Therapy -- I used to be a writer

It's been more than four years since I wrote words for a living and I still struggle with the void that career change left in my soul.

Here's one of my favorite music-related stories I did in 2018 -- originally published in the TimesDaily:

Sociology professor Andrea Hunt stood stage right of a podium facing two dozen students scattered throughout the large auditorium-style classroom in the communications building on the University of North Alabama campus.

The students, both male and female and black and white, looked to Hunt for instruction in a fairly new field of study. The class, the Sociology of Hip Hop Culture, is in its second semester as part of the university’s curriculum and has been approved for the spring schedule going forward.

Hunt called the class to attention. She reminded students of their homework assignment, which was to analyze the lyrics of “America” by Nas, a Grammy-nominated American rapper, hip-hop artist and producer with eight platinum and multi-platinum albums to his credit.

The song played overhead as a precursor to the coming discussion about the students’ understanding of the lyrics’ relevance as social commentary.

With references to the American dream, a melodic chorus of “this is not America” paired with lines such as “pay attention” and “wake up, this is not what you think it is,” the song’s general political theme is blatant.

Hunt’s students, however, went beyond the surface with their analyses and used academic material to bolster their personal conclusions about dozens of social issues being addressed in “America.”

Student participation Even before Hunt opened the floor to discussion, almost half the students had raised their hands eager to participate.

From race relations and gender inequality to economic disparity, religion, government and the proliferation of stereotypes and bias, Hunt’s students cited specific lyrics in “America” that call attention to cultural issues seen in today’s society.

One student used the first two lines in the song to make her point — “It’s like waking up from a bad dream just to realize you wasn’t dreaming in the first place.” “I immediately envisioned the American dream and how it’s different because he’s black,” the student said.

“We hear all the time this ideology about the American dream and what that dream should look like,” Hunt said and took it a step further. “Is that dream available to everyone?”

Building on that initial premise, Hunt said Nas digs in even deeper with each word painting a picture of his reality, which is in stark contrast to the concept of the American dream.

Another student referred to Nas’ take on how it’s acceptable for rap and hip-hop to be at the forefront of cultural trends but underrepresented in government agencies such as NASA. The rapper dubs the phenomena a “race dichotomy.”

“To me, that played into the white privilege article we read,” the student said.

“When we look at society, are we seeing representation of people who look like us?” Hunt asked the class. “Are we seeing people like us in positions of power and authority in the United States? Nas calls out hip hop a little bit and says, OK, we need to come at this stronger.”

As the students discussed popular culture not only adopting hip hop trends but sometimes taking credit for their origins, a student used Bantu hair knots, which have been worn by African women for centuries, as an example.

“A white lady wore Bantu knots, and they called them twisted mini buns,” the student said, referencing online controversy surrounding the hairstyle in recent years. “And, they said Marc Jacobs started it even though they did it in Africa way back when, and African American women have been doing this for decades. They started it, but they don’t get credit for it.”

Hunt reminded the class of a tenet taught in introductory sociology — cultural diffusion. “There are going to be elements of culture that spread throughout the world,” she explained. “You’re going to see that as people come into contact with one another. But, there is devaluing of certain people who started it.”

Although a trend or a way of presenting oneself may all of sudden be cool, Hunt said often it’s only when “certain people” are doing it. She said the range of implications for following a trend is based on the physical body, ultimately whether someone is black or white.

“It’s a fashion statement for some, but others may be expelled from school,” she said. A student chimed in and reiterated Hunt’s point by citing the last lines of the second verse of “America” — “Woven into the fabric, they can’t stand us, even in white tees, blue jeans and red bandanas.”

“He’s saying, even though he’s dressed like what they think is a thug and relate bandanas to gangs, people will still take that from his culture,” the student said.

Another student called attention to Nas’ poetic use of red, white and blue in the lyric as symbolizing the American flag and surmised that “woven into the fabric” could be a reference to slavery, and ultimately racism, being part of the original U.S.. constitution.

“I think you bring up something really important here about what he’s alluding to with this,” Hunt said. “It’s not just the words, it’s the imagery and what it makes us think about. He’s using that as a metaphor for these experiences. We’re thinking about the American flag, what it means to be American and what those colors symbolize for American unity.”

Hunt said the song does brings into question whether all people have historically been allowed to be fully American.

“No,” she said. “Not everyone has had the same rights throughout our history. We’re working with this system in the United States that has been built upon exploitation of other people. We’re already coming from a place of inequality. Nas takes us through that with the imagery and words he uses.”

The discussion shifted, and Hunt reminded the students that along with the devaluing of “certain people” comes the question of “what is legitimate knowledge?”

