No Lies Detected

[DISCLAIMER]

On his album Hip Hop Is Dead (2006), lyricist Nas released the song “Hip Hop Is Dead” that also featured rapper, singer, and producer will.i.am. Noteworthy, the track contained samples of “Apache” by the Incredible Bongo Band and “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly.

Nas’s controversial declaration was perceived by many within the hip hop subculture as a eulogy for the form of art, due to commercialization and an emergence of more rappers than lyricists. For context, a rapper merely performs the function of rapping (rhythmic wordplay to a beat).

Some rappers are arguably better than others. A lyricist raps while concentrating on the art of storytelling, devotes attention to written lyrics, experiments with wordplay, emphasizes poetic depth, often uses complex rhyme schemes, and also utilizes a unique ability to deliver lyrics.

While every hip hop lyricist is a rapper of sorts, not every rapper is a lyricist. Truly, the rapper-lyricist distinction is subjective. Although I’ve been involved in the hip hop subculture for over four decades, I still go back and forth with consideration of who qualifies as a lyricist.

In any case, viewing Nas’s assertion through the lens of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I didn’t self-disturb (upset myself with irrational beliefs) regarding a pronouncement of death concerning my favored subculture and genre of music. Personally, I detected no lies.

In common parlance, a lie relates to making an untrue statement with intent to deceive, as in creating a false or misleading impression. Perhaps Nas’s sentiment alluded to how the golden age of hip hop was from roughly the mid-1980s to mid-1990s.

Thereafter, commercialized forms of rap followed indistinct patterns. Declaring that hip hop was dead by 2006 was a bold critique that likely served its purpose of resuscitating or even resurrecting the subcultural art form. In my view, Nas’s honesty played a role in saving hip hop.

This reminds me of a similar revelatory account. Although I tend to over rely on the literary folktale “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by the late Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, I find its practical lessons worth reiterating within my blog. For context, one source states of the story:

The tale concerns an emperor who has an obsession with fancy new clothes, and spends lavishly on them at the expense of state matters. One day, two conmen visit the emperor’s capital. Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are either incompetent or stupid.

The gullible emperor hires them, and they set up looms and pretend to go to work. A succession of officials, starting with the emperor’s wise and competent minister, and then ending with the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but pretends otherwise to avoid being thought a fool.

Finally, the “weavers” report that the emperor’s suit is finished. They mime dressing him and he sets off in a procession before the whole city. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear inept or stupid, until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all.

The entire town then realizes the truth of the observation and repeats the child’s cry. The emperor awkwardly continues with the procession, unwilling to admit that he has been had.

Even before learning about REBT, I relied on this tale to convey moral and ethical lessons regarding truthfulness and deceit. As an example, when serving as a lieutenant in the field of nuclear security, I submitted a written critique on morale within my workplace. In part, I stated:

As a child, I heard a story in which an emperor of a far off land was bamboozled by a pair of conniving thieves who had convinced the ruler that he was wearing the finest garments on his day of self celebration, when in fact the monarch was as naked as the day he was born. Everyone in the crowd dispelled the issue [regarding] the lack of clothing with praises [about] how delightful the leader looked.

Only out of the innocent truth of a young child, seemingly untainted by the obvious agenda of the “yes men” in attendance, was the truth revealed. The emperor was completely nude; having been made a total fool of by those he allowed to deceive him. However, the moral of the story resulted in the fact that the ruler had truly deceived himself.

The issue concerning morale is not unlike this referenced childhood story. The very fabric of leadership greatly influences those [who] are led, clothing them in either desirable or less than desirable garments of inspiration.  Meanwhile, the agreeable characters of the kingdom play the role of enablers and hinder progression.

Half a year after submitting that critique about the death of morale at my jobsite, my employment was terminated. Just as many people self-disturbed about Nas’s expression of truth about hip hop, members of management at the nuclear facility where I worked upset themselves.

Fortunately for me, I’ve learned invaluable lessons over the years about speaking truth in a similar fashion as the young child in “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. Unfortunately, some people self-disturb about the message being delivered and end up loathing the messenger.

To provide a recent example of this effect, consider that at Davos, when speaking to the World Economic Forum, the Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney delivered a speech in which he ostensibly declared that a metaphorical global emperor was naked. Specifically, Carney stated:

For decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the rules-based international order. We joined its institutions, we praised its principles, we benefited from its predictability. And because of that we could pursue values-based foreign policies under its protection.

We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false. That the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient. That trade rules were enforced asymmetrically. And we knew that international law applied with varying rigor depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.

