Shades
Wale

Chip on my shoulda, 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 foam 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 winnin' respect, dig

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, we were 17

I figure I hurt her she'd 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 cut's deep


From a light skin girl to a dark skin brotha

Shade doesn't matter, heart makes the lover

Boy, you so beautiful, boy, you so beautiful

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, nigga

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

Aw yeah, it's not fair, the ones with the good hurr

Couldn't adapt to naps I wore 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


From a light skin girl to a dark skin brotha

Shade doesn't matter, heart makes the lover

Boy, you so beautiful, boy, you so beautiful

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 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 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


From a light skin girl to a dark skin brotha

Shade doesn't matter, heart makes the lover

Boy, you so beautiful, boy, you so beautiful

Shade doesn't matter, heart makes the lover

Honey brown, caramel, coffee brown, chocolate

Toffee, pecan, licorice, boy, you so beautiful


  Purchase "Shades"   Purchase Entire Album   Email Video to Friends   Play Youtube "Shades" Video   Play Spotify "Shades" Song   View Wikipedia "Shades" Entry   Receive Emails for Future Wale Lyrics

Email:

  Link to "Shades"   Share on Facebook, Twitter, and more
  See Recommended Lyrics For You

Loading...

Lyrics by Wale

  100 Hunnit   25 Wives   4 A.M.   4 Am   4am   600 Benz   88   88 [Explicit]   90210   Abe Icee- Juggin Feat. Wale & Big Wax   Acapella   Actin Up   Albert Pujols   Allelu   Ambition   Ambitionz   Ambitious Girl   Ambitious Girl, Pt2   Another Luv (Remix)   Arrival   Aston Martin Music   Aston Martin Music (freestyle)   Back 2 Ballin   Back To Ballin   Back To The Sun   Bad   Bad (feat. Tiara Thomas)   Bad (Remix)   Bad (Single)   Bad Girls Club   Bad Remix   Bag Of Money   Bag Of Money (Remix)   Bait   Bait (remix)   Barry Sanders   Beautiful Bliss   Best Night Ever   Bitches Like You (Ft. Cam’ron)   Bittersweet   Black And Gold   Black Grammys   Black Heroes   Black Heroes \/ Outro About Nothing   Black Is Gold   Blazing High   Blessings   Blood Money 3.5   Blood Money 3.5 Feat. A$AP Ferg   Body 2 Body   Body Like A Benz   Break Up Song   Breakdown   Breakin Necks Interlude   Breakup Song   Bricks   By Any Means   Cake   Can I Endure   Cashin Out   Center Of Attention   Chain Music   Change Up   Change Your Mind   Chess   Chillin (Catch Vs. 9th)   Chillin'   Chillin'   Clappers   Clappers (Remix)   Contemplate   Cool Off   Day By The Pool   Daytona Squared   DC Gorillaz   DC Or Nothing   Diary   Diary   Don't Hold Your Applause   Don't Hold Your Applause   Double M Genius   Draft Pick   Drums N Shit   Drunk & Conceited   Fa We We   Fa We We Freestyle   Fairy Tales   Family Affair   First Class   Fitted Cap   Flat Out   Fluorescent Ink   Fly Away   Fly Together   Focused   Focused (Single)   Freaks   Freedom Of Speech   Friendship Heights   Friendship Heights Feat. Chance The Rapper & The S...   Fuck Em'   Fuck You   Gangsta Boogie (Ft. Tha Dog Pound)   Georgetown Press   Getmedoe   Girls On Drugs   Globe Trotter   Globetrotter   Golden Salvation   Golden Salvation (Jesus Piece)   Golden Salvation (Jesus Piece) [Explicit]   Groundhog Day   Groundhog Day (J. Cole Diss)   Groundhog Day (J. Cole Response)   Gullible   H20   Heaven In the Afternoon   Heaven's Afternoon   Heaven\u2019s Afternoon   Heaven's Afternoon   Heaven’s Afternoon   Heisman Watch   Hella   Her Wave   Hold Yuh Freestyle   Hot Shyt   I Be Puttin On   I Be Puttin\u2019 On   I Be Puttin’ On   I Don't Know   I'm Good (Freestyle)   I'm On One   I'm On One (Freestyle)   I’m On One (freestyle)   Ice Cream Girl   Illest Bitch   Illuminate   Im A Mess   Inhibitions   Intro Stroke Of Genius   Intro: Stroke Of Genius   It’s Too Late   Ji-Dope   Jump (Freestyle)   KD Interlude   Keep It Movin Feat. Ab-Soul & Magazeen (Freestyle)   Keep It Moving   Keep The Hustle   King & Queens   King & Queens   King Slayer   Know Me   Lacefrontin   LAX (Ft. Raheem DeVaughn)   Legendary   Let A Nigga Know   Let It Fly (Remix)   Let It Loose   Let It Loose (Inhibitions)   Let's Chill   Let's Get Down   Let's Ride   Let's Chill   Let's Get Down   Let’s Chill   Letter   Live Forever   Losing (Ft. Victoria Monet)   Lotus Flower Bomb   Lotus Flower Bomb (Single)   Love Hate Thing   Lovehate Thing   Loyalty   Loyalty Feat. Dew Baby & Fat Trel   M.I.A.   