“There are certain fields like poetry and literature that are accepted,” she said. “They are legitimate and contributing to the arts. When we look at hip hop, though, we may not see that as contributing to the arts. We may not see it as a legitimate form of storytelling.” One student said her favorite line in the song is in the first verse, “Ain’t ya happy I chose rap? I’m a monster.”

“Immediately, I thought about his struggles,” she said. “Either way, society looks down on him. It made me think, in our articles we read, they said hip hop causes behavior. But from his way of looking at it, behavior causes hip hop.”

For many artists, Hunt said, personal experiences are driving their storytelling and hip hop is no different.

“We talk a lot about the negative critiques of hip hop,” she said. “Hip Hop affects people in many different ways, especially when we’re looking at young audiences. We can see, though, how experiences are shaping their songs.”

Hunt pointed out that in “America,” Nas uses his personal story to highlight bigger social problems that are relatable to a broad audience.

On that note, a student brought attention to a line in the third verse, “Y’all don’t treat women fair. She read about herself in the Bible believing she the reason sin is here.”

“Again, he’s taking us on this journey through social issues,” Hunt said. “We’re addressing inequality and oppression not only in race. He’s a male artist talking about gender inequality in a genre of music that has often been criticized for being misogynistic. What he’s doing is countering that … and saying we’re not going to play into the stereotypes of hip hop.”

One student said the entire third verse of Nas’ “America” is him checking off a list of social issues.

“It’s like him giving us a history lesson, basically,” Hunt said. “He points out where oppression has existed in the United States. Again, taking us from his experiences up to this much larger level of what is happening in the United States.”

The students came full circle and likened the song to the teachings of American sociologist C. Wright Mills. Mills coined the phrase “social imagination,” which means awareness between one’s self and the broader social world around them.

“C. Wright Mills was writing in the 1950s for an academic audience,” Hunt said. “What he wrote about reflects Nas’ experiences, and this came out in 2008. They’re both equally helping us make sense of what people are experiencing and how that’s embedded in a larger social context. We’re able to use one set of knowledge or information to help us makes sense of something else.”

Utopia rap Hunt went to her computer and the wall behind her filled with a projection of Chance the Rapper performing “Blessings” on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." The students watched and listened attentively as soul artist Jamila Woods opened the performance with the song’s hook, “I’m gon praise him, praise him ‘til I’m gone.”

Students made notes in anticipation of the coming discussion as Woods sang the second part of the hook, “when the praises go up” and Chance the Rapper came in with “the blessings come down” and followed it with “the blessings keep falling in my lap.”

Toward the end of the performance, gospel artist and minster Byron Cage joined Woods and Chance the Rapper on stage and sang, “Are you ready for your blessings? Are you ready for your miracle?”

At the conclusion, Hunt invited students to think about Chance the Rapper and analyze his social commentary on the world. “Is it different than Nas’ take or is it the same?” she asked. “It is different but is he talking about social issues? Yeah, he is but it’s presented in a different way. Chance the Rapper is what people are calling a utopia rapper.”

The students concluded that utopia rap empowers through a positive message. Hunt verified their conclusion by saying utopia rap focuses on having a better tomorrow today.

“We see that there are ranges of artists,” she said. “When we think about hip hop, we have artists who are very much about the revolution and protest. That’s their story and the narrative they are trying to tell. Chance is doing the same thing — he’s talking about revolutionary change — but he’s doing it in a different way.”

The students agreed the two artists, Nas and Chance the Rapper, have one powerful thing in common: they’re both speaking their truths.

Guest artist As time ticked away in the 50-minute class, Hunt gave the floor to C4, a local rapper who has sat in on several Sociology of Hip Hop Culture sessions.

The Florence native, whose given name is Quentin Hill Jr., shared yet another version of the truth with the class — his version.

“This is a big deal,” Hill said of being asked to address the class. “This is what I’ve always wanted. This is the type of music I do, but I’m from here. I really love this class. This is like a dream come true to be able to speak my truth.”

Hill said as a North Alabama rapper, he and artists like him don’t have a “lane” for their music.

“You guys are probably the ones who would want to listen to our music,” he said to the students before launching into a ballad version of one of his original compositions.

Afterwards, students admitted they expected C4 to rap and were surprised by his range and talent as a singer. The artist said his song choice was intentional in that he wanted to address the stereotype that rappers can’t sing.

Then, C4 rapped for the class. He ended with a brief question-and-answer session where he admitted with pride that, yes, he writes from his heart about truths in his life.

In conclusion, Hunt left the class with a question to ponder their own truths, “What does your utopia look like?”