Finally a female emcee shines a ray of hope in the vast emptiness of rap music from the woman's perspective. Although it’s just an intro, Lady Luck’s acapella verse hits hard mentally and resonates clearly. It asks the question “Are we there yet?” It analyzes the journey of so-called Black people in this country through some sharp criticism of today’s generations. Not just a critique of the young, but there parents too; Luck goes in like a modern day version of the Message and talks about where we are and where we have been as people.
Some of her best lines include:
“Obama said change, we getting tired of waiting…my people got the highest drop out rate in the nation. Forty years ago we were dying for education….We were lynched, beatin and murdered, marched for civil rights, just for us to grow up and have no value of life…an epidemic, no more truth, it’s all gimmick….spiritually broken women given birth to the same children….men wit they whole ass out like a dancer, I drive thru the hood screaming at kids pull ya damn pants up….so far from the slave ship to be in the 21st century and still thinking on some slave shit….Luck you getting too deep, spit some ignorant shit already, we don’t want to listen to hip-hop wit a dictionary….rappers claim they had to dumb down to sell records. Well look around, everybody’s dumb now…..combined we can’t figure out the plan yet, came a long way, just wanna know are we there yet?”
Visually the poem is shot simply with Luck alone on the bus and walking through downtown as she recites her bars or in profile thinking, all in black and white. No wild colors and weird sets. No fancy cars, concert jewelry or crazy outfits either. Instead we get, Lady Luck with a fitted, a hoodie and some jeans and very little makeup, if any. Imagine that. No colored wigs and booty shorts. And wait, natural beauty. No augmentation, accentuation or layers of make-up. Well, that’s refreshing. Who would have thought in the era of Nicki Minaj that a female rapper could do a video without all the extras. That stance on beauty may be one of the strongest statements Lady Luck makes with the video. Although, if glossed up and put in some sexy clothes Luck does look amazing, she proves that looks don’t have to sell rhymes if you’re a female. Still, on the underground tip there may be a beauty scale bias judging from the response to females like Jean Grae and Bahamadia both highly skilled yet ignored and possibly not as pretty.
Judging from the response, what Luck is spittin in the verse is being overwhelming received with 99% positive comments on a site like Worldstar. Maybe it’s because she has tapped into what the Hip Hop audience has been craving from a female emcee, real lyricism and depth. Maybe people are slightly more receptive because she’s attractive. So what, as long as people stop to listen and think about what is said, I’m for it. Brothers like Dead Prez, Immortal Technique, Common, and many others constantly kick knowledge but don’t get a second look. If it takes females to resurrect the consciousness in rap, I’m all for it. We need many more women who aren’t “spiritually broken, giving birth to the same (kind of) children.” Plus men follow women for the most part anyway. If more women in general were how Luck speaks and acts in this song, rather than how Nicki Minaj portrays herself, wouldn’t we be there already.
So many of the statements Lady Luck makes in this short verse are powerful enough to stand on their own in such a profound way that it’s better that it is not a song-chorus format. In this way, it is much more powerful and introspective. The listener has to ponder on the statements made and can’t be distracted by a beat. If Luck could figure out how to make at least four hot conscious tunes on her album, she may see a serious spike in her sales, judging again from the Worldstar audience feedback. It was nice to see such a desire for a real, lyrical message in a place that dwells on gossip, buffoonery, and the lowest stereotypes put on video. Much respect to Lady Luck for putting this one out. It was definitely a good move.
p.s. I’m glad she doesn’t look like Precious though, cause nobody would have watched it.
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