Cover art for Endangered Species (Tales From The Darkside) by Ice Cube

Endangered Species (Tales From The Darkside)

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Endangered Species (Tales From The Darkside) Lyrics

[Intro: Female News Reporter & Ice Cube]
"At the bottom of our news tonight, there's been a new animal aimed in the direction of falling off the face of the Earth. Yes, young black teenagers are reported to be the oldest, and the newest, creatures added to the endangered species list. As of now, no efforts have been made to preserve the Blacks. When asked why, a top law official adds, 'Because they make good game hunting'"
(A young nigga got it bad cause I'm brown)

[Verse 1: Ice Cube]
Peace? Hahaha, don't make me laugh!
All I hear is motherfuckers rappin' succotash
Livin' large, tellin' me to get out the gang
I'm a nigga, gotta live by the trigga
How the fuck do you figure
That I can say "Peace" and the gunshots will cease?
Every cop killing goes ignored
They just send another nigga to the morgue
A point scored, they could give a fuck about us
They rather catch us with guns and white powder
If I was old, they'd probably be a friend of me
Since I'm young, they consider me the enemy
They kill ten of me to get the job correct
To serve, protect, and break a nigga's neck
Cuz I'm the one with the trunk of funk
And "Fuck tha Police" in the tape deck

You should listen to me cuz there's more to see
Call my neighborhood a ghetto cuz it houses minorities
The other color don't know you can run but not hide
These are tales from the darkside

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About

Genius Annotation

Ice Cube and Chuck D collaborate on a track about the perils of life young Black men face, from police brutality to crimes within their neighborhoods.

Cube provided background information about the track:

Jinx helped with the concept on that one. I like the Kill At Will version better, because it’s thicker. But the original there, that was my chance to do a PE kind of song with Chuck. The beat is damn near [pauses], you know, psychotic! [laughs] You know what I’m sayin’? With the feedback and all that shit. I remember putting all those sound effects on the end of the song, and Hank Shocklee running all that shit. For me, the original is more sentimental than the remix, because Chuck wasn’t there when we did the remix.

Chuck D added:

Once we talked about the concept, that song just came into Cube’s head. My job on there was to co-sign and back things up that he believed in.

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