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跳跃 - 第3季 - 第3集

雪莉:Marlanna埃文斯,称为Rapsody更好,hails from a small town in North Carolina called Snow Hill. I'm talking about 1,600 people small. In high school, her career counselor told her she was good with numbers and she'd make a great accountant, but Rapsody had different life goals and she had other plans. I got to sit down with Rapsody and talk about her constant pursuit of perfection, how she went from a small town kid with ideas that could not be held back, to someone who's influence on hip hop runs as deep as some of the best MCs to ever pick up a mic. I'm Shirley Manson, and this is The Jump.

Well, listen, I am so grateful and I know it sounds like I'm blowing wind up your skirt, but I really, really think you're incredibly special. I couldn't really believe that you said yes to this because you've been one of my dream guests since the beginning, since we started.

Rapsody: Oh, wow. I'm so honored.

雪莉（Shirley）：我有1,000,001件事，我想问你，但是这个特殊的播客是关于歌曲创作的。直到您上大学，您才开始说唱，这使我感到震惊。

Rapsody: Yeah, I was a late bloomer.

Shirley: What was your musical experience when you were growing up?

Rapsody: Man, I'm from a super small town in North Carolina.

Shirley: Snow Hill.

说唱：雪山。是的。我们无法进入很多唱片商店，我可以在其中醒来一天醒来并获得CD。我们必须开车30分钟才能做到这一点。我无法访问很多现场表演。因此，我的音乐经历来自电视和广播。我爱上了爸爸妈妈的灵魂。每个星期六早上，我们都会起床并必须清理房屋。我妈妈会戴上她最喜欢的歌曲，这通常包括很多蒂娜·特纳（Tina Turner）和一些帕蒂（Patti）labelle。我父亲是一个疯狂的路德·范德罗斯（Luther Vandross）。 So that's where I get my love of soul music from. Then I fell in love with hip hop.

Shirley: So where were you first exposed to hip hop?

Rapsody:电视。第一个视频我真的看到帽tivated me was MC Lyte's Poor Georgie. That one was the one that was like, "Oh, my God, who is this? It's a woman. I want to do that." I just fell in love with it, the storytelling. Then having the story in video format as well. I fell in love with New York because of that. So I always wanted to live there, but that's my musical experience. I had to sit in front of the floor model TV, Indian style, and just take it in and then imagine myself in New York or what that felt like. So I'm an Aquarius. I have a very open, imaginative mind.

Shirley: Did you always want to be a rapper?

Rapsody: Yeah, always. Since I saw MC Lyte, I knew that's what I wanted to do. The only thing was, growing up where I grew up and I hear stories of other artists that live in big metropolitan cities and they go outside of their homes and they could see Tupac shooting a video down the street or Mod Def or whoever. I didn't have that experience. So being a musician was hard for me to even believe that it was something attainable for me or necessarily, like, this is what I want to do. I don't even know how to go about doing it.

因此，尽管它总是在我的脑海中，但是当您对某件事充满热情时，无论您说什么，我都会做到这一点。它永远不会离开你。所以我说：“我会成为会计师。我喜欢数学。”但这只是

Shirley: An accountant?

说唱：是的。You got to high school and they tell you to go talk to the guidance counselor and figure out what you going to do. It's just like, "Oh, you're good at math. You'd be a great accountant." I'm from the country. I'm just like, "Okay." But knowing, "That's not me. I don't want to sit in no cubicle and punch numbers. I like art. I like to be creative."

所以我上大学和宇宙的工作方式，如果您允许自己开放
and follow it, it'll always set you on a path you're supposed to be on, no matter what.

Shirley: Sure.

Rapsody：去NC State并在一家运动鞋商店找到工作，向我介绍了我最好的终身朋友之一。他以查理·斯玛特斯（Charlie Smarts）的名字命名。通过他积极追求音乐，因为他来自一个音乐家庭，这是他的梦想，他实际上是为之努力。我能够学习并停止恐惧。他把我带到了世界，我们与其他朋友一起成立了一个小组。

Shirley: Were you writing before this, before you met him? Were you writing in notebooks or your head?

