Review of Talib Kweli- The Proud

"The Proud"

[Talib Kweli]
The proud
Stand tall or don't stand at all, c'mon
Uhh, yeah
Break it down
What we do?

[Chorus]
We survive, it's more than pride
We stay alive, ready to ride

[Chorus - repeat through intro]

[Intro: Talib Kweli]
One two, one two yo
Aight.. put it down yo
June 21, 2001
Timothy McVeigh is executed
And the country breathe a sigh of relief
Goodness prevails over evil, it seems
Somehow when he's gone, we feel safer
Little do we know

[Verse One]
Today the paper say Timothy McVeigh's in hell
So everything's okay and all must be well
I remember Oklahoma when they put out the blaze
And put Islamic terrorist bombing, on the front page
It's like saying only gays get AIDS, propaganda
Like saying the problem's over when they locked that man up
Wrong! It's just the beginning, the first inning
Battle for America's soul, the devil's winning
The President is Bush, the Vice President's a Dick
So a whole lot of fuckin is what we gon' get
They don't wanna raise the babies so the election is fixed
That's why we don't be fuckin with politics
They bet on that, parents fought and got wet for that
Hosed down, bit by dogs, and got blacks into house arrest for that
It's all good except for that - we still poor
Money, power and respect is what we kill for, for real

[Chorus - repeat through interlude]

[Interlude]
August 4, 2001
A drunken police officer mows down an entire family in Brooklyn
The judge lets him go with no bail
It reminds us, of just how worthless our lives are to the justice system
I struggle, to explain the situation to my son, it's hard

[Verse Two]
Niggaz with knowledge is more dangerous than than niggaz with guns
They make the guns easy to get and try to keep niggaz dumb
Target the gangs and graffiti with the Prop 21
I already know the deal but what the fuck do I tell my son?
I want him livin right, livin good, respect the rules
He's five years old and he still thinkin cops is cool
How do I break the news that when he gets some size
He'll be percieved as a threat or see the fear in they eyes
It's in they job description to terminate the threat
So 41 shots to the body is what he can expect
The precedent is set, don't matter if he follow the law
I know I'll give my son pride and make him swallow it all (damn!)
Fuck the pigs! I think the pigs killed Big and 'Pac too
If they didn't they know who did, they got to!
Who they serve and protect, nigga not you
Cops shot off of ten G's but they got glocks too
Let you protect yourself, or better yet respect yourself
Straight into the hospital is where you gotta check yourself
They be gettin tips from snitches and rival crews
Doin them favors so they workin for the drug dealers too
Just business enforcers with hate in they holsters
Shoot you in the back, won't face you like a soldier
Kurt Loder asked me what I say to a dead cop's wife
Cops kill my people everyday, that's life

[Chorus - repeat through final interlude]

[Final Interlude]
September 11, 2001
Terrorists attack the Pentagon and the World Trade Center
Kills thousand and permanently scars America's false sense of security
We see the best examples of humanity in the face of the worst
As fire fighters, police officers, rescue workers
and volunteers of all sorts, fight to save lives
The world will never be the same again

[Verse Three]
My heart go out to everybody at Ground Zero
Red, black, yellow, white and brown heroes
It's more complicated than black and white
To give your own life is the greatest sacrifice
But it's hard for me to walk down the block
Seeing rats and roaches, crack viles and 40 ounce posters
People broken down from years of oppression
Become patriots when they way of life is threatened
It's a hard conversation to have
We lost kids, moms and dads, people ready to fight for the flag
Damn, when did shit get this bad?
America kill the innocent too, the cycle of violence is sad
Damn! Welcome to the world, we here
We've been at, war for years but it's much more clear (yeah)
We got to face what lies ahead
Fight for our truth and freedom and, ride for the dead

[Chorus - repeat to end]

The proud by Talib Kweli featured on the album Quality in 2001 is a song that tackles a barrage of sociological issues including media, politics, class, as well as racism, which I will be focusing on. Kweli is a rapper from New York and is renown for his strong sociological approach in the genre. The first mention of racism comes in the first verse when he discusses the terrorist bombing propaganda on the front page of the newspaper, but his main focus of racism comes in the second verse.

“ Niggaz with knowledge is more dangerous than than niggaz with guns/ They make the guns easy to get and try to keep niggaz dumb”. Kweli is referring to a white supremacist power when he says “they” and therefore he is arguing that it is this power that maintains oppression within the black community.  Not allowing easy access to proper education in inner cities is what refrains from the gaining of knowledge and then the extremely easy access of guns is what Kweli refers to as keeping the black population from becoming rightfully free and equal. This is an example of the domination of whiteness because it is the white’s that control the schooling in the United States and it is the white’s that control gun control.

Kweli then states that he already knows what’s going on but worries about having to tell his son the truth “I already know the deal but what the fuck do I tell my son?/ I want him livin right, livin good, respect the rules/ He's five years old and he still thinkin cops is cool/ How do I break the news that when he gets some size/ He'll be perceived as a threat or see the fear in they eyes”. It is no hidden secret that the police target blacks by racial profiling especially in New York inner cities. Talib Kweli is conflicted by having to break the truth to his son that even if he follows the rules he will be racialized and viewed as a threat because of the color of his skin. 

The rest of the second verse is focused on the aspect of racism within policing. Police forces do have people of different colors but it does not negate the racist and whiteness foundations of policing. In North America the police are an organization which uphold the laws of the country that were primarily determined by the white colonists who “founded” the country. “Fuck the pigs! I think the pigs killed Big and 'Pac too/ If they didn't they know who did, they got to!/ Who they serve and protect, nigga not you” Kweli is taking a stand here against the police and discussing how they are not there to defend racialized groups, he believes that the people are better off defending themselves rather than being controlled by the white power structure.

In my opinion the best lyric of the song is at the end of this verse where rapper Talib Kweli takes his final strong and vulgar stand “Kurt Loder asked me what I say to a dead cop's wife/ Cops kill my people everyday, that's life”. People are generally more compassionate for police who are killed, but Kweli feels more compassion for the countless populations gunned down by police upon being racialized and therefore deemed a threat and labeled as being affiliated with disorder.