The Miseducation of Marlanna Evans: Rapsody “Please Don’t Cry” analysis

[@Trixiethegoldenwitch]

Going past pop will never get you more views, but it multiplies the respect from your core audience tenfold. Keep being true to your intent and history will reward you. AVAA

[@powertothepeopleaotearoa]

Yeah, I remember watching something from Anthony Fantano about how authenticity and quality might not make you have spikes in popularity but it makes you have a more loyal and long-lasting fanbase.

[@nu_mci]

Thanks everyone for pulling through in requesting this, it's an important album. Crazy how it came out the same day as #richaxxhaitian

[@hailflavour]

I discovered you because of “the beef” and I’m staying because your views and analysis are unique. A 4:44 would be interesting.

[@nathancoutts9679]

Preemptive AVAA. I’m excited that you’re covering this Prof and to hear your observations. I think this might be a masterwork and worthy of celebration! It’s a textbook on being human. Whether it gets the success it deserves or not.

[@agbad5055]

AVAA. Thank you for mentioning how bad Rapsody is as a name. Absolutely adored listening to Please Don't Cry during my morning walk. It really had me in my feels. Especially Loose Rocks. she just articulated the experience of having a grandparent with dementia. And that final phone conversation with her at the end of the song just tugged on my heartstrings.

[@ManuelaAlmeidaRamos]

shoutout to rapsody for making this incredible album and shoutou to you for making an one hour video about it. AVAA Also if you teach about female rappers you need to talk about Jean Grae. In the early 2000s rappers like Jay Z and Black Thought said she was a big influence to them, and she has collab albums with 9th Wonder and Quelle Chris (whom she is also married to). In my opinion Jean is top 5 of all time.

[@tsawac]

Also, she's kind of the archetype of female rappers who absolutely kill it on features, but don't get enough support for their own albums to shine. (Imagine a world where the early Jean Grae albums had ful production from The Herbalizer, rather than just having her do tracks on Herbalizer albums.)

[@jakerionales]

1. Please don’t cry, 2. Laila’s Wisdom, 3. Eve… Rapsody is a beast and I will say it, this album is better than Miseducation (Insert Punctuation that makes you feel better)

[@javiterrazas9825]

AVAA Rhapsody's EVE is one of the best albums of all time.

[@isolaking]

AVAA. It wasn’t the album I was expecting. But I’m glad it exists. I even dropped a remix to ‘look what you’ve done’ on my channel this evening 🔱🤍

[@aidankruse415]

avaa. Thanks for doing what you do. Deep video for a deep album. Please give us the 4:44 review!

[@PabloHernandez-rr1or]

AVAA, i will def be checking out more from rapsody thanks to ur vid

[@riptide1112]

AVAA Thanks for the great video professor, was really hoping you'd review this album. I've been a huge Rapsody fan so I'm really happy to finally hear you talk about her work. I definitely recommend checking out some of her previous albums as well, it's outstanding! Also- definitely in support of a retro 4:44 review

[@gruntilda2]

AAVA. I’m glad to see this album getting coverage and couldn’t see a world where you missed this. Stand tall is my favorite from it so far but there’s a lot of analysis left! This album will age so gracefully too!

[@bstegemanbs]

Please make that retro review of 4:44. Thanks for opening me up to more music. AVAA

[@CarterKeither]

DND (it's personal) is one of my fav songs off this amazing album, especially the melody the Dre type synth plays, especially when it hits during the second verse. But avaa

[@KPWASRIGHT]

The male rapper who she introduced is signed to her label she is about to start

[@BenNixBradley]

I have been looking forward to your response to this album.

[@OutlandishJones]

AVAA. Thanks for the insightful videos. Hopefully you get a chance to mention Jean Grae in one of your classes, or do an album review. Her last album with “Everything is Fine” with Quelle Chris is very profound

[@lettucehunt3723]

This album is absolutely beautiful. I'm glad you covered it!

[@UwgAllDay]

AVAA Your style is both laid back and academic and I love it so much.

