"Colors" is a song by American rapper Ice-T, co-produced by Afrika Islam, featuring DJ Eric Garcia, or Evil E. It was issued as the title track for the soundtrack to the film of the same name. The song was released as a single in 1988.[2] In 2008, it was named the 19th-greatest hip hop song of all time by VH1.[3] [dead link] The song was Ice-T's first to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 70.The song samples "Ain't We Funkin' Now" by The Brothers Johnson.

"Colors"
Single by Ice-T
from the album Colors
B-side"Squeeze the Trigger"[1]
Released1988
Recorded1987
GenreGangsta rap
Length4:25
Songwriter(s)Ice-T, Afrika Islam
Ice-T singles chronology
"Somebody Gotta Do It"
(1987)
"Colors"
(1988)
"I'm Your Pusher"
(1988)

Ice-T himself re-recorded the song with his band Body Count in 2020 for the album, Carnivore.

In 2021, gang scholar and sociology professor Stefano Bloch, aka "Cisco," called "Colors" "the greatest sociological text ever written on gang activity and identity".[4]

Charts

edit
Chart (1988) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5] 70
U.S. Billboard Hot Black Singles[5] 77

Cover versions

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Images for Ice-T – Colors. Discogs.com, Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  2. ^ Ice-T - Colors (Vinyl), Discogs.com, Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  3. ^ VH1's 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs, Stereogum.com, Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  4. ^ Going All City: Struggle and Survival in LA's Graffiti Subculture. University of Chicago Press.
  5. ^ a b Colors - Ice-T, Billboard.com. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  6. ^ Christian, Chris (August 1996). "Various Artists: Operation Beatbox". Sonic Boom. 4 (7). Retrieved November 17, 2016.