Gangsta

Album

3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of...

Label

Atlantic Records

Genre

Stage & Screen

Composer(s)

Kehlani Parrish;Skylar Grey;Andrew SwansonJ;eremy Coleman;Jason Evigan;Jacob Luttrell

Entered Chart

Aug 27, 2016

Peak Date

Sep 10, 2016

Released

August 1, 2016

Recorded

2016 Studio Atlantic Studios (Los Angeles, California)

Catalog #

DC/Atlas/WaterTower/Atlantic

A cut from the soundtrack for the DC comics-inspired movie Suicide Squad, "Gangsta" was premiered by Zane Lowe on Beats 1 on August 1, 2016. Director David Ayer told Lowe the song "blends into the fabric of the film" and is used extensively. "I heard this and a few bars in and I was like this is a beast, this is gonna smash, this is it. But the other thing is there was this emotional quality to it, that sort of raw, broken yet strong, haunting quality to it," he added. "I think I threw it on a flash drive and ran in to the editor and I'm like dude you gotta throw this on picture I need to see this right now and it just instantly worked." Fans soon started drawing parallels between the song's lyrics and Suicide Squad's depiction of Harley Quinn's relationship with The Joker. When Lowe asked Ayer if the song has any particular connection to Harley Quinn, the director replied that the track, "speaks a lot to relationships and making a choice and - at the same time - how there's also power in surrendering to somebody." The song was co-written by Skylar Grey, whose other credits include Eminem and Rihanna's "Love The Way You Lie," Dr Dre's "I Need a Doctor" and Diddy-Dirty Money's "Coming Home." She recalled to Genius: "The 'Gangsta' hook was actually written prior to being asked to work on the Suicide Squad soundtrack, but the movie studio heard it early on and asked for it to be finished. I co-wrote it with Jacob Luttrell and Jason Evigan."

I need a gangsta
To love me better
Than all the others do
To always forgive me
Ride or die with me
That's just what gangsters do

I'm fucked up, I'm black and blue
I'm built for it, all the abuse
I got secrets, that nobody, nobody, nobody knows
I'm good on, that pussy shit
I don't want, what I can get
I want someone, with secrets
That nobody, nobody, nobody knows

I need a gangsta
To love me better
Than all the others do
To always forgive me
Ride or die with me
That's just what gangsters do

My freakness is on the loose
And running, all over you
Please take me to places, that nobody, nobody knows
You got me hooked up on the feeling
You got me hanging from the ceiling
Got me up so high I'm barely breathing
So don't let me, don't let me, don't let me, don't let me go

I need a gangsta (gangsta, gangsta)
To love me better (love me, love me better, better, baby)
Than all the others do (they do, they do, they do-oh-oh-oh)
To always forgive me (always forgive)
Ride or die with me (ride or die with me)
That's just what gangsters do (do)