Kendrick Lamar - Vanity Slaves Lyrics
Uh-uh-uh, what up?
Uh, I'm tryna, what up?
Uh-uh, I'm tryna get something
Uh-uh-uh, I'm tryna, what up?
I say, what up?
Sometimes I wanna leave, sometimes I wanna cry
Sometimes I hate to bear the truth, sometimes I wanna lie
Sometimes I wanna school the youth, sometimes I wanna ride
Sometimes I wanna not think, sometimes I wanna vibe
Sometimes I wanna bump Tribe and zone out, this song bout a young boy
that's going wild inside, when my world collide
with your world where your girl and your kids reside
We kill the facades, we feel free to fly
We're birds that reserve in the charismatic sky
if my ride is plush, if my hair is cut, if my diamonds is crushed
I look in the mirror, I'm trendy enough? Wrong
Insecurity roams the black community
Homes where kids must have jewelry
The high school female need earrings and details
so she can be cool to be amongst popularity
The various name brands that reach the price scan
that's not about the right price, but more like the right scam
to rule us all, confuse us all
Now let's draw the picture of a rapper with a chain
in a Range that is not paid for
My cousin from the South said he just bought him a house
that lives around his neck like a white collar
So why fast forward? Then I rewind
A time machine can help me double back to slavery times
Picking cotton from a field that a white man own
The blacker you are, farther you from the white man's home
Negro spiritual zones gave us some type of sanity
Before your vanity they parted our families
They put us in hundred-degree shade, and outside we bathed
The more we were afraid, the more they made rules
Couldn't see it with the eyes of Tracee Ross, uh!
And school was exempt, see we couldn't have smarts
and a smirk could get you hurt, wound diversed from a scar
Four-hundred years of nothing, four-hundred years of suffering
Four-hundred years of tears and tribulation, miseducation
See what we facing is now coming, back to the roots
Remember whips on our back and if we would run they would shoot?
Call us niggers and figured that we'd never lived in pursuit
of happiness, we captured these feelings in things that we do
Thought it's abstinence in slavery, but we made it come to
a modern perspective, my shoe selection gotta be Louie
Her handbag gotta be Gucci, it's fake then she foobie
She still bad though, and her fake Gucci ain't that bad though
We filling up the gas for Rollies
Upgrade to twenty-sixes, out there riding Kobes
My cousin from the South, slavery start in the South and I bet ya
he overcompensates for the life of his ancestors
So blame it on the four-hundred years we never saw
The reason why the next four-hundred we gotta floss
Slaves
Uh, I say the four-hundred years we never had nothing
Barely had clothes on our back
It's the reason why when we get a little bit of change
we over-exaggerate on our living expenses
So if you get your first big check and you cop a chain before you buy a house
You're a vanity slave
If you're a female and you got four, five, six rings on your finger
four holes in your left ear and a nose piercing
You're a vanity slave
If you got an '02 Monte Carlo with twenty-fo's on it
and on the back of the window it says "get on my level hoe"
You're a vanity slave
We all vanity slaves
and with that being said, can somebody please tell me where the mall at?
I'm not from around here
Hey Ali, where we at? Idaho?
Yeah nigga, you know the first of the month
You know them checks come in
I'm tryna get something, but what up?
Other Lyrics by Artist
- Kendrick Lamar - The Blacker The Berry
- Kendrick Lamar - LUST.
- Kendrick Lamar - LOVE.
- Kendrick Lamar - XXX.
- Kendrick Lamar - FEAR.
- Kendrick Lamar - GOD.
- Kendrick Lamar - DUCKWORTH.
- Kendrick Lamar - Black Panther
- Kendrick Lamar - All The Stars
- Kendrick Lamar - Paramedic!
- Kendrick Lamar - Redemption Interlude
- Kendrick Lamar - Redemption
- Kendrick Lamar - Big Shot
- Kendrick Lamar - 6 Foot 7 Foot (Freestyle)
- Kendrick Lamar - All The Stars
- Kendrick Lamar - Backwards
- Kendrick Lamar - Beyonce
- Kendrick Lamar - Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe (Remix)
Rand Lyrics
- David Allan Coe - My Girl
- David Allan Coe - Call Me The Breeze
- David Allan Coe - For Lovers Only
- David Allan Coe - I'm Gonna Hurt Her On The Radio
- David Allan Coe - Ain't Worth The Powder
- David Allan Coe - Would They Love Me Down In Shreveport
- David Allan Coe - Snowblind Friend
- David Allan Coe - Southern Man
- David Allan Coe - Even After Forever
Kendrick Lamar Vanity Slaves Comments
2020 baby shit still Slaps
2019 Nov 17..... this song still goes in hard
2019? Nigga this shit still apply hip hop never dies
People keep telling about this dude - is he brian McKnight or ...wow . He awesome 💛🌀🙏
I don't like him...I'm already and forever will be shopping at goodwill. Ohwell -- this might be some profound knowledge to other souls . Like my daughter...but I encourage her to spend 500$ a pop at Sephora coz I sent her there unbearably bored (happening already-- whilst using her papa debit card)..I take her thrift shopping. More fun and creative . It's her choice tho ! Just as I am vegan since 8 years...and she likes Chicken. I'd rather raise a free thinker than my clone . Thoughts?
