Chino Xl - What Am I? Lyrics
Yo i don't even know what the vibe is kidAll these different things seperatin usIt got me walkin this fence manAnd i don't even know what side i'ma fall on bCan't see itWell i'm a zebra y'all("half puerto rican, half black, but you don't speak spanish")Don't call me zebra y'all("half puerto rican, half black...")Now how old are you?About six, on my bmx, doin tricksBack to middlesex with a couple of poor white trashy bratsEverything was coochie crunch till it was time for lunchThey said to wait in the back, they said that pops ain't like blackSee where i was the population's mostly whiteAin't it?They wanna see you jiggaboo with yourFace paintedBe brought home by one of their daughters and their fathersFaintedThey want to see you a failure so i neverBecame itLight-skinned, showed them lead, curly-headedCalled me names, i was different, i was gifted, they made me ashamedFound out that i'm a different shade when i'm in the second gradeAbe lincoln's play, they want me to portray a slaveMy momma's face went pale she looked like she wanted to pukeNow that i know the truth i'd rather play john wilkes boothAlthough my family came and *****ed and in the play my role was switchedMy grandma told me i was fixed my problems wasn't fixedMy family seen my views of the world distortMoms last resort, she decided we would move to newarkI took a deep breath leaving everything i knew behindThe country air the green grass and my piece of mindHarassed by white cops on our way we're pulled out our carMistook my mom for joanne chessimar (?) now i'm really scarred<<chorus>>What am i, i'm confused, can't decideWhat am i who am i what am iBlack or white, i can't identifyWhat am i who am i what am iI'm confused, can't decideWhat am i who am i what am iBlack or white, i can't identifyWhat am i who am i what am iCulture shock, newark's a far cry from middlesexBroadly called projects, black eyes, regretsTorn lives, i've never seen so many people depressedMy mental gets molested, physical takes violent threatsStress, walkin home from school's like a terrorist testI learned blacks could be racist too, somehow still i felt i was blessedEven my teachers called me half-breeds and all of thatI was scared of livin here but also scared of movin backSee where i was before i was the darkest thing they ever sawThey figured that i'm black, white aroundThey kick me like a soccer ballWhite people didn't accept me***** youBlack people didn't accept me***** youPuerto ricans didn't accept me***** youDiggin researchin my identity it gots me goin cuckoo"i'm the yellow nigga right?I'm tired of that. i am not passing, i am black!I was born black, i live black,And i will die, proud to be called black!"So now i'm goin "hey niggaz" at niggaz that say chino's not blackThey come to my house and tell my african mother thatIn fact causin crackup they said no sister would attract to meThese same brothers got perms to get their hair like mine was naturallyDescrimination, affects a brother's educationHands up in black history class, they never called on my assBut wait, growin at a rapid rateI digest their hate, it's familyFound out my father left me when i'm threeDealt with felt if i knew my spanish family they'd helpEvery mixed person i met they mostly just kept to themselfWe moved to east orange i set it off talent shows staringA high yellow nigga's progression, my flavor's pouring<<chorus>>Now how old are you?About nineteen lettin off my steamUsed to be a punchin bag, but now i stomps, in hip-hop fiendNow i get the goya jokes, menudo jokes, rico suave jokesBut females rush me and the mc's steal up all my quotesSee what i lacks in melanin i makes up wit adrenalinYour weak attempts at blemishin my mixed heritage i'm treasurinDon't need caucausian acceptance just that of a human beingLaughed and spit at i don't represent cause i am not spanish speakingNow how many dues must i pay to winYou're angry and you're stressin that opressionBut you judge me by the skin i'm in whenAdam clayton powell's, light-skinned andFarrakhan the brother's, light-skinned andElijah muhammad's also, light-skinnedDiscrimination from my own peoples is making my temper go thin soSo stop playing me slight saying my song's aight instead of hypeDon't called me red-boned, or light and bright and damn they're whiteI ain't no zebra, ain't no half of original eitherDon't call me mulatto i stab you with a broken bottleCallin your brother oreo get off it yo, now tom considerHe could be like chino xl, a yellow ass nigga<<chorus>>
