“B Boys Will Be Boys” (Track 7)

[This is part 7 of a longer series – previous track – “Brown-Skinned Lady” – next track – “KOS (Determination”)]

As one catalog ends – from the end of “Brown-Skinned Lady,” calling in the great circle of “indigenous women of the planet earth,” another more local (and masculine) one begins, as Mos Def and Talib Kweli keep working to make good on their promise that “a cypher will compete us”:

I want all the poppers and the breakers, to form this circle
I want all the poppers and the breakers
The writers and the exciters, to get in this circle
And make it real live yo
Cause I’m seeing too many stars up in here tonight yo
I’m seeing the Rock Steady Crew
I’m seeing Ken Swift, I’m seeing Mr. Wiggles
I’m seeing Modesho, I’m seeing Crazy Legs
Man I’m seeing the Zulu Nation up in here
I’m seeing the Rawkus family, Shabaam Shadeeq, Company Flow
Menelik, I’m seein G-ology, Shawn J. Period
Man this the Black Star movement
Mos Def, Talib Kweli we gon’ keep it live
For the B boys and B girls universally
Rock Steady Japan, Rock Steady Europe
Rock Steady New York, yo we just gonna keep it live
All over the world, get live

As I shared before, so many of my reactions to these songs are now enmeshed with student podcast podcasts. So of all the unlikely student voices kicking around in my head, this one takes the cake.  Adley¹ – picture a gamergate libertarian “well actually” white male from central casting – I pressed play on his podcast probably expecting the worst: an extended rant about how “uneducated” hip hop is, why I’m a bad English teacher for wasting his time on this, because we’re not reading Fitzgerald or Dickens (which he would not be interested in reading either, but he had still said he was, etc etc).

But that’s not what I hear.  Instead, Adley starts exploring name after name, talking about what they’re known for, what they gave to 80s hip hop culture, why Black Star wants to give them love, and why he appreciates that they’re all named, even if a lot of them are sort of obscure!  This severely confounded my expectations.  It wasn’t beautiful work – it tended towards digression and didn’t quote so much as talk about BUT. What does it mean that the student spent actual class time arguing that Blue Lives Matter – that he could find something to celebrate here?  

A year later, Evan (similar profile but probably more open-minded, and better at recording) did the same thing.  Opened up movement after movement, and ended his recording with the defiant and memorably “it’s like they’re saying, we’re here, and we’re IN THIS.” Black Star as a duo – are sitting on the shoulders of giants – or a better metaphor here, standing in one ever-growing circle. 

I think the most important word – and most frequent word on this track (29 times!) – is “we.” I am tempted to dive in and research all these proper names, honoring all of them, but I actually think something beautiful here is that it’s there whenever I want to.

1. All the names are changed ↩︎

[This is part 7 of a longer series – previous track – “Brown-Skinned Lady” – next track – “KOS (Determination”)]