The ‘Birth of a Nation Soundtrack’ resonates with our deeply divided society

Franklin Lewis

October 9, 2016

The new film The Birth of a Nation is based on Nat Turner’s slave rebellion of 1831, in which 60 white people were killed by a group of slaves in what Turner believed was a sign from God to rise up. The film was released on Oct. 7, but the soundtrack is a powerful collection on its own. Although this isn’t a formal album or mixtape, the soundtrack features notable rappers and hip-hop artists such as Nas, Lil Wayne, 2Chainz, The Game and Gucci Mane — and for this reason it should not be slept on. At a time of heightened tensions in this country, especially between the black community and law enforcement, many of these songs resonate deeply and the artists seem to be speaking about more than the issues in the movie.
In the song “Whip & A Chain,” 2Chainz references the prejudice placed on African-Americans by police in the first verse: “Hustle in Rollie, you know it’s time for that / Broken tail light, you can die for that / Ain’t no LOL, ain’t no hidin’ that.” This is likely referring to the incident on July 2016 when Philando Castile and his girlfriend were pulled over for a broken tail light. The ordeal escalated and ended with Castile being shot and killed by a police officer as he was asked for his license and registration.
While 2Chainz may be more subtle with his lyrics, Vic Mensa comes in hot on his song “Go Tell Em,’” calling out George Zimmerman, Bill O’Reilly, and Megyn Kelly directly, amongst others. The Zimmerman diss follows, “But we still can’t cross the street / Without the cops tryna Zimmerman us while the whole neighborhood watch / They chained us to the auction block but now we changin’ the locks.”
What is also interesting about this soundtrack is the choice to use a more current style of hip-hop rather than more historically accurate music of the time. Andre Sirois, instructor of a University of Oregon hip-hop course and multimedia supervisor in the cinema studies program, explained this choice and what advantages it might give to the movie overall.
“I think it works well with this type of film that also looks at racism, struggle, and the eventual resistance to the oppression with Nat Turner,” Sirois said in an email to the Emerald. “That’s some hip-hop shit.”
Sirois also noted that while the film is capturing a moment in history, period pieces don’t need to be historically accurate or authentic to please an audience. No rule states that the soundtrack for historical films must match the time the plot is set in, as long as the music can mesh with the action. For example, Django Unchained and Idlewild both featured hip-hop songs that flowed with the overall tone of the movie.
“Using hip-hop I think makes it relevant to people today, it brings in the audience, and if you look at what’s going on with #blacklivesmatter and police brutality today you can see how hip-hop is [a] voice for speaking out against the same shit Nat Turner was revolting against almost 200 years ago,” Sirois said.
Listen to the album here:
https://soundcloud.com/atlanticrecords/sets/the-birth-of-a-nation-the
Check out The Emerald’s review of the film The Birth of a Nation:
https://www.dailyemerald.com/2016/10/08/review-the-birth-of-a-nation-seeks-greatness-but-falls-short/
Songs to add to your playlist: