Definitions: Highly Influential People Holding Omnipresent Power

I know a lot of people, in fact many who will be reading this, mock people who sit around analyzing something as trivial and unworthy of analysis as rap lyrics. "What's there to analyze? Money. Cash. Hoes. End of story." The underlying assumption being that analyzing rap music is a crude alternative to more sophisticated pastimes like poetry analysis. And I may agree to some respect. 

However, doing so would mean missing out on a wealth of knowledge and dexterity that is unmatched in any other genre of writing in my honest opinion. The very best wordsmiths in rap combine clever wordplay with insightful ideas and images. They paint pictures. They tell entire stories in under four minutes. And here we are with our noses high up in the air pretending to be "above" the genre just because it isn't deemed nuanced enough. I couldn't disagree more. 

To illustrate my point let me show you, in less than twenty words, just how complex rap can be. 

"I switched my motto,

instead of saying 'f-ck tomorrow'

that buck that bought a bottle 

could've struck the lotto." 

Nineteen words. And a world's worth of analysis worthy content. 

There's nihilism ("f-ck tomorrow"). There's the short-term-gain, laugh-now-cry-later dynamic (the double meaning in "f-ck tomorrow). There's progression (learning to get past the same defeatist, short term mentality). There's the pitfalls of poverty and the prevalence of alcoholism ("that buck that bought a bottle"). There's escapism (striking the lotto). 

Nas paints the picture of a kid in the ghetto who learns not to be so pessimistic about his life and his future. He gives up his foolhardy principles and his indulgence in alcohol. He realizes that the same money and effort he puts into something like alcohol could be applied elsewhere. However, in the ultimate irony, he decides to use the money he used for alcohol to now buy a lottery ticket. 

This speaks volumes to the black holes that are some of America's worst public housing projects--Nas himself is from Queensbridge, the largest housing projects in America. Seemingly the only way out is come across something as unlikely as winning the lottery--a fool's hope. I could write an essay on these lines alone. Genius.

If someone who had never heard one Hiphop song was to ask me to introduce me to the genre, I'd have them listen to either this or "Juicy". And no disrespect to Biggie but I think this comes as close to a perfect song as there can be. Pay attention to both verses. There's much more than just the lines I typed out above. And the trumpet that plays out at the end, poetic. Go figure.

(Side note: Thanks to the one and only Juan Carlos for sharing much knowledge and taking a young grasshopper under his wing hahaha. )