[@hollymay8840]

AVAA. Had never heard of this artist but when I saw you were coming out with a video about it I decided to check it out. This album is a total vibe. For me it mixes rap, r&b, and jazz. I really enjoyed how vulnerable she was throughout.

[@powertothepeopleaotearoa]

Hey Skye! I read the God Save The Queens book because of your recommendation/series on what you teach in class. I recommend heavily also Vibe’s “Hip Hop Divas” book(?). Vibe is a magazine obviously, and the book is like a compilation of articles that go incredibly in-depth on some female rappers. There’s also a preface by dream hampton that’s an interesting read. I got put onto it because of the acknowledgments in God Save the Queens and it’s definitely an amazing booklet.

[@mvekerea4130]

Rapsody and Lauryn Hill are 2 ppl I respect as artists. Not just in the lane of female artists or female rappers, but of music general. They make music for the soul man, seriously.

[@tariq6319]

A agree but simbi is even better imo

[@ibrahimovicjunior5443]

Little Simz too.

[@eliascosta826]

AVAA would love to hear your thoughts on 4:44, retro reviews are a great idea!

[@jonathanjones4301]

AVAA. This is a great breakdown and I'm feeling the channel, with that being said, you have to listen to her discography. DO NOT START WITH EVE, I repeat do not. If you want to teach on her, watch her grow. After u do this, you will do another video about her. Can't wait to see it

[@Arawadewiseman]

AVAA, met Rhapsody and 9th Wonder at a music festival years ago. She was wearing a really cool hat. That’s all I really have to add.

[@squrler]

AVAA. Support real music, and real engagement with real work. I appreciate your work Skye.

[@MrByrdis]

This is an incredible album. So is Vince Staples

[@CKsAdventures]

New here, 👋🏽 but I'm really enjoying your videos... not just the beef ones. 😊Thank you.

[@ksgsam]

As always AVA. We really need that 4:44 review btw. I’d love that.

[@Kotsoros37]

AVAA! I really liked this album, might be one of my top hip-hop albums of the year , for a conscientious album its got some bops which is rare to see these days. Another surprisng album with some more thoughtful hip hop mixed with the sexy was doja cats last album, she has some new york style beats and rapping on a few tracks!

[@WasThisMail]

AVAA this will most likely be one of my favorite album of the year And who shot me will likely be one of my favorite songs of the year (also sidenote, the epmd song is strictly business”) (second sidenote I remember how shocked I was when I found out my friend didn’t know I shot the Sheriff was a Bob Marley song, I didn’t even know about the Clapton version of that time)

[@Davie2017]

I was a little offended when you said Rapsody was a bad rap name, but when you said Marlanna Evans… you made a great point.

[@ticonauta]

AAVA. Honesty and vulnerability in modern Rap is so refreshing.

[@iHappy12345]

Thank you Skye!

[@StrawhatYoshi]

Smashing the like button. We can't let Drizzy win. AVAA

[@bourdieufan7433]

can’t wait prof rapsody hasn’t missed on an album yet imo, sure it’ll be an AVAA

[@albertrobinson5065]

Great use of the "one joke" in the video being saved for D&D/DND. AVAA!

[@nyeah]

Rapsodys intro on one her first albums is literally a shout out to all the sisters in the industry and it's honestly amazing

[@tyrusquiroz8810]

AVAA i miss when albums were album-albums

[@vivianagbegha2712]

AVAA! Vraiment une analyse profonde et divertissante! Merci.

[@omardiouf8188]

On est d'accord

[@cesart.1320]

Nice vid! Keep em comin' please

[@yafavoriterapper]

Your commentary is really insightful and thoughtful. I really appreciate what you do sir!

[@jadedsyx]

Thanks for explaining AVAA I was so confused 😂 (PS: AVAA)

[@wordsmith6935]

AVAA! I’d love to hear what you think of Bahamadia !

[@FK-it4hn]

Another preemptive AVAA. Willing to admit shamefully that ive never listened to rapsody before. Excited to listen to your review and listen to the album

[@tommymdladlana8255]

Please double back she's amazing

[@shettywap]

Eve and Lailas wisdom are incredible

[@brandonmoore644]

Great commentary!

