Finding the Crystal Express
The function of music can be debated extensively. Some may wish to hear party anthems while some may wish to hear something airy to smoke to. From conscious rapping to just rapping for the hell of it, Hip Hop serves many functions. At its worse, no one connects with it (regardless of subject matter). But at its best, the music connects with the listeners and sparks a switch inside of them. Every now and then comes an artist who releases a project that earnestly produces a want for change. However, most of the music produces just that: a desire to change without any substantial directions on how to do so. These inspirational and revolutionary albums seem to prompt thought within the listener, but sometimes there are a lot of questions that remain unanswered. The most important questions one should begin with are simple: "What must change?", "How do we change?", and "What do we need to change?"
Well, a 19 year-old artist from Stone Mountain, GA suggests that all we need is love. That artist goes by the name of Raury and has recently released his debut album, titled "All We Need." That album itself has triggered a torrent of questions within me in the hopes of finding answers. On the first track, Raury simply tells us that "all we need is love," but is it that simple? I've been pondering for weeks if everyone can love. Is every person capable of it? The more I think about it the more questions I get that I don't have the answers to.
The (not so) easy part of all of this is identifying what must change. One would assume that the apparent opponent of love, hate, would be our problem, but what constitutes hate? Is it simply not liking a person or is it bullying someone altogether? Is it refusing to give to a homeless person or begging for money from a wealthy person? I think that hate is simply not acting out of love; as vague as the concept of love is, hate parallels it in every way. However, I do think that every person is capable of hate, and that is somewhat unnerving. Why is it so easy to hate and why do we? That question is more powerful than one can even begin to imagine. One can cite the separation and categorization of people which produces hate, desire, and the weakening of brotherhood. One could also argue that greed is the basis of hate; if one wants it all how can he or she care about the wants of others? History could be a factor as well because it seems that its negative aspects repeat over and over again. All of this is discussed on "Forbidden Knowledge," the third track on Raury's album. This forbidden knowledge seems to be the basis for hate in today's society. Categorization, greed, and history's faults are some of the reason why hate runs rampant in our lives, but the perhaps the foundation of hate is just forbidden knowledge.
But we do know something. We know to avoid segregation in our lives, greed in our actions, and the mistakes of the past generations. We know that all we need is love, but do we even know what that means? What exactly is love, not acting out of hate? Love has always been explored; Lauryn Hill's album talked about it throughout. Webster defines love as "a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person.” Yet, if you ask 10 people what love is, you'll get varied results. Same applies to if you ask someone how to love. Whatever one may think, I think that loving starts with the individual. In order to love others you must love yourself (Cue "i" by Kendrick Lamar). Once one has achieved that, he or she can begin to spread love, by any means possible. Spread love, is yet another vague instruction, but I think "treat others the way you want to be treated" is the best place to start. To change the world we must actually attempt to rid the world of hate by dispersing love wherever we go.
That sounds great on paper, but in reality shit happens. The truth is that the highs and lows of life are enough to push anyone over the edge at times. Deciding to only live through love will inevitably be a hard journey because life's issues will challenge your strength and dedication. So what do we do when times get hard? Raury seems to advise us to hop on the Crystal Express. Hard times are unavoidable and arguably necessary for us to remain human, and Raury touches on it in his second verse of his profound "Crystal Express" by saying,