How do you re-create something that’s already iconic and make it generational when most have never seen it in its original form?
That was the challenge facing hip-hop artist and activist Rhymefest as he began working on his latest project, James & Nikki: A Conversation, which is based on the legendary 1971 discussion between literary icons James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni.
He could have gotten two actors to portray Baldwin and Giovanni, but that would have lacked the soul needed to capture the conversation.
Instead, Rhymefest chose to produce this highly-anticipated music project, his second done with Golden State Entertainment (GSE), the music, entertainment and content vertical under the Golden State Warriors, with creativity and care.
The nine-track project, which drops today, is far more than a traditional studio project.
“It’s not an album,” Rhymefest told me during our interview. “It’s a composition.”
Storytelling is an art, and only the truly gifted can share stories by weaving lines together to paint pictures that audiences can visualize and experience as if they were present in that narrated moment.
Many cultures in history did not record history in written form, so they depended upon storytellers to share tales. The Grios and bards who brought tales of heroism to life through the spoken word for all to learn from and share so that they lived on for generations were the original historians.
It is these communicators who Rhymefest channeled during this project, and by integrating it with hip-hop, he’s able to make a 53-year-old conversation a learning experience for today’s generation.
Take the track “Triggered” for example.
He begins with Giovanni discussing grouping people into buckets such as the intelligent and the dumb and the weak and the strong. 20 seconds later, the beat drops and he unleashes spoken words over hip-hop beats.
The true purpose of music is not to sell albums or generate streams. That’s commercialism and business.
Music is created to elicit emotion and spur action. It’s created to make people feel through words and beats.
Music provides strength to those who need it, like the gym goer who channels the raw energy of DMX through their muscles to help them push weight.
It provides healing, like the pain Mary J. Blige shares through her voice to help others cope and remind them that they’re not alone.
For Rhymefest, music is the conductor that electrifies the words of Giovanni and Baldwin and transforms them into lessons for all to learn from.
“They were creating something in the moment that was the story of our lives,” said Rhymefest.
Rhymefest stayed true to the issues that Giovanni and Baldwin focused on and used hip-hop as the medium to transform the conversation into a musical book composed of culture, politics, social issues, civil rights, history and the Black experience.
Hip-hop allowed him to highlight the generations of Black children who were raised by grandmothers who shaped the behaviors and values of the youth, all while spitting “Everybody’s grandmother is not Tyler Perry,” in Elderberry.
It’s an example of how he successfully brought the past and present together through points raised in the 1971 discussion. It’s also a manifestation of how Giovanni (28) and Baldwin (47) connected in a moment that brought generations together through dialogue.
That’s exactly what Rhymefest has done with this powerful project, one that holds personal meaning for him.
“It’s the conversation I wish I had with my father before he died,” he told me.
Rhymefest put great thought into the project so that it not only paid tribute to the two intellectuals but also to the culture, which is often robbed of its talents and creativity for financial gain by those who don’t respect or support it. As a protector of the culture, he consciously stayed true to it.
“We have to start giving our culture the breadth of the impact it has on our world.”
This is why he featured women creators on every track and why he intertwined personal stories with issues that persist in Black America, ones that Giovanni and Baldwin addressed over 50 years ago.
James & Nikki: A Conversation is a way for Rhymefest to do his part to creatively combat issues plaguing so many.
“As an artist, I can create justice, not look for it.”
But this isn’t an album full of complaints or one focused on blaming others.
It’s one steeped in history and thought. It’s one with words that speak on issues to inspire others to recognize them and take action to address them.
“What you have to do is begin to change the basis on which people think,” said Baldwin to Giovanni in 1971. “You have to shift the basis of the language because the way people speak is also the way they think.”
This message is what Rhymefest aimed to do when he first embarked on this project.
And once you listen to it, you’ll feel inspired by the voice of his powerful composition to foster change.