[@e55570]

Its a crime that this has 4k views, such a great album

[@rainbow-si6ur]

avaa prof skye!

[@naicdlc6523]

Jay stole the Michael name dropping from Biggie’s verse in Victory.. Très bonne analyse btw AVAA !

[@StevieMikhael]

AVAA you should check out noname aka noname gypsy she is a another good female artist she toured with Lauryn hill when she first came it out she has three classic albums

[@akilekennedy]

In your free time you should check out Jean Grae. She dont rap anymore, but she is one of my faves.

[@powertothepeopleaotearoa]

Thanks for putting me onto Che’ Noir! Not religious at all but I like the style. AVAA

[@nykki21]

AVAA Please do 4:44

[@0_Cardboard_0]

she’s called Rapsody the way she Raps SOTY’s AVAA

[@theelectricant98]

GET IN THE BOOTH

[@drbroberts]

Hey, Professor! AVAA! I actually know TWO previous songs about Alzheimer's/Dementia, both in the hard rock and metal sphere (and both coming from faith-inspired artists, too). One is "In Absence" by the band Silent Planet, and the other is "Wive's Tale" by the band My Epic. I would agree rap can do things no other genre can do, and would say the same for metal and prog rock. Silent Planet specifically has an album dedicated to mental illness and includes the song "No Place to Breathe" to showcase systemic racism and police brutality as a social disease. Also, some themes of Rapsody's album I thought would be touched upon are A.) performative masculinity linked to gun violence, seen especially in the deaths of Nipsey Hussle and Takeoff. That's been present in Rapsody's previous work with "Power," and seen in this album in "Asteroids," "Diary," and "Raw." Her name drops were some of my biggest takeaways for me to showcase the potency of her anger and grief. The second theme would be B.) references to the Matrix in finding the "reality" of her own self. The telephone rings (especially seen in the video for Asteroids) and name dropping The Matrix and Morpheus lead the conversations with Phylicia Rashad to feel like Neo's conversations with the Oracle. Also also, if you are looking for BLM songs from Rapsody, I would recommend "12 Problems," the 2020 version of "Fight the Power," and surprisingly Lecrae's remix of "Deep End." She never misses, and there are reasons she has featured alongside Chuck D, Nas, and GZA.

[@drbroberts]

ALSO ALSO ALSO, I happen to have a Bachelors in Theology, with a concentration in Women and Gender Studies. It is a general sociological phenomenon (at least in Christian circles) that women attend church more frequently than men, and even in Medieval Europe there was this dichotomy drawn in the Catholic ecclesia between female *mystics* [Julian of Norwich, Teresa of Avila] and male *priests* and *theologians.* Men tended to be put in positions of leadership and teaching, but women often outnumbered men when it came to lay attendance and held a soft-power authority for deep spiritual insight through experiences like visions. The patriarchal understanding of that leadership imbalance was that women were more tied to their bodies and emotions than "rational," "logical" men, which meant while women had greater access to spiritual phenomena, they were not seen as reliable leaders of thought. And since rationality was also thought to be tied to the soul, the implication was that the souls of women were corrupted by their deep connection to said bodies and emotions. Which suuuuucks. Boo Greco-Roman duality of mind and body, big time! But as far as women in church attendance and church leadership, there remains a dichotomy of leadership. "According to data released in the State of Clergywomen in the U.S.: A Statistical Update, 2018, women account for 50 to 75 percent of the Black church membership, yet only comprise 10% of leadership roles in the church and less than 1 percent of the senior pastor roles." (Rudolph, A Different Perspective: Examining Obstacles Faced By Black Clergywomen Through The Lenses of Critical Race Feminism) All this to say, I can see how the rate of church membership, perhaps combined with the carceral system's impact on black men, would impact the way we see spirituality and faith brought up in rap OUTSIDE the industry of Gospel rap.

