lefel

Blackness Through Another Lens

14 min read films & tv Ler em português

Cover

Ser Mc é uma grande Responsabilidade, E não é pra menos, nada mais justo que a expectativa seja alta sobre alguém que se autointitula “mestre”, é esperado que tenha algo a se aprender com um mestre, isso exige do bom MC que seja um portador de conhecimento. Originalmente o Mestre de Cerimonia servia como uma espécie de mediador, um guia entre as musicas do DJ e o publico, armados de conhecimento e palavras afiadas os MCs tornaram sua voz cada vez mais poderosa com as batalhas.

E muitos se destacaram em confrontos duradouros entre grupos rivais.

Mas para mim a parada mais importante do MC ainda está em ser um guia.

O guia abre caminhos, aponta a direção, orienta o coração pro que realmente importa, com medo para enfrentar nossos medos e monstros.

E segurança para ser quem voce realmente é, e não quem esperam quem voce seja.

Como se encontrar nesse caminho sem ser engolido por ele? Como mudar o mundo ao seu redor?

A missão é guiar cada ouvinte ao seu destino.

Pra alguns isso significa enfrentar seus maiores medos.

  • SoundTrack, Rashid and Match, 2023, JBC (quote kept in the original Portuguese)

While reading the reflections of probably one of the greatest MCs in the scene about his own craft, in the SoundTrack graphic novel, I could not stop thinking about how this lens escapes the craft and integrates into Blackness itself. The same questions appear in the new Miles Morales and Static Shock comics.

Our friend Spidey has the old dilemma of great powers and great responsibilities, but with a very different take from Peter’s. This time we see a Spider-Man who judges himself, who demands more of himself than anything, who is his own tormentor and only stops when he almost loses everything and literally cannot take it anymore, passing out, losing himself, in order to find himself.

In the second one, Virgil, after gaining electric powers, starts to ponder his own identity and his place in the world, besides trying not to be consumed by the new powers, as a legion of underappreciated people were.

You probably know “Sobrevivendo no Inferno” (Surviving in Hell) by Racionais MCs, one of the most famous albums in rap and maybe in music. This album, released in 1997 by the group, which had been on the streets of São Paulo since 1992, consolidated them as one of the great symbols of Brazilian hip hop and, honestly, I dare say, acclaimed worldwide by critics and the public. It was named the 14th most important album in Brazilian music by Rolling Stone, and its lyrics became a book, even entering the university entrance exams. So it is easy to understand the majority’s perspective: this album is one of the most important in rap, in Brazil and in the world.

But what if I told you this album is not the most important of their career?

To understand this logic, we need to analyze a few different perspectives.

The first is the artist’s point of view. For us consumers, it is very easy to connect with an artist’s life and experience. However, it is important to separate the audience’s view from the artist’s view. To enter that view, we first need to talk about the conception of “Sobrevivendo no Inferno”.

As I mentioned, the group had been on the road in São Paulo since 1992, gaining a certain fame and notoriety, playing a lot of shows and being the face of rap at the time. But with success and fame also came all the social wounds, more exposed than ever. In their words: every victory came with a defeat, and they had many. From the death of a member’s son to accidents and lack of money. On top of that, they constantly witnessed social aggressions against family members, close friends, fans and colleagues in the movement.

That made them live through a period of deep mourning which ended up originating the album. In Mano Brown’s words, “it was a gothic album”. Here it is important to define what we mean by “gothic”. We are not talking about a clothing style, but an art style that exalts sadness as part of the process of life. This style was widely used in the Middle Ages and is defined by very specific elements of that period, exalting the Christian religious and images with pointed shapes, coming from the Goths. This art brings the abrupt into several compositions, even introducing the famous gargoyles, which were made to drain water, but also to repel evil spirits. If we analyze the cover and the structure of the album, we will see that they follow all these traits, from the black and red album with a pointed cross, to the biblical citations for protection on the cover and the back of the album. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” Psalm 23:4.

The album itself also follows a structure similar to a biblical verse, which is extremely important, not only for the gothic aspect, but also for the connection with a growing marginalized region, more and more connected to an emerging religion, evangelicalism.

