"I can" by Nas is released

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Published on February 11, 2023 1:00:43 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydDcV1WoJjs

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Sampling Beethoven’s Fur Elise, it is the only track on the Album God’s Son without a Parental advisory.

It was specifically aimed at children and is Nas’s highest charting song (in a lead role) peaking at 12 on the Billboard hot 100.

Amateur historian’s note:

I get that it’s a rap song and he has very limited words to convey an idea (he discusses 4000 years of human history in under 20 lines) but the third verse, which serves to inspire young African Americans by linking their modern lives with an ancient and proud heritage, is a tad historically controversial…or at least confused…

It seems to conflate the Kingdom of Kush and The Mali Empire despite being geographically distinct and separated by 1000 years.

And while both were unarguably historically significant in their different eras (Timbuktu was indeed an incredibly wealthy centre of learning and trade) they were not the sole givers of knowledge as portrayed in the song.

Also: It is also unlikely that Alexander the Great was a racist in the modern sense of the word and certainly not to the extent that he would destroy statues and temples featuring African faces simply because they portrayed African faces.

I am open to being proven wrong but extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.