Get all 18 Terry Blade releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Ethos: Son of a Sharecropper, For You, Neo Queer, Unmastered: The Demo Sessions, Eaten Alive, Read the Room (Special Version), Elixir, Forward (Live), and 10 more.
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2. |
INward
02:45
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Niggas wanna take my shit
Niggas wanna act real slick
I’m talkin ya’ll niggas
Niggas say they want the carrot, but they get the stick
A nigga’s head harder than a brick (my nigga!)
Niggas wanna run up real quick
Niggas talkin with the toothpick
Them some beautiful niggas
Niggas like Versace but they homophobic
Timbs for the ass they ‘bout to kick
Niggas slave descendants that’s a whole notha’ angle
Black aint all the same
Why ya’ll get that shit entangled
A.D.O.S. niggas know we got our own lingo
Tracing our ancestors way back to the shango
Why you think we can’t let the pain go
Dealin’ what that same ole’ same ole’
White fuckshit
Gotta make you wonder why our parents so strict
They rush to beat our ass, so the cops won’t do it
Niggas paying twice for a seat at the table
Niggas not gon’ be interrupted
Fuck it
You don’t like it
You don’t want to hear it
Kick a bucket
Niggas gettin’ tired of being used like a puppet
Niggas cuttin’ ties with that P.O.C.
You here 'cause of my black legacy
While disrespecting people like me
And you wouldn’t even be
Here if my ancestors didn’t die to be free
Niggas wanna take my shit
Niggas wanna act real slick
I’m talkin ya’ll niggas
Niggas say they want the carrot, but they get the stick
A nigga’s head harder than a brick (my nigga!)
Niggas wanna run up real quick
Niggas talkin’ with the toothpick
Them some beautiful niggas
Niggas like Versace but they homophobic
Timbs for the ass they ‘bout to kick
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4. |
Black Hurts
03:27
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Is it in my skin
Why they hate me so
Is that why they shoot me
10 times in a row
Is that why they fear me
Do they even know
How am I supposed to smile
When they make me feel so low
If I show I'm angry
Why am I threat
If I can't be happy
Can I get upset
Do I need their permission
Can I express it yet
Why do I have to listen
When I tell them they forget
Just being black
Is a burden
Is a burden
Their something to attack
You're not a person
You're not a person
With the whole world on your back
You keep servin'
You keep servin'
And by the time you snap
You've been hurtin'
Sick of hurtin'
Out of concrete
Am I supposed to bloom
Can I grow (grow)
If I have no room (room)
How can I be myself
In a costume
How can I build a house
From a wooden broom
If I don't die
From sickle cell
I'm sure to go (go)
From raising hell (hell)
The rage inside me
Makes me wanna yell
But if I do that
I'll be killed as well
Just being black
Is a burden
Is a burden
You're something to attack
You're not a person
You're not a person
The whole world on your back
You keep servin'
You keep servin'
And by the time you snap
You've been hurtin'
Sick of hurtin'
Isn't it such a pity
My racial identity
Will always be held against me
Can it be
Just being black
Is a burden
Is a burden
Their something to attack
You're not a person
You're not a person
The whole world on your back
You keep servin'
You keep servin'
And by the time you snap
You've been hurtin'
You're sick of hurtin'
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5. |
MTF
03:13
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She lies awake
With a damaged heart
Can't catch a break
Can't get a restart
One bad mistake
Her whole world fell apart
She's the one the world forsakes
Imitates her art
She was looking for the money to afford a change
A client told her that can be arranged
Woo-hoo
He got her in a room in a cheap motel
Didn't take his abuse, so she went to jail
Woo-hoo
After her arrest
They put her with the men
She said I may not have the chest
But I don't belong with them
They didn't honor her request
To be put with the women
They simply left her dispossessed
To endure all their torment
In the human food chain
She knew where she ranked
With a choice so insane
Either kill or be shanked
She was looking for the money to afford a change
A client told her that can be arranged
Woo-hoo
He got her in a room in a cheap motel
Didn't take his abuse, so she went to jail
Woo-hoo
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7. |
Mr. Robertson
03:14
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When I was five
Learned you were alive
How did you survive, Mr. Robertson
You went to jail
I knew how to spell
Why didn't you write, Mr. Robertson?
