(blends into intro with dialogue from Spike Lee's _Do the Right Thing_)

"Twenty D Energizers."
"Twenty see Energizer?"
"D not see D."
"be Energizer?"
"D motherfucker D! Learn to speak english first alright? D!"
"How many you say?"
"Twenty motherfucker twenty."
"Honey..."
"Mother fuck you!"

[Ice Cube]
Everytime I want to go get a fuckin brew
I gotta go down to the store with the two
oriental one-penny countin motherfuckers
that make a nigga made enough to cause a little ruckus
Thinkin every brother in the world's out to take
So they watch every damn move that I make
They hope I don't pull out a gat and try to rob
they funky little store, but bitch, I got a job
("Look you little Chinese motherfucker
I ain't tryin to steal none of yo' shit, leave me alone!"
"Mother-fuck you!")
Yo yo, check it out
So don't follow me, up and down your market
Or your little chop suey ass'll be a target
of the nationwide boycott
Juice with the people, that's what the boy got
So pay respect to the black fist
or we'll burn your store, right down to a crisp
And then we'll see ya!
Cause you can't turn the ghetto - into Black Korea

"I do fuck you!"



Lyrics submitted by Ice

Track duration: 00:47

"Black Korea" as written by O'shea Jackson

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Black Korea song meanings
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14 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment:@rustinpiece
    hey dipshit you ever heard of irony? by doin a song that highlights the racial tensions between asians and blacks he is showing how dumb this is and how they should band together as minorities

    or at least thats what shadow was gettin at, no ideaa if thats what ice cube meant
    Flag friendlyspoonon October 14, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:shadowitheyes, thats totally flawed logic, hes telling black people to band together and fight racism.....with more racism. Thats the same logic as "the white man is trouble, we need to get together and kill those N*****s!!" its just viewed in a different way. This whole idea of "they were racist to us so lets be racist to them" is backwards and regressive thinking that only causes more problems. I like Ice Cube and i think he is talented but this is downright racist and should be dealt with the same way white racism is.

    "So pay respect to the black fist
    or we'll burn your store, right down to a crisp
    And then we'll see ya!
    Cause you can't turn the ghetto - into Black Korea"

    thats not just 'bringing up an issue' its a threat towards people of a certain race. Also i know NWA said a lot of stuff for shock value but when asked about it in 2006 Ice Cube responded "If there's still a problem, it's their problem." what a dick response! that only confirms that he was not only angry at the time that he wrote this album but he still thinks it is the other race's problem, meaning he has still hung on to his racism.
    Flag rustinpeace91on January 14, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:we were just learning about this song in my california history class. It's about the conflict between Koreans and African American in the 80s or early 90s. "In the aftermath of the Los Angeles civil unrest (1992) and highly publicized boycotts against Korean American merchants by African American residents in New York (1990) and Los Angeles (1991), the apparent conflict between Korean and African Americans emerged as one of the most visible and explosive issues of urban America."
    Flag savvy_mouseketeeron May 20, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:People arent stepping back and looking at the TIME this record was made, and the CIRCUMSTANCES in which it was made.

    In the early 90s, we all know south central was a crazy place, tensions were really high. And in the midst of all that, you have these asian families, who move to america, in a 98% black inner city neighborhood. This is a clash waiting to happen..

    The asian families in the inner city didnt like blacks for the most part, they were distrustful of us, we were distrustful of them. there was no attempt on either side to understand each other. there were all kind of barriers up (language, culture etc)

    Black korea was a song made at the height of frustration, he was the voice for all of the people who felt like this. This song was made BEFORE the riots...

    and when the riots happened, look at all the asian owned establishments that got torn down, that was unfortunate... but it affirms that black korea was a warning message of how the mistrust and miscommunication was gonna lead to something bad.
    Flag Chuck Tayloron October 23, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Cube wrote that song for a reason and if you know any black folks who grew up in South Central you know that many of those Korean storeowners ARE racist.Ever heard of Latasha Harlins?
    Having said that,I think Cube's energies would be better spent on taking on some serious issues today rather than that fluff he has been putting out on the screen the past few years.Its shameful that he has been politically castrated.
    Flag Riverman94610on June 10, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:That's basically the direct meanign of the song, I guess it's just up to us to decide how intentional the subtext was. Based on some of his stuff with NWA, I tend to think it was on purpose. The thing is, with most of the early rap that gets criticised for it's themes and 'promoting' the stuff it's about (Tupac, NWA, Ice-T, Public Enemy...) it's really the subtext and the implications that are the important part.
    Flag shadowwiththeeyeson April 15, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think the song in itself is a racist song, the ‘unnecessary division between minority groups’ subtext, that you made mention of, is more of a by-product than the actual message. In terms of what’s actually there, it seems to be simply a song about how Ice Cube hates the people who run the local convenience store, because he believes that they view all black people as thieves, I am pretty sure that the idea that they are really in the same boat, didn’t actually occur to him.
    Flag quiffpornon April 14, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Yeah, that's true, I had never viewed it from that angle...
    Flag quiffpornon April 14, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:It may sound like a racist song, but the real meaning's in the subtext. It's about the problem of how minorities that are discriminated against don't band together to fight the racism, but are far more likely to become more insular and suspicious, and end up discriminating against each other, worsening the problem.
    Flag shadowwiththeeyeson April 14, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:While aryan_brethren is obviously a racist cracker asshole, I do agree that the lyrics in this song are racist and I think if it was Eminem, rapping about hating the Koreans in his neighbourhood, there would have been a massive outcry.

    It seems to me, that society cannot do Political Correctness, without leaping from one extreme to the other. It seems that a lot of the time, people are scared to challenge racist comments made by people of another race, for fear of being branded a racist, themselves. It seems to me, that as I said before, Political Correctness, has never found a middle ground, years ago, intollerance of Black and Indian people (at least in Britain) was "The norm" and any critisism of white people was met with the standard response of "If you don't like it, fuck off back to your own country", today it is totally the opposite, with many white people branded as racists, based on non race related matters and racism perpetrated by Black or Indian people, not raising an eyebrow.

    - Racism should not be tolerated, regrdless of the race of the person commiting it -
    Flag quiffpornon November 27, 2004   Link

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