Make It Rain   Make It Rain (Freestyle)   Mama Told Me   Mass Appeal   Mass Appeal (freestyle)   MFS   Miami Nights   Mike Tomlin   Mike Tomlin (black & Yellow Freestyle)   Miracle On U Street   Mirrors   MMG Under God   Money Changes   More About Nothin   Mother Nature   Ms. Moon   MVP (Bryce Harper)   My Baby   My P.Y.T   MY PYT   MY PYT [Explicit]   My Sweetie   My Team Winnin   Narciss-her/Spaceship   Narciss-herSpaceships (Freestyle)   Never Never   Never Never Freestyle   Never See You Again   New Phone   New Soul   Nike Boots   No Days Off   No Hands   No One Be Like You   No Pain No Gain   Not On Drugs (Remix)   Nothing To Worry About   O Let's Do It Freestyle   Ocean Drive   Oliver Twist   Oliver Twist (freestyle)   Outro About Nothing   Paparazzi   Passive Aggres-Her   Payback   Pick.Six   Play Your Part   Please Listen   Poor Decisions   Pot Of Gold   Powerball (Freestyle)   Prescription   Pretty Girls   Pretty Girls (Remix)   Prolific   Publishing Checks   Pull Up Hop Out (Freestyle)   Purple Swag   Pyramids   Rack City   Rack City (Remix)   Racks On Racks   Rather Be With You   Rather Be With You (Vagina Is For Lovers)   Razor Freestyle   Razor Freestyle (Bad Guy)   Rehab   Reminisce   Rhyme N Reason   Ridin' In That Black Joint   Rotation   Sabotage   Samples N Shit   Say It Again   Sharp   Show Me Love (Remix)   Sight Of Sun (freestyle)   Simple Man   Simple Man [Explicit]   Slight Work   Slight Work (remix)   Slow Sown   Smackdown _ Raw (Ft. Jim Ross)   Smackdown / Raw   Smile Remix   So What   Spoiled   Stay Winning   Still Up (Ft. Phil Ade & Jazz Cartier)   Street Runner   Sugar Hill   Sunshine   Sunshine (Remix)   Sunshine [Explicit]   Sunshine Remix   Talk 2 Me   Talk To Me   Tats On My Arm   That Way   Thats The Way   The Bloom (AG3)   The Glass Egg   The Helium Balloon   The Intro About Nothing   The Need To Know   The One Time In Houston   The Pessimist   The Success   The White Shoes   The Ambitious Girl   The Black N Gold   The Bloom   The Bloom (AG3)   The Body   The Break Up Song   The Breeze   The Breeze (Cool)   The Chess Match   The Cloud   The Crazy   The Curse of the Gifted   The Curse Of The Gifted [Explicit]   The Deep End   The Deep End Feat. Pusha T   The Extra Trip   The Extra Trip (The Way To My Love)   The Eyes Of The Tiger   The Followers   The Forward   The Friends N Strangers   The Get Away   The Girls On Drugs   The Glass Egg   The God Smile   The Guilty Pleasure   The Heavy Song   The Helium Balloon   The Intro About Nothing   The Light   The Manipulation   The Manipulation Part 2   The Manipulation Pt. 2   The Manipulation Pt2   The Matrimony   The MC   The Meeting   The Middle Finger   The Motivation   The Motto   The Need To Know   The Number Won   The Number Won (Competition)   The One Eye Kitten Song   The One Eyed Kitten Song   The One Time In Houston   The Opening Title Sequence   The Perfect Plan   The Pessimist   The Podium   The Posse Cut   The Posse Cut (Who Don't)   The Power   The Problem   The Right One   The Show   The Soup   The Success   The Summer League   The Trip   The Trip (Downtown)   The War   The White Shoes   The White Shoes (FULL)   The Work   The Work (Workin')   The Zenith   Theory 11.1.11   Theory 11111   Thought It (Ft. Ty Dolla Sign & Joe Moses)   Til The Sun Up   Tired Of Dreaming   Tito Santana   Tonight Feat. Dino (Suite 331)   Too Much Talk   Triumph   TV in the Radio   Underdog   Unthinkable (Freestyle)   Valentino   Vanity   Vanity [Explicit]   Varsity Blues   Voices In My Head   W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E   Waka Flocka Flame   Wale Bad Remix feat. Rihanna. Found On Wale's sop...   Wale Black Grammys feat. J. Cole, Wale, & Rockie F...   Wale Gullible is track #4 on the album "The Gifted...   Wale Heaven’s Afternoon is track #4 on the album...   Wale Love Hate Thing Second single from Wale's sop...   Wale Poor Decisions featuring Rick Ross and Lupe F...   Wale Rotation is a song featuring 2 Chainz and Wiz...   Wale Sunshine is track #3 on the album "The Gifted...   Wale Sunshine Remix feat. Rick Ross & Common   Wale The Followers Produced by Marce Reazon and Pr...   Wale Walk 'n Live Produced by DJ Relly Rell   Walk 'N Live   Walk 'N Live   Warming Up Cane   Warrior ( Freestyle)   Warwick Avenue   What They Know About Wale   Where They Do That At   White Linen   White Linen (Coolin')   White Linen (Coolin)   Winter Schemes   Women Lie Men Lie   Women Of Los Angeles (Ft. Eric Bellinger)   Wonder Why   Word Play   Wordplay   Workin'   World Tour   World Tour ( ft. Jazmine Sullivan)   Yayo   Yayo (Freestyle)