First Verse:
I was your third
Her only one
The things I've heard
That you've done
So absurd
Not one word
From you, Mr. Robertson
Hook:
You don't know me
And I (I) don't (don't) know you, Mr. Robertson
Second Intro:
Abandoned young, taken in by a coven
I'd receive unconditional lovin'
Never to be seen in the house of my brethren
Given some time, I'd be missing nothin'
Second Verse:
Was damn near grown
You tried to come back home
Your heart made of glass
My heart turned to stone
Too many years had passed
To the door you were shown
Goodbye, Mr. Robertson
Hook:
You don't know me
And I (I) don't (don't) know you, Mr. Robertson
Bridge:
I can't love
A man that I barely know
I let you go
The one absent
Is never the parent, Mr. Robertson
Outro:
Abandoned young, taken in by a coven
I'd receive unconditional lovin'
Never to be seen in the house of the brethren
Given some time, I'd be missing nothing
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8. |
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9. |
Ms. Mizell
03:25
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Ms. Mizell, I know you don’t feel well
But there’s something, I have got to tell
Promise you won’t scream and yell
Or lock me, away in my shell
You ask, why I seem so afraid
And I say, I’m just in the 9th grade
And I’m scared, you won’t accept me
And at 15, I’ll lose my family
Ms. Mizell, this is so hard to say
But I’m sure, I’ve always been this way
Ms. Mizell, am I welcome to stay?
Once you know, that your only son is gay…
Ms. Mizell, I see the pain inside
But your tears, makes me want to run and hide
You look at me, as though I’ve already died
But I tell you this, to avoid suicide…
You say, son give me time, I’ll adjust
From the start, it’s just been the two of us
In my love, you can always trust
I’ll be by your side, even when I’m ash and dust
Ms. Mizell, you heard what I had to say..
And I’m sure, that you love me all the way…
Ms. Mizell, you seem more than okay…
Now you know, your only son is gay…
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11. |
I Want It Back
03:10
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Taken many things that came from me
Blues, Jazz, Rock n' Roll and that's just 3
Appropriating black identity
You want to laugh and have a "kiki"
When white gays claim their inner black woman
That shit ain't funny
They'll wear blackface, just give them a moment
Did I just spill their tea
My racial cause, you want to join it
But never take a knee
An angry mob and we'll see them running
As we're swinging from a tree
You know all the shit you do
So don't act all brand new
No denying what we've been through
Though the words I speak be true
I want it back
Everything you stole from me
Give it all back
My culture and history
I'm taking it back
You can kick and scream and squeeze
But I want it back
To see you begging on your knees
You take from me and claim it as your own
From the way I talk or hold a microphone
You can never seem to leave my shit alone
You'll take blood from a stone
First it's too black for you to ever want it
In condescending tone
Its just black art til' you wanna own it
And then you bitch and moan
Next thing I know, your name is on it
And you want to be my clone
I started this and now you're my opponent
I hate you to the bone
You know all the shit you do
So don't act all brand new
No denying what we've been through
Though the words I speak be true
I want it back
Everything you stole from me
Give it all back
My culture and history
I'm taking it back
You can kick and scream and squeeze
But I want it back
To see you begging on your knees
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12. |
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13. |
They Must Be Kin
02:41
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They live in my dreams
To my chagrin
And from what it seems
They must be kin
I’ve seen them all
In my grandmother’s photographs
She keeps in her room
They show me the lives
They lived on my behalf
So that I could bloom
They live in my dreams
Much to my chagrin
And from what it seems
They must be kin
And from what it seems
They must be my kin
They live in my dreams
And I converse with them
They live in my dreams
To tell me where I’ve been
They must be kin…
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14. |
Reparations
03:00
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See me walking home, they think that I'm a savage
She tried to hide her purse, cuz she think that I'm gon' grab it
She looks to me like I'm gon' help her racist habit
I don't need ya fake ass white guilt, you can have it
See me outta place, I made it 'cross the redline
Where my 40 acres at, you way past the deadline
The bill's been past due for my bloodline