Because of this whole aesthetic that uses Black anger in a more universal way to go against the system, the album reached incomparable places, being compared, in composition and structure, to the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s”.

If you paid a bit of attention to my introduction, you may have noticed the idea that this album was embraced by every layer of the system, not only by Black people, not only by the favelas. That made the group as a whole confront distorted ideas of what the album itself represented and, in the end, after so many dilemmas, go on hiatus.

In Mano Brown’s words: “Who likes this album is the university student, the professor” (probably referring to the Unicamp entrance exam question).

“This album pushed us away from the favela.”

And it is in this rupture that I propose the thought that the album was literally the rupture of all the marginalization imposed over the years, but that same rupture pushed them away from their own roots or, in Rashid’s words: “Swallowed by the path where they tried to find themselves”.

In 2002, the group returns from hiatus with the album “Nada Como um Dia Após o Outro” (Nothing Like One Day After Another). At this point, I believe the group revitalizes itself in several ways, the main one being their reconnection with themselves and with the favela. The album still carries the hatred, necessary as rap’s fuel, but this time it is not condensed by the morbidity of the world around them; it is used as glue to unite the individual, the favela and the opposition movement as one force, as if they were body, mind and spirit.

Besides that, the songs have more layers, more references, like international artists, films and works, to lead the audience to know more, to leave the bubble. That became a trend for many MCs afterwards.

We can notice it in tracks (lyrics kept in the original Portuguese; they are quoted as art, and no translation would do them justice):

Negro Drama - Racionais Mc

Nego drama

Entre o sucesso e a lama

Dinheiro, problemas, invejas, luxo, fama

Nego drama

Cabelo crespo e a pele escura

A ferida, a chaga, à procura da cura

Nego drama

Tenta ver e não vê nada

A não ser uma estrela Longe, meio ofuscada

Sente o drama

O preço, a cobrança

No amor, no ódio, a insana vingança

Nego drama

Eu sei quem trama e quem tá comigo

O trauma que eu carrego

Pra não ser mais um preto fodido

O drama da cadeia e favela

Túmulo, sangue, sirene, choros e velas

Passageiro do Brasil, São Paulo, agonia

Que sobrevivem em meio às honras e covardias

Periferias, vielas, cortiços

Você deve tá pensando

O que você tem a ver com isso?

Desde o início, por ouro e prata

Olha quem morre, então

Veja você quem mata

Vida Loka Parte 2 (a premature lesson to the “Ostentação” movement)

‘Xô falá pro’cê

Tudo, tudo, tudo vai, tudo é fase irmão

Logo mais vamo arrebentar no mundão

De cordão de elite, 18 quilates

Poê no pulso, logo um Breitling

Que tal? ‘Tá bom?

De lupa Bausch & Lomb, bombeta branco e vinho

Champagne para o ar, que é pra abrir nossos caminhos

Jesus Chorou (Jesus Wept)

O que é, o que é?

Clara e salgada,

Cabe em um olho e pesa uma tonelada

Tem sabor de mar,

Pode ser discreta

Inquilina da dor,

Morada predileta

Na calada ela vem,

Refém da vingança,

Irmã do desespero,

Rival da esperança

Pode ser causada por vermes e mundanas

E o espinho da flor,

Cruel que você ama

Amante do drama,

Vem pra minha cama,

Por querer, sem me perguntar me fez sofrer

E eu que me julguei forte,

E eu que me senti,

Serei um fraco quando outras delas vir

Se o barato é louco e o processo é lento,

No momento,

Deixa eu caminhar contra o vento

Do que adianta eu ser durão e o coração ser vulnerável?

O vento não, ele é suave, mas é frio e implacável

(E quente) Borrou a letra triste do poeta

(Só) Correu no rosto pardo do profeta

Verme sai da reta,

A lágrima de um homem vai cair,

Esse é o seu BO pra eternidade

Diz que homem não chora,

Tá bom, falou,

Não vai pra grupo irmão aí,

Jesus chorou!

