Judo Flip

Intro sequences

Judo Flip (full)

"Judo Flip" is the opening theme song for The Boondocks, featured in the intro sequence of every episode with a slightly remixed version for each season. It is a shortened version of a song by Asheru.

Lyrics (Shortened/TV Size Version)

Asheru:

I am the stone that the builder refused;
I am the visual, the inspiration
That made lady sing the blues.

I'm the spark that makes your idea bright,
The same spark that lights the dark
So that you can know your left from your right.

I am the ballot in your box,
The bullet in your gun,
The inner glow that lets you know
To call your brother son.

The story that just begun,
The promise of what's to come,
And I'ma remain a soldier
Till the war is won.

Chop, chop, chop, judo flip!
Chop, chop, chop, judo flip!
Chop, chop, chop, judo flip!
Chop, chop, chop!

Full Version

Asheru:

I am the stone that the builder refused
I am the visual, the inspiration
That made lady sing the blues
I'm the spark that makes your idea bright
The same spark that lights the dark
So that you can know your left from your right
I am the ballot in ya box, The bullet in the gun
The inner glow that lets you know to call your brother son
The story that just begun, the promise of what's to come
And I'mma remain a soldier till the war is won
The streak that's in your drawers
The sting of a hunger pain
The one to call out your flaws
The thing you don't wanna claim
Pride and joy, ya baby boy
Your inner child's toy
Your saving grace, the winner of the race, the b-boy
A new age scholar, with millennium mindstate
Master of education, doctoral candidate
No, that ain't analogy of me through rap
That's a true that, and for real a brother really

Judo flip, chop chop chop
A judo flip, they say chop chop chop
A judo flip
But once you hear the capital A, rap it'll stay
With you for a while, and it won't go away
Judo flip, chop chop chop
A judo flip, they say chop chop chop
A judo flip
But once you hear the capital A, rap it'll stay
With you for a while, and it won't go away
With you for a while

This is the tale of two cities:
From to the hood to the woods
Away from the nitty-gritty
To the now we all good
No more, corner to corner liquor store and check cashing
Now it's wall to wall shopping mall to spend cash in
Lush greenery, beautiful scenery
A quiet environment, no sirens or machinery
And seems to be, so peaceful and non-threatening
But there goes the neighborhood, as soon as we get get settled in
I guess it's true, the way the sayin' goes:
You can change a wardrobe, but not the man under the clothes
And you can, walk a mile in these inner-city shoes
But you still won't understand my inner-city blues
Give thanks, for the things that mean the most to me
My family, and all my other people that are close to me
From the curb to the burbs, the gutter to the butter
I'mma tell you how it is, and tell you how we Judo Flip

Judo flip, chop chop chop
A judo flip, they say chop chop chop
A judo flip
But once you hear the capital A, rap it'll stay
With you for a while, and it won't go away
Judo flip, chop chop chop
A judo flip, they say chop chop chop
A judo flip
But once you hear the capital A, rap it'll stay
With you for a while, and it won't go away
With you for a while
With you for a while, and it won't go away
Judo flip, chop chop chop
A judo flip, they say chop chop chop
A judo flip
But once you hear the capital A, rap it'll stay
With you for a while, and it won't go away
Judo flip, chop chop chop
A judo flip, they say chop chop chop
A judo flip
But once you hear the capital A, rap it'll stay
With you for a while, and it won't go away
With you for a while
With you for a while, and it won't go away

Trivia

• The full song is called "Judo Flip", by the artist Asheru and can be found on YouTube.
• Asheru had annotated the song's opening lyrics on Genius [1].
• In Stinkmeaner Strikes Back, a remix of “Judo Flip” by Metaphor The Great was featured during the Stinkmeaner fight scene.
• The Japanese dub has a different theme song, SOUL'd OUT by Megalopolis Patrol.
• The song contains references to biblical scripture:
  • "I am the stone that the builder refused" is a reference to the biblical scripture Psalm 118:22: "The stone which the builders refused has become the head stone of the corner."
    • It is also a reference to "Cornerstone" by Bob Marley & The Wailers from the 1970 album Soul Rebels.
  • "So that you can know your left from your right" is a reference to the biblical scripture Jonah 4:11: "And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?"
• "The inspiration that made lady sing the blues" is a reference to the 1956 song and album "Lady Sings the Blues" by African American Jazz singer Billie Holiday.
• "I am the ballot in ya box, the bullet in the gun" is a reference to civil rights activist Malcolm X's speech "The Ballot or the Bullet".
• A few of the shortened version’s lyrics used for the series’ opening allude to each of the Freemans:
  • Huey Freeman:
    • "The inspiration that made lady sing the blues"- alludes to him fighting the struggles and hardships that African-Americans often face.
    • "I am the spark that makes your idea bright, the same spark to light the dark so that you can know your left from your right"- alludes to his intelligence, as well as his sense of righteousness.
  • Riley Freeman:
    • "The inner glow to let you know to call your brother son" - alludes to his relationship as Huey's younger brother.
      • "Brother" or "son" are also terms that are commonly used among the African-American community to refer to a fellow African-American man.
  • Robert Freeman:
    • "And I'mma remain a soldier til the war is won"- alludes to him having fought in WWII as a Tuskegee airman and his status as a former U.S. civil rights activist.
• The lyric "But once you hear the capital A, rap it'll stay with you for a while and it won't go away" is a reference to a lyric from Marley Marl's "The Symphony".
• The second verse's lyrics contains many allusions to the series' main premise:
  • "This is the tale of two cities, from the hood to the woods" and "From the curb to the burbs, the gutter to the butter" references the Freeman family moving from Chicago, an urban city in Illinois, to Woodcrest, a fictional suburban city in Maryland.
    • "This is the tale of two cities" also alludes to the book "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens.
  • “And seems to be, so peaceful and non-threatening, but there goes the neighborhood, as soon as we get get settled in” alludes to the strange things that often happen in Woodcrest.
  • "And you can walk a mile in these inner-city shoes, but you still won't understand my inner-city blues" references the Freemans originating from Chicago.