1619 east Virginia shoreline
Tryin' not to sink
Black life will end up driving you to drink
At the edge, in the margin, on the brink
If you ain't black, don't give a fuck what you think
Every time I get to thinkin' about Tulsa
Within weeks, I develop a new ulcer
Blood spilled like a tangerine mimosa
Deserve the wrath of a black union soldier
Today (aye)
None of you will ever get away (aye)
Owe me 90 times for every ancestor you slayed (aye)
If you dead, all of your descendants they gon' pay (aye)
Better have my money by the end of the day (aye)
What I say, black millennials
No we don't play (aye)
Get that policy written down and underway (aye)
Wanna show you sorry, cut that check without delay (aye)
I want the living standards of a white west village gay (aye)
Don't need another liquor store--a place for hallelujah
Don't need another prison--in case I smoke the hookah
Plenty white supremacy--from here to Chattanooga
Reconcile the past, I'm tryin' to have a better future
Now we're here
Ain't no going back
We're here to stay (aye)
West African slave traders you gon' pay (aye)
For every black body that you sold and you betrayed (aye)
Once I'm done here, then expect me on the way (aye)
Tryin' not to sink
Black life will end up driving you to drink
At the edge, in the margin, on the brink
If you ain't black, don't give a fuck what you think
Every time I get to thinkin' about Tulsa
Within weeks, I develop a new ulcer
Blood spilled like a tangerine mimosa
Deserve the wrath of a black union soldier
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16. |
Same Gender Loving
02:45
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I'm not afraid
To receive your affection
And I wouldn't trade
It for the rarest possession
I lay on your chest
And then I can go to sleep
My heart can rest
'Cause my love is yours to keep
I'm glad you stayed
I know I'm made of imperfection
Such love displayed
Leaves nothing to question
Well my heart is a mess
Whenever I hear you speak
But more or less
You soothe me with your mystique
Hugging you is home
The scent of your comb
Feels like I caught the groom's bouquet
Makes me want to get married today...
You're my parade
You're my forward direction
And in retrograde
You're my best recollection
'Cause I'll acquiesce
To whatever you ask of me
And I'll confess
I'm with you 'cause I want to be...
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17. |
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Been waiting by the phone (you don’t call me)
I’m here all alone (you don’t call me)
After all the love I’ve shown (you don’t call me)
Given up my throne (you don’t call me)
Suffered an unholy matrimony
For the sake of never being lonely
Believing in the dream of one and only
All that talk about love was just baloney
But you’re a ghost
And I got too close
I need another dose
Now I’m so morose
Tears ain’t never stopped the raining
Words ain’t ever done explaining
Injuries ain’t worth sustaining
After all the work and straining
Don’t wanna be around (you don’t tell me)
You feel letdown (and you don’t tell me)
It’s the weight of the crown (you don’t tell me)
You just shutdown (and you don’t tell me)
Nothing about this can be healthy
No voicemail, text, or a selfie
I never knew that silence was so deadly
I assume that we’ll talk when you’re ready
But you’re a ghost
And I got too close
I need another dose
Now I’m so morose
Tears ain’t never stop the raining
Words ain’t ever done explaining
Injuries ain’t worth sustaining
After all the work and straining
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18. |
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Terry Blade Chicago, Illinois
Terry Blade is a singer-songwriter. A multi-genre artist, his musical work is grounded in his experience as a black queer
artist.
Since his 2020 debut, he has won more than 75 awards and nominations for his music. He has drawn comparisons to artists such as Meshell Ndegeocello, Macy Gray, and Antony and the Johnsons.
He was born and raised in Washington, DC, and resides in Chicago, IL.
... more
Terry Blade recommends:
Libertatem Simulacrum
by The Talking Tears
For fans of Thom Yorke and Radiohead
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Trapped By A Thing Called Love
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Local Customs: Burned at Boddie
by Various Artists
featured on Bandcamp Radio Feb 14, 2017
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Local Customs: Downriver Revival
by Various Artists
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Live at The Triple Door
by James Apollo
Imposing, echo-drenched, and soulful, James Apollo’s “accidental live record” captures the singer at the peak of his powers.
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