The Power of Lyrics and Language in Black Culture

by Reem Raw

There were some real good lyrics in Empire State of Mines. Now that I've been writing and helping Noire for a minute, adding lyrics during the writing process is always the best. And sometimes it's not even my lyrics. Sometimes I quote lyrics that go right with the story.

And I quote people who some artists might listen to. I quote a lot of Big. People know Big. I quote some Pac. I quoted some Jadakiss. Lyrics like that, that symbolize the very scene that I'm writing.

And this is the value of our writers and our authors. It's funny how certain lyrics become proverbs. As Black people in America, we're creating our own proverbs through music. Our own catchphrases, our own one-liners, and they're gems to live by.

So no matter who you are, know matter what hood you're in, everybody gets a jewel. I don't care what crevice of the world you're hiding in, everybody's gonna get a jewel. Even if you're listening to maybe some of the most ignorant shit, we put jewels in. And I think that's beautiful, that's art.

We are all in the game, just different levels,
Dealing with the same Hell just different devils

That was Jadakiss, and it came to me while I was writing. And some people caught it. And as a fan and a creator, that's powerful. I can have lyrics from my life or lyrics from somebody that I like and create something around them. That's power.

In my friendships, one of us can start a quote and the other one can finish it. It makes you relate and it gets the point across. So we have a common bond of communication where we can understand quickly. And it's memorized by heart. And that's what all my close niggas got in common.

Like me and Baby, we'll be around some chick and we're bombing on em but we're using code. So they're upset because they don't know what the fuck is going on, and we're dying laughing. 

As Black people that's one thing we've always had. We know how to twist a language to our liking. And we know how to code a language. And we can perfect speech. Black people, we take a language and throw some style into it. That's part of our culture that we got natural. We got entertainment, sports, comedy, you name it.

But behind that comedy and behind the music is the power of language we have. We're stylish people, we're funny people, we're witty people, we're creative people. So when we really get our hands into some shit, and then us not having much, it makes us even that much more creative. Because we make something out of nothing.

I'll put us against any group when it comes to the creativity of our speech. Maybe our women read more than our men, but just like these men memorize lyrics I bet these women memorize these scenes. It's the same kind of gratification for them.

Yeah, the women like music but they like to read. But either way, the art is reaching and it's affecting the people. And yeah, there's some ignorant shit and bullshit in there, but that's natural. That's the common denominator of all people.

But the jewels that you can use, that never dies. That never goes away. The impact. You know how many fanmails Noire gets, even from white chicks and from other races? 'Oh you changed my life.'

This shit is real to people. It matters to people and it means something to them. No matter what the genre, you'd be surprised what people take away from it. It's not about what they enjoyed. The instant gratification is there because it's a product. But what they remember after time passes, that's the powerful thing.

I think Kanye said it, 'It's like I'm slipping something in your drink.' Yeah, you're getting the alcohol, but I done laced it with some shit that's more powerful. You're coming for the shit that you enjoy, but you're getting more out of it.

You know Kanye, he's conscious at his core. So he'll make some ignorant shit, but he'll slip a message in there. Like think about it, what's one of his latest most popular songs? 'Blood On the Leaves.' The beat is hard! But it's a slave song!

At his level, he has America's attention. He's not gonna let them forget those roots. He's gonna bring that to the forefront. Most White people probably never heard that shit. A lot of black people probably never heard it. But 'From the poplar trees. Strange fruit.' What's that about? 'Blood on the leaves.'

And he made it a damn hit! That's the beauty. It's like I said, we know how to flip a fucking language and bend it to our liking. I think that has to be part of the aspiration of an artist. To impact and change culture. Or at least make them see what you see. Put them in your shoes and make them relate. That's dope to me.