Rapsody: I was. Yeah, I was. I started writing poetry first. That was around my middle school, adolescent and high school days. Art always comes from a way of wanting to express yourself. So that was a time where one, you getting 13, being a teenager, you feel like you want to be independent and your parents got all these rules. Then you're falling in love and you're getting your heart broken.

Coming from my family, you know how the Baby Boomers are. It's like, "I ain't trying to hear it, what I said goes," and there's not a lot of conversations going on. So I started writing poetry just to get out what I needed to get out. My frustration, my heartbreak. I'm mad. You won't let me do what I want to do.

雪莉：你知道你现在在你的……好吧，我想你在第四张唱片上工作，对吗？

说唱：是的。My fourth album.

雪莉：没有压力。

说唱：哦，伙计。Let me tell you, I always do the most.

Shirley: Yeah, yes, you do. [music], which takes us, of course, to the song that you chose off your masterpiece, Eve, for this particular podcast, which is about a moment in your writing, in your experience as an artist, where you take a leap of faith or you, or you changed direction, or you realize something about your own artistry or your own writing. So we're going to examine today, Afeni. Have I said it correctly?

说唱：是的。你说正确。

Shirley: So I wanted to know why you put this particular song at the end of this record. What was the reason for its placement there?

Rapsody: One, sonically, it just felt good there, but I think the most important reason is it was a culmination of everything that that album was supposed to be. It brought all the women that I talked about into one. I think the final thought that I wanted to leave was the idea that the greatest thing about women and, too, being a mother is that you bring life forth in this world and we're here to nurture and teach and grow and protect. That's the strength and beauty of a woman.

例如，您看着图帕克（Tupac），他是嘻哈及以后最两极分化的人物之一。他之所以成为他，是因为他是由一个坚强的女人，一个坚强的黑人女人抚养长大的。这个想法可以被采用，并将其置于妇女对这个世界的普遍意义的整体上。

Shirley: She was a political activist, right?

Rapsody：是的，是的。政治活动家，黑豹。她有自己的挣扎，但最终，她像黑人妇女一样坚强。无论我们看着人类还是在自然界中，这都是关于女性能量的东西，不能忽视和拒绝。我只是想在那笔记上结束它，对我们来说，退后一步并认识到女性是多么重要。女人和男人。我认为这就是为什么我们最后放置。

[音乐]

这是我至少有10年的概念。我一直想接受。我们对图帕克（Tupac）的一部分进行了取样。我已经知道了十年，我想以某种方式使用该作品，并从女人的角度继续讲故事，他抬起头。这些年来，我在这里和那里尝试过，但是一切都在当时发生，应该发生。

[音乐]

The biggest challenge was how are we going to find the acapella? Luckily enough, I was on Google. I was like, man, I've seen him rap it live before, and I Googled it. There's a YouTube of Tupac in a classroom. He's reciting those lyrics from Keep Your Head Up acapella. I was like, man, this is divine. I hate I never got to meet Afeni, but 2016 when I went ... or was it 2017? I can't remember what year I went to the Grammys, that was when To Pimp a Butterfly was nominated. It was my first nomination through that album. I decided to show up in recognition of Pac because I know Pac, that album was heavily influential for Kendrick, too. So I wore a Tupac t-shirt and I got an email maybe three days later from Afeni's people. She was like, "Send Rapsody a message that I appreciate her continuing my son's legacy by wearing his shirt."

雪莉：令人难以置信。

Rapsody：该信息对我来说意义重大。

Shirley: Yeah. Yeah. Really amazing. Right. When that history reaches out and touches you from the people that you idolize is

Rapsody: Absolutely.

Shirley: ... wild. So tell me, how did this particular song come together to the point where you were ready to write on it?

Rapsody: We built the beat for that one first.

Shirley: So they just play your beat, and you're like, "I really love that. Let me go more on it."

Rapsody：我一直回到一个特别的节奏，我就像是：“哟，我听到Pac。[音乐]。

It was soulful. It gave me that Keep Your Head Up feeling and Pac was on in with that little, "I wonder why we take from our women, why we rape our women," and then just go with what feels right. I was in a space then where it's like I don't want to overthink it. I just want to come with what feels right. Who am I talking to? I'm talking to the fellows, but I'm not mad at the fellows. We having just an honest conversation.

