Life Told Through Rap - Nostalgia, Ultra
A mixtape to last a lifetime
“The word ‘tape’ speaks to purity, a word-of-mouth shadow industry that will hopefully always exist in hip hop…artifacts with handwritten or photocopied labels and artwork, giving off the distinct impression that the actual item you were listening to had directly passed through the hands of its creator.” – Noz, A (Not At All Definitive) History of Hip Hop Mixtapes, Red Bull Music Academy
“It’s nostalgic. It’s a longing for the past. That’s what this record felt like.” – Frank Ocean, Who Is Frank Ocean?, Complex
It’s summer 2011 and I am staying in a secluded area with limited access to the Internet.
During this time, Drake is gearing up for Take Care, Funk Flex takes more than 22 minutes to play “Otis” and I randomly hear the muffled sounds of a song called “Novacane”. The propulsive beat captures my attention and I pray that I can find a place with good enough Internet speed to download it.
I head down to a university library and right click on the computer mouse so that the ZIP file goes directly to my USB. I open the file on my laptop, transfer the songs to my iPod and press play. The stop and start sounds of a cassette player make me briefly wistful for a time before MP3s but the reimagining of Coldplay’s “Strawberry Swing” throws me off. I wait to hear the song with the hypnotic drums.
I am soon greeted, once again, by “Novacane” and replay the track at least five times, trying to figure out what Jay-Z, Coachella and dentistry have to do with each other. I eventually move past this record and let the tape play as originally intended, making a mental note of songs to come back to on a repeat listen (“Swim Good”, “Dust” and “Lovecrimes”).
I finally reach “Nature Feels”, excited that the only MGMT song I like has a bit more soul to it. The tape suddenly stops and I’m left trying to process what I just heard.
Almost fifteen years later and Nostalgia, Ultra still stands as one of my favorite mixtapes of all time. To me, this project and The Weeknd’s Trilogy series were some of the last ‘real’ mixtapes before they became indistinguishable from ‘free albums’.
Over time, the oft-mythologized creation story behind Nostalgia, Ultra is what has stayed with me the most. It’s the story of a talented artist sitting on the bench, working in the shadows before deciding to make one last bold move that will change the trajectory of their life. It’s the story of Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T. and many others. It’s the story that I wanted for myself.
Originally, my vision for Life Told Through Rap was for it be a ‘literary mixtape’, a sampler of different genres and formats that would not only highlight my skill but also my appreciation for some classic albums over the past three decades. The world may never get to see my ‘mixtape’ in its intended form but I’ve found the next best thing: 7 Tracks.
Created by Jacques Morel, 7 Tracks was a podcast series that allowed its guests to highlight the songs that meant the most to them during critical junctures of their lives. It’s a series that I wish still continued to this day but, in its memory, I have decided to reveal mine, a mixtape that will hopefully last a lifetime:
1. Growing Up (“Sky’s The Limit” by The Notorious B.I.G. Feat. 112)
The first music video I remember watching was Biggie’s “Sky’s The Limit”. For an early ‘90s kid, this video was a glimpse into the good life, a world of luxury and fantasy. Despite the tragic circumstances surrounding this video, what director Spike Jonze achieved with “Sky’s The Limit” was to make adulthood look cool, a memento of a simpler time that never existed.
2. Love (“Diary (Unplugged)” by Alicia Keys Feat. Tony! Toni! Toné! & Jermaine Paul)
To trust someone is to love someone, Alicia Keys’ “Diary” taught me that. To trust someone is to open your heart to them completely, knowing that your words won’t be used against you, feeling that in a sea of loneliness and indifference there is a beacon you can swim to, a place of refuge that you can call home. As both Alicia Keys and Jermaine Paul repeat “I won’t tell” to each other, you can imagine them in a stage play, acting as characters getting deeper into a burgeoning love, where secrets become sacraments and a pocket of the universe has been carved out for them to cherish this moment in time. This is the love that William Shakespeare compared to a summer’s day, the love that made Gabriel García Márquez’s characters sick, the love that I’ve been searching for since I was teenager but don’t know if I will ever find.
