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 former national correspondent for The Atlantic. He is the author of The Beautiful Struggle, Between the World and Me, We Were Eight Years in Power, and The Water Dancer.