The thoughts and feelings that are expressed in the following post were conjured and created under an influence. So it is plausible to say that these thoughts were thought at a time where the writer can be thought of as not thinking clearly. But you be the judge.
I sat down and listened to Watch the Throne this weekend. I purposely avoided posting by ppl I follow to give myself a clean slate of taking in the music. Do people still sit down and listen to albums front to back anymore? I was listening to the album with my little brother (23 yrs old). As we sat and caught up with each other, because we do not live with each other, the above title song came on as we have been listening to the album. Up until Murder to Excellence came on I thought the album was much better than I thought it was going to be. I thought that the chemistry between the two wouldn’t mesh very well. But to my surprise Jay and Yen complimented each other very well. Then Murder to Excellence came on and it was a song that instantly changed my perspective.
And when I say instantly changed my perspective I am not expressing hyperbole. What I won’t do is go in to detail about how the song(s) and lyrics play flawlessly off of each other. Nor will I speak on how rappers are no longer rappers but evolving to artists and how Watch the Throne and more specifically Murder to Excellence are prime examples. What I’m going to speak on is how the consumption of this song was consumed upon listening to it.
I listen to albums from artists I like. Front to back one good time. If the album’s good I may listen twice. My brother and I are in the midst of speaking on music and our lives and just catching up and Murder to Excellence comes on. I immediately played it again once it finished because it caught my attention, in a negative way first then a positive way. There’s a point in the song where Ye sings “The paper reads murder, black on black murder” and then switches to the excellence black excellence portion of the track. So you know how you’re passively consuming music, well hearing the refrain at that point in the song jogged me out of that passive listening mode. From that point my ears were at attention as the black excellence portion of the track came to an end. At this point I decided I needed to actively listen to the entire song.
And I did. And after listening to the entire song actively, I then decided to take everything these two men said seriously, which is something I rarely if EVER do in regards to rap because rappers lie effortlessly. And I’ll admit, having the complete discography of both artists I have listened to them in this fashion before, but never under an influence, which could be trippy, for lack of a better word.
**DISCLAIMER And I would not advise anyone to take any rapper seriously, even in an exercise as such, if you cannot or are intellectually incapable at this point in your life to keep it in perspective.
But I listened in that manner and I began to imagine. What if in the way that Spaceship or Addiction or Crack Music by Ye or Meet the Parents or D’evils or American Dreamin’ by Jay served as musical inspiration for me to excel (these would be songs I’d workout to and/or do HW), what if I grew up (middle/high school) having the drive my mother instilled in me scored by a song such as Murder to Excellence? Or to put it another way: what will become of the young black boy or young black girl that listens to this as inspiration, but has the ability to keep it in perspective? Are Jay and Ye serenading the next great revolutionary? Are they serenading those who look to become elite rather than ball?
“It’s all black I love US.”
A celebration of black excellence, opulence, decadence. Now I know I used the term revolutionary very loosely, especially in reference to rap music. But as I told someone recently in a jocular conversation we were having, “I’m a conscious capitalist.” Like I’d rather be in the line of Muhammad Ali rather than Michael Jordan. Because I feel if I got to that financial security then I could make a work such as Murder to Excellence (notice I said “work” and not “song”) so even if others want to rip it apart, it will be laced with enough layers and insight for a young black girl or a young black boy to find their voice and place in society.
I knew I’d never sell drugs, even when the opportunity presented itself a plethora of times. I knew that wasn’t me. But listening to Reasonable Doubt taught me things that maybe I could’ve learned from people if they were around to teach me. But my mama can lay the foundation, music can provide the inspiration, but I think it’s my mind that is the executor. The murderer to excellence. (see what I did there?)
