A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest & Consequence
A Tribe Called Quest & Busta Rhymes & Jack White & Elton John
A Tribe Called Quest & Busta Rhymes
A Tribe Called Quest & André 3000
A Tribe Called Quest & Yebba & Marsha Ambrosius
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest & Busta Rhymes & Consequence
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest & Talib Kweli & Consequence & Kanye West
A Tribe Called Quest & Katia Cadet
A Tribe Called Quest & Anderson .Paak
A Tribe Called Quest & Jack White & Kendrick Lamar
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest & Katia Cadet & Busta Rhymes
“The Killing Season” features frequent ATCQ collaborator Consequence, hip hop veteran Talib Kweli and Kanye West, himself a product of ATCQ’s influence.
The song’s lyrics use repeated mentions of soldiers, veterans, war and the military as a means of describing injustices faced by blacks in America...
[Verse 1: Talib Kweli]
Winter in America, never knew white Christmas
'Cause L7 squares always making my shit list
Spring is in the air and all the flowers are blooming
The powers that be wanna devour the movement
Tears disappear when they fall on the summer rain
Bleedin' through this mic, but they call it entertainment
Running across stages is a drug
Is like a blunt that we crumble in raw papers
Call it the lord’s name 'cause we taking it in our veins
Like the feeding us intravenous
It’s war and we fighting for inches and millimeters
They try to stall the progress by killing off all the leaders
If we don’t give them martyrs no more, they can’t defeat us
This lack of justice got us disgusted, look at our faces
All these soldiers hate but I saw military training
The false flags fly at a half mast this morning
Take a bow, this might be your last performance
[Hook: Kanye West]
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
[Verse 2: Consequence]
The old lady saw us on the lawn with the Henny
Turn the pool party into the one from McKinney
Might've been racist like the waitresses up in Denny’s
Swore we had twelve gauges, automatics, and semis
Now they wanna condemn me for my freedom of speech
'Cause I see things in black and white like Lisa and Screech
Presidents get impeached and others fill in the throne
But veterans don’t get the benefit of feelin' at home
So maybe those projections out at Silicon
Are what drove her to get injections made of silicone
I swear it’s the killing season
'Cause killin' is still in season, yeah
[Verse 3: Jarobi]
Louder than a three pound, voices screaming mad to boot
It must be killing season, on the menu strangefruit
Whose juices fill the progress of this here very nation
Whose states has grown bitter through justice expiration
These fruitful trees are rooted in bloody soil and torment
Things haven’t really changed
Or they're dormant for the moment
Marks and scars, we own it, only makes for tougher skin
Helps us actualize the actual greatness held within
Been on the wrong team so much, can’t recognize a win
Seems like my only crime is having melanin
Connection to the sun so strong the relationship is lusted for
Causes men to suffocate, I can’t breathe no more
Settle the score sadly, need an abacus to tally
Through all the peaks and valleys, yo, I recognize it sadly
Black soul bold enough, inner city cold enough
Watch me get all my goons, watch us get soldiered up
[Chorus: Kanye West]
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
They sold ya, sold ya, sold ya
The Killing Season was written by Q-Tip & Jarobi & Consequence & Talib Kweli.
The Killing Season was produced by Blair Wells & Q-Tip.
A Tribe Called Quest released The Killing Season on Fri Nov 11 2016.
With Kanye, obviously it was a little different. I flew out to L.A. to work with ‘Ye on it. Me and Tip discussed it, because of me and 'Ye’s history… [Tribe] was the thing we gelled on when we first met as far as me and Kanye is concerned. That’s why he initially moved to New York; he wanted to work...
The high pitched ululating sample heard at the beginning of the beat was taken from Malcolm McLaren’s 1982 song “Buffalo Gals”:
I wrote this song and I had another interview where someone asked me, “Are you talking about killing mics?” I’m like, “No, it’s killing season for black men in these fucking streets.” I reference “Strange Fruit” in this song. Revolutionaries want to have fun, too. There’s a place for all of these th...