Rap music, with its roots in competitive battling, has always been a platform for artists to assert their dominance, address grievances, or defend their reputation. Throughout hip-hop history, this competitive spirit has boiled over...
“Niggas in Paris” is a braggadocious rap song, primarily pointing to the fact that Jigga and Yeezy are rich and living a high-end lifestyle which reflects that reality. For example, as implied they’re able to...
It’s interesting that an artist who goes by the tag of “Noname” would drop a song titled “Namesake”, but the rapper is seemingly using the opportunity to explain why she chose such a moniker...
Being officially released through Def Jam and Jigga’s own label, Roc-A-Fella Records, on 10 October 2002, “’03 Bonnie & Clyde” served as the lead single to “The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse”, which...
The release of Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar’s “America Has a Problem”, as a standalone single on 19 May 2023, came as a surprise because first of all, there was not an announcement beforehand. Secondly, Beyoncé hasn’t...
A “Black Republican” would be generally defined – as you probably already guessed – as an African-American member of the Republican Party. However, to note, Jay-Z is widely known for identifying with Democrats. It’s safe...
“Run This Town” is a dual-sentiment song. On one hand it is obviously meant to big up Roc La Familia, i.e. Jay-Z’s circle of artists at the time, which most notably included Rihanna and Kanye...
“Partition” may be the most-overt sex song of Beyoncé’s that we’ve covered in this blog. And for starters, the “partition” referred to in the title is – you know that sliding window that separates...
The title of this piece (“Church Girl”) has a religious connotation, and the lyrics are based on such a concept. But all things considered, this track could be more accurately defined as a secular-party...
There’s a lot going on in “Alien Superstar” lyrically, as to be expected from a contemporary Beyoncé song. Knowles is the de facto queen of R&B and is known to be deeply entrenched in a...
