The Blacker The Berry The Sweeter The Juice Lyrics
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The Blacker The Berry The Sweeter The Juice Lyrics
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"The Blacker the Berry'" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kendrick Lamar. It was included as the thirteenth song on the track-listing of his third studio album To Pimp a Butterfly (2015). "The Blacker the Berry" was released as second single from the album on February 9, 2015. The song shares its title with the novel The Blacker the Berry by American author Wallace Thurman. The track produced by Boi-1da, Terrace Martin, and KOZ. It has a chorus that features from Jamaican artist Assassin. The album version also contaions additional vocals provided by neo soul singer Lalah Hathaway. Upon its release, "The Blacker the Berry'" received positive reviews from contemporary music critics. However, its also elicited controversy due to Kendrick Lamar's commentary on the death of Trayvon Martin. In the United States, it peaked at number sixty-six on the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single has since been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). more »
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987), simply known as Kendrick Lamar, is an American hip hop recording artist from Compton, California, currently signed to Top Dawg, Aftermath, and Interscope. Lamar is a member of hip hop supergroup Black Hippy, along with fellow West Coast rappers and label mates Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul. He first gained major attention after the release of his fourth mixtape, Overly Dedicated, in 2010. In 2011 he released his first independent album to critical acclaim, Section.80, released exclusively through iTunes and instantly ranked as one of the top digital hip hop releases of the year. Early in his career, before releasing his major label debut, Lamar amassed a large Internet following, and had already worked with D… more »
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Written by: Jeffrey Campbell, Kendrick Duckworth, Stephen Noel Kozmeniuk, Matthew Jehu Samuels, Zale Epstein, Alexander Izquierdo, Brent Andrew Kolatalo, Ken Lewis, Terrace Martin
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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"The Blacker The Berry Lyrics." Lyrics.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2022. Web. 1 Sep. 2022. < https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/31776869/Kendrick+Lamar/The+Blacker+The+Berry >.
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Little something for my godson Elijah
And a little girl named Corin
Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots
I give a holla to my sisters on welfare
2Pac cares if don't nobody else care
And I know they like to beat you down a lot
When you come around the block, brothers clown a lot
But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up
Forgive, but don't forget, girl, keep your head up
And when he tells you you ain't nothing, don't believe him
And if he can't learn to love you, you should leave him
'Cause, sister, you don't need him
And I ain't trying to gas ya up, I just call 'em how I see 'em
You know what makes me unhappy? When brothers make babies and leave a young mother to be a pappy
And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?
I think it's time to kill for our women
Time to heal our women, be real to our women
And if we don't we'll have a race of babies
That will hate the ladies that make the babies
And since a man can't make one
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one
So will the real men get up?
I know you're fed up, ladies, but keep your head up
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things are gonna get easier
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things'll get brighter
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things are gonna get easier
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things'll get brighter
Ayo, I remember Marvin Gaye used to sing to me
He had me feeling like black was the thing to be
And suddenly the ghetto didn't seem so tough
And though we had it rough, we always had enough
I huffed and puffed about my curfew and broke the rules
Ran with the local crew and had a smoke or two
And I realize momma really paid the price
She nearly gave her life to raise me right
And all I had to give her was my pipe dream
Of how I'd rock the mic and make it to the bright screen
I'm trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents
It's hard to be legit and still pay the rent
And in the end it seems I'm heading for the pen
I try to find my friends, but they're blowing in the wind
Last night my buddy lost his whole family
It's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity
It seems the rain'll never let up
I try to keep my head up and still keep from getting wet up
You know, it's funny, when it rains it pours
They got money for wars but can't feed the poor
Say there ain't no hope for the youth
And the truth is it ain't no hope for the future
And then they wonder why we crazy
I blame my mother for turning my brother into a crack baby
We ain't meant to survive, 'cause it's a set-up
And even though you're fed up
Huh, you got to keep your head up
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things are gonna get easier
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things'll get brighter
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things are gonna get easier
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things'll get brighter
And uh, to all the ladies having babies on they own
I know it's kinda rough and you're feeling all alone
Daddy's long gone and he left you by your lonesome
Thank the Lord for my kids even if nobody else want 'em
'Cause I think we can make it, in fact, I'm sure
And if you fall, stand tall and comeback for more
'Cause ain't nothing worse than when your son
Wants to know why his daddy don't love him no mo'
You can't complain you was dealt this
Hell of a hand without a man, feeling helpless
Because there's too many things for you to deal with
Dying inside, but outside you're looking fearless
While tears is rolling down your cheeks
You steady hoping things don't fall down this week
'Cause if it did, you couldn't take it
And don't blame me, I was given this world, I didn't make it
And now my son's getting older and older and colder
From having the world on his shoulders
While the rich kids is driving Benz
I'm still trying to hold on to surviving friends
And it's crazy, it seems it'll never let up
But please, you got to keep your head up
Thanks to Viviana Medina for correcting these lyrics.
Writer(s): Stan Vincent, Roger Troutman, Tupac Amaru Shakur, Darryl Anderson
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Everything black, I don't want black (They want us to bow)
I want everything black, I ain't need black (Down to our knees)
Some white, some black, I ain't mean black (And pray to a God)
I want everything black (That we don't believe)
Everything black, want all things black
I don't need black, want everything black
Don't need black, our eyes ain't black
I own black, own everything black
Six in the morn', fire in the street
Burn, baby, burn, that's all I wanna see
And sometimes I get off watchin' you die in vain
It's such a shame they may call me crazy
They may say I suffer from schizophrenia or somethin'
But homie, you made me
Black don't crack, my nigga
I'm the biggest hypocrite of 2015
Once I finish this, witnesses will convey just what I mean
Been feeling this way since I was 16, came to my senses
You never liked us anyway, fuck your friendship, I meant it
I'm African-American, I'm African
I'm black as the moon, heritage of a small village
Pardon my residence
Came from the bottom of mankind
My hair is nappy, my dick is big, my nose is round and wide
You hate me don't you?
