In this weeks criticism post I chose to analyze Nipsey Hussle’s song “Racks In The Middle” with close-text analysis. Close-text analysis is the breaking down of a text in a way that makes it understandable for readers, and taking a deeper look at each individual section. We can see how close-text is used in Robert E. Terrill’s “Unity and Duality in Barak Obama’s ‘A More Perfect Union.'” This article analyzes Barak Obama’s speech back in 2008 where he addresses race, which is done through very specific detail in a close textual analysis.
Like any good song, there are many different lyrics and verses but do we really know what they mean? Sometimes I find myself singing a song or listening to the lyrics, and after the first couple of times I don’t realize what is really being said until I know the whole song word for word or someone points it out to me. Nipsey Hussle’s song “Racks In The Middle” ft. Roddy Ricch and Hit Boy debuted at #44 on the Billboard Hot 100 during April 13, 2019, and just a week later climbed its was up to #26! This is one of the songs that received a GRAMMY award on January 26, 2020 for “Best Rap Performance.”
Nipsey Hussle chose to do this song with Roddy Ricch because he was up and coming in the music industry and Nipsey felt he needed to embrace him whether it was doing this song with him or simply acknowledging the work his was doing. On the other hand Hit Boy was the one with the song “Racks In The Middle” that he was creating for his album and Nipsey came into the studio session and just starting rapping lyrics to the song, didn’t think about it or talk about it, just starting working with it like it was meant to be.
The song as a whole was good enough to win a GRAMMY award but I want to break down a set of lyrics that added soul and feeling to the song from the great Nipsey Hussle himself. In the video above staring at 5 minutes and 30 seconds begin the lyrics :
"Damn, I wish my nigga Fatts was here How you die thirty somethin' after banging all them years? Grammy-nominated, in the sauna sheddin' tears All this money, power, fame and I can't make you reappear"
The first line “Damn, I wish my nigga Fatts was here is about Nipsey’s best friend “Fatts” who he said he had a genuinely good friendship with, someone he rode his bike with around their block and someone who was a definition or a “ride or die.” Growing up in the streets of South Central, Los Angeles they encountered a lot of gang violence and came upon many young men who felt pressured by gangs and being in the hood that they would fight their “homies” for acceptance, but Fatts and Nipsey never encountered that. Nipsey explained them as the type of homies that would never turn on each other, and Fatts was one of the few that really believed they could do something bigger and better than gang bang.
This leads to the second line “How you die thirty somethin’ after banging all them years?” that Nipsey is questioning why Fatts had to be taken from this earth at 30 years old. He was supposed to be their for their GRAMMY nomination, for putting in years and years of work with Nipsey to create a better life for themselves, getting out of the gang lifestyle that Fatts continuously talked about.
Leading to the third and final line “Grammy-nominated, in the sauna sheddin’ tears All this money, power, fame and I can’t make you reappear.” When Nipsey was rapping those lyrics in the studio it was very emotional for him and hit deep about the fact of him losing his best friends to the streets and just having to embrace the only life they knew. In the Genius video Nipsey said he had tears rolling down his face when rapping those lyrics and felt that his emotion was what made this song so powerful and gave it life. When Nipsey got the nomination he admitted to feeling guilty and torn up because he felt it was wrong to be excited or happy, when all he could think about was wishing his best friends was there to see it and appreciate that moment with him. No money, power, or fame could ever bring his best friend back to enjoying this deserved moment with him. It brought to life the cold reality that bullets ain’t got no names…
https://genius.com/Nipsey-hussle-racks-in-the-middle-lyrics https://djbooth.net/features/2019-03-07-nipsey-hustle-as-told-by-nipsey-hussle
Christina's Blog 
One thought on “Criticism Post #3 “Racks In The Middle””