“Jesus please help me.”
Often this phrase spews from our mouths like vomit ejecting from the stomach after enduring intense pain and suffering. Shouting Yahweh’s name in the search for support to bear the burdens of the challenges that have hauled the feet of humankind in hopes that some inexplicable supernatural being will deliver man from its hurdles is reminiscent of the recycled theology passed down from not only generation to generation, but from African slaves to modern-day Black America.
Although spouting Jesus’s name is a form of relief or condemnation, per se, however, after listening to Lupe Fiasco’s Drogas Wave album provoked an observational debate that leaves its listeners with more dense questions than answers pertaining of the reliance and faith in supreme beings and myths since its September release.
Understanding the reason why parables and fictional stories maintained its influence in Black America would make anyone with questions look to their black counterparts, friends, and family members to seek answers. Even as a black male growing up in a religious household while racism, institutionalized racism, and police brutality plagues the urban communities, it begs the question of why after all these years of undeserved punishment would make anyone continue their loyalty to religion or theology while God sets aside and let these events occur. This question may lead to a crossroad where most young adults either leave their faith behind or carry it with them throughout adulthood which corresponds with the challenge of where most of Lupe’s listeners are saying “Jesus, please help me” for the reason that he dropped an extensive album that would make any listener feel like they are studying for an exam. Just as with any obstacle comes lessons that no one can dodge especially surrounding the events connected to racism and slavery.
The Zong Vessel Massacre
Since the transporting of slaves from West Africa to the West Indies during the Middle Passage, Lupe illustrates with assistance from Leila Z.Braimah-Mahamah reciting Joseph Mallord William Turner’s 1812 “Fallacies of Hope” poem in the intro of “In the Event of the Typhoon.” The intro explains the narrative behind Captain Luke Collingwood’s Zongvessel massacre among other slave ships that patterned the same procedure of casting aside sick and deathbed slaves overboard when she recites, “Before it sweeps your decks, throw overboard the dead and dying—ne’er heed their chains.”
Some slaves committed suicide by diving in the ocean in fear of being killed by their shipowners, according to John Stromski, a Ph.D. student at the University of Tennessee whose work centers around Gothic tropes within nineteenth-century American literature.
Captain Luke and many others committed to the protocol to avoid sunken ships and diseases carried. Plus, Elizabeth Milch, a Genius contributor, points out that they also practiced this procedure to evade anti-slavery West Africa Squadron ships like the HMS Black Joke when Lupe hints, “Yeah shipwreck with us. Grab vessels, bring ‘em down to the depths with us,” on WAV Files. After meeting Assistant Professor of History, Robert L. Jones, at Paine College to discuss the purpose of the West Africa Squadron ships, he noted that the anti-slavery vessel’s objective was to identify and trail behind suspicious ships human trafficking its way to the Americas or West Indies.
The Myths Within the Sea
Nonetheless, the legend linked to the African slaves that were thrown overboard by captains is the hurricane. The myth surrounding the cyclone is that it is a soul of an African woman that faced physical and sexual abuse while tossed overboard during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade when Lupe demandingly rapped, “Wade with us. Baptize and convert to the waves with us,” on the WAV Filesrecord.
“Aloft all hands, strike the top-masts and belay Yon angry setting sun and fierce-edged clouds. Declare the typhoon’s coming,” recited by Leila in the intro does not only explain the decorum used to steer clear of diseases and combatant ships, but it emphasizes the captains’ preparation for the storm that awaits them while sailing from West Africa to their slave trade destinations.
The myth may correlate with why the largest desert in Africa, the Sahara Desert, has a significant impact on the growing number of hurricanes in the United States, the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, according to a photograph captured from the International Space Stationa decade ago in 2007.
The Connection of African Culture to Mythology
As compelling as the Zong folklore is, the backstory paints two partners, African culture and mythology, becoming a union when Lupe yearns, “Yeah, uhh, dive with us, vibe with us” in his second verse on WAV Files. With some captive slaves jumping ship, it signifies that they were going to die on their terms juxtapose to leaning on faith that there is life after death.
Recalling the events leading to enslavement is essential to African and American history. However, the fictional universe that Lupe created towards the bottom of the sea in Downexemplifies that the turmoil the African slaves faced on the surface can be remedied through water if they choose to believe, dive in, and open their eyes and exhale. During a face-to-face interview with Broadway Baptist Church’s pastor, Dr. William C. Joyner, Jr., he revealed that there is a connection from the African hurricane, Zong myth to a parable in the Bible.
“The myth behind the courageous minds of the captive African slaves willingly diving in the sea corresponds perfectly to the lesson in the Bible when Peter ambitiously attempted to walk on water in Matthew 14:28-33,” said Dr. Joyner, Jr.
