2022 - USA
Political Hip Hop, Hardcore Hip Hop, East-Coast Hip, Chipmunk Soul
Never has a track called Intro ever has given us so many things to unpack. With a brilliant associations of samples coming from all parts of pop culture, we enter the world of Ghais Guevara's new album There Will Be No Super Slave, perfectly knowing that we're about to discover an avalanche of sounds and political statements. "Arm yourself because no one else here will save you." in the midst of a war against crawling white supremacists and a society where super heroes and icons all wear masks of oppression, Ghais Guevara buckles up to enter the fight. And not with a whimper, but with a bang. His universe goes through the roof with the epic #freemir, frenetic and aggressive, the perfect follow-up to Intro where police violence, systemic oppression, the power and limitations of music and words as a soft power and, most importantly, the everlasting fight for emancipation are portrayed. From boom bap to refreshed chipmunk soul, Guevara's production always uplifts his words to create a relentless atmosphere in the shape of a constant struggle against higher authorities, whether they be the government, the music industry, the rap scene itself or even within the Black community. By always referencing pop culture, Guevara engraves his words in the reality of our lives so the situations he describes can feel closer to us than even, even if we don't share this experience.
A striking example of this phenomemon happens on C.R.B. « The Terminator took Tookie / Treat it like Sarah Connor / Swear to God they gotta get it back in blood ». Stanley « Tookie » Williams was a member of the Los Angeles gang the Crips. He was sentenced to death and executed in 2005 by the state of California after spending more than 20 years on the death row. And at that time, the governor of California was Arnold Scharzenegger who refused to grant him clemency. As you may know, Schwarzenegger also is the actor who plays the Terminator, an alien entity looking like a super-white-male-machine who's supposed to suppress Sarah Connor in orderto kill the resistance in the nest, because Sarah Connor's son, in the future, will lead the resistance in a war against machines after they triggered a global nuclear war. If nowadays the Terminator is a pop icon, its origins are anti-democratic, oppressive and utterly violent. And the man playing that pop icon agreed that a Black man should be sentenced to death. This line from C.R.B, and the entire song too, is about how we need to keep our eyes open while watching entertainment or just living in the world because fiction never really is fiction. When we are talking about systemic racism it means racism is everywhere in our society, even in places we might thought it cannot exist.
In episode 8 season 4 of Atlanta, written by Donald Glover, we follow the fictional story of Thomas Washington, a Black artist studying the character of Goofy and suddenly propelled CEO of Walt Disney. During his time as CEO, he starts writing a fiction about how Goofy represents, in every Disney movie, the Black man kept on a leash by White society. Later on, a White employee of Disney asks him if they could add Mickey to his fiction, and Washington answers « They're trying to make me put this white boy in my movie » and the White employee says « He's a mouse. » This is the core of systemic oppression within culture: to deny how oppressive mechanism have built ouricons, the way we live, what we look at on TV and in films. Mickey Mouse isn't a neutral figure in the same way as Goofy isn't a neutral figure. And throughout There Will Be No Super-Slave, Ghais Guevara want to remind us of that fact. There is no such thing as neutral fiction or neutral entertainment. On one side, they are those fighting to keep the oppressive system alive, and on the other side, those fighting to crush it and he free. But the album also has its calmer moments, like the beautiful Rayman Legends where Guevara goes on a date with a woman and the rapper shows us a masterclass on how to build a healthy relationship, without toxic masculinity.
Rayman Legends might sound a bit off considering how politcal the rest of the album is, but that ain't true. Black men and especially Black revolutionaries always have been put in the same box as violent toxic men denying women their rights. Rayman Legends is, in this way, a very important song because it shows Guevara's vulnerabilities and how it's possible to build a relationship while acknowledging the fights you are leading. « Started talkin bout vulnerabilities and struggles and strife / Story after story as she showed familiarity / She my twin flame when it came to needin therapy ». Including spoken words by Mohammed Al, spiritual leader and revolutionary Duty Boukman or even by Leonardo DiCaprio, There Will Be No Super- Slave is an album that require a lot of time to analyze because of its density. But that also shows how Guevara is in complete control of his art and words, ending this adventure on the amazing Shirk where Black emancipation builds its foundations upon dead Nazis and the continuation of evil figures in our modern society. Open your ears wider, keep your eyes focused, do not keep this album on rotation in the background of your place but pay attention to the lyrics, because there is no such thing as sitting through this album. Because this is the music of the world you live in.