This fiction was useful. And American hegemony, in particular, helped provide public goods: open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security and support for frameworks for resolving disputes.

So, we placed the sign in the window. We participated in the rituals. And we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality.

This bargain no longer works. Let me be direct: We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.

Over the past two decades, a series of crises in finance, health, energy and geopolitics have laid bare the risks of extreme global integration.

But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons. Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructure as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.

You cannot “live within the lie” of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.

I’m no fan of politicians, and even less fond of Canadian officials. Still, there’s no logical and reasonable (collectively “rational”) argument I’ll use to attack a massager who delivers truth. If a proverbial Canadian child calls out a metaphorical global emperor’s nudity, then I applaud him.

Not everyone else liked what Carney had to say. Yet, regarding Carney’s speech, there were no lies detected. Of this matter, I’m reminded of the phrase “speaking truth to power” which I often heard during my graduate studies for social work. Concerning this axiom, one source states:

“Speaking truth to power” is a non-violent political tactic, employed by dissidents against the received wisdom or propaganda of governments they regard as oppressive, authoritarian or an ideocracy.

This phrase doesn’t apply to Nas’s song or my critique of management personnel at my former place of employment, because such criticism doesn’t involve politics. However, even though he serves the political power structure, Carney’s speech is precisely how one speaks truth to power.

For context, when the prime minister referenced a “rules-based international order,” referring to it as “false” and as a “fiction” regarding an apparent Faustian “bargain”, he addressed an obvious lie up with which I was raised. Regarding this matter, one source states:

In international relations, the liberal international order (LIO), also known as the rules-based order (RBO), consists of a set of global, rule-based, structured relationships based on political liberalism, economic liberalism and liberal internationalism since the late 1940s.

More specifically, it entails international cooperation through multilateral institutions (like the United Nations, World Trade Organization and International Monetary Fund) and is constituted by human equality (freedom, rule of law and human rights), open markets, security cooperation, promotion of liberal democracy, and monetary cooperation.

The order was established in the aftermath of World War II, led in large part by the United States [U.S.].

Can you say “Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]”? That’s some spooky shit! Carney ostensibly spoke truth to power about intelligence actors that have entangled themselves in the affairs of global governments and choked the ever-loving shit out of those who dare to challenge the CIA. 

No lies detected! Thinking further about this topic, I’m reminded of the album Ali (2018) by lyricist Locksmith that contained the song “No Lies” and featured a cover of “I Love You” by English band The Bees, from their album Free the Bees (2004). In part, Locksmith stated:

Yeah, I swear to tell the truth and nothin’ but the truth

But everything you said is a fuckin’ lie, I’m livin’ proof

You lied to my face, lied on your mission

You lied when you said that we started the same position

You lied on my family’s immigrant expedition

Came here to start new, but got treated back with suspicion

You lied to the courts, courted the judges

You lied for corporations, incorporating your grudges

You lied to the public that publicly show disdain

Yet, you profit off the puppets that prop you up for a gain

You lied to my grandmother in apron

Almost lynched in Tennessee for talking back to a patron

You lied to my grandmother in Chador

Started friction in Iran for an illegitimate war

You lied to the poor, poured ‘em aggression

Keep us fightin’ over race while you race away with protection

You lied about the outcome of every election

But the biggest lie of all is the one that’s in your reflection

Do you recall earlier when I drew a distinction between rappers and lyricists? In my opinion, Locksmith is the epitome of the latter. Did you read (hear) that verse? That’s Rhythmic American Poetry (RAP) at its finest, delivered through lyricism. Yet, I digress.

Locksmith, whose dad is of Persian decent and his late mom was black, spoke truth to power regarding how the U.S. government keeps citizens fighting over race while officials race away with protection. All of this has been possible, because of the RBO—clothed by the CIA.

Carney effectively called out the metaphorical global emperor—which is comprised of world governments and clothed by deviously-behaved CIA tailors—as having no clothing on at all. Everyone can see that oppression to which the world has been subject is based on “fiction.”

At least, that’s how Carney apparently framed the matter. Now that truth has been spoken to power, I look forward to see what cleaver clothing the tailors will weave in the future. There were no lies detected in Carney’s speech, as is the case with Locksmith’s cited verse.

Perhaps rather than dividing the masses by race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, class, and otherwise, we in the analogous crowd can behave as the young child did in “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. Governments of the world, clothed by the CIA, we see your ass! No lies detected!

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As the world’s foremost hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

Photo credit (edited), fair use

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