![]() ![]() ![]() And K’naan holds a place of honor in the residents’ eyes K’naan is a hope, that one can be Somali and something more than a footnote, forgotten by the rich countries who occasionally remember to send some of their largess to Dadaab. City of Thorns is a biography not of a person, but of a place: Dadaab, the second-largest refugee camp in the world. And yeah, it’s easy enough to be cynical about that are we really going with “all you have to do / is see the world with new eyes”? Is that all it takes? But as I listen to K’naan here, I keep coming back to one passage in Ben Rawlence’s City of Thorns. It’s not intended to be subtle, but a shot across the bow, a Statement of Purpose and of #resistance. Lauren Gilbert: This is unsubtle in the same way as Hamilton is - another immigrant coming up from the bottom. I know more than a few conservatives who like Jay-Z and Future. Good intentions in this dark time produced this grotesque, horribly rapped manifesto. “It’s America’s ghost writers, the credit’s only borrowed” is a phenomenal line: let those ghosts be heard, their voices amplified.Īlfred Soto: I’m embarrassed for the four artists credited. As we battle a xenophobic, racist president and nationalist movements around the world, we need more media reminding us all that freedom isn’t free. It’s an eclectic bunch but nobody feels awkwardly shoehorned in the verses are stunning, representing perspectives from all over (Somalia, Mexico, Pakistan, and Puerto Rico). The artists merely “get the job done.”Īlex Clifton: By far the best track from The Hamilton Mixtapes, based on one of my favourite lines from the musical, “Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)” is more prescient and timely than ever. And for how many words these four rappers want you to hear, I’d be hesitant to call “Immigrants” lyrical there’s no impressive wordplay or thought-provoking images, just corny lines that act as the song’s entire wellspring of impassioned rallying cries. Unfortunately, “Immigrants” suffers in a similar way to the musical: the prioritization of clarity, both in the message and its delivery, leads to a song that’s only conceptually interesting. The Hamilton Mixtape isn’t nearly as egregious, and its existence allows for the masses to hear music that touches on undoubtedly important topics. ![]() Virtually every track sounds like something a high school student would make for their history class if they chose the “create a rap song” option in lieu of a typical presentation (never more clear for me than when I saw this). Such is the nature of Broadway, but equally inherent is the wholly unremarkable rapping that would have to be present in an art form whose audience is primarily older, affluent white people who don’t enjoy much rap. ![]() Personally, I can’t shake the depressing irony of how exorbitant ticket prices essentially bar the working class from seeing Hamilton. Joshua Minsoo Kim: That one of the most widely popular and critically acclaimed works of art in recent times involves minorities and rapping should be a cause for excitement. Pharrell Williamsįrom 2016 (a bit has changed), but just got a video…
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