Finally, what's the most interesting thing with this album has to do with Ghais Guevara himself. A lot of artists put political statements in their albums and then perform them live, but that's about it. In their real life, except during interviews, this political discourse doesn't show up much. But if you've been following Ghais Guevara on social media, you probably noticed that this is not the case for him. Music is certainly a way of talking, a way of being part of a bigger culture, spreading messages, but outside of music Ghais Guevara remains a political actor. Listening to his music, supporting his artistry cannot be a neutral stand. You cannot sit through this album without reacting to it, because Guevara decided to change things with the power he got this year, rightfully becoming one of the most beloved rapper in this community. And this power is the voice he acquired, not only as a rapper, but as a Black man standing for his rights and the rights of his people. If an album is the fictional equivalent of a film, you can't say that Ghais Guevara is playing a character here. In music as much as in real life, his words are the same. Music is a continuation of his life, and vice versa There Will Be No Super-Slave is one of the boldest release of the year, one
A striking example of this phenomemon happens on C.R.B. « The Terminator took Tookie / Treat it like Sarah Connor / Swear to God they gotta get it back in blood ». Stanley « Tookie » Williams was a member of the Los Angeles gang the Crips. He was sentenced to death and executed in 2005 by the state of California after spending more than 20 years on the death row. And at that time, the governor of California was Arnold Scharzenegger who refused to grant him clemency. As you may know, Schwarzenegger also is the actor who plays the Terminator, an alien entity looking like a super-white-male-machine who's supposed to suppress Sarah Connor in orderto kill the resistance in the nest, because Sarah Connor's son, in the future, will lead the resistance in a war against machines after they triggered a global nuclear war. If nowadays the Terminator is a pop icon, its origins are anti-democratic, oppressive and utterly violent. And the man playing that pop icon agreed that a Black man should be sentenced to death. This line from C.R.B, and the entire song too, is about how we need to keep our eyes open while watching entertainment or just living in the world because fiction never really is fiction. When we are talking about systemic racism it means racism is everywhere in our society, even in places we might thought it cannot exist.
In episode 8 season 4 of Atlanta, written by Donald Glover, we follow the fictional story of Thomas Washington, a Black artist studying the character of Goofy and suddenly propelled CEO of Walt Disney. During his time as CEO, he starts writing a fiction about how Goofy represents, in every Disney movie, the Black man kept on a leash by White society. Later on, a White employee of Disney asks him if they could add Mickey to his fiction, and Washington answers « They're trying to make me put this white boy in my movie » and the White employee says « He's a mouse. » This is the core of systemic oppression within culture: to deny how oppressive mechanism have built ouricons, the way we live, what we look at on TV and in films. Mickey Mouse isn't a neutral figure in the same way as Goofy isn't a neutral figure. And throughout There Will Be No Super-Slave, Ghais Guevara want to remind us of that fact. There is no such thing as neutral fiction or neutral entertainment. On one side, they are those fighting to keep the oppressive system alive, and on the other side, those fighting to crush it and he free. But the album also has its calmer moments, like the beautiful Rayman Legends where Guevara goes on a date with a woman and the rapper shows us a masterclass on how to build a healthy relationship, without toxic masculinity.
Rayman Legends might sound a bit off considering how politcal the rest of the album is, but that ain't true. Black men and especially Black revolutionaries always have been put in the same box as violent toxic men denying women their rights. Rayman Legends is, in this way, a very important song because it shows Guevara's vulnerabilities and how it's possible to build a relationship while acknowledging the fights you are leading. « Started talkin bout vulnerabilities and struggles and strife / Story after story as she showed familiarity / She my twin flame when it came to needin therapy ». Including spoken words by Mohammed Al, spiritual leader and revolutionary Duty Boukman or even by Leonardo DiCaprio, There Will Be No Super- Slave is an album that require a lot of time to analyze because of its density. But that also shows how Guevara is in complete control of his art and words, ending this adventure on the amazing Shirk where Black emancipation builds its foundations upon dead Nazis and the continuation of evil figures in our modern society. Open your ears wider, keep your eyes focused, do not keep this album on rotation in the background of your place but pay attention to the lyrics, because there is no such thing as sitting through this album. Because this is the music of the world you live in.
Finally, what's the most interesting thing with this album has to do with Ghais Guevara himself. A lot of artists put political statements in their albums and then perform them live, but that's about it. In their real life, except during interviews, this political discourse doesn't show up much. But if you've been following Ghais Guevara on social media, you probably noticed that this is not the case for him. Music is certainly a way of talking, a way of being part of a bigger culture, spreading messages, but outside of music Ghais Guevara remains a political actor. Listening to his music, supporting his artistry cannot be a neutral stand. You cannot sit through this album without reacting to it, because Guevara decided to change things with the power he got this year, rightfully becoming one of the most beloved rapper in this community. And this power is the voice he acquired, not only as a rapper, but as a Black man standing for his rights and the rights of his people. If an album is the fictional equivalent of a film, you can't say that Ghais Guevara is playing a character here. In music as much as in real life, his words are the same. Music is a continuation of his life, and vice versa There Will Be No Super-Slave is one of the boldest release of the year, one