Mixtape

 Sarah Ezell 

English 2017

Harris

April 28, 2023

Link to the playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4x0QuK5rwahCbYvJlgQBVk?si=231cb6ebc28248c4

My statement: I will be talking about reparations in music made by black artist and how they’ve changed throughout the years. My overall theme is to see if the music itself increases its talking about reparations or if it lessens as time goes by. 

Mixtape: 

Track One: 

Who’ll Pay Reparations on My soul? By Gil Scott-Heron

“Who’ll pay reparations on my soul? / Many fine speeches / From the White House Desk / Written on cue cards / That were never really there / Yes, but the heat and the summer were there / And the freezing winter’s cold tell me / Who’ll pay reparations on my soul?” 

This song was made in 1970 by the famous American Jazz poet, singer, musician, and author who was known for his content concerning social and political views. The entire song itself focuses on the reparations of Black people, the quote I stated above was one of my favorites in the song because it goes into detail about the reparation system with the White house and in the end, it asks the question Who will Pay reparations on my soul which I feel could be interpreted as the maker now, dead, or even his own ancestors. 

Track Two: 

When will be paid? By The Staples Singers

“When will be paid for the work we’ve done? / We have worked this country from shore to shore / Our women cooked all your food and washed all your clothes / We picked all your cotton and laid the railroad steel / worked our hands to the bone at your lumbar mill.” 

Track Three: 

White Man’z World by Makaveli 

“Help me raise my black nation / Reparations are due / Its true.” 

Throughout this entire song, he is speaking about the hardships of being a black person in a nation that is ruled by white men. With the quote above, he speaks eagerly about raising the notice for the black nation and is voicing that reparations for his nation are due. 

Track Four: 

List of Demands (Reparations) by Saul Williams 

“I got a list of Demands / Written on the palm of my hands.” 

Throughout this entire song, I have noticed that he repeats that quote quite often meaning he wants it to be seen. He has a list of demands that want to be seen that are written on the palm of his hands. For me, I was able to pick up that he wants reparations for the work he did with the palm of his hands and for the work that are on the palm of their hands for his ancestors. It’s very noticeable to me that this song is about reparations. 

Track Five: 

Carter two by Lil Wayne 

“Look around, we at war and you still in preparation / I’m riding for them reparations, no patience / Slow paper is better than no paper.”

This song was made in 2004, and while the entire song does not speak about reparations this one line in specific stood out to me. The rapper himself talks about his background and such in this song, and it gets to the point where he states this line. He’s talking about how despite having to wait for reparations, he would rather have to wait than receive no papers at all. He would rather wait for his payment than have nothing that gives back to the things that Black people must endure. 

Track Six: 

Be Free by J-Cole 

“Are we all alone / Fighting on our own? / Please give me a chance / I don’t want to dance / Somethings got me down / I will stand my ground / Don’t just stand around.”

This song was made in 2014, and while it does not specifically state anything directly about reparations it does speak about the hardships that black people had to undergo against police. He uses the phrase, “There aint no gun they can make that can kill my soul,” which clearly holds a lot of power behind it. Despite never mentioning it, you can tell that he wants to fight against the things he has lost and to gain something back- even if it’s just respect from those who have done him wrong. 

Track Seven: 

Bitch Better Have my Money by Rihanna. 

“Pay me what you owe me / Don’t act like you forgot.” 

Even though this entire song is about paying back what someone owes them, when doing research, I noticed that this song was made for Rihanna’s managers I believe would not pay her back for the work she had done. So, I put it into my own perspective that it could be used for the reparations because the meaning is to pay back those who worked for it. Which could be interpreted to the slaves that worked and got nothing back. 

Track Eight:

Formation by Beyonce 

“Always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper.”

Formation was released in 2016, and throughout the entire song Beyonce celebrates her culture, identity, and success as a Black Woman from the Southern United States. While she never fully mentions reparations in her song, she ends the song with the quote from above which to me seems to be the most obvious line in the song. The definition of revenge means wrongs suffered at their hands, which when you put it all together you can see that the papers is the payback for all the wrongs that people have suffered at their hands of revenge. 

Track Nine:

This is America by Childish Gambino 

“We just want the money / Money Just for you.” 

While the song sounds quite upbeat and catchy, the lyrics hold a deeper meaning to me. The lyrics above do not necessarily state anything about reparations but overall, we know the song is talking about the horrible things that America does. I feel like this line is about reparations because it says we just want the money, money that is just for us. Which could equal reparations because it was only meant those who were affected by slavery. While it does not mention it, I am a firm believer that it means reparations for black people and only black people. 

Track Ten: 

APESHIT by The Carters 

“Give me my check, put some respect on my check / or pay me in equity / Watch me reverse out the debt.” 

The song itself is about the position of black people and women starting from early history all the way to today. This lyric itself screams reparations because it means either put some respect on the check you are giving me for the things I did or pay me in equity. I feel as though this song represents reparations because either way it is to pay back the wronging’s by money and or equal rights. 

Track Eleven:

Dedication by Nipsey Hussle featuring Kendrick Lamar

“How long should I stay dedicated? / How Long till opportunity meet preparations? / I need some real reparations.” 

The song itself is about the hard work and patience that has gotten them to where they are now. This line itself to me means how long should he stay dedicated to receiving a reparation to keep the place clean. He states that in the song he wants to lean towards a better unity on the streets which is his own reparations but with the lyrics I see that there’s only so much dedication a person can give until they want better reparations that are real from the government. 

Track Twelve: 

Reparations by Bobby Sessions 

“My bad check for owning slaves / I hate to say but it won’t come.” 

With this song, throughout the entire song we can see that Bobby is fighting for the reparations for Black owned businesses but with this line itself he strictly speaks about the reparations. He speaks about the ‘guilt’ check of owning slaves and puts the belief that they will never come. Which in a way could be deemed as true, due to the way that things have been spoken about for many years and nothing has happened yet. The lyric is straight to the point, there is no way that this is not about reparations especially when the whole song is. 

Track Thirteen: 

Time for Reparations by The Sound of Blackness 

“The Generation, for reparations / PAY UP, Time to Pay Up / Right – Now Reparations / It’s Rightfully Ours you know its due.”

This song was made in 2021, by the 3-time grammy winner The Sound of Blackness. This entire song focuses on reparations towards black people and how it is time for them to receive them, but I noticed that they had released this song around the time of George Floyds passing, and they used his name in the tags for the song’s promotions. It led me to believe that this song was part of social change. We notice that with the music throughout the years, it starts off strong, hides away a bit in the lyrics, and then due to the social change the lyrics spike back up with full songs written about the hardships of reparations. 

Overall Conclusion: With the songs selected above, I have found that reparations will always be implied by the lyrics of black artists' music, even if only within the lines. As we can observe, they were keener to talk about reparations throughout previous ages, but as we journey through eras, it appears to get lost in between lines, yet whenever there is a social change, more songs seem to talk about it thoroughly. In all honesty, I believe that black artist will continue to put reparations in their songs until they get the things they deserve, no matter how small or big the lyric may be in the song.