Rhymes and Resistance: Interview with V of 40M
Revolutionary rap artist V of 40M (forty million strong) released The Score less than a month ago, and it’s solid. It’s a collaborative effort with 40M Tye and Hippie G, and produced by beatmaker sensation LABACK.
Dealing with political issues like racism, police brutality, and poverty, The Score is more than just music. It embodies the spirit of Black liberation. V, a hip hop artist from North Carolina, is generating a community voice through raw passion, and leading a movement to reclaim the right of self-determination.1
The Score is an emotional creation and has a more progressive rhythm and tone. There’s an artistry to the vocal delivery that blends melody with street vernacular. His lyrics are intense, and tell the age-old story of a system that has failed its core citizens since the dawn of a nation.
Your music tells the story of what you've gone through in the streets; the pain, the trauma you and your community have lived and breathed. You've turned that into a musical bulletin that fires that message into the face of the world. Tell me what kind of mindset it takes to develop the courage and the personal discipline to turn such negative forces into something positive; something that can guide and help others.
It’s not so much the mind as it is heart and energy, or spirit as you would say, of the person. True; it takes courage, focus, dedication, discipline and fortitude amongst other things, but you have to have a certain level of “love” for something or someone to go all out for it. As far as the movement in general, we know what we’re doing is right. It’s not a matter of belief— and when the cause is truly worthy, or at minimum worthwhile, trust yourself as you should, the process. There’s no telling where or just how far you can go, but trust that you will end up who and where you need to be for whatever it is that comes next. You are ready.
From the time the US was founded as a sovereign state, the law has protected the interests of a socially constructed class of White elites from any possibility of competition from Black lower class communities. It was set up in the beginning, and it will continue in 2024. We all know it, yet there's too much embarrassment, denial, and too many who don't want to admit they have privilege to make any real changes. This has to make it almost impossible to keep any faith or encouragement to keep moving forward and keep fighting for the simplest of human rights. In this idea, you then have to turn to yourself and your own in order to find love and sustainability in life. Is this anywhere close to the idea behind your song, The Score? Have you completely lost confidence in our society's ability to find a connection between the races?
Not exactly. “Races”; racism or not, the “majority” will always do what’s in the best interest of the majority, which will most certainly conflict with the best interest of the “minority”. With that being said, it is up to minority to do what's best for them—even if it’s not in the best interest of the majority. As you said, everyone knows what’s up—whether they acknowledge, admit, concede to, etc is of no consequence. Melanites or “Black” people in America have asked, begged, pleaded, marched, assimilated, etc to no avail and have done so for generations.
This generation will be the beginning of the end of that cycle. If the American Caucasians can run North America, then the Melanites can run Melania, or whatever name given to that particular territory. If the Mexicans can run Mexico, then the Melanites can run their territory too. And if the Chinese can run China, then we can run our shit too—with complete autonomy. It’s as simple as that, regardless of anyone else’s personal or collective opinions. We must and will do for ourselves. Prayerfully it doesn’t require any bloodshed, but if it does—so be it.
Just thinking about that is crazy; the fact that there’s a chance we may have to go to war just because we want to be independent and have control over our own. No different than all the other people of the world. If that doesn’t show you that there’s something wrong, then I don’t know what will.
What do you hope the younger generation is taking away from what you're doing?
At least one autonomous Nation-State, if it’s up to me. From the music? Fearlessness, inspiration, information, and overstanding, amongst other things. To know that despite our individual differences, we are a unit and what we’re fighting for is bigger than any of us. Lastly, that we are asserting our collective self-determination as a people, and are prepared to protect and defend that at all costs.
The Score can be found on all major platforms:
https://song.link/i/1728907675
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2625, international law, establishes the right to self-determination, and can be exercised by establishing a sovereign state, integrating with an independent state, or choosing another political status. ↩︎
