Rapsody: God, Grammys & Gold Hoops

The Vic Mensa Show

In this powerful episode of The Vic Mensa Show, Grammy-winning rapper Rapsody joins Vic to discuss her album 'God Gotta Afro and Gold Hoops,

Key takeaways

• Colonialism has systematically erased indigenous spiritual identities, replacing them with Westernized religious narratives even in Africa.
• The concept of God as genderless and formless is reclaimed through Blackness, symbolized by 'an afro and gold hoops' to challenge white, patriarchal depictions.

Main topics

• Spirituality and the reclamation of God in Black identity
• Colonialism's lasting effects on African culture and self-perception

Notable quotes

"God can have an afro and gold hoops too."

"You know what I'm saying? It's almost as if they know that if they admit the value of black people they'd have to pay for enslaving us."

Conclusion

Rapsody and Vic Mensa close the conversation with mutual respect, affirming that

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Did you know for the last 500 years they've been shrinking Africa on world maps? Whether it's penis envy or map making, white people always mad about how big we are. The UN just passed a resolution to correct the map and unsurprisingly the United States voted against it. They also voted against the resolution to designate slavery as the gravest crime against humanity. It's almost as if they know that if they admit the value of black people they'd have to pay for enslaving us. Which brings me to this bullshit about overpopulation. You got Bill Gates trying to sterilize us. We don't trust that Epstein ass n***a. They tell us the problem is that we keep having children we can't feed instead of the problem being that Europe keeps stealing our food. That's like f***ing a n***a wife and making them pay you child support. F***ing you the father! There's a massive amount of space in Africa. Nigeria, Sudan, and Congo alone are bigger than the whole European Union. You can fit the US, China, India, and Mexico inside of Africa. Here comes that penis envy again. Africa has 65 % of the world's uncultivated farmland, half of the world's diamonds, 40 % of the gold. How could we be poor? That's the trick though. Rob you and make you think you broke. My guest on the Vic Mensa show this week is my family, Rhapsody, one of the greatest living MCs. Her new album, God Got an Afro and Gold Hoops, was inspired by a trip to the continent. Speaker 2 (1:20) Carlyle to fail for the dollar bills Forced to produce for corporate suits Blood on that orange like OJ soups and juice Presidents Speaker 1 (1:27) assemble troops For a slice of the pie When if Stevie see the bombs Joining Speaker 2 (1:32) the Vic Mensa show is my loved one, the homegirl, Rhapsody. Speaker 1 (1:36) Hey, Speaker 3 (1:36) what's up my brother? Speaker 2 (1:37) Yeah, it's love. Absolutely. Fresh. What is your concept of God? Speaker 3 (1:46) Mmm, I love that question. My concept of God is an energy, a source. I see God in all things. It's shapeless, genderless, formless, a creator. You know, in Islam, Speaker 2 (2:05) Allah is technically a non-gendered being. Speaker 3 (2:09) Absolutely. Speaker 2 (2:10) That was one of the things that really attracted me to Islam when I first started studying it. five years ago now Speaker 1 (2:17) maybe Speaker 2 (2:18) coming on six years ago and the idea of Allah's is non gendered being because it's a into an entity too great to be fit into a gender or Something conventional a human form. You know man Beyond Speaker 3 (2:37) comprehension exactly, Speaker 2 (2:39) you Speaker 3 (2:39) know, and Speaker 2 (2:40) I love that because I think I've pushed back Speaker 2 (2:44) against the Western idea of God and felt throughout life much resentment oftentimes towards it because I felt that a white bearded white man in the sky just didn't line up with like my idea of divine presence. You know what I'm saying? Now when I think about God got an afro and gold hoops though, it does connect me to the idea of of God as a woman, but God as a being beyond comprehension, he'd also be a man and a woman. Speaker 3 (3:20) But Speaker 2 (3:20) I think if anything, God would be a woman. Speaker 3 (3:24) If anything, you know, but... Speaker 2 (3:27) To create life, though. Speaker 3 (3:29) Exactly. But the title is so much deeper than that, right? It's interesting you say that because... One of the inspirations for this album was sister soldiers no disrespect And I called her because I wanted her to do the interludes and we had a great conversation. I love how she challenges me And you know she practices Islam as well. She's Muslim She was like I can't be a part of it because I don't play with God like that right And I didn't take an offense to I understood the context because in your same world like she said rap I challenge you don't mix don't mix the truth with a lie Speaker 2 (4:03) right Speaker 3 (4:04) She said, even if it's satire. And I respected that. But for me, it wasn't about necessarily giving God a gender. It was about anybody seeing God in themselves because he is genderless, because he is