Related Songs

  Eventually - Shades  I Believe - Shades  How Deep Is Your Love - Shades  Time Will Reveal [*] - Shades  Love Never Dies - Shades  Last to Know - Shades  Serenade - Shades  Why - Shades  Tell Me (I'll Be Around) - Shades  Shades - The Chameleons  Shades - Rishloo  Shades - Swingers  Shades - Dean Martin  Shades - Genfaerd  Shades - The Devil Makes Three  Shades - Christopher Wilde  Shades - Diddy  Shades - Diddy  Shades - Suspyre  Shades - Iggy Pop  Shades - Diddy-Dirty Money  Shades - Diddy  Shades - Sophie Zelmani  Shades - Vision Divine  Shades - Anne Clark  Shades - Various Artists  Shades - Keri Hilson  Shades - Nancy Sinatra  Shades - Mandy Moore  Shades - Dies Irae  Shades - Lil Wayne  Shades - Sterling Knight  Past My Shades - Bob  Past My Shades - Lupe Fiasco  Past My Shades - B.o.B  Past My Shades - B.O.B.  B.o.b. Past My Shades track on the 2010 album "B.o...  Shades of Death - Accept  Shades Of Death - Accept  Shades Of Blue - Ashley Parker Angel  Shades of Grey - Billy Bauer  Under My Shades - Zara Larsson  Shades In Glass - Tarot  Realm Of Shades - Running Wild  Many Shades Of Black - The Raconteurs  Many Shades Of Black - Brendan Benson  Many Shades Of Black - Adele  Many Shades Of Black - Raconteurs  Shades of Gray - Drake Bell  Bury Me In My Shades - Shel Silverstein  Shades Of Truth - Bad Religion  3 Shades Of Black - Hank Williams III  Shades of Grey - Al B. Sure!  Shades of blue - Nick Lachey  Pap Smear - Crystal Castles  3 Shades Of Black - Hank Williams  Decend the Shades of Night - Machine Head  Shades Of Blue - Zachary Richard  When The Shades Go Down - Allure  Emerald Lies [Demo Version] - Marillion  Shades Of Grey - Bad Examples  Keep Your Shades On - Alabama 3  Shattered (Live) - Delain  Broke - Walk Off the Earth  Black Diamonds - Lil Scrappy  Shades of Green, Pt. 2 - The Mission UK  Afro Blue - Derek Trucks Band  Afro Blue - Dianne Reeves  Afro-Blue - Abbey Lincoln  Emerald Lies - Fish  Afro Blue - Robert Glasper Experiment  Afro Blue - Robert Glasper  Afro Blue (9th Wonder's Blue Light Basement Remix)...  Ice Dogs - Man Man  Keep Your Shades On! - Alabama 3  Shades Off - Ian Hunter  Shades/Frustrations - Versions  Purple Shades - The Troggs  Fourty Shades - Gorefest  Fading Shades - Sandra  In Shades - Tom Waits  Cop Shades - Buck 65  Ten Shades - Blue States  Seven Shades - Babyshambles  Copper Shades - A Balladeer  Shades On - Collins  Vulturian Shades - AktiveHate  Seven Shades - Ankit Love  Shades On - Tyga  Dark Shades - Birdman  Dark Shades - Lil Wayne  Shades Off - X And Hell  50 Shades - Digital Summer  Shades (Mixtape) - Diddy - Dirty Money  White Shades - Blume  Walking Shades - Black Space Riders   Oblivious Shades - Enthroned  50 Shades - Christon Gray  The Shades - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis  Cheap Shades - Chris Staples  Bulgari Shades - Nipsey Hussle  Stunner Shades - Game  Shades of Gray - XV  Shades Of Gray - Black Label Society  With The Flaming Shades Of Fall...  