Works by Dan Enrique

There is a parallel for how we the people on Earth and those working in outer space resemble the entities that exist in the universe (i.e. stars and planets orbiting around a force) and their behaviors. The film calls for global peace and unity on Earth just as those existing in extraterrestrial and cosmic orbits, stellar and nebular inception, and the pace of zero gravity that govern outer space.

Microaggressive and culturally-charged criticism when it comes to Black voices is no criticism at all. The modern day Hip Hop subculture is yesterday's Folk and Rock counterculture of the 60s and 70s respectively.  So when we usually talk about their parallel narratives and developments, comparing them, why can't we talk the same way about their uses of language, their tonalities, and where they come from. Rather, whom they come from and how these artists look like. We don't like to admit it, but when we listen to voices, we see their faces, too. Their mouths, their hair, their skin.

I’d like to specifically point out Desiigner’s Panda and Rihanna’s Work hit-singles which have both received a fair amount of criticisms because of their use of words and language, very similar to those created by White artists who never receive this level of ignorance and prejudice.

Panda was charged as nonsense and Work as gibberish, instead of imagination and dialect initially.

Granted, Hip Hop has always been much more than solely bumpin’ to the next dope beat, it’s much more than any song. It's a culture and movement. Yet paradoxically, music, songwriting, lyrics, and composition in their purest form is storytelling. Political and social MCs back when it all started were rapping and speaking a narrative, portraits, ones that were taking place in the world that they were living in at the time. I could go on about the false feature of “street cred,” or authenticity glorified in a way that is superficial in Hip Hop, such discussed in passive-aggressive criticisms of Panda like this Rolling Stone article.

But let’s take one of my favorite modern day Rock bands, Vampire Weekend, as an example. Four White, Columbia-educated dudes who often appropriate African and Caribbean music. Now, by no means am I comparing Desiinger and Vampire Weekend's levels of literary depth, but by juxtaposing how they paint a picture, we can see and appreciate that they're all doing the same thing. Telling a story. Yet, barely is anyone saying that the White rock band is speaking gibberish or nonsense. Because they do, in fact, spew so much. And if they are called out on it, it's quirky. The majority of the band's criticisms simply conclude their ambigously referenced works to be universally acclaimed. The band itself even references to its own abstruse verbiage in the following track Step.

Sometimes music isn’t about how it makes you feel, or how deep the lyrics are. In Panda’s defense, I always go back to the purest form factor: the storytelling. Contrary to its criticisms on the quality of words, my response is about the context. In the in-depth Genius interview below, Desiigner not only sheds light on his background and journey towards his success, but he, too, at 7:30 reveals his inspiration for writing this song after a game of Grand Theft Auto and spotting a particular car outside his crib in Brooklyn: the White BMW X6. He even repeated that all he saw in his mind was a movie, a movie, a movie. It's reinforced in his cinematic music video which was produced by the production company, Iconoclast, who are known for their gritty visual masterpieces. Again, storytelling.