written by Josh Jones
Some rap music, contrary to popular conception, is insightful and extremely relevant to issues. Artists like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco and others use rap as a medium for expressing thoughts and viewpoints that may otherwise go unnoticed by their audience. Similar to how ancient Greek philosophers used verse and rhyme to express their ideas so that their audience would find them appealing and remember them, some rap artists use rap to make points in the political arena.
Some rap music, contrary to popular conception, is insightful and extremely relevant to issues. Artists like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco and others use rap as a medium for expressing thoughts and viewpoints that may otherwise go unnoticed by their audience. Similar to how ancient Greek philosophers used verse and rhyme to express their ideas so that their audience would find them appealing and remember them, some rap artists use rap to make points in the political arena.
Such is the case with Mos Def’s New World Water, a track off of his 1999 album Black on Both Sides. In New World Water, Mos Def integrates references to socio-economic disparities, the historical institution of slavery and the Third World’s need for clean drinking water.
Here are some of my favorite lines:
Cause while these knuckleheads is out here sweatin they goods
The sun is sitting in the treetops burning the woods
And as the flames from the blaze get higher and higher
They say: “Don’t drink the water! We need it for the fire!”
Not only does Mos Def critique the practices of the economic elite (as they work, they ignore the environmental reality of forest fires) but he also uses the slave trade practice of disposing of dead slaves in rivers as an introduction. Of course, the entire last third of the song is dedicated to the disparities between the use of water in the First World (recreation) and the Third World (subsistence). The actual (or potential) ethical obligations between the First and Third World will be the subject of my next post.
Here are some of my favorite lines:
Cause while these knuckleheads is out here sweatin they goods
The sun is sitting in the treetops burning the woods
And as the flames from the blaze get higher and higher
They say: “Don’t drink the water! We need it for the fire!”
Not only does Mos Def critique the practices of the economic elite (as they work, they ignore the environmental reality of forest fires) but he also uses the slave trade practice of disposing of dead slaves in rivers as an introduction. Of course, the entire last third of the song is dedicated to the disparities between the use of water in the First World (recreation) and the Third World (subsistence). The actual (or potential) ethical obligations between the First and Third World will be the subject of my next post.