The Fill With Phil Podcast

Ghetto Gods, I want to say is a phenomenal piece of work by the duo EarthGang. Olu aka Johnny Venus and WowGr8 aka Doctur Dot perfected this body of work. The album features Future, JID, J.Cole, Musiq Soulchild, Baby Tate, Lynae Vanee, CeeLo Green, Nick Cannon, and Ari Lennox. I must say, every feature is fitted and mesh well with the theme of the album. This album reminds me of a post Dungeon Family/ Trap Funkadelic mix of melodies and production. Every song has a moment, literally everyone. The songs start with a low frequency and then majority of the time, Olu sets it off. He murdered every single song on the album. Lets get into the concept of the songs.

       Ghetto Gods is just that, GHETTO GODS. Scripture in the song from the bible dense to appeal to the masses. The Billi song with Future is fitting. Future was riding the beat smooth. AMEN the song with Musiq Soulchild is brilliant. Olu starts of harmonizing, then “If I ever catch a case it's 'cause I clapped a racist Pardon my lateness, I was comin' into my greatness, yeah Cole World, I'ma heat it up Four, five, six hundred mils, I'ma eat it up Shoutout Dreamville” and BOOM beat kick in and went nuts on that. “LIE TO ME” me is a song about the black community keeping up with the Jones and maintaining a certain perception. American Horror Story is just the real American Horror Story. How “certain” people stole America from African Americans. Power is a interpretation on how White Americans don’t recognize Black American have power. 

        This project is one of the best of the year. Olu transitioning on every song is perfect. WowGr8 dd his thing too but Olu was the star on this project. Overal this album is 8.7

To say the 2010’s was an interesting period for Hip-Hop would be a ludicrous understatement. The 2010’s opened up an endless number of new lanes for artists to experiment and express themselves within their music. One of the major game changers that the era opened up for Hip-Hop was stressing of importance of mental health through music. 

Prior to the 2010’s, rapping about emotions was immensely scarce. There were anomalies in artists such as the legendary Tupac; however, Hip-Hop was not mainly a music genre that could address one’s mental state directly. It was, however, a genre where artists could conceal their emotions through braggadocious bars, masquerading facades, and opulent lifestyles. That’s not to say that Hip-Hop artists prior to the 2010’s did not have an introspective view on political/societal issues, but rappers tended to stay away from “emotions” in their lyrics at the risk of being labeled “soft.” The 2010’s opened up a new conscience sub-genre of Hip-Hop that demonstrated vulnerability, and the consumers ate it up. According to Forbes, as of July 17, 2017, Hip-Hop/R&B usurped rock as the most consumed musical genre becoming the most popular genre in music for the first time in U.S. history. (1) 

My theory is that this newfound sincerity in Hip-Hop is more relatable for audiences. Artists such as Drake, XXXtentacion, Juice Wrld, Mac Miller, J.Cole, and even Kendrick Lamar exposed their hearts to the world through their art. Other music genres such as rock, jazz, country, and pop have always depicted emotions in lyrics, and since Hip-Hop is solely lyric-based, rappers are able to evoke images of pain, anxiety, and depression in an intensely vivid way. This sort of message in music has extended to even the most cold-hearted lyricists, such as Jay-Z. If you listen to earlier Jay-Z albums such as Reasonable Doubt or The Blueprint(s), there are only a few songs that expose Jay’s emotions. I think to understand this sort of growth that has transpired, one could look at the album 4:44for an example. This is arguably Jay’s most personal album where he discusses his issues with his marriage, his guilt, and his unsteady relationships with family and friends. This sort of lyrical content was unheard of in the 90’s with only few exceptions. 

With this being the case, listeners are able to gravitate to a voice that they relate to and this could also be why the Hip-Hop is so divided among fan bases. Many people who enjoy Hip-Hop are very quick to choose sides. For instance, many Kendrick listeners try to discredit Drake because he expresses his art in different ways. However, Drake fans argue that his versatility (i.e. singing, switching flows/delivery) is what makes him so listenable. What I argue is that we, as listeners, should not choose sides, and instead appreciate artists for their compositions. It is perfectly fine to have differentiating opinions but calling someone else’s favorite artist “trash” shows closed-mindedness. It is a fair argument to say that some artists pander to audiences to exploit their emotional well-being; however, if the listener finds enjoyment in it, then you can’t discredit their interpretation. 

At the end of the day, mental health plays a pivotal role in Hip-Hop. Music can be immensely therapeutic, and everyone can find some sort of relatability to any artist. Recognizing and being cognizant of the fact that music is subjective is extremely important as well. I urge you, as the listener, to not let the masses tell you what type of music is good for your mental health. If you find enjoyment or solace in an artist that has received an abundance of major criticism, do not let the critics influence your listening experience. Think for yourself and enjoy what you enjoy.