Not like you, but I respect him and like most of his music.
I'm about to be 20, so it was my first time voting. Needless to say, I was excited. I had to have my music. When I was waiting in line to vote at the polls on Nov. 4th, I had my headphones, which holds about 8 GBs of music. A lot of times, I'll just put my ZUNE (No iPod, ZUNE) on shuffle and just let it go crazy. Well, this particular time was interesting.
Nas' songs came on from his "Untitled" album, and I maybe listened to two of them before I was tired of them. They did nothing for me at the time, because I wasn't in the mood for it. It just seemed like he was trying too hard to make a statement concerning race, and it was the type of album that if I played around white people, it wouldn't be exactly 100 percent appropriate...
That being said, the very next song that came on was "My President" by Young Jeezy, and suddenly I couldn't help but to grin and nod to the whole song... and for the first time, I actually listened to the lyrics that Jeezy was saying instead of just the beat (which is raw, by the way)...
And it had way more of an effect on me.
So here's when I noticed that I wasn't feeling the Nas' songs on black presidency more than the Jeezy songs. And I felt like I was committing a hip-hop travesty even to think that because Nas is a better writer and more of a movement in hip-hop than Young Jeezy, because all Jeezy does is rap about drugs and sex....right?
.......right?
........not exactly. Actually, not at all.
And I realized how come I liked Jeezy's version better.
I realized how come on Facebook, no one quoted Nas lines when Obama won in their statuses, or how on Myspace, no one had Nas lines up in bulletins or anything, they quoted Jeezy.
No one played Nas songs LOUDLY FROM THEIR BOOMIN' CAR SYSTEMS AT THE POLLS...they played Jeezy's.
Jeezy's song came from the heart, as opposed to Nas, who just seemed like he tried too hard and had a hard-line angle he tried to force over on people to PROVE he was a visionary or something...
What's already proven doesn't need to be said...so if you're still saying you're the best (no Dhaled diss) or that you're the best rapper alive (no Wayne diss), then maybe it's time you actually develop the skill to back it up... but I digress...
For a visionary, Nas seemed content to be stuck in the old way of handling wrong-doings and injustices, as far as loading up clips for the KKK, and sayin if Obama dies, then hell, we'll die fighting injustice and all of that, and sayin he's the bravest rapper in a song...
KKK is like 'what the f**k', loadin' they guns up
loadin' mine too, Ready to ride
Cause im ridin with my crew
He dies - we die too
But on a positive side,
I think Obama provides Hope - and challenges minds
Of all races and colors to erase the hate
And try and love one another, so many political snakes
We in need of a break
Im thinkin' I can trust this brotha
But will he keep it way real?
Every innocent n***a in jail - gets out on appeal...
-----
Sincerely yours:
USA most brave rapper,
Jesse car-jacker,
Uncle Tom-kidnapper,
Ask around,
Bentley Coupe off the Richter,
B***h-called-life, I pimped her
What?
Politics, politricks,
Klan-shooter,
Deacon for defense,
Progress-producer,
Nothing on the stove,
A survival-booster...
(both quotes taken from Nas - "Black President")
We don't care about that. If you're intelligent on any level, then you would kind of realize that NONE OF THAT means anything to us, especially if you state that "I'm the bravest rapper, I kidnap uncle Toms, I kill Klansmen." Everyone doesn't think like that in terms of orchestrating change as far as race goes.
"Oh they said f**k me, so I'm gonna get a gun and prove them RIGHT." That's EXACTLY the message we want to send to America.
Nas has a lot of great ideas...but he took the wrong angle on this one. The album is still solid because other songs carried the weight, but this particular song... it's the type of song that will be forgotton in the course of a year or so... and it sucks, because it really was a good idea, but it didn't have the emotional appeal to reach out to every race. Instead, it isolated CERTAIN people in ONE race... because not all black people have that mindset.
(sidenote: By the way, ONE MAN is not going to right ALL the wrongs in America, so the innocent getting out of jail part? Paying my water bill? Putting all racist cops in jail? Oh come on... We have to keep it realistic. As great as that would be, one man can't do everything. He can definitely get the ball rolling the right direction though...)
However... Jeezy on the other hand... he did something that a lot of rappers attempt to do, but for most rappers it doesn't translate into success. He spoke from his heart. You can read Jeezy's lyrics and see that he personalized the effects of a black president, and because he did, more people are able to relate to him. He didn't say anything about racism either, unlike most other rappers who can't seem to get past the fact that there's more equality in the U.S. now than ever before.
But no... Jeezy just said quotables the whole song that people could relate to (and he was funny and slick with it too)...
"Just cause you got opinions, does that make you a politician?
Bush robbed all of us, would that make him a criminal?
And then he cheated in Florida, would that make him a Seminole? (LOL, burrrn!)
I say and I quote, "We need a miracle"
And I say a miracle cause this s**t is hysterical
By my nephews and nieces, I will email Jesus
Tell him forward to Moses, and CC Allah..." (Jeezy knows his computers, lol)
-----
"Tell him I'm doin fine, Obama for mankind
We ready for damn change so y'all let the man shine
Stuntin on Martin Luther, feelin just like a King
Guess this is what he meant when he said that he had a dream..."
(both taken from Young Jeezy's "My President")
Nothing deeply profound, but it's heartfelt, and it's not isolating ONE RACE like everyone else seems to do. I played this song for a couple of my friends who weren't my color, and they were smiling like I was by the end of it, because it had the same effect. He was speaking inclusively, not exclusively...
And because of his inclusive honestly and the way he just spoke on the "real talk" tip, Jeezy will have the one song that could possibly be associated with our first black president, maybe for the rest of our lives. NOT NAS.
It's ironic how Nas is even on the song as well, but no one talks about Nas' part. Why? Well, for me it was because he did the same thing again as far as talking about himself... even if it's one line or not, I was liking his verse until he said...
For years there's been surprise horses in this stable
Just two albums in, I'm the realest n***a on this label...
And I groaned. People may not even realize it, but that was another "big up" to himself. And in this case, IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU. This is bigger than you, bigger than us. This is something that could potentially make or break a race depending on how the next four years go. Nas said some good stuff in the song, but it still seemed somewhat scripted compared to Jeezy's lyrics.
But like I said... no one's going to remember Nas' for his own songs on the topic. They're going to remember Jeezy's because it appealed to more people for whatever reason it may be.
And for a visionary like Nas...that's maybe the biggest FAIL you could dream up.
This sums it up the best...
"The colossal misunderstanding of our time is the assumption that insight will work with people who are unmotivated to change. Communication does not depend on syntax, or eloquence, or rhetoric, or articulation but ON THE EMOTIONAL CONTEXT IN WHICH THE MESSAGE IS BEING HEARD. People can only hear you when they are moving toward you, and they are not likely to when your words are pursuing them. Even the choicest words lose their power when they are USED TO OVERPOWER. ATTITUDES are the real figures of speech."
-Edwin Friedman
Later.
King Eljay
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