Code Switching

As a black kid you gotta learn this handy trick Of social self-defense You switch up your speak and give your manner a tweak Depending on the audience I'll be Will Smith witty or cool like Diddy Or affable as you please 'Cause when you're young and black, you develop a knack For putting the world at ease It's called code-switchin' And I'm a master of the dial I've got a different me for every situation No matter black, white old or young I can tune in to your tongue And nobody can tell which one's the real me, yeah For those timid white suburban moms I'm humble, saccharine-sweet Just a skinny Kenan Thompson ma'am No need to cross the street For older blacks, I'll dial it back Play the respectful grandson role They don't care for rap or hip-hoppity crap So I'm warm as Motown soul And I can charm the old-school Italian cats With a smile like Sammy Davis But I always know that as soon as I go They go straight back to stone cold racist Code-switchin' Got the whole world on my dial And it's anybody's guess which one is me