3. Success (“The Ride” by Drake Feat. The Weeknd)
There’s a certain invincibility that you feel in your early twenties. You believe that you can take the world by storm and become someone of note, a personification of success that inspires equal amounts of envy and praise. For me, Drake’s “The Ride” is the musical embodiment of that feeling. In 2013, I called this record Drake’s “best lyrical showing so far” and, more than ten years later, I still stand by that statement. Listening to “The Ride” is listening to what it feels like to reach the mountaintop and smile because there is still so much more to conquer.
4. Loss (“Miss You” by Aaliyah)
I remember where I was when Kobe died: in the gym, scrolling on Twitter, overwhelmed by a feeling of disbelief and grief for a person that I never met. As the number of the deceased increased, it was clear that this moment would become a clear demarcation in time, there will always be a before January 26th 2020 and an after January 26th 2020.
Unfortunately, this is not the first instance that a global icon has died well before their time, nor will it be the last. However, the one that probably haunted me the most before Kobe’s passing was Aaliyah’s. One second I was developing a crush on the woman dancing and kicking ass on Romeo Must Die, the next second I was seeing her image memorialized in music videos and T-Shirts.
From its origins as an unreleased reconciliation record to its legacy as an ode to those we have lost, Aaliyah’s “Miss You” is a timeless song that speaks to a universal pain, an ill-fated inevitability of the human condition.
5. Adoration (“Palmolive (Instrumental)” by Madlib)
There are many ways to approach a sample. Some barely touch it, others make it unrecognizable and there are the chosen few who just let it breathe.
Hearing the “Palmolive” beat for the first time was a spiritual experience. It was being confronted with transcendental beauty in audio form. To reference The Geto Boys, it was pure, uncut dope. It’s a feeling that you rarely come across in modern entertainment and a feeling that I hope to inspire when you read my words.
6. Guilty Pleasures (“Bounce With Me” by Bow Wow Feat. Xscape)
Listening to “Bounce With Me” is an exercise in nostalgia, it takes you back to a time when music and movies were in constant conversation with each other, when Allen Iverson’s sneakers were the hottest thing on the streets and when Bow Wow was the coolest kid in the world.
Over time, I stopped believing in the concept of a ‘guilty pleasure’. The things we feel embarrassed for liking are also the things that make us who we are. If not for the likes of Bow Wow, Ja Rule and The Fresh Prince, I would have never got into hip-hop and going down memory lane with tracks like “Bounce With Me” reminds me of this fact.
7. Today (“Kody Blu 31” by JID)
Ever since the pandemic, it’s been hard to be optimistic about the future let alone the present. Quite frankly, nothing hits the same. A lot of restaurants we once loved have closed down, publications we once relied on are becoming shells of their former selves and the cost of living is at an all-time high.
Enter JID’s The Forever Story. When this album came out in late 2022, it gave me the same level of excitement that I had when I first heard Kendrick Lamar’s Section.80. It marked the arrival of a budding superstar who could navigate mainstream waters without compromising the core of who they are. The best example of this being “Kody Blu 31”.
As the song starts off with some lines from “Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep”, we are greeted by some harmonies reminiscent of old-school Dungeon Family (R.I.P. Rico Wade) and you can feel JID tapping into a lineage that made Atlanta the music capital of the world. This is heightened by the home movies feel of “Kody Blu 31”’s accompanying music video, beautifully shot by photographer extraordinaire Raven B. Varona.
Listening to this song, watching this video, is a good reminder that, whatever the circumstances, there is always something on the horizon to be hopeful for. All we need to do is have faith and, like JID says, “keep swanging on”.
Further Listening
[1] 7 Tracks (2021)
Further Reading
[1] Charles Holmes, The Making of ‘Nostalgia, Ultra’—and the Unmaking of R&B, The Ringer
[2] Noz, A (Not At All Definitive) History of Hip Hop Mixtapes, Red Bull Music Academy
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This was special. I’m looking at doing something like this for my birthday next month. It’s beautiful to reflect on the music that has shaped who we are.
wow! I never paid much attention to music’s ability to mark time like this. You make music so personal and heartfelt in your writing, it’s beautiful. And bow wow really was the coolest kid, crazy how time works.