Sophomore Isaiah Merritt read this poem at the Umojaa Club Morning Meeting Presentation during Black History Month, February 2015. He offers different versions of the poem below, along with two videos, one by the rapper Lecrae (mentioned in the poem) and the other by Young Thug. Isaiah invites you to watch both videos and draw your own conclusions.
“Rap Is” by Isaiah Merritt
In the 80s rap had true meaning
When most artists weren’t Souled
Out — Narrated what was on their Minds.
Strong enough to not feed the Public
The Norm.
In the 21st century music reflects worldly Desires
And self-proclaimed stars promote Foolishness.
Get a tight beat; make us dance; now you’re talented musically?
With so few words we can’t understand their message.
Degrading, dissipating the Life of music.
The greatest loss is what dies inside while still alive.
Why not look for some real substance – Go acoustic?
Ahead of their time
They deliver Authenticity
Unashamed, Misfit, Independent Rappers.
Trailblazers.
They don’t conform to what the market wants —
Lyrics as sharp as razors.
“Rap Is” (Version 2) by Isaiah Merritt
Rap is supposed to be a form of expression for oneself
Yet the majority of rappers all express the same thing.
In the 21st century music expresses worldly desires and
Self-proclaimed stars promote foolishness.
Today music reflects worldly desires; money and pleasure.
And I won’t lie; I still listen to Young Thug,
But the greatest losses are the morals that die inside the music while it is still alive.
While the life of music dissipates, the influence still stays strong.
Peep the game and you may realize the influence of our rap must be wrong.
But there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Ahead of their time they deliver Authenticity.
They are unashamed, misfit, independent rappers.
Let Lecrae lyrically liberate us.
Let Kendrick kindle the flame of intelligence without ignorance.
They are trailblazers with lyrics as sharp as razors.
They don’t have to conform what the majority wants and neither do we.
For contrast, watch this 40 second video by rapper Young Thug and compare the morality and mentality conveyed by the two videos.
Let’s hope substance can become the norm. Thanks for the education, Isaiah.
Terrific!
SNA