 1: Wale] Chip on my shoulder, big enough to feed Cambodia See, I never fit into they quotas Sneakers wasn’t fitting 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 grab so much when I'm respected I never fit in with them light skins I felt 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 was seventeen I figure I'd hurt her, she evidently hurt me And all women who had light features, see I'd never let a light broad hurt me That’s why I strike first and the verse cuts deep [Chorus: Chrisette Michele] From a light-skinned girl to a dark-skinned brother Shade doesn’t matter, heart makes the lover Boy you’re so beautiful, boy you're so beautiful Shadee doesn’t matter, heart makes the lover Honey brown, caramel, coffee brown, chocolate Toffee, pecan, licorice, boy you're so beautiful [Verse 2: Wale] Just another knotty-haired nigga Hoping Wes Snipes make my life a bit different In middle school I had to write to be timid I had beautiful words but girls never listened Listen; blacker the berry, sweeter the powder 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'd do it Light dudes had the girls looking there all year It’s not fair, the ones with the good hair Couldn’t adapt to naps, I wear caps 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: Chrisette Michele] From a light-skinned girl to a dark-skinned brother Shade doesn’t matter, heart makes the lover Boy you’re so beautiful, boy you're so beautiful Shadee doesn’t matter, heart makes the lover Honey brown, caramel, coffee brown, chocolate Toffee, pecan, licorice, boy you're so beautiful [Verse 3: Wale] 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 blackened 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 them reds no more But for long time I had gone cold Blindfolded my own insecurity 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 [Chorus: Chrisette Michele] From a light-skinned girl to a dark-skinned brother Shade doesn’t matter, heart makes the lover Boy you’re so beautiful, boy you're so beautiful Shadee doesn’t matter, heart makes the lover Honey brown, caramel, coffee brown, chocolate Toffee, pecan, licorice, boy you're so beautiful