我当时想，这张专辑是给女性的，并且专门针对女性，但这也适合研究员。所以我的兄弟们，我爱你。首先，我什至没有在你身上来找你，哟，你很烂，我恨你。就像，不，我想告诉你我爱你，告诉你为什么，表达我们的感受，是我还是是女人的社区。因为当时，我正在通过社交媒体，黑人妇女的感受，他们的感觉不受保护的方式进行了许多采访和对话。他们没有被爱。他们觉得自己应该得到更多。因此，我想讲述故事的那一面并为我们的家伙人性化。

雪莉：我认为那首歌充满了细微差别，这就是使它如此动人的原因。

说唱：对。这是我今年学到的一件大事。我已经摆脱了对与错，更多的是感觉什么好，感觉不好和真相。你的真相是什么？这就是我们需要实现的目标。每个人都有不同的真理。

Shirley: With every verus, do you try and change up your cadence? Is that a deliberate move or is it dependent on the words that come up into your brain when you're writing?

Rapsody：是的，对我来说，这是所有事物的一点点组合，尤其是在那段时间。有时就像，哟，我可以使用几种不同的方法？有时我可以找到多少个不同的口袋？有时就像，我会做一节经文，然后我来接近第二节。就像，哦，这只是另一个，这是我可以走的另一条街道。我去过那条街。让我带你走一条街。

这就是我的处理方式。老实说，我的下一个水平是简单但复杂的，就像掌握更多的东西一样，我可以做一些疯狂的杂技，然后将您吹走。但是我可以在睡眠中做到这一点。我已经做了多年了。现在，让我尝试捕捉氛围，但与此同时，仍然让您满意。那是我的挑战。[音乐]。

雪莉：所以让我们谈谈你的话。您以令人难以置信的流程而闻名。这个抒情是什么？因为我读到据称是字母。是对的吗？

Rapsody：是的，这是我给黑人妇女的信，所有不同的黑人妇女，无论我们是在谈论某人的母亲，某人的妻子，某人的家庭女孩，某人的妹妹。当您目前看一个黑人妇女时，即使是现在，也有一件很大的保护我们的女人。确保我们的女人很好。您必须以与姐姐，母亲，最好的朋友，您的家庭女孩在大学遇到的烹饪意大利面一样的姐姐，母亲，最好的朋友，您的家庭女孩的方式出现。就是这样。这是我给兄弟们的信，说：“别忘了。”当您看到不遵守的兄弟时，请检查您的男人。就是这样。

Shirley: Do you feel a responsibility to put a female perspective in your work? Or was this just specific to this particular album?

Rapsody: I'm going to be real. I came in and I knew my purpose and I knew what I was passionate about.

Shirley: Do you mean into the game of, into the music business or do you mean into the studio?

Rapsody: Both.

雪莉：两者，是的。

Rapsody: And how I should want it to show up. So I was raised by a village of strong black women and when I fell in love with hip hop, I fell in love with the culture. But I really resonated with the women in it, with MC Lyte, with Queen Latifah, with Missy, with Lauren. I saw myself in them. I saw voice in them.

So when it was time for me to have my space and make a path for myself, I necessarily didn't come in like, "I'm going to come and be a warrior for women." I came in being myself. That's something that I'm passionate about. So it wasn't anything that I had to mull over, say I'm intentionally doing this. It's just naturally what I like to talk about and the stories that I like to tell, because it's important to me and I see myself in that. So I just came in telling my stories, telling the stories of the women that I looked up to, what I see in my community, what's important to me. It just naturally came out.

Every project that I've done, I've made space to talk about women. At this time, too, I was thinking I feel like people put me in a box, where they feel like I'm just this one thing or this one person, because I've been so intentional. I have been on a certain narrow path of what I talk about and how I show up. But there's so much more of who Rapsody is. People say, "Oh, you're cool and reserved," but I will go a zero to a hundred when the time called. It's just like, let me show people that I'm human, but let me do it in a creative way where I can give them me, but I can also continue the legacy of all these women that have inspired me.

This is probably one of my most important albums because it allowed me to even see me, where I went through the process of figuring out who I was as an artist, what my voice was. Now I was able to see a reflection of myself. It's just like, okay, now it's time to really, really do the work. You figured out your purpose and your passion. Now make your path for real. So it set the stage for me to say there is so much more to me, and on his fourth album, I'm going to go there and I'm going to show you even more because I'm even more aware of myself. I think that's what it was. I've said it a lot in other interviews, people would box me in as a female rapper. Right?