I miss Soul 4 real and Jagged edge . And Sade and Chaka khan and also Merle Hagard and Otis Redding . And Dorothy Moore . And my dads music -- Johnny Cash , Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn..btw ..yall heard that new T
IP
What does Oct 22 mean
back when kendrick was actually good.
He still good, let's here your project. I heard you the next best thing since Nas, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap and Ghostface Killa! 😂
Soo you're saying to pimp a Butterfly isn't good ?????
Underrated Kendrick track, still listening 2019
When I first heard this I cried. Kendrick spoke for our generation at this point from the soul.
It's 2019, I can't be the only one here?
Ray Caballero Not alone brotha💯
we still listening
2019 im here, who else ?
Thought it was just me, there's hope
His music won't stop being listed to till we're all long gone from this place I'll be here in 2043
Right chea wicha🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿
My Teacher Who Taught Kendrick (Mr Inge) Showed Us This Song In Class We Learned This It's About Vanity Slaves Which Means If You Own A Jewellery and not a House Your A Vanity Slave
I Love Kendrick so much.. he’s my favorite rapper all time with Kanye West
OG Kdot
2019,anyone?
WHO LISTENING IN DEC 2018
Heaven Yeah.
Ps Peace to Phonte, Nicolay and Musinah.
i'm here 2018 damn sometimes i wanna vibe
We here man!
yoooooo daykeeper been my shit for years and im just now realizing kendrick rapped on this. 🔥🔥
kendrick i love u, come to brazil caralho!
Damn K, you hurt my heart being so real! We woke but we choke on the real wordz. They so dope, we learn from the real real we so woke. Ah.
This the type of shit to get millions of views overnight if something happened to k dot. Always been my favourite no one tells stories with his vocabulary.
2018 still on my playlist I love this shit
Legendary
Only real Kendrick fans know wussup about this.
Still listening on July 18, 2018
Can't decide if I like this or part 2 more😥😥😥
greatest song in 2018
listening to this track right now 2018 it's just greatness.. I'm just glad I got the chance to witness such greatness after losing great ppl
If you understand the lyrics, this song is top 5 of all time.
KNUCK13Z WORLD, so on the contrary... If you don't think the song is top 5, that simply means you don't understand the lyrics? Alright lol
Real fans here
💯✊🏾
S/o to foreign exchange tho they really brought me here
2018 just brought me here 🔥🔥🔥
Big shot !!
2018 and still classic
THIS IS HIP HOP
Pay respect. This song is dope AF but Kendrick stole the beat from an equally dope rapper (Phonte) who sang on it first. Look at Daykeeper by Foreign Exchange.
Banger....check me out when you can
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
This is great
came here from jay's "story of Oj"
Wonder was that "cousin from the south" Karni Israel aka Cousin Carl? 🤔
i come here to get away from the annoying fanboys and zone out....ahhhh im at peace
This song speaks to all of us.
We are ALL vanity slaves.
Where did these beat come from?
Clubberlang Ali
Ali didn't make this.. a group called daykeeper made it
Underrated...we need more people to hear the message of this piece of art
Whose listening in 2017??
June 2018
2019 bro
cjuare123 you’re in the future mate
I was born in 98' and wasnt lucky enough to see the legendary Pac and BIG, but this is my generation Pac, im can safely say I'm his biggest fan, ima be devastated when he retire
Preach bro
Can't compare no one to Pack really.... He was that nice!👌🏾
I feel ya 💯
How tall are you exactly? I don't believe you could be his biggest fan
@ThePhreakass hes 4 foot he just happens to be really fat
knives callin knights callin
rights fallen warrior time's haulin
layers wurr needed
now are we going back in time
yeah just like i do
RIP Big & Pac
Keeps me in check.
HOW Many more years till this is HEARD
Jay Rosado it's always heard only 1/3 of people are genuine
2016 and i still love this song. Dope
Kendrick so special man
Jozay phil “Special K”
This song gave me the mad chills! I love how he used FE's "Day Keeper" instrumental from their "Leave It All Behind" album.
Hear pac ?
Heheh this was an exam questions in a local university in kenya......but dope i love kendricks music
A teacher quoted this in an exam.
Ash Parker That's interesting! What exactly did she quote do you remember?
ArianVigil probably “If you get your first check and you buy a chain before a house, you’re a vanity slave”
We need more teachers like that.