Shades Of Blue - The Shirelles  Emerald Lies - Marillion  Shades Of Grey - Al B. Sure  Talk to Me - Midnight Choir  Away, Delight, Away - Dark Tranquility  Shades Of Grey - Billy Joel  Astral Rejection - I Set My Friends On Fire  September Burns - Shades Apart  Secret Life - Shades Apart  Way Out - Shades Apart  Cold War - Shades Apart  Strange Lightning - Shades Apart  Menace - Shades Apart  Gun - Shades Apart  Weight of Years - Shades Apart  Monster - Shades Apart  Dark Days - Shades Apart  Older Now - Shades Apart  Remember When - Shades Apart  Heaven Falls - Shades Apart  Shadow of a Cross - Shades Apart  On the Inside - Shades Apart  Away - Shades Apart  Come of Age - Shades Apart  Dude Danger - Shades Apart  Surface Tension - Shades Apart  Rut - Shades Apart  We Believe - Shades Apart  Black and White - Shades Apart  Christmas Lights - Shades Apart  Valentine [LP Version] - Shades Apart  Calling - Shades Apart  Comet - Shades Apart  The Tilt - Shades Apart  Good Luck Charm - Shades Apart  Visitor - Shades Apart  Neon - Shades Apart  Know-It-All - Shades Apart  One Starry Night - Shades Apart  You Shine So Bright - Brighter Shades  Replaced - Brighter Shades  How To Keep You Around - Brighter Shades  Pick A Day - Brighter Shades  Metamorphose - Gracious Shades  Roots - Brighter Shades  Senses - Brighter Shades  Shattered - Delain  The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades...  Descend The Shades Of Night - Machine Head  Shades of Blue - Kacy Hill  Sunglass At Night - Corey Hart  Sunglasses at Night - Arsis  Grey - Face Down  Stunna Frames - Kia Shine  Stunna Frames - Kia Shine  Shades Of Gray - Amanda Marshall  Shades of Grey - Amanda Marshall  Shades (feat. Brandon Mychal Smith)...  Shades (feat. Brandon Mychal Smith) - Starstruck  Shades (feat. Brandon Mychal Smith)...  World of Sunshine - The Jackson 5  Touch In The Dark - Asrai  World Of Sunshine - Jackson 5  Forty Shades of Green - The Carter Family  Forty Shades of Green [Live in Ireland]...  Forty Shades Of Green - Johnny Cash  50 Shades of Blue - Edwyn Collins  Black Skies White Shades - Cataclysmic  Les Champs de Lavande - Leaves' Eyes  Lunatic Asylum - Forever Slave  50 Shades of Evil - Kobra And The Lotus  Come To Me - Ace Of Base  Sunglasses At Night - Corey Hart  Killed The Sun - Glacier Hiking  Shades Of Grey - Solid State Logic  The Shades Of Gloria - O'connell Maura  Sometimes - Donkeyboy  Loreto - Charlie Landsborough  Priests of Cholera - Noah Georgeson  Afro-Blue - Lizz Wright  Blue Autumn - Bobby Goldsboro  Afro Blue - Lizz Wright  Suspended - Animal Liberation Orchestra  Beyond Love - Slaid Cleaves  Thousand Needles - Lea Michele  (I Am) Shades of Life - BILLY GILMAN  Shades of Blue - Desert Rose Band  Shades Of Cool - Lana Del Rey  Back on the Bottom - Safe Escape  Two Shades of Blue - Chet Atkins  Shades of Tomorrow - Armageddon Rev 16:16  Shades Gather Among the Blood...  War On Drugs - The Sisters Of Mercy  War On Drugs - Sisters Of Mercy  Oh, Vibrant Shades Of Red - Greg Salwen