This is where all of Rashid’s rhetoric comes together. He and Emicida even followed paths similar to the group’s: Emicida with “Emicídio” and “Amarelo”, and Rashid with basically his whole body of work, and later with “Tão Real” and “Movimento Rápido dos Olhos”.

My intention here is not to frame rap or Blackness as something binary, like, it will always be this and then that. I just find it interesting because, as a Black person who ascended, fell and reconnected, I compare my trajectory with these album patterns and understand how normal that can be.

This also reflects in the creation of more convincing Black characters, like Black Panther and Killmonger, two characters from the old and already legacy MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). If we observe:

This last part fits the reconnection of those latter albums. And if you think this looks like Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, well, maybe it is because it has its similarities:

“The Hero with a Thousand Faces” is a book that presents the theory of the hero archetype and discusses how this theory can be applied to several legends, cultures and mythologies. It has the following steps:

  1. Departure, separation:

    1. Ordinary world.

    2. Call to adventure.

    3. Refusal of the call.

    4. Supernatural aid.

    5. Crossing the first threshold.

    6. Belly of the whale.

  2. Descent, initiation, penetration:

    1. Road of trials.

    2. Meeting with the Goddess.

    3. Woman as temptation.

    4. Atonement with the father.

    5. Apotheosis.

    6. The ultimate boon.

  3. Return:

    1. Refusal of the return.

    2. Magic flight.

    3. Rescue from within.

    4. Crossing the threshold.

    5. Master of two worlds.

    6. Freedom to live.

Each of these sub-steps is a step in the hero’s journey, and I would like to look at how our everyday heroes fit at some level of this list:

  1. Departure:

    1. The world is already a call to adventure:

      1. Here, I believe the biggest difference for Black heroes and heroines is that the very world they exist in pushes them toward some form of change; no great event is needed for that.

    2. Hatred of the call:

      1. It is very easy to see our heroes being driven by wrath or anguish to reject the call.

    3. Supernatural support:

      1. Here we have a divergence, because at this stage the supernatural is a support instead of direct help. We can cite, for example, Christianity, Candomblé and even some guides from Eastern religions, like Taoism.

    4. Crossing the first threshold:

      1. It comes down to living, reaching the top, achieving success.

    5. Full belly:

      1. Here some questions arise, like the cost of success, what the hero’s true ideals are, and whether he is distanced from those who truly love him.

  2. Descent, initiation, penetration:

    1. Road of trials:

      1. The Black hero already has a road full of trials along his journey, but here we reach the level where everything reflects on him, and the lack of a foundation starts to show.

    2. Atonement with the father:

      1. At this moment the father figure enters in several forms. Those who had the chance of having one remember him as a figure to move away from or to reach. Those who did not, start to understand the reflection of that and how to break the cycle.

    3. Apotheosis:

      1. This is where they usually settle in history, connecting to ancestry. The same way the ancient Greeks ascended to the pantheon, Black people ascend to ancestry, to Wakanda, to Mayombe and to the favelas.

    4. The ultimate boon:

      1. Here, Black people release their greatest achievements, overcoming the pain and the chains.

  3. Return:

    1. Rescue from within:

      1. By breaking the chains of the system, hatred and envy, Black people see themselves and solidify all the ancestry and community that brought them here.

    2. Master of two worlds:

      1. And here they can live at the top, but they never abandon the base. The luxury and the trash, knowing where they bleed, but also doing everything possible so they bleed no more.

    3. Freedom to live:

      1. And with that, they free themselves from the notion of artist and hero assigned to them, to have the freedom to live as flawed human beings, without being hostages of the very thing they fought so hard to eliminate.

This text aims to show how great Black men and women in history went through similar themes, from Racionais, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, T’Challa and Killmonger. This in no way reduces them to a stereotype, but shows how the world and society work so well to shape us into something we actually are not and, maybe, how to fight for something we want to be.

Thank you so much for reading this far. This text was extremely dense to write, and even more important to condense all the references and thoughts! For that I thank everyone in the bibliography below. If you can and want to, give each of these listed works a chance, they are literally fantastic!

Bibliography