It’s 8:02 a.m, and I’ve been up most of the night working. I wrote a story about my night out celebrating the publication of my first two ebooks on Amazon Kindle. They’re children’s books about my life with my cat Copper, who I adopted from an animal shelter, and who has slowly warmed up to me.
So I went to a bar in my neighborhood of Astoria, Queens, and some interesting things happened, and I talked to some interesting people, and I turned it all into a post for my website, genxchronicle.com. We cover news, culture and lifestyle through a Generation X lens.
I finished writing the essay around 5 a.m, and I’ve been chilling out since then, listening to music and watching TV. For the last hour or so I’ve been watching hip hop videos on YouTube on my TV through the Roku. One thing I’ve noticed is that when you look beyond the crass materialism of most hip hop videos, what you find is a decidedly powerful political statement about black independence, and class independence, and giving a thumb in the eye to corporate America and the white majority government.
Because most of these videos have the same theme. Young African-American guys come up from nothing, work really hard, land a music contract, and then live the life of luxury, with hot ladies everywhere and Grey Goose vodka on tap.
It also seems like there’s an obligatory scene where the rapper blows huge clouds of smoke out of his mouth, letting you know he’s down and yes, he likes to smoke weed.
But despite the formulaic nature of a lot of these videos, I must admit I absolutely love them. Seeing all the beautiful women lounging around, and all these badass dudes smoking weed and not giving a fuck, just relaxes the hell out of me. So I’m a fan.
I decide to take a little test run, and watch some recent videos, and see if I can find any patterns, themes or trends. The first one I pop on is “Rockstar,” by Post Malone, featuring 21 Savage.
Now Post Malone is a whole ecosystem of his own, so maybe this wasn’t the best video to start out with. Because the simple fact is, he’s talented, and he’s a good lyricist, but the main reason he’s so popular is because he’s white. That’s just the straight up truth.
But despite that, I really do like his music, and his videos too. I mean White Iverson is already a cultural touchstone that will go down as an all-time classic, regardless of whether Post himself actually does.
So I’m listening to Rockstar, and right out of the gate, Post hits you with:
I’ve been fucking hoes and poppin pillies, man I feel just like a rock star
I mean it’s like Jesus! Wow! He just lets you know what the f is up, and what his super successful and glamorous life is all about.
And the video is even crazier. Post is dressed in a white suit, and he’s got a samurai sword, and he and 21 Savage take on like a whole Yakuza army, with swords and shit, except the Yakuza is not all Japanese, there’s some black guys and white guys too.
It’s really bloody, and the whole thing seems kind of like a tribute to Tarantino’s Kill Bill Series, which I didn’t love, but whatever, it’s a dope video.
So I jam out to it for a few minutes, and then I move on to the next song, which is Black Beatles, by Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane. It’s a great song by a young African-American duo of brothers, and they both play guitar, and they’re almost more like a rock band than they are rappers.
I find this incredibly cool to see, because African-Americans birthed rock n’ roll, and for many years rock was an incredible melting pot of black and white artists. But in the past twenty years or so, as hip hop solidified its position as the preeminent musical form of art in the world, music became more and more segregated. So it’s just unusual to see a hip hop band playing guitar. But it’s also really refreshing, and I’m into it.
The lyrics are powerful too.
I’m a fucking black Beatle, cream seats in the Regal
Rocking John Lennon lenses like to see ’em spread eagle
Took a bitch to the club and let her party on the table
Screaming, “Everybody’s famous.”
Bang! The brothers from Rae Sremmurd are letting you know how they get down, and they don’t give a fuck if it’s PC or not, or whether they’re a positive influence on society. Because they have money, they’ve made it, and they can stick their middle finger at white America any time they want. They’re free.
The next song I pop on is Young, Dumb & Broke, by DJ Khaled. He’s a Palestinian-American rapper and producer who’s become one of the biggest names in hip hop over the past decade. The song is super dope. There’s a really casual, slow swaggering beat underlying the lyrics, and Khaled is rapping about teenagers who just don’t give a fuck.
It’s a beautiful celebration of being young and carefree, and not caring about adult commitments, and jobs, and marriages, and families, and bank accounts, and all the rest of the bullshit that stresses adults out.
So Khaled really nails the chill high school vibe, and the song is as cool as I remember.
The next song I play is Bodak Yellow, by Cardi B. She’s a Trinidadian-Dominican rapper from the Bronx, and she’s really blown up in the last year or two. I don’t know her music well, but everything I’ve heard I’ve liked.
In this video, she’s playing some kind of Egyptian Princess, out there in the desert, fighting off all the challengers and the haters. In several scenes she’s wearing a green Muslim-looking full-length dress with hijab. In other scenes she’s wearing a tight leather outfit that really shows off her legs.
I find her pretty damn sexy. She’s slightly curvy, with thick hips and a round behind, but she’s absolutely beautiful and stunning in the way that only Latin women can be. So I like her.
In several other scenes she’s riding a camel, which looks totally fake and CGI, and then there’s a Tiger in some scenes too. Whatever. I just like looking at her, so I give this video an A+.
The last video I play is Bad and Boujee by Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert. Migos has become something of a superband over the past two years, and they now headline stadium shows. It’s three dudes from Georgia, who presumably came up the hard way and have now hit the big time.
All of them are decked out in gold and diamond teeth, with chains all over and cornrows or dreads, and crazy tats. The whole deal.
But the thing is, their music is great. It really is. Bad and Boujee has a hypnotic backbeat, and their voices are so frenetic. There’s a ton of reverb, and it falls into the category of much-derided mumble rap, where rappers drink cough syrup and take pills and then mumble into a microphone in the studio.
Mumble rap has been criticized for not having any lyrical flair, and for being incomprehensible. That may be true, I mean I’m not an expert on it, but Bad and Boujee is a pretty great song.
The lyrics that really resonate with me are:
Raindrop, drop, drop top (drop top)
Smokin’ on cookie in the hotbox (cookie)
Fuckin’ on your bitch she a thot, thot, thot (thot)
Cookin’ up dope in the crockpot (pot)
We came from nothin’ to somethin’ nigga (hey)
We came from nothin’ to somethin’. That really seems to sum up my night of checking out recent hip hop videos. Because all of these artists are talented, and it’s all good music. The universal theme is striving, working, hustling to make it out of tough circumstances.
All these artists have now made it, and if they played their cards right, they don’t ever have to work again. But more importantly, they don’t have to answer to the man anymore. And the man isn’t necessarily the white power structure, but just the corporate power structure that subjugates everyone to the whims of capitalism. Or something like that.
These folks have all made it though, that’s my point. Post Malone, a white middle class kid from the suburbs. Rae Sremmurd, two African-American brothers from Georgia who are breaking the mold by playing guitar while also being great rappers. DJ Khaled, a Palestinian-American who’s reached commanding heights in hip hop. Cardi B., a Trinidadian-Dominican rapper that takes on all comers while styling herself as Cleopatra in the Egyptian desert. And Migos, three flashy dudes from Georgia who unabashedly flaunt their wealth as they sing mumble rap.
When you think about it, it really is a United Nations of hip hop. At least that’s what my very unscientific survey of late-night recent hip hop videos revealed.
The universal theme seems to be, no matter where you’re from or what ethnicity or gender you are, stick it to the man.
And that’s something I can get down with.
******
