Rap as the New Shakespeare?

Excerpt – Lift Off feat. Beyonce – An uplifting track of praise, applauding Jay-Z, Kanye, Beyonce and any movers-and-shakers in the world who are like them.

“When you earn hard(t) as me, eventually you hit a big wall.
5-4-3-2 we need fuel.
Lift off.”

Here Jay-Z is talking about a Law Of Attraction concept that most artists end up facing. By succeeding in life, moving at a fast pace and focusing on ‘more’ for oneself, obstacles & anything that doesn’t suit / benefit can feel like a powerful crash or a ‘big wall’. There’s also a play on earn-hard and Dale Earnhardt, a nascar racer. Basically, the more success you have, the more any kind of resistance or obstacles can ‘bother’ you when they occur. Many people prefer to live a ‘slower’ life, specifically because of this principle. Are you one of them?

Excerpt – Made It In America – A topical, relevant, current look at business gimmicks and attempting to manipulate a result, as opposed to focusing on a foundational artistic principle.

“Started a little blog just to get some traffic
Old folks’ll tell you not to play in traffic
A million hits and the web crashes – damn!”

Kanye West started a blog, and tells us his motivation for doing so was “to get some traffic.” He then goes on to reference the wisdom of the ages, which says something like ‘contribute value and people will come,’ an agenda of simply manipulating results will cause a ‘crash’. These lines work on another level as well, that of drug-trafficking, which Kanye recommends against here. The crash aspect also leads back to Jay-Z’s Dale Earnhardt wordplay. Brilliant.

Excerpt – Who Gon’ Stop Me – Focuses on how someone coming from nothing, through the application of self-mastery, inner-growth, and flat-out belief can achieve and succeed in their dreams..

“Pabalo Picasso, Rothkos, Rilkes
Graduated to the MOMA
And I did all of this, Without a diploma
Graduated from the corner.”

Jay-Z is demonstrating how he came from a ghetto, crack-dealing background, and through his focus on growth and belief in himself, he graduated to a high-rolling musician/business mogul himself, as well as an art-appreciator, who owns some of the world’s greatest masterpieces. Many who looked down upon him wish they can be in his shoes now.

Excerpt – Why I Love You -This song is powerful self-expression how Jay + Kanye feel they’ve poured their hearts out, gone beyond the call of duty, and metaphorically crucified themselves financially and emotionally for their people (their teams, friends, families, or audiences). This Similar to biblical tales, Jay + ‘Ye were greeted with betrayal and people jumping ship when the going got a bit rough. Regardless of all this, they come up roses, reputations looking great and money flowing well, as they forgive those who “know not what they do.”

“Same people that I fought for
That I fight for, that I ride for
That I live for, that I die for
Be the reason that these niggas is alive for
and they want me dead
But I’m so sorry but I just can’t die for you
But I can make em put their hands in the sky for you.” – Jay-Z

The same audience and friends Jay-Z intend to uplift, those he feels it’s his life purpose to provide value, entertainment, and education to, seem to want him to make choices that will hurt him, or they actively intend to hurt him. Jay`s response? [I love you. I’ll sing your praises, my haters, and send fans your way…]

“I tried to teach niggas how to be kings
And all they ever wanted to be was soldiers
So the love is gone, Til blood is drawn
So we no longer wear the same uniform
Fu*k you squares, The circle got smaller
The castle got bigger, The walls got taller
And truth be told after all that said
Niggas still got love for you.” – Jay-Z

He invests in people, and he intends for them to rise up and become kings of their own domains along side him, as equals, but they all seem determined to embrace a slow pace of settling and remaining soldiers. This touches me personally as it connects very strongly to my upcoming Rise Of The Artist Success Principles!

Excerpt – New Day – A deeply personal, deeply expressive song about how Jay + ‘Ye see the future for their children. (At the time, Beyonce was pregnant with Jay-Z’s child.) – This song gets me teary every time.

“See, I just want ‘im to have an easy life, not like Yeezy’s life (Yeezy = Kanye’s nickname)
Just want him to be someone people like
Don’t want him to be hated, all the time judged
Don’t be like your daddy that would never budge
And I’ll never let him ever hit a strip club
I learned the hard way, that ain’t the place to get love
And I’ll never let his mom move to L.A.
Knowin’ she couldn’t take the pressure, now we all pray.” – Kanye

Kanye West is one of the most controversial, and alternately hated and loved celebrities. He intends a much different life for his child. He renounces his overly hedonistic days and hopes for better.

“Sorry junior, I already ruined ya
‘Cause you ain’t even alive, paparazzi pursuin’ ya
Sins of a father make yo’ life ten times harder…
…
Look a man dead in his eyes
So he know you talk truth when you speak it, give your word, keep it ” – Jay-Z

Jay-Z is coming to terms with what’s it like to live a life so much in the public eye, like any of Shakespeare’s kings, and then to add a child to the mix. Not only that — Jay’s father left him and Jay feels he had to learn lessons the slow way, with no direction from his Dad, and he intends to prepare his kid with more knowledge, earlier, and give him a true leg up. In these lines he talks about one of the most powerful father-son lessons: A man’s word.

Excerpt – Welcome To The Jungle – About the jungle of life, and how we all make our way through it our own way.

“My faith in God, Every day is hard
Every night is worse, That’s why I pray so hard” – Kanye

“My dreams is big, Reality set in
Let off a clip from a automatic weapon,
Through shots in the door, it died in Vegas
Though it fought so hard, I knew it wouldn’t make it.” – Jay-Z

Celebrities, though they hold and direct massive amounts of power and attention, are human just like all of us. Most believe in powers greater than themselves, and have good times and hard. This is expressed powerfully here.

Excerpt – Murder To Excellence – A powerful call to stop the black-on-black violence. Less philosophical, and more political or social commentary, and excellent nevertheless.

“Only spot a few blacks the higher I go
What’s up to Will, Shoutout to O ” – Jay-Z

Jay draws our attention to the fact that there could be way more black celebrities of his caliber, and that he, Will Smith, and Oprah are leading the way (not to mention Barack Obama, who was apparently heavily supported by Jay.).