I fell in love with hip hop listening to albums Low End Theory by a tribe called Quest and then Illmatic by Nas. I enjoyed the jazz influence of tribe “cause the beats” were “hard but gentle”. The way Nas painted pictures of his experience of Queensbridge and his imagination of living a better life captivated my 13-year-old mind. Those two albums have shaped my perspective on rap more than any other aspect of the culture.
I would suggest to any hip hop newcomer to listen to those albums first. They offer a depth in both instrumentation and lyrical capabilities.
I would argue that Public Enemy’s song “Fight the Power” off the Do the Right Thing Soundtrack is the song that represents hip hop culture. It is a song that is militant, commercial, and motivational. It is an anthem. It best represents the soul of a culture that was born in the inner city by marginalized minorities. It was defiant music for a revolution.
The 1b representative song is Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, “The Message”. Melle Mel spit raw lyrics that changed the way people saw hip hop and life in the inner cities. “The Message” would be inspiration for several rappers that came out after hearing the words Melle Mel used to paint the pictures of his surroundings.
It was September 2021 when I heard the verse that represents true hip hop to me. It was the leak of André 3000’s “Life of the Party” verse on Kanye West’s Donda album, now officially released. The verse is lyrical, introspective, and creative with a touch a braggadocio showcasing balanced hip hop.
In the verse, 3 Stacks talks to Kanye’s mother Donda to pass messages to his mother. André expresses the sadness that he feels because of the lack of communication with his mom. The longing for the smallest piece of advice or a comforting word in trying times as he’s losing faith because he hasn’t heard from her. 3000 ponders that everyday life instances may be his mother trying to communicate with him. He finds solace in the most mundane instances to signify that although life is difficult there’s meaningful moments if you are willing to look.
André raps, “Miss Donda, you see my mama, tell her I’m lost”. He felt lost because he could no longer have meaningful conversations with his mother. In navigating adulthood, he notices the difficulties knowing what’s right to do and doing the right thing. He disliked his mother smoking cigarettes, and exaggerated coughing when she smoked to encourage her to quit. Yet even though he had hypocritical actions, his mother helped him quit smoking.
Later in the verse, André questions his parents relationships. He recognizes that his mother was not perfect considering she may have given him her name instead of his father’s in spite. He examines the impact his parents’ relationship had on each other. He says, “No coincidence, they both passed away from heart conditions. There’s a dissidence at play.” This introspection leads André to a profound realization: that life’s tribulations can manifest physically, as evidenced by the root cause of his parents’ heart conditions being the trauma they carried within them.
In the final eight bars, André embraces smiling as an act of piety, reflecting on navigating life’s challenges with hopeful determination. He smiles in recognition of divine preservation. His testament to enduring is to resolve to find joy in every step of the journey until he’s reunited with his mother.
I imagine every soul who has lost their loved one feels the same way. Find solace by seeing them in the minutia of everyday life, reflect in gratitude in all memories and smile with resilience to persevere. My mother died over 27 years ago. I find I miss my mother in different ways. In my experience, grief changes but does not end.
This is hip hop. | By Mark A. Smith