雪莉：对。

RAPSODY：他们将那个女性标签放在它的前面。所以我的回答是：“我不仅仅是女性说唱歌手。我只是一个MC。”

雪莉：辉煌。

Rapsody: I didn't like that label because when you put female in front of it or in the same way you put Muslim in front of it

Shirley: It's reductive.

RAPSODY：是的，这是还原性的。它使您与应该是条形或金圆圈的东西分开，这使您成为其他人。它变成了“哦，这是最好的10个女性说唱歌手。”我想，那到底是什么？我不想参加。您将我放在您最喜欢的说唱歌手中？

Shirley: Yeah. Hallelujah.

说唱：是的。但这是一个均匀的竞争。“男人，女人，如果您50岁，如果您15岁，如果您来自德国，尼日利亚，美国，这都没关系。这是艺术。我们都在同一运动场上。因此，我不需要您将我的性别放在我选择做的事情面前。人们可以看着我，他们知道我是一个女人。这是关于这种音乐的。唯一重要的是，它是涂料或不是涂料。就是这样。 That's all you need to put in front of my name. I'm either dope or not.

[音乐]

雪莉：在我看来，一般来说，每个人都在整个世界上尊重您。似乎在音乐行业中，每个人都对您的看法很高。

Rapsody:谢谢。我不得不努力工作ke all the women did. It's interesting. I just saw a article that highlighted Chica and she made the comment that women don't have the luxury to be mediocre at all in hip hop. We have to be ill. We have to perform 10 times better. In the same way, people say it about black Americans. We have to work 10 times harder. It's the same thing for us.

There's some guys out and they can come in and skill-wise, they just not as skillful, but we don't have that same luxury. So all the respect that I get, I had to work 10, 20 times harder to get. I remember interviews I would do, whether it be songs with Kendrick or Crit or Black Thought, and people would say, "Yo, when you were writing your verse, did you go in like would you feel pressured like you had to kill it?" I'd be like, "No, I've worked for this."

I could come in and be mediocre because people would expect like, "Oh, you're going against Black Thought, Kendrick. We expect you to get ate up." That's sad to say that it's like that, and that's how people look at women.

雪莉：您似乎以令人难以置信的居中和强大的态度，不仅是艺术家，而且是女人。我很好奇这个，这就是我所说的恩典。从您小时候开始，它也必须来自某种具体的自我意识。

说唱：哦，伙计。我想几个地方。我认为，一个人在一个有这么多兄弟姐妹和如此多的堂兄的家中，您会很快学习谦卑，并从不同的角度学习看待事物。我在和我的姨妈说话。她说：“小时候你总是那么安静。你曾经只是坐下来观察，观察和观察。”人们会认为我是如此害羞，我真的不是。但是我曾经看过东西。我在最后。所以我看到了我大姐姐所做的一切。我必须在他们的好日子和糟糕的日子里见到我的爸爸妈妈。

我只是观察到很多。它只是给了我视角。再次，我的父母和我周围的许多人灌输了教育的力量，寻求知识和学习，上大学，工作，兼职工作，与老年人交谈，各行各业的年轻人让自己从这些人那里学习而不是判断，这有时是我所拥有的。但是，足够谦虚地意识到这一点，说这不酷。我认为这是我的基础，以及我如何成为自己的身份，我现在是我的这个版本。[音乐]

Shirley: Listen, thank you so much.

Rapsody:谢谢。

Shirley: You are a goddess.

RAPSODY：我很喜欢。谢谢。

Shirley: No, I really appreciate it. I send you so much love.

说唱：回爱。

雪莉：谢谢，说唱。我感激你。说唱：再见。

[音乐]

Shirley: The Jump is hosted by me, Shirley Manson, and is produced by Dann Gallucci. The Jump is an original series from MailChimp produced in partnership with Little Everywhere. Dann Gallucci and Jane Marie are the executive producers. The Jump is mixed by Mike Richter. Original music composed by Hrishikesh Hirway, and a very special thanks goes out to our wonderful booker, Mara Davis.