Dr. Joyner, Jr. explains that the similarities of the fictional story surrounding the African slaves to Peter in the Book of Matthew stem from when Peter saw Jesus standing upon the sea and asks, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus confirmed by saying, “Come,” which led to Peter getting out the boat and trying to walk towards him on water.
The relationship of African mythology to the African slaves made me realize of a close friend’s mother’s internal hurdles as a divorced, single black mother of two children. Her obstacles made way for her to see and understand to place her concerns in the hands of the Lord which bridged this gap of isolation between God and his mother to make it through the drawbacks pertaining of her demographic. Her testimony alongside her ancestors goes to show that the best way to cope and deal with the ongoing Hell on Earth torment that Blacks experience is to uphold myths as a way to survive, according to Virginia Tech’s Professor and Director of Religion and Culture, Sylvester A. Johnson.
Drogas: The Remedy to Survival
Mythology used by African slaves was and still is medication to the soul. The connection makes perfect sense for why the album’s second track, Drogas, is titled as such considering that the Spanish translation for Drogas is drugs. The drug reference ties the relationship between mythology and the black experience which signifies that theology or folklore has been the remedy to survival; hence the acronym of drugs, Don’t Ruin Us God Said. Lupe hints the arching theme of the album when he raps in Spanish stating, “My God is my drug, if not who am I addicted to,” on Drogas.
Involving Dylan James on various instruments like the bongos and bass guitar while embracing David Boykin for writing inspiration develops this Latin theme illustrating the connection of African and Latin culture when Letty Martinez, an On-Air Personality and writer for Genius begins the track with a Spanish translated salutation.
“Partner, 101.5
Good morning, my people!
Leticia here, saluting wherever you may be
In Texas, Mexico, or Los Angeles; to Colombia, Central and South America, Miami; my pals in the Caribbean, Barcelona and back to Chicago
I send kisses (Mmmuah),” said Letty Martinez.
The Drogas record also highlights the Spanish colonists’ role in the genesis of the Atlantic Slave Trade.
The Transition from Pre-slavery to Modern-day Slavery era
The conflicted interconnected relationship between the Latin and African communities stems from Italian colonist, Christopher Columbus, embarking on his infamous 1492 voyage, which came with establishing European colonies in the Americas and the island of Hispaniola, currently known as the Dominican Republic. Spanish colonists not only assisted in taking in African slaves, but there are Africans that speak Spanish hence Melilla, the Canary Islands, and Madeira as some of the cities within North Africa. While interviewing Dr. Joyner, Jr. in his sanctuary at Broadway Baptist Church, he disclosed his statements of the damaged relationship between the Black and Latin community.
“The connection between the pre-slavery and modern-day slavery era is the disconnection that African Americans have from their ancestors caused by the stripping from their land, families, and culture as stated in Deuteronomy 28:64-68,” said Dr. Joyner, Jr.
As dense and rich this musical experience is, the album felt coded and encrypted leaving one to question is this rich content tailored for a specific audience rather than the general public? Then, the footnote regarding the currency used during the Atlantic Slave Trade indicated with a flash of modernism kindred to the penetrating message revealed to Daniel through a dream by God that this concerns the people of color.
Manilla does two things: it resumes this relentless, psychological approach in uncovering the depths of how people of color have undergone physical and mental undeserved mistreatment. Reginald Strong, an additional vocalist for Manilla, bluntly agrees when he vents, “We have been at many times, under much stress since being brought into this country on many, many slave ships.”
Then, the track disguises itself as a checkpoint or chapter introducing the currency used to buy or sell African slaves from West Africa during the Atlantic Slave Trade. Recalling the events of the Middle Passage could also lead one to think that Lupe is boldly demanding economic empowerment when he raps, “Preparations, reparations from segregation.”
Although the Black struggle has been an obstacle since slavery, the generational myths, history passed down, and the stories created by Lupe proves that the purpose behind these stories is to instill hope and strength no matter the circumstances. Inhaling the message that Drogas Wave provides on the third to last song Quotations From Chairman Fred clarifies to its listeners that the water ideology reigns supreme when people of color come to understand how to combat discrepancies in power. After conversating with Assistant Professor of History of Paine College, Robert L. Jones, about the importance in the water he noted one of Black Panther Fred Hampton’s profound statements when he said:
We’ve got to face the fact that some people say
you fight fire best with fire, but we say you put
the fire out best with water. We say you don’t
fight racism with racism. We’re going to fight
racism with solidarity,” said Fred Hampton.
With Fred Hampton identifying water as a weapon just as Lupe believes mythology has been the drug to aid Black America through its oppression, is it safe to conclude that Drogas Wave is a parable that replenishes strength and resiliency in its people to withstand the fire that comes in their direction?