[@benmccarthy9180]

AVAA. Boldy James song is ‘Straight and Tall’

[@Rayebae738]

Great reaction

[@donaldsonmadonana5844]

AVVA TO ADD ON THAT POINT IN rapsodys lane check out Sa-rock and yugen blackrok

[@StacksSats]

EPMD - Strictly Business

[@ksgsam]

Is the Wayne feature he says he hates hot wind blows because I’m trying to a think about which one and I know it’s not smuckers or droppin seeds

[@Khaldunii]

Another day without a review of Love & Service by Brother Ali 😢

[@donaldsonmadonana5844]

AVVA PROF LOVE YOUR CONTENT BUY AS AN AFRICAN IT KINDA HURTS THAT HIP HOP IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE US ONLY..... TO SHOW THE CULTURES INFLUENCE WORLD WIDE PLEASE REVIEW ROBO THE TECHNICIAN SELF TITLED ALBUM ROBO THE TECHNICIAN..... OR ONE OF YUGEN BLACKROKS ALBUMS RETURN OF THE ASTRO GOTH OR ANIMA MISTIRIUM

[@Blaster216]

You have to review her 2019 Eve album

[@romybrown6102]

AVAA. But HOW did you overlook that Phylicia Rashad's character is directly based on The Oracle from the Matrix movies? (Rapsody stating she wanted to break out the "program" and not stay in it is the give away) the Oracle/Matrix dynamic is to give credence to Rapsody's main dilemma "what is illusion and what is reality?" to which The Oracle answers but in a way that would not be understood or appreciated until Rapasody completes her heroin's journey, similar to Neo in the movie. This theme is too important to overlook, and there are several other points that are also worthy of a deeper look. 1) That One Time is not strictly a song about a same sex relationship but is more about a women's insecurities, anxiety and lack of self love leading to bad or/and impulsive decision making in relationships. (Note: she gave just as much attention to a relationship with a married man as she did to the same sex one giving a double meaning to That One Time) Her upbringing as a Jehovah's Witness even feeds into her negative self talk and can be considered as part of the guilt around both her infidelity and lesbian activity 2) Lonely Woman is not strictly a song about masturbation but is a double entendre conflating self arousal with self love. This is punctuated by her being the subject/object of her own orgasm. (much more important the act of masturbation in itself) This is meant to inspire a self worth around one's sexuality which inspires a much more discriminatory attitude to who one shares that sexuality with. In this way, Lonely Women represent the opposite polarity to That One Time and serves as the destination to where her friend is trying to get her to on A Ballard For Homegirls, making it vital in the album sequence. 3) He Shot Me is not a BLM song but simply a song about police brutality and the daily threat that the police pose towards black people in America. This is such a trope in hip hop/rap music that it can be its own sub genre beginning with NWA's F@!k The Police. This is a subject Rapsody has addressed in her catalogue in a range of ways. 4) Faith is not strictly a song about faith in God but more a song about Faith in self, life love and humanity. This serves to be the connecting thread between all the other thoughts and her underlining intentions of the album (back to the "morphine" line) hence the reference to Chris Lighty & Robin Williams. There are so many more easter eggs and points for discourse that your video could have been three hours longer (and would have patiently watched). This is all credit to Rapsody's incredible writing skills (Any female writer who can make us as heterosexual males relate to "sometimes the panties don't match the bra" is a genius) I hope this lengthy response can help you appreciate that 1k of the right views is worth more than 100k of the wrong views, please keep doing what you do the way you do it👍 PS l hope the tears of pain you shed thinking of your mother's illness become tears of joy remembering all the happy memories you have of her. 🙏

[@professorskye]

Appreciate it all.

[@markstuartwakeley]

Pep v carlo class prof respect.

[@tommymdladlana8255]

The Caretaker Album is beautiful and it's about alzheimers and made me think of my Great aunt who'd always think I'm my uncle who'd died 5 years previous and we were at his funeral😭❤️

[@owenstroud5656]

AVAA I came to this album from my love of BLK ODYSSY's music, he has quickly become one of my favourites lately. Do you have any thoughts on his work if you've listened?

[@mx.walrus]

💪💪💪

[@_reallyjustinlikeig]

avaa ! if you like this album, you should check out ‘Diamonds & Freaks’ by BLK ODDYSY who executive produced on this. really good stuff

[@lowercasem8024]

AVAA wassup og i was wondering who else you would put in the Rapsody lane. Maybe Noname, Little Simz, and Nappy Nina?

