You Can’t Fade Me / JD’s Gafflin’ Lyrics

[Intro]
Drop a old school beat

[Verse 1: Ice Cube]
Now the taste of alcohol is filling up my bladder
What's the date and time, it don't matter
Had a pocket full of phone numbers, I was trying to sort
To make a long story short
Ran into, this girl named Carla
Knew her from the back seat of my homie's Impala
She said what's up, yeah, what's the deal?
Check the hairdo, of course it ain't real
Then I looked down, she was fat in the front
I asked how long, "Well, about seven months"
Oh, how time flies when you're having fun
She said "Yeah but the damage is done
Where you been?" "On a little vacation
Oh by the way, congratulations
Who's the lucky man? I don't have a clue!"
Then she said "The lucky man is you," I dropped my brew

And everything looked fuzzy
Not a baby by you, the neighborhood hussy
She said "Yeah, remember that date?"
I thought back and tried to calculate
Then I said "Damn, are you sure it's mine?
'Cause I know you been tossed plenty of times"
She said "That day, no I wasn't whoring
Your ass is mine," that's when the sweat started pouring
'Cause all I saw was Ice Cube in court
Paying a gang on child support
Then I thought deep about giving up the money
What I need to do is kick the bitch in the tummy
Naw 'cause then I'd really get faded
That's murder one 'cause it was premeditated

So what I'ma do, I don't have a clue
How many months left, damn only two
I'm gettin faded
[Hook]
("Livin' and jivin' and diggin' the skin he's in...")
No cigar, G
[("Livin' and jivin' and diggin' the skin he's in" "Whoa yeah")]
[("Livin' and jivin' and diggin' the skin he's in...")]
Ay yo, homey, man, I'm getting faded
[("Livin' and jivin' and diggin' the skin he's in" "Whoa yeah")]

[Verse 2: Ice Cube]
It's crazy 'cause before I could sleep with her
I had to duck and dodge and try to creep with her
See the booty and the front was all in place
But the girl had the pitbull face
So we ran jumped drove swam crawled hid
Oh lord god forbid
My homies see me at the motel
'Cause those fools would love to just go tell
Everybody in the hood that knows your rep
So jump in the back seat and quiet is kept
And hold your big fat butt steady
'Cause yo, ho, I got the paper bag ready
She started moaning and gobbling like a turkey
I knocked the boots from here to Albuquerque
I dropped her off man and I'm knowing
That I'm a hate myself in the morning

I got drunk to help me forget
Yo another day another hit, shit
I'm gettin faded
[Hook]
("Livin' and jivin' and diggin' the skin he's in...")
Ay yo, you know what time it is
("Livin' and jivin' and diggin' the skin he's in" "Whoa yeah")

[Verse 3: Ice Cube]
Nine months later she's ready to drop the load
And everybody in the hood already knows
It's supposed to be mine so they laughing at me
You know Ice Cube can't be having that, G
I'm thinking to myself why did I bang her
Now I'm in the closet looking for the hanger
JD and Jinx and T-Bone won't let up, they won't shut up
I'm gettin fed up, bitch
'Cause I know you're tryin' to break me
But if I find out your tryin' to fake me
I'm a buff that duff and hoot
Beat ya down and leave a crown or two
That night she went into labor
And the shit is getting kinda major
The baby came out, damn it was a lifesaver
Looking like my next-door neighbor
She said it was mine, it was her best guess
But let's check the results of the blood test
I started smiling yeah 'cause it read negative
Damn, why did I let her live?
After that I should've got the gat
And bust and rushed and illed and peeled the cap
But no I just told the ho who laid me
Excuse me bitch it's a switch
You can't fade me
[Outro]
Naw baby, not this way
Yo, you ain't playing Ice Cube out like no booger
I don't fall for the okey-doke
And before I fall for the okey-doke, I let the pistol smoke
Now sing it
("Livin' and jivin' and diggin' the skin he's in...")
Ha ha, yeah baby, you can't fade me
("Livin' and jivin' and diggin' the skin he's in" "Whoa yeah")
("Livin' and jivin' and diggin' the skin he's in...")
Nah, unfadeable baby, yo
("Livin' and jivin' and diggin' the skin he's in" "Whoa yeah")

[Segue: "JD's Gafflin'"]
I ain't never got gaffled like that, I used to do the gafflin'
McDonald's is my spot (What you used to do?)
Jack them motherfuckers for them Nissan trucks
Right in the drive-thru. "Nigga, get your motherfuckin' food, leave it in the car, nigga, get out." Straight jackin'

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About

Genius Annotation

This song tells the story of Ice Cube and a neighborhood girl who claims he impregnated her. Some classic, crude, gangsta shit.

The fears expressed in this song are part of why he raps about the importance of condoms so often.

Cube provided some background information on the track:

Anything you hear with P-Funk in it, like there on the chorus, me and Jinx brought that in. I got a lot of heat for the lyrics on that one. I didn’t expect any of it, but it didn’t piss me off. I really just thought it was a dope rhyme, so I was cool taking the heat for it. A lot of people liked that track, so it wasn’t all bad. When it came to the “Kick her in the tummy” line, I didn’t do that to upset people, it was just part of the flow. I mean, men just got sick minds, man! [laughs] I’ve heard men say shit like, “That bitch pregnant, I feel like going and kickin’ in her god-damned stomach!” [laughs] It’s just real. Whether they’d do it or not, I doubt it. I’ve never seen nobody do it, but I’ve heard mo’fuckas talk about it. So, for me it wasn’t nothing to put it in a rhyme. I never had any paternity suits back then, fuck no. Man, come on. I mean, I listened to that rhyme called “Jimmy Hat”! [Boogie Down Productions’ “Jimmy”].

As far as “JD’s Gafflin,” Eric “Vietnam” Sadler just recorded conversations from members of the Lench Mob, but Chuck D recalls one story that he heard on tape:

I remember editing one of the skits on the album, by one of the Lench Mob brothers who I won’t name. He was talking about something he jacked and he gave the actual street. So we had to take that out, because somebody could get yo ass if you put it on record! [laughs]

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