‘GOD GOTTA AFRO & GOLD HOOPS’ - WHO GETS TO SAY WHAT GOD IS?

Two years after her last record Please Don’t Cry, Rapsody graces us with her stunning fifth studio album, God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops, and it might just be her best work yet. With Please Don’t Cry, Rapsody says she got to “get naked,” or take off what society put on her. In God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops, she gets to redress herself.

Rapsody (lovingly referred to as Rap) is an artist that has never been shy to express herself or state her opinion on the world as she sees it, and God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops is no different. The visuals are clear and stunning on this album, as she asserts that black is joy, and it's something she refuses to let be colonized.

Before recording the album, Rap was on a trip to Ghana where she heard what she calls “white westernized gospel music” everywhere she turned. Even in Africa, spirituality and religion are often co-opted. Discussing the album title in an interview with y!entertainment, she says "It's like, 'Man, books are being banned, DEI is gone, and they're whitewashing and rewriting history.'” She goes on to say “we need to preserve our stories and truths” and see God in ourselves. 

In the intro track, “Peace, God!” she writes:

You are powerful beyond measure
Divine creative
Knowledge, wisdom, and understanding
This is counter programming at work
Instruction is in the vibration

Rapsody always places great importance in honoring and connecting with her roots and ancestors in her music, whether on this continent or another. The song “Pretty Bird / Way U R” at the end of this record is a stunning and powerful example of this. It is easy to both see and hear the influence her trip to Ghana and South Africa had on this album, and you can feel that Rap is a true student of these sounds and loves to play homage. From afro beats to 80s and 90s era hip-hop, to soul, funk, and jazz, the influence from different types of black music is mixed all throughout this record. This is also apparent from the wide range of features with the most prominent example being “Apple Juice,” a sweet RnB influenced track sampling D’Angelo’s “One Mo’ Gin.”

“Free Yo’ Mind” lays the groundwork for the album, the beat is pounding and strong. Rap is rebuilding:

All I want for me is for me to be free, so
Maybe
I should cut some ties, I should put me first
I should free my mind, then
Maybe
Life would alter

Rap then targets the culture vultures feeding off of then discarding hip-hop, when she raps “Dead ‘em all is the energy” in “No Way.”

“Never Break” has Rap talking about lessons through hard times and difficult relationships, coming out of it all learning to find love in herself first. It ends with a smooth transition to the standout and first single from the album, “God Gotta Afro.”  This is peak 80s, it is strong, loud, and fun. Filled with shout outs too, from Miriam Makeba, Clipse, K.Dot, André 3000, Diana Ross, and Maya Angelou.

“OMG! (Love to Sun Ra)” serves as an evolution and a tribute to the Godfather of Afrofuturism, Sun Ra, with the Prime Minister of Funk, George Clinton, making a surprise feature on the outro.

“Black Love” has the first reference to one of Rap’s biggest influences, Lauryn Hill. (Rap got the chance to honor her during this year's BET awards, when Hill received the Inaugural Living Legend Icon Award) Not only has Rap’s work been influenced by Hill, but she’s frequently alluded to being just as frustrated with the music industry as Hill. You can hear Rap’s frustration and anger here, and as the beat develops you hear Rap get more aggressive on the track before it softens to give way for a verse from Malice, one half of the hip-hop duo Clipse.

My ears heard what I didn't see
My eyes saw what I didn't say, my actions reveal I evolved
Saw myself in all of God, observing all the barking dogs
A wise woman once said nothin', so I learned to listen more
A wise woman once said nothin', so I
Embraced silence, closed my eyelids and I meditated
Learned to breathe, bereave, let go of all the pain, my heart gave haven

The fun and free-sounding “Pick A Side” gets you hooked, but on further listening it is calling out the double standards and hypocrisy among the privileged - “You hide the truth away. 'Cause you got privilege just to ignore all. But pick a side”

Half way through the album, things are slowed down with “Abandon Me,” a song about love, trust, and betrayal. It’s clear Rap is hurt when the chorus repeats “My heart remembers every blow.”

“You! (DJ Whoo Kid Joint)” is Rapsody in her rap bag and her most braggadocious.  She’s basically showing off on a spooky/sci-fi beat: 

That's me
Steppin' out rockin fear of God
Fear me 'cause I brought you in this world
And I can take you out

The album closes with the beautiful, “Act II: Bloodline / Growing Older.” Rap goes through a few vocal transitions during this song to represent her younger self growing into her older self. The emotional impact is reminiscent of her song “Loose Rocks” from her last album Please Don’t Cry. It’s a moving tribute and an emotional gut punch at the same time, talking about the beauty of and fear in aging, and watching the ones you love grow older:

I know aging is beautiful, but it come with some heartbreak
In the biblical days, they used to live thousands of years
I long for those calendar days, need more time here

Having long understood the tactics of division, Rap knows the damage that is created when trying to put different styles of hip-hop against each other. This becomes especially relevant for female musicians and creators, pitted against each other for who makes “real hip-hop” or who is “modest” or not. For Rap’s part, she has always rejected these separations and hierarchies. She acknowledges that this framing is inherently sexist and harmful, and that there is no “correct” type of womanhood. More importantly, she understands that these separations will, in the end, not work to anyone's advantage, and are only used to weaken and divide. 

She continues this understanding throughout God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops. This album is a celebration of being black - it’s culture, music, and identity, and is a celebration of seeing herself and her community in God. For a long time, Rap has been your favorite MC’s favorite MC’s favorite MC. After this generational run, she should solidify her spot as your favorite MC too.

Stream God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops wherever you get your music!