faceless, raceless, all the things. And we do live in a Westernized society where we've been painted this picture of Jesus or God, you know, as white bearded hair. blue eyes, whatever you have it. So it was me like reclaiming like no like God we see God in black people too you know don't forget our even our spirituality of Africa, Yoruba, whatever spirituality practice but you should see God in yourselves and all people so it was me saying you know God can have an afro and gold hoops too you know and and that was more of it to even create the conversation and have space. for allowing everybody into this world of how they connect with God. Speaker 2 (5:07) Man, one of the most insidious tricks that colonialism ever played has been Speaker 1 (5:12) to convince Speaker 2 (5:13) us Speaker 1 (5:14) to Speaker 2 (5:14) hate our own gods. That part. When you can convince someone that their god is in fact the devil, Speaker 3 (5:20) you Speaker 2 (5:21) have absolute control over them. Right. Because you can tell them, no, you must follow my god. My god says you belong in servitude. Your god is the devil. So what you've thought to be divine is actually very evil. I've been thinking about that, like, as it relates to misogyny in general. Speaker 1 (5:40) I Speaker 2 (5:40) saw this Manosphere dickhead talking about how, like, vaginas are disgusting. And I was like, man, nigga, you really just hate yourself. And you must never ain't got no pussy. Speaker 3 (5:49) Where Speaker 2 (5:49) life Speaker 3 (5:49) comes from? Speaker 2 (5:50) Like, where life comes from. But I started going into it, and I'm thinking, hey. the mitochondrial Eve. Yeah. Speaker 3 (5:58) The Speaker 2 (5:58) unbroken matrilineal DNA transfer from an ancient African woman into every person living today. So really misogyny is just self-hatred because every single person contains the mitochondrial Eve. So if you hate women and you hate yourself, you add in misogynoir and it's just an expansion. Like really is. white supremacy is really just self-hate because at the end of the day you got that mitochondrial Eve in you. That black ass mitochondrial Eve. Speaker 1 (6:33) You Speaker 2 (6:33) know what I'm saying? It Speaker 3 (6:34) is the motherland for a reason. So talk Speaker 2 (6:38) about the motherland. You've recorded a lot of this in Africa. You Speaker 1 (6:44) have Speaker 2 (6:44) a South African group Speaker 1 (6:46) on Speaker 2 (6:47) the first record. Speaker 3 (6:49) And Speaker 2 (6:50) the album title, it was inspired by some time you spent in Ghana? Speaker 3 (6:55) It was. We didn't want to jump into recording in Johannesburg. I wanted to be inspired. I wanted to feel the continent in a different way. I had been twice before 10 years. before I went last summer, but I didn't really get to insert myself in the culture and really learn and feel things. So I went to Ghana first. I spent six days. We didn't do any partying. You know, we didn't, we didn't, you know, we didn't, we didn't do the nightlife thing. Speaker 2 (7:25) Congratulations on that. It was on my Speaker 3 (7:27) agenda, but I was in the hotel and I met this, this tour guy by the name of Hector. We call him the mayor. He was like, you don't need to do any of that i'm going to take you here i'm going to take you here i'm Speaker 2 (7:39) going Speaker 3 (7:39) to take you i was like all right we out and um the first morning we left we had a five six hour uh ride to the ashanti region um and it was five six in the morning the sun was coming up it was beautiful like i was not even really present because i was so that Speaker 2 (7:56) blue hour that morning blue hour in ghana is like you know none fucking other at this type of time of year? It was, Speaker 3 (8:04) so you know, I'm setting the scene and I just want to hear good music. But what I'm hearing is like this westernized, Elvis in a choir shirt type Speaker 1 (8:16) gospel Speaker 3 (8:17) music. And it took me out of it. And I'm just like, where am I? Like, you know, I'm in Ghana. I'm in the motherland. Why am I hearing American gospel? Speaker 3 (8:30) westernized, particularly white, not even any real soul that our church has in it. So I asked him to turn the radio and he turned it and it was another one. I asked him, you know, I said, can you turn it again? Another one. So I said... I said, why is this all that plays on the radio at this hour? He's like, this is what everybody listens to. And my friend Gretzky was with me. He was like, well, you know, on my plane ride, there's a bunch of white Christians and they're coming, you know, the open church is here. And it just, it brought me back into, even in the motherland, you know, on the radio, you can't even hear your own spiritual music, you know what I'm saying? And how much... Speaker 3 (9:09) Western religion has been indoctrinated in the continent. So by the time I got to Joburg, it just sat with me. Even in America, like you say, Jesus is painted everywhere. There's this white guy with a beard. And you know, Dana made this beat and I was just like, man, God got an afro. That's the first thing that came to