Louder, noisereductions, h8kurt, and all other Kanye fans, or hip-hop/sampling appreciators who also have a social conscience... Help me out with something, friends.
This thought just dug its way into my brain today and wouldn't let go, and I'd love to hear any input from anyone regarding this matter. I also posted about this in a hip-hop forum, so I'm looking for any feedback I can get.
Here goes...
It recently occurred to me that Kanye West's sampling of "Strang Fruit" in the
Yeezus track "Blood on the Leaves" might be considered deeply insensitive or even offensive to some listeners. I'm not saying I feel this way, necessarily... I'm just saying I totally understand how it could be construed this way.
"Strange Fruit," written by Abel Meeropol in protest of the lynchings of black Americans in the early 1900s and later popularized by Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, is a devastating and deadly serious song that shines a light on America's greatest shame — the lynching deaths of approximately 1,500 black Americans during the early 20th century.
** (See note at the bottom of rant.)
While "Blood on the Leaves" certainly is a powerful and dramatic song in its own right, it would not surprise me if people were offended by the chorus being used in a song that, while still dramatic, is ultimately about far more trivial matters such as relationships, marriage, divorce, and people wanting things from Kanye.
It's always been one of my favorite songs of his, and I believe he has paid a lovely tribute to the memory of Nina Simone. But ... the original son, "Strange Fruit," is one that reportedly made Billie Holiday vomit nearly every time she sang it. So I ask you, as fellow Kanye fans, was this sample used in bad taste? What do you think and why?
As you all know, I love Kanye more than Kanye loves Kanye (
) so I'm not accusing him of anything. I'm just trying to stimulate a conversation, and process this thought that hit me like a hammer.
** Note: This is merely the peak period for lynchings in the U.S. They have happened throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. In fact, there was even a "lynching" as recently as March of THIS YEAR. No rope was involved, but it counts, according to prosecutors of this case:
Timothy Caughman's murder: A lynching in Trump's America
