Good Morning! This ain’t Vietnam still
People lose hands, legs and arms for real
Little was known of Sierra Leone
And how it connects to the diamonds we own (West n.d.)
Kanye West is one of the smartest and most popular rap artists today. He wears a big gold chain around his neck and he writes about the chains of slavery in the song “Diamonds from Sierra Leone.” People askin’ me is I’m gon’ give my chain back, That’ll be the same day I give my game back and The chain remains, the gang is intact (West n.d.) .
The lyrics talk about the modern slavery used to mine Sierra Leone blood diamonds while interweaving historical and USA urban sensibilities. This essay will attempt to explain to the reader how West’s rap song is built on the foundation of slave music.
The above lyrics connect the modern chains to the slaves.’ Kanye wears a gold chain and he respects the meaning of wearing a chain for African-Americans. Within his lyrics and with his “costume” he is stating “My ancestors were from Africa.” He wears the chain because it has historical symbolic importance to him.
Jones offers translations from old slave songs. The songs that the early generation of slaves who arrived from Africa were singing with African lyrics. The singing helped them feel their bonds to communities in Africa. More importantly the slave owners could not understand the lyrics. (Jones 20-1)
Much has already been said about the African beat and the rap beat, okay, that is obvious. But the more important connections are those such as rappers speaking their own
language. They have a way of communicating that is meant for their own group of friends. Here are examples that I think best demonstrate the shared language and the shared bond.
The chain remains, the gang is intact, and Standin’ in my b-boy stance, Free, Beans, Memphis where you at nigga? This here rap belong to us, nobody strong as us, it’s a fact, (Jay Z n.d.) and
I’m not a business man I’m a business, man (West and Jay Z n.d.).
When he wears his chain that shows his group bonds are fine and strong. He can use the word ‘nigga’ because he means it affectionately. It is his general way of talking to his friends from his (neighbor)hood. He emphasizes that the rap is ‘ours.’ The rap “belongs to us” and is a strengthening bond between them. The last lyric example demonstrates that he knows exactly where he fits in the modern culture; just as the slave songs demonstrated that the slaves knew exactly where they fit in the plantation culture.
The above examples also show the same language pattern that Jones explains foreigners use when they are speaking English as a second language and when they are learning to speak English (22). Where you at (Where are you) is a way of speaking when the foreigners/slaves were learning English. The same can be said of rap belong to us (rap belongs to us).
Levine points out that, “Afro-American slaves . . . utilized the spoken arts to voice criticism as well as to uphold traditional values and group cohesion” (6). This is exactly what Kanye West and Jay Z do when they are singing the original or improvisational lyrics for the song originally written by Kanye West “Diamonds From Sierra Leone.”
Works Cited
CutMastaClip. Artist: Kanye West. “Diamonds of Sierra Leone. Blood Diamond Remix.” 2009 Web. 8 Nov. 2011.
Jay Z. “Diamonds Are Forever. Remix.” Lyrics. n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.
Jones, LeRoi (Amiri Baraka). Blues People. Negro Music in White America.
NY, NY. Harper Perennial. 1963. Print. pp. 20-2.
KanyeWestVEVO. “Diamonds from Sierra Leone.” Roc-A-Fella Records. 16 June 2009. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.
Levine, Lawrence W. Black Culture and Black Consciousness. Afro-American Folk Thought From Slavery to Freedom. USA. Oxford University Press. 1978. Print. p. 6.
9imtheone9. Artists: Kanye West and Jay-Z. “Diamonds from Sierra Leone.” 9 Apr. 2009. Web. 9 Nov. 2011.
West, Kanye and Jay Z. “Diamonds from Sierra Leone Remix.” Lyrics. n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.