my head. So I was just around the house singing it. Speaker 3 (9:37) And that's where we started at. Speaker 1 (9:39) It Speaker 3 (9:40) was just that simple. Music for me is just a real snapshot of where I am and my albums. And everything was calling me home to Africa. I'll be on Instagram and any style that I like, clothing-wise, African, Nigerian. So I was like, I got to go home. Speaker 3 (10:00) That's the story I told of everything that I learned everything that I was awoken to inspired by like, you know Man, Speaker 2 (10:10) there's so many colonial symbols that are so prevalent in Ghanaian culture that pissed me the fuck off Speaker 1 (10:16) Like Speaker 2 (10:17) in court, they wear these dumbass wigs. It looks like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and shit You know saying you you go around to gas stations and corner stores, it's bleaching cream. So often just right in the arms reach of a child. You know, I lost my auntie to bleaching. That was the song we did together. Yeah, she bleached her skin for fucking a long time and ultimately got skin cancer. And it just like... Speaker 1 (10:51) It tears me apart. It breaks my heart to see my Speaker 2 (10:55) people so mentally enslaved. As Bob Marley said, emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds because oftentimes like the visible chains have long been discarded and much more. Speaker 2 (11:13) long-lasting mental chains remain. But that's why I feel like it's on us to shine the light, you know what I mean? To speak about it and find a fun way to like, find a fun way to make it. resonate with people which was why I loved when you brought in Chelsea who did the big shout out yo Chelsea's from Chicago man I know I did a shoot with her like super Speaker 3 (11:39) gifted maybe Speaker 2 (11:39) like four years ago I see she's really having I had heard she was having a moment and then I saw it in your video and I'm like oh let's go she's Speaker 3 (11:47) having she's brilliant I mean that was brilliant Speaker 2 (11:49) that Speaker 3 (11:49) was Diamond Mahone my stylist um you know we were getting fits for that and she was like She sent me the reel. She said, we got to use these. And I had seen it. I was like, absolutely. So I just, I slid in Chelsea's DM. I was like, hey. Speaker 2 (12:01) That's the best way though. You know? Speaker 3 (12:02) Yeah. I like, I like to have one-on-one. That's Speaker 2 (12:05) an alignment though. Between you and her. And like the fact that she's in fashion and presenting a new creative idea of. black womanhood and beauty and I think that lines up with what you do like from the idea of beautiful to Eve to God got an afro and gold hoops that you're very intentional about presenting black women as the standard for Speaker 1 (12:34) beauty Speaker 2 (12:35) and I wanted to ask you like about your ideology behind that. Speaker 3 (12:41) I grew up around strong women in a village. My mom is one of 13 children and there's Speaker 3 (12:50) five women and I've always watched them be the leaders of our family. They always were presentable whenever they left the house. They had to look a certain way, dress a certain way. They loved on each other. They complimented each other. They looked after each other's children. All I knew was beautiful, black, strong, intelligent women. It didn't matter what the family was going through. they're on the phone, they're huddled up, they're figuring it out, they're sacrificing for each other. And that's the depiction of women that I, you know, that's how, when I see black women, that's what I see. You know, and I have this great affinity, especially for older black women. I was a huge fan of Cicely Tyson, Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni. Like, you know, these are the women and stories that I was exposed to growing up in my home, so. That's what I know and that's the story. That's the only story that I can give because that's my truth. That's the truth that I see in us and our people. Speaker 1 (13:55) And Speaker 3 (13:55) especially as a black woman going through this world and I've been through the colorism, you know, I've seen the hypersexualization of us and our art as very one-sided story of who we are, especially in hip-hop. And it was just all ways for me to bring harmony. and to bring another truth that I know of who we are. And, you know, that's what it was for me in every album. That's why it's easy for me to celebrate and speak the names of so many women. Yeah, I love how you do that. It's no ego. I told somebody recently, I realized when I got in this business, I was always looking for village. I always wanted a family in this music industry that reminded me of the family that I grew up in. Speaker 2 (14:39) And Speaker 3 (14:40) it was never ego. It was always about doing things together. So it was always about me celebrating all women, you know, because they are a reflection of me and I'm a reflection of them. Speaker 2 (14:51) And James Baldwin has that conversation with Nikki Giovanni. If Speaker 1 (14:56) I love you, I can't lie to you. Of Speaker 3 (14:58) course you