Inclusion is a Hell of a Drug: A Clipse Inspired Article

On Clipse new album, track 1, John Legend sings, "The birds don't sing. The birds don't sing, they screech in pain."

It's a very emotional and intense track which I appreciate that they put first and not towards the end of the album. The Hip Hop community was so excited for a true “highly anticipated” album and majority of the memes seen across social media were centered around the wait for their drug dealing metaphors. So we all just laughed and participated in sharing memories of how Clipse music influenced our lives in one way or another.

When I finally got to hear it, while sipping over Jack & Coke with my husband, my heart felt so heavy as I listened. As an empath, I didn't just hear the story. I felt the cries in their testimony and felt the pain they probably still feel to this day, especially Pusha T’s.

I heard the cries of 2 little black boys that paid homage to their 2 deceased parents that they watched sacrifice so much during a time that black people were still fighting for equality during and after the 70s in the South. A time where Maya Angelou became famous for her autobiography , I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and her poem Caged Bird. A time that, for some reason, split their parents union apart and caused even more trauma. It was hard for black families in the 70’s and 80’s and even harder on the children of the 90's. Which is why Clipse and their lyrically genius drug dealer stories caught so much attention in the early 2000s. They were a product of their environment and as a young listener at the time, not only was coke and crack a hell of a drug. I soon learned inclusion is a hell of a drug too and you can't sell it in baggies.

It's been 42 years since Maya published her poem (1983), it was released years after her autobiography in 1970 where speaks of her encounters with racism. Clipse flips this narrative because although it's not the 70’s and 80’s anymore, racism is still alive and the battle for equality is still the toughest within the black community. It almost seems as if there was a split formed between equality in justice and an equality in materialistic gains.

The part that hit me the hardest was hearing about how when death came for their mom, their dad followed her not long after. Can you imagine being a child seeing your parents split and then decades later as grown adults seeing your parents die to be together? Look at all the time they missed being together. Systematic racism is what grew from the Civil Rights movement. We wanted equality and that's what Maya's bird was singing for. However there's always a price to pay for freedom and inclusion hit the black community hard.

Photo from Jambase

When I hear Pusha give his testimony about choosing to go to Turcs instead of flying home for Thanksgiving the first thing I thought was, “Inclusionis a hell of a drug.” Yes, he was rich & flying free but inclusion had a tight hold on him.

IMO, I think we are now birds that are still not fully free from racism & equality but we are free to fly. Free to fly & sing but then at some points in life we cage ourselves. We forget where we came from, we hold onto grudges, we find fault in everyone else and avoid accountability, and we constantly compare our wings to someone elses. We cage ourselves up that way. We're supposed to be flying for our future generations to find our purpose in the short lives we are given. Yet, many will find this and ignore the blessings and just won't stop looking.

Freedom is not inclusion. Equality is not inclusion. We have freedom to choose what we want to do in life. It's not guaranteed to be successful but with discipline and a little faith, sky is the limit! Until you allow an outside influence, INFLUENCE you to be included in something else. We all stray from our paths at some point because we want to be included or because we feel we are wanted to be included. Read it twice if you need to.

inclusion (noun) in·​clu·​sion  
1: the act of including : the state of being included

Too many of us fly too long and forget where we came from. Too many of us fly so long and forget about the family that gave us our wings. We forget what they sacrificed for us to fly. We have to appreciate what's in front of us and pay homage to our ancestors. We have to break generational traumas and generational curses. We don't have to wait until old age or when a death in the family occurs to be there for each other. Love and unity is way more powerful than inclusion.

Don't let a death of a family member be the reason to return home or to focus on your own home. Don't let death be the reason you cage yourself and scream instead of sing.

I hope you enjoy this article. Buy me some wine if you enjoyed it! Just click here to tip what you can. 🍷

Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, Seeing he hath no heart to it?  -Proverbs 17:16 

Caged Bird - Maya Angelou

A free bird leaps on the back

Of the wind and floats downstream

Till the current ends and dips his wing

In the orange suns rays

And dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage

Can seldom see through his bars of rage

His wings are clipped and his feet are tied

So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill

Of things unknown but longed for still

And his tune is heard on the distant hill for

The caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

And the trade winds soft through

The sighing trees

And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright

Lawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

His wings are clipped and his feet are tied

So he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with

A fearful trill of things unknown

But longed for still and his

Tune is heard on the distant hill

For the caged bird sings of freedom.