Black

Dm
Look, black is beautiful, black is 
excellent
Gm
Black is pain, black is joy, black 
is evident
C
It's workin' twice as hard as the 
people you know you're better than
C#m                               
'Cause you need to do double what 
      A
they do so you can level them
Dm
Black is so much deeper than just 
African-American
Am
Our heritage been severed, you never
 got to experiment
Gm                             F
With family trees, 'cause they teach
 you 'bout famine and greed
A
And show you pictures of our fam on 
their knees
Dm
Tell us we used to be barbaric, we 
had actual queens
C
Black is watchin' child soldiers 
gettin' killed by other children
A#
Feelin' sick, like, "Oh shit, this 
could have happened to me"
A
Your mummy watchin' tellin' stories 
'bout your dad and your niece
A#
The blacker the berry the sweeter 
the juice
F
A kid dies, the blacker the killer, 
the sweeter the news
A
And if he's white you give him a 
chance, he's ill and confused
Dm
If he's black he's probably armed, 
you see him and shoot


[Verse 2]

Dm
Look, black is growin' up around the
 barbershop
Am
Mummy sayin', "Stay away from 
trouble, you’re in yard a lot"
Gm                 F
Studying for ages, appreciatin' the 
chance you got
A
'Cause black is in your blood, and 
you ain't even got the heart to stop
Dm
Black is steppin' in for your mother
 because your father's gone
Continúa después del anuncio
C
And standin' by your children when 
you haven't proven karma wrong
A#
Black is doin' all of the above then
 goin' corner shoppin'
F
Tryna help a lady cross the road to 
have her walkin' off
Dm
Black is growin' up around your 
family and makin' it
C
Then being forced to leave the place
 you love because there's hate in it
A#
People say you fake the shit, never 
stayed to change the shit
A
But black is bein' jealous, you'd be
 dead if you had stayed in it
A#
Black is strugglin' to find your 
history or trace the shit
F
You don't know the truth about your 
race 'cause they erasin' it
A
Black has got a sour fuckin' 
flavour, here's a taste of it
Dm
But black is all I know, there ain't
 a thing that I would change in it


[Verse 3]

Dm
Look, black ain't just a single 
fuckin' colour, man there's shades 
to it
Dm
Her hair's straight and thick but 
mine's got waves in it
A
Black is not divisive, they been 
lyin' and I hate the shit
A#
Black has never been a competition, 
we don't make this shit
D
Black is deadly
D                              
Black is when you're freezin' in 
       A
your home and you can't get sleep 
but never feelin' empty
       Em
'Cause you got 20 cousins in your 
country living stress-free
A
Walkin' for their water, daughter 
wrapped inside a bed sheet
Dm
Black is distant, it's representin' 
countries that never even existed 
while your grandmother was livin'
A
Black is my Ghanaian brother readin'
 into scriptures
A#
Doin' research on his lineage, 
findin' out that he's Egyptian
Dm
Black is people namin' your 
countries on what they trade most
A
Coast of Ivory, Gold Coast, and the 
Grain Coast
Em
But most importantly to show how 
deep all this pain goes
A
West Africa, Benin, they called it 
slave coast
Dm
Black is so confusin', 'cause the 
culture? They're in love with it
A#
They take our features when they 
want and have their fun with it
Em
Never seem to help with all the 
things we know would come with it
F                     E
Loud in our laughter, silent in our 
sufferin'
A#
Black is bein' strong inside and 
facing defeat
Gm
Poverty made me a beast, I battled 
the law in the streets
A
We all struggled, but your struggle 
ain't a struggle like me

Well how could it be when your 
people gave us the odds that we 
beat?
Dm
I mean, fuckin' hell, what about our
 brothers that are stuck in jail?
C
That couldn't bust a bell, they held
 a bird and gotta live with it
A#
Black is bein' guilty until proven 
that you're innocent
A
Black is sayin', "Free my fucking 
niggas stuck inside in prison cells"
A#
They think it's funny, we ain't got 
nothin' to say to them
F
Unconditional love is strange to 
them; it's amazin' 'em
Em
Black is like the sweetest fuckin' 
flavour, here's a taste of it
Dm
But black is all I know, there ain't
 a thing that I would change in it