No Sleep Wiz Khalifa
While flipping through my car’s radio I came across the song No Sleep by upcoming hip hop artist Wiz Khalifa. I decided this song would serve well for my first artifact post. The song comes off of Khalifa’s debut album Rolling Papers, which found itself number two on the US Billboard 200 chart and sold 197, 00 copies in the first week of sales in the United States. When asked about the title to the album Wiz Khalifa was quick to admit that in fact Rolling Papers was exactly what everyone thought it meant rolling paper to smoke weed. No Sleep was one of the most popular songs on this album.
The song starts with an upbeat synthesized tone, the kind of beat that gets everyone on the dance floor. However, the lyrics that follow the beat may if fact be the reason a dance floor would clear. Wiz Khalifa rattles off three straight phrases littered with profanities that in essence describe what he would declare a good weekend complete with boos, weed, women, and loud music. These phrases are followed by a somewhat cleaner chorus. In the chorus Wiz Khalifa describes again the killer weekend that he is having. There are no secrets in the lyrics that he puts forth. One line in the chorus states “I’m gonna drink gonna party all night long”.
The song’s clear message is that partying is what life is all about. No matter the day of week we as listeners to this song should make everyday a party with weed, boos, and ladies. This sharply contrast the message of the Kingdom which is to live everyday honoring the True Creator with actions like serving others and respecting those we come in contact with. Wiz Khalifa offers an alternative that is nowhere near this message to get as high as possible and go into another reality one that makes one forget about the troubles of the actual world. In a sense living a fantasy every day.
In the end I really could not see the Kingdom revealed through the words and music of Wiz Khalifa. The music left me feeling unsatisfied and almost dirty for putting my ears through such a message. However after thinking awhile I decided maybe if we can twist the lyrics so that instead of getting high and drinking every day that we can live with a Kingdom vision of living to serve others and speak the words of Truth.
Discussion Questions:
1. What does this song and for that matter the album title tell about the public’s view of things like drugs even in fact if they are illegal?
2. Should we just listen to the music and forget about the crass lyrics?
After reading your post, I decided to listen to the song myself and see what I thought about the song. I agree with you that it starts off very light and fun, like you said, to get everyone on the dance floor, but when the lyrics started, they were very profane and made me, as a woman, feel like I am just a sex object in men's eyes (although this is not the only hip hop/rap song that had made me feel this way). I think your second discussion question is very interesting and is actually something I have thought about a lot before. I am a runner, and to be completely honest, when I run with my iPod, I have a running playlist that is full of these hip hop/rap kind of songs. I find the upbeat and loud music very motivating and helps me focus on the joy of running rather than the physical pain I may be feeling. I usually think that I listen to these songs solely for the beat and music, rather than the lyrics (sometimes claiming I do not even listen to the lyrics), but after some time of listening to these songs, I find myself singing the lyrics in my head. So much for not paying attention to the lyrics! But then I wondered how much the lyrics actually affect me. So last year, I made a decision to only listen to Christian music for an entire month and see if there was any difference in how I was feeling. And there was! I was always feeling much more encouraged and happy, and I had these Christian lyrics running through my head all day rather than lyrics such as the ones in this song, No Sleep. After that month was up, I have tried to really monitor what I listen to and put into my mind. Although I still listen to that music when I run, I try to limit it to only when I run. I agree that this song, and this type of music in general is not exhibiting the Kingdom of God, and I think we as Christians need to be very careful when we listen to this music and not let it affect us, but rather focus on the beauty of the song (if there is any!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts on this song, Josh. It leaves me wondering, what would a great Kingdom-shaped party look like? Maybe something like the Cut Copy concert last fall. And in response to Kailey's comment, it's great to realize the impact that lyrics can have, but it's a shame that it comes down to such a limited choice: Christian music that doesn't pump us up for things like running/partying and crass music with a great beat. Why doesn't the Christian community write better party music? What would be some examples of upbeat, party music that's not as narcissistic and crass as Wiz Khalifa? Cut Copy, M83, Lupe Fiasco, MIA...
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