@ArianVigil Regis Inge Thought Him That He Told Me That I'm his student
Musta been just musing
this song was an exam question...luckily I was a fan
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/campus/strathmore-uni-sets-exam-question-based-kendrick-lamars-vanity-slave/
Sometimes he wants to school the youth...
it's dope I've never listened 2 him
+Bakary Gakou wooooow you got so much shit to catch on type in top 30 kendrick verses brush
while you're at it maybe you should check out the group foreign exchange. this instrumental is off of their album called leave it all behind. if you like thought provoking songs with melodies and great lyrics/stories over neo soul type beats then you might like them also. hiphop/r&b album.
+xMindInfliction718x phonte!!! phontigga ....you know your stuff fam.
This album is a classic to me, I was riding around town with my big bro while listening to this and every song brings nostalgia to me
Forked Gash which albul was this. my first kendrick albulm was section 80 so i wanna catch up
maximillian schauer mixtape not album
The Young Legend in the Making.....
This music is from FE's "DAYKEEPER!" He did this right tho! This dude is badd.
why the heck they took this album from spotify, fuk dem !!
where's the instrumental to this? can't find it anymore.
Daykeeper by foreign exchange
The real 2pac's offspring. the song said it all!!!!
I found this song by listening to J Cole's "Rich Niggaz" in the description on "Genius" they said "...Seems like a portion of people believe they can only “win” by killing, robbing, or fucking popular man to make it to the top. In other words be a vanity slave." I googled it and found this song, love how the universe worked on that one..
Kanye got new slaves from this
More slavery happened before these 400 years he talks about. Not saying he's wrong, just saying the history of slavery/Africans is longer and worse than he says.
& we repeat it to concrete it from opinion to fact?
+Evil Focused they where really native americans that were found into slavery
KL you doing it bro!!!!!....
kendrick lamar has knowledge above alot of rappers 👌🏿💯
Vanity Slaves created by Capitalism!!
Capitalism created vanity slaves actually
i cant believe he rapped over daykeeper by the foreign exchange
right, and he did a great job too
+AwesomeMiles8 right !!
Khari99 it was begging for a verse
@Edwin Lee First time hearing this but now that I think about he did pretty good with it. I loved the original cut anyway.
LmAo yeah doe man it got us all its some bullshit no doubt but we all are to some extent SMH ... #ThoughtfulThursday #VanitySlaves ... Peace family
What album or mixtape is this song from??
"The Kendrick Lamar EP (2009)"
thanks bro. im always interested in kdots music. Heard of most of them except no sleeep till nyc, and c4. i always seem to stumble onto some new stuff just when i thought i had heard it all. Im infatuated with his music.(not on nuts tho lol)
+demetri rhodes you need to check out c4 :) the firet half of the album is sick
kendrick lamar ep
This rap man... man... I need to find the lyrics to this...
serious song... real meaning
Very powerful song!!
wow this man has skills. vivid pictures executed rightly. Just heard this ep for the first time (got tired of waiting for his new album) and wow, he's been ill ever since. Though i'll see his story structure and painting game has definitely been upgraded. Can't Wait for his next work.
mad song
Wow I had no idea this existed. Y'all gotta check out the original- Daykeeper, by the Foreign Exchange. This is dope but the original is smooth as hell.
when kendrick dies this song will have 3-4m views..
people don't listen greatness till someone is dead.
only about a three quarters left to a million 2 years later...
alex sfcat I think it's was his best song.
Let's work together and share this Amazing piece of art
alex sfcat i wanst able to listen to greatness because i wasnt born yet 2004 2pac and biggie died
kendricks legacy will live for decades.
+jcatep90 To me the most interesting thing about this is that not just his legacy will live for decades, but that he'll leave me as some nonrecognized guy feeling his music, passing it to his own children, being deeply connected to this shit. Man you know what I mean. KING Kendrick Lamar.
+jcatep90 To me the most interesting thing about this is that not just his legacy will live for decades, but that he'll leave me as some nonrecognized guy feeling his music, passing it to his own children, being deeply connected to this shit. Man you know what I mean. KING Kendrick Lamar.
lol Gucci Mane
love king kendrick
This is deep ...
real poetry.
Foreign Exchange beat. Daykeeper
I don't know another rapper out right now other than K.R.I.T who spittin real shit like this
Never heard of him..
@JessikahAznBabyy isn't that 2 Chainz? lol
@JessikahAznBabyy why you couldn't just say 2 chainz.. hah @ADAJ3 yah it is
Isaiah Rashad
Cozz
Vince Staples
Ab Soul
Joey Bada$$
Mick Jenkins
Logic
I love how he speaks the truth :,)
Oh hey I know this instrumental! Its from one of my favorite groups Foreign Exchange and its called Daykeeper. They dropped what I think is one of the best hiphop albums of the decade "Connected" =]
lovin' this track
need more hits like this