Still thinking on the whole subject of ballads and hip-hop yesterday, I was thinking about how hip-hop deals with the subject of romantic love. For me, the answer has always been simple--poorly. That's probably too broad. It's morning coffee, what can I say?
But for whatever reason, the best instances of "romantic" hip-hop have generally been authored by the Roots. Black Thought is probably my favorite lyricists of all time. I've been tripping over this line for years now:
We knew from the start, that things fall apartand tend to shatterShe like, 'That shit don't matter,when I get home get at her.'"
Incredible song. Incredible video. Now she in my world like hip-hop...
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Ta-Nehisi Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues. He is the author of The Beautiful Struggle, Between the World and Me, and We Were Eight Years in Power.