By Daniel Paiz

A Week’s Worth Review returns with a look into Rapsody’s God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops album. This is Rapsody’s fifth studio album and clocks in at a 2000s level amount of music with 16 tracks and about an hour’s worth of songs. There are a multitude of topics visited, and a solid layering of reflective storytelling with visceral lyrics. There’s growth here as Raps reviews life, death, aging, and culture.

Every track on this project has something to say, but there are a few that stand out just a bit more than the others.

Outstanding tracks

“God Gotta Afro” is a wonderful song, but it is just the tip of this musical iceberg. “No Way”, “Pick A Side”, and “Abandoned Me” are all top tier tracks that explore a variety of ideas and sounds. There’s energy, there’s pain, and numerous lines to reflect on and listen to multiple times. Starting out with such a memorable opening isn’t easy to do, but Rapsody makes it look like it is with the following words:

Ain’t no way they gonna vulture my culture out,

ain’t no way to stop motion on what it’s ‘bout

An ongoing issue that’s been broached for some time in Hip-Hop, “culture vultures” or those who profit off of a culture and art form have been around for decades at this point. They learn enough to understand what’s popular, but cash out before the bubble bursts. Rapsody and others like her who value the culture, the art, the community beyond the music are over this; but they also know those just looking to capitalize won’t last while the community and music will. Hip-Hop has made it to 50 years of existence, and it’s not slowing down.

“Pick A Side” expands upon this idea from Hip-Hop to society at large. People must be entertained to hear anything these days, and even then the message isn’t received unless it’s in a certain way. This song does a good job of utilizing upbeat notes in almost a satirical fashion to get listeners to realize what Rapsody and Amanda Reifer (singer of the chorus) are going on about:

I live it day by day, hmmm,

I constantly wake up to pay the cost,

you hide the truth away,

‘cause you got privilege to just ignore all

-Amanda Reifer, chorus on “Pick A Side”

This is just the chorus. The verse hasn’t started yet, as Rapsody hasn’t really said anything and yet we have a chorus that embodies the song so well. There are those who face the current state of affairs daily because they have no other choice, while there are others who don’t have to. Folks live through all of this *gestures to current state of affairs* and keep going, being resilient and resplendent in spite of things not going their way. That’s a testimony to the resilience of people today and that’s also what leads one to needing to pick a side as the song title suggests. Folks paying the cost need to know who is in their way.

Several lines in this song stand out. One of my favorites is “They might shadow ban, but I got light inside, ‘cause the mic is mine” because it again exudes determination and pushing forward. Those in charge of the algorithms and the websites control the content despite needing user and audience input. Regardless of who controls what, Rapsody and others like her contain a brightness inside that these things won’t dull. Our voices are what give us representation and input and the proverbial “we” must decide that the mic is indeed “mine” to use to speak our truths and experiences. Rapsody as a Black woman knows this too well and has witnessed the necessity of needing to share her light and her mic.

There’s also another key idea at the heart of this song and in society these days:

for my sisters and brothers, my brother,

keep it in mind that these systems don’t love us,

capitalism ain’t freein’ none of us,

look around at everybody still strugglin’,

The masses suffer at the hands of the corporations that profit off of our efforts. This system does not work for the majority of us, and it is important to remember that supporting each other is how to survive the current state of affairs. Systems are in place to make it hard to unify, and to think that one is alone when there are more shared experiences than folks realize. There are boundaries that need to be set up where those in charge no longer have the power they do. Rapsody says what a lot of folks are experiencing and realizing today.

Speaking of boundaries, there is one song in particular that that does a dynamic job of reminding everyone the importance of boundaries, but in a slightly different way than what’s discussed above.

Sleeper Track

The dark horse track on this Rapsody album has to be “Abandoned Me” featuring Denaun. The chorus contains reflection and pain, the verses are reflective but also contain resoluteness as well. The track isn’t a party track by any means, but fits so many other aspects of life. One line in particular keeps popping up for me when I listen to this song:

Patience now is wearin’ out, songs Fantasia sing about, chose to free myself, you chose to victimize yourself somehow, I call that narcissism, a malfunctioning condition…

There’s only so much someone can take in a relationship. This also goes for non-romantic relationships as well, because folks choose not to see what they are doing when it comes to making life easier or comfier for themselves. Folks centering themselves in this way will feel attacked because that ease is withdrawn when the other person won’t participate in it anymore.

Lack of growth leads to stagnation and a breakdown in character to the point of malfunction, which Rapsody points out.

Overall Takeaways

This album captures the recognition that life continues onward, and one ages and has shifting relationships with lovers, family, community, and self. Black lives are beautiful, resilient, and layered. Being there for one another is important, but having boundaries and growing as it all unfolds is necessary too.

For some reason, people put aging at arms’ length, despite the maturity and experiences folks have. Hip-Hop itself for too long has not accepted middle-aged and elder voices, acting as if it is only a young person’s genre. It is not. It is something where all aspects of life happen, and everyone needs to deal with all aspects of the life cycle, from life to death and everything in between. 

Time flies, and it needs to be appreciated and cherished at every age. The older one gets, the more they fear and worry about both themselves and their loved ones. The world around them is changing from what they grew up in and knew. Rapsody’s final track addresses this and gives us all the ultimate reminder: change is inevitable, we must accept that and cherish the time we have.