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I'm currently writing a dissertation on Hip Hop, and part of it I'm analyzing Nas' Illmatic. It's cliche, I know, but it's certainly the easiest album to obtain source material on, as well as being a good starting point for those marking my essay.

I'm currently reading a book on the album and it's been really interesting for the most part, but often I just can't get behind what the professors are saying. Nas was only 19 when he created Illmatic, that's just a year older than me, and according to the analysis he's doing things in Illmatic that I can't even begin to grasp.

Imani Perry, a professor of African American Culture at Harvard, says this about the first verse of 'It Aint Hard To Tell'

Quote:

First, he announces himself and then he contacts the mic, sounding almost like he's just landed on the planet. He inhales with the silence of a sniper and exhales with the weed smoke blowing out of his airways. He takes steps, and we feel like they're underground. Then he's at Rikers, doing the bold and unbelievable. We're brought back to the pint of contact with the earth, 'hit the earth like a comet invasion'. And again, using Mortin as a metaphor, he goes in and then out, and then down to the depths, drinking Moet with Medusa in hell. The motion of explosive encounter, traveling in and out, then down, is repeated in various forms throughout the song. Perhaps that's why he's tells us, 'I dominate break loops, givin' mics men-e-strual cycles' because he creates a cycle that has a double entendre, sounding like menstrual, ministerial.

I'm struggling to include these ideas in my dissertation because it just sounds like crap. How does "I exhale the yellow smoke of buddha through righteous steps" much us feel like his steps are underground? What's Motrin got to do with 'in and out'?

It doesn't sound like Nas constructed this verse with the concept of 'cycles' in his head, it just sounds like he's saying how dope he is.

http://rapgenius.com/Nas-it-aint-hard-to-tell-lyrics

Wanted to hear what you guys thought, how intelligent was Nas? Is what Perry saying true?

sp4cetiger

When academics go off like this, I'm never sure how to interpret it. Sometimes I think they're ascribing these intentions to the artist, but other times I think they're trying to deconstruct the cultural history that informs Nas' chosen means of expression. Maybe look into Perry and bit more and see what her general philosophy on art criticism is.

No disrespect to Nas, but I doubt he actually thought through all that stuff when he was writing the song. I doubt any popular artist really thinks like that.

Last edited by sp4cetiger on 02/23/2014 21:39; edited 1 time in total

GeevyDallas
WATTBA

Agree totally, there's loads of stuff that attribute way too much meaning onto music by these kids. I've read a lot of this academic shit about everyone from Dizzee Rascal to Chief Keef, it always seems like they intentionally apply these meanings, a million miles away from what is obviously the intended meaning, to the point where in my opinion they're often missing the point altogether. I'd take all that stuff with a pinch of salt.

samistake2ice
General Grievous Angel

Gender: Male
Age: 37
Location: Houston

This is what philosophical discussions were made for. One of (if not the most) beautiful things about music is the vastness of how it can be interpreted.

I've never heard Illmatic, or really ever listened to Nas, so I can't begin to dissect his approach to song writing. I think there are songwriters who are incredibly cerebral, however my instinct tells me to agree with you. Im just not sure Nas at 19 was one of them. Again, I dont know that for sure.

It makes sense that Perry (an academic) would be predisposed to over analyzing an album that perhaps he has a personal connection with.

Interesting subject for a dissertation.
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alelsupreme
Awful.

Gender: Male
Age: 27

GeevyDallas wrote:

Agree totally, there's loads of stuff that attribute way too much meaning onto music by these kids. I've read a lot of this academic shit about everyone from Dizzee Rascal to Chief Keef, it always seems like they intentionally apply these meanings, a million miles away from what is obviously the intended meaning, to the point where in my opinion they're often missing the point altogether. I'd take all that stuff with a pinch of salt.

Wait, seriously?
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GeevyDallas
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alelsupreme wrote:

Wait, seriously?

Actually that was a bit harsh, the book I was talking about was Dan Hancox's Stand Up Tall, which is really great. It never really went as far fetched as the above piece about Nas, although it did apply a lot of meaning to his lyrics, some of which I thought was pretty unbelievable for a 15/16 year old to write. Saying that, it being Dizzee, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually did mean it all.

drakonium
coucou

Location: More than one

GeevyDallas wrote:

some of which I thought was pretty unbelievable for a 15/16 year old to write

Wasn't Rimbaud 17 or something when he wrote what many (French teachers, at least) consider the most beautiful pieces of poetry ever written?

benpaco
Who's gonna watch you die?

Age: 27
Location: California

This all reminds me of some BS I heard about For Emma Forever Ago being a metaphor for the various interpretations of verses from the old testament. Just because someone said it, no matter how well educated they are, doesn't mean that it's right. Even the artist's intentions aren't always the best things to look at when interpreting the song, it's largely a personal decision, but there are some things that are just too big a stretch ...
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meccalecca
Voice of Reason

Gender: Male
Location: The Land of Enchantment

It's bullshit. Writers taking liberties because it's the only way they can speak about the music without saying what we already know
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Kiki

meccalecca wrote:

It's bullshit. Writers taking liberties because it's the only way they can speak about the music without saying what we already know

Reminds me of something.