You hate my people, your plan is to terminate my culture
You're fuckin' evil I want you to recognize that I'm a proud monkey
You vandalize my perception but can't take style from me
And this is more than confession
I mean I might press the button just so you know my discretion
I'm guardin' my feelings, I know that you feel it
You sabotage my community, makin' a killin'
You made me a killer, emancipation of a real nigga
The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
The blacker the berry, the bigger I shoot
I said they treat me like a slave, cah' me black
Woi, we feel a whole heap of pain, cah' we black
And man a say they put me inna chains, cah' we black
Imagine now, big gold chains full of rocks
How you no see the whip, left scars pon' me back
But now we have a big whip parked pon' the block
All them say we doomed from the start, cah' we black
Remember this, every race start from the block, just remember that
I'm the biggest hypocrite of 2015
Once I finish this, witnesses will convey just what I mean
I mean, it's evident that I'm irrelevant to society
That's what you're telling me, penitentiary would only hire me
Curse me till I'm dead
Church me with your fake prophesizing that I'mma be just another slave in my head
Institutionalized manipulation and lies
Reciprocation of freedom only live in your eyes
You hate me don't you?
I know you hate me just as much as you hate yourself
Jealous of my wisdom and cards I dealt
Watchin' me as I pull up, fill up my tank, then peel out
Muscle cars like pull ups, show you what these big wheels 'bout, ah
Black and successful, this black man meant to be special
CAT scans on my radar, bitch, how can I help you?
How can I tell you I'm making a killin'?
You made me a killer, emancipation of a real nigga
The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
The blacker the berry, the bigger I shoot
I said they treat me like a slave, cah' me black
Woi, we feel a whole heap of pain, cah' we black
And man a say they put me inna chains, cah' we black
Imagine now, big gold chains full of rocks
How you no see the whip, left scars pon' me back
But now we have a big whip parked pon' the block
All them say we doomed from the start, cah' we black
Remember this, every race start from the block, just remember that
I'm the biggest hypocrite of 2015
When I finish this if you listenin' then sure you will agree
This plot is bigger than me, it's generational hatred
It's genocism, it's grimy, little justification
I'm African-American, I'm African
I'm black as the heart of a fuckin' Aryan
I'm black as the name of Tyrone and Darius
Excuse my French but fuck you — no, fuck y'all
That's as blunt as it gets, I know you hate me, don't you?
You hate my people, I can tell cause it's threats when I see you
I can tell cause your ways deceitful
Know I can tell because you're in love with that Desert Eagle
Thinkin' maliciously, he get a chain then you gone bleed him
It's funny how Zulu and Xhosa might go to war
Two tribal armies that want to build and destroy
Remind me of these Compton Crip gangs that live next door
Beefin' with Pirus, only death settle the score
So don't matter how much I say I like to preach with the Panthers
Or tell Georgia State "Marcus Garvey got all the answers"
Or try to celebrate February like it's my B-Day
Or eat watermelon, chicken, and Kool-Aid on weekdays
Or jump high enough to get Michael Jordan endorsements
Or watch BET cause urban support is important
So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street?
When gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me?
Hypocrite!
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Was Pac more of a gangster or activist?
Genius is the ultimate source of music knowledge, created by scholars like you who share facts and insight about the songs and artists they love.
To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum
2Pac may have been a gangsta, but he had feelings too! This is a feminist anthem from Pac, with references to pro-choice politics and what one might call “rape culture”.
In a 1995 interview with LA Times journalist Chuck Philips, Tupac said:
I think the shit that I say, no one else says. Who was writing about Black women before ‘Keep Ya Head Up?’ Now everybody got a song about Black women. Who was writing about that when I was writing about that? Who was writing about their own problems? I wasn’t talking [blah blah blah], I was talking my real problems. I was really having problems with police. I was really having problems with life and just being Black and why the hell we gotta get stepped on so much? But then I’m making it, I thought I was successful when I’m still getting stepped on. How come I got a boot-print on my back and I’m successful? I just couldn’t believe that. So instead of me just bugging out and doing a post office move and just shooting everything up and going to jail for a million years, I just said, ‘Fuck it. I’m in here rapping. Why not just rap about some shit that’s really happening?’
The music video opens with an image about being dedicated to Latasha Harlins .
There are two follow-ups to this song, “Baby Don’t Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II)” and “Win (Keep Ya Head up Pt.3)” by E.D.I. Mean who is a member of 2Pac’s Outlawz.
2Pac was in many ways more than just a gangsta rapper. He talked about his personal life, social and political issues, wrote spiritual raps and made a few party songs too.
His engagement in activism doesn’t come as a surprise considering his mother, Afeni Shakur, was an active Black Panther Party member.
Also, his “Thug Life” slogan was not only an ad-lib, or a tattoo across his belly, or a record label, or a way of life: there was actual activism attached to it, as Justin Hunte says in this video .
Cheryl “Salt” James of Salt-N-Pepa told Vice in 2017 something that may explain Tupac’s inspiration behind this song:
We met Tupac at various places, you would spot him everywhere. The first time we spent proper time with him was the Whatta Man video, where he had a cameo. Tupac met my daughter one time, when she was very little. He had this long conversation with her and, I don’t know, I guess she just struck him somehow. He called me this one time and said ‘By the way, I dedicated a song to Corin’. I never really understood why, the only thing I can say is that he was just enamored with her and so at the beginning of ‘Keep Ya Head Up’, he dedicates the song to my daughter.
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