[@krillnigjr]

avaa!

[@Jottaboy727]

AVAA - “inward, n word” rhyme on Isaiah Rashad - Brenda

[@professorskye]

Thanks!

[@drag-on5]

AVAA, Prof!

[@oliverman3885]

47:21 AVAA “You missed 😏🤷🏼‍♂️” also I don’t understand your beef with that Lil Wayne verse on Tyler’s song

[@professorskye]

I was wrong, I meant the Weeknd . Tyler verse was awesome

[@oliverman3885]

@@professorskye thank God, had me so confused

[@mikemr..3602]

DNT let these mofos tell U Hip Hop ain't a Beautiful Thing 🖤 good💩 Professor 👍🏽👍🏽good 💩

[@potmasiero]

Please cover the new twenty one pilots album

[@kmarcol1]

Can someone tell me what AAVA means

[@kmarcol1]

Nevermind heard it at 9:55

[@askwhy711]

AVAA 🫡💐

[@russellk.4896]

Why is everyone saying AVAA instead of AAVE? Am I missing something?

[@mauritsboskamp2253]

AVAA!

[@sadago2690]

AVAA my guy

[@JustinAngel]

AVAA comment to fight the good fight. Please don't show video proof of Drake's dingleberries.

[@usalwaysnetwork]

#madeinusa

[@kmarcol1]

People are really sleeping on rhapsody and have been for years

[@Abrabeck82]

🤌🏽

[@jeke1672]

cant let drizzy win

[@loganmccrory44]

AVAA

[@Dee-ld2ty]

I disagree completely that you can't make a great song about dementia through rock. 😅 But other than that good analysis bro 👍

[@fivesilvercoins]

hey, at least drizzy helped you get your 100k plaque that much sooner, can't say fairer than that. you better show off the chain as soon as you have it! avaa!

[@Ben-xj2rf]

avaa but unfortunately it means ass video this time. The podrace scene is the best sequence in any star wars film. Soderbergh’s KIMI is a great thriller about covid. George Miller’s 3000 Years of Longing is a great covid movie but I’m not sure it qualifies as a movie about covid. It seems the distance from the Tyler feature is softening your stance on Lil Wayne as a feature rapper, because the last few times you’ve been saying that he’s inconsistent and now you’re saying he has the highest floor. imo he’s best rapper along with Jay-Z in his use of homophones. e.g. rhyming “bohemian rhapsody” with “me and rapsody” isn’t necessarily “complex” but it is very satisfying

[@jameshamilton6072]

AVAA! It’s a truly special album, hopefully it gets the traction it deserves and the views on this video will keep trickling up in liine with the album being a classic. Unfortunately all I could think when I was watching this video was “BBL DRIZZY, BBLLLL DRIZZY OHHHH” BTW Metro Booming sampled someone else’s (King Willonius) AI-generated song to make the BBL Drizzy beat. So you can’t discard it as just an AI-generated beat, there is just as much production there as a normal beat. Although we have a huge issue as we are close to that tipping point of AI being better at making beats and bombs than humans 🫠

[@jameshamilton6072]

Also, I’m really sorry about your Mum. Fuck Alzheimers

[@isaiahdokpa8559]

You don't like Wayne's verse on calle if you get lost, bro we to throw hands lol

[@professorskye]

Wait, I misspoke ! I meant DawnFM. I love his CMIYGL verse.

[@mellow-mike]

I feel like the "Mm" you do instead of the N-word is kind of confusing for people that don't already know that you do that. I suggest fella, brother, neighbour or homie haha

[@Blaster216]

The colonizer CANT win

[@tadknuf7979]

AVAA Are you a Scientologist? You're always mentioning auditing

[@professorskye]

No, a teacher. A student who takes a class not for credit is an “auditor”

[@tadknuf7979]

@@professorskye ahhh okay cool thank god you're not a scientologist

[@colelundberg]

aava professor. the world can't heal until we get a 4:44 review

[@collinmurphy9677]

AVAA

[@chvonneparker252]

AVAA

[@mikelighttalk]

AVAA