What Jay-Z and Kanye’s New Track “Otis” Taught Me

"Why do we love it so much even though for most listeners, there’s no tangible expression of these lyrics in our lives? It’s as if we’re paying people to tell us how awesome their lives are due to the money we’ve given to them because we want to hear them tell us how awesome their lives are — see the vicious circle?"

-From the blog post 'What Jay-Z and Kanye’s New Track “Otis” Taught Me' by Travon Free FREEdom of Speech travonfree.wordpress.com

I was in Hell today (also known as the 405 freeway between the hours of 1pm and 8pm) and I just so happened to catch the premiere of the new Jay-Z and Kanye West song “Otis” off their upcoming “Watch The Throne” Album. The track was amazing, nothing short of the reasons why Hov and Yeezy are two of my favorites hands down.

However, as DJ Felli Fel of LA’s Power 106 continued to play the track repeatedly the lyrics began to sink into my brain and a thought occurred to me not only about rap music but about black culture as it relates to today’s form of rap.
Click here to read more...