History is not just for school. It is also meant to be used and referenced in our everyday lives. Few artists understand this quite like Che Armond Smith, aka Rhymefest. The beloved Chicago rapper, songwriter, producer and philanthropist may have made a name for himself through his Grammy and Academy Award-winning work on songs like “Jesus Walks” and “Glory,” but on his latest project, “James & Nikki: A Conversation,” he explores the racial, social and gender-based dynamics of Black men and women.
“A sign of brilliance is curiosity, and I got so curious,” he said.
The musical project offers its creators and listeners the opportunity to explore how issues of the past continue to play out in the present. If we are to break negative cycles, it is critical that we confront rather than ignore what has amounted to interpersonal struggle and strife. This music project aims to do just that. “James & Nikki: A Conversation” is out now through Golden State Entertainment.
Smith said he was inspired to create this work after viewing a brief Instagram clip of poet Nikki Giovanni and writer James Baldwin in conversation. Their talk, conducted in 1971, was uncomfortable, moving and important as they discussed topics like the concept of manhood, the ubiquitousness of racism and the purpose of the writer in the public eye.
But most critically, it also spoke to the unsaid dynamics of frustration and confusion between Black men and women.
(Giovanni said), “Why do I get the worst of it? Why do you go to work and smile at them and come home and frown at me? Why do you yell at me and talk nice to him?” Smith recalled about their dynamic.
Fresh off the heels of the civil rights movement of the ’50s and ’60s, Giovanni and Baldwin’s conversation highlighted the somewhat diverging interests and specific struggles of Black men versus Black women in the new decade.
“They spoke as student and teacher, as a man and woman, as poet to poet, as gay to bi, in divine communication,” Smith said. “And when I saw that conversation, I said, ‘People will release clips, but it will never be put in context unless we update it and bring it into what it means for our relationships today.”
Indeed, 50 years later, the uncomfortable truths of Giovanni and Baldwin’s conversation are still relevant. The Black American experience is not what it once was, but the fraught state of our interpersonal relationships remains both public and private fodder. In looking for a jumping-off point for his next body of work, Smith found a real opportunity to speak to contemporary concerns through the lessons of our cultural ancestors.
It also came about during the right time in his own life, as he strove to improve the dynamics within his home. Before and during the creation of this project, Smith gained a deeper understanding of his own faults and failures, and how they can have a longer-lasting effect on his family.
“That touches me because I’m going through a journey right now to discover the most divine part of my masculinity, how to heal my home,” Smith said. “My mind, my life and my career didn’t start to feel better until I started healing my home. Until I started really figuring out my personal relationships, which meant figuring out myself. Your home should be your battery charger. Your home shouldn’t be the boxing ring.”
“James & Nikki: A Conversation” was a moment to work on inner healing within his own life as much as it was for audiences everywhere.
The project features six local women in hip hop, including Brittney Carter, Helixx C. Armageddon, Teefa, Freddie Old Soul, EP Da Hellcat and C-Red. “It wouldn’t be complete unless I had a woman counter everything that I was saying,” added Smith about mirroring Baldwin and Giovanni’s conversation. “All of these songs are in the spirit of Nicki, because a lot of times, men speak, but we don’t see the whole view because we didn’t listen.” Producers on the project include Gensu Dean, Jon Jon Traxx and Rodney L. Gilcreast, among others.
Now out in the world, Smith hopes “James & Nikki: A Conversation” unfurls how we often turn our relationships into competitions or revel in willful misunderstandings. Part of it is the comfortability of toxicity, thinking that is all we may have to offer. But toxicity is neither noble nor should it be normalized, and by doing so, we attract more of it into our lives. Healing is a two-step process, something that requires both men and women for any real change to come about.
“Sometimes, we love looking and pointing the finger at somebody, [but] this project is a finger pointed at me and back at you,” said Smith. “What does forgiveness mean for you? Under what circumstances can you forgive? How heavy can it be before you say I just can’t do that? We all have a threshold, and this project, I pray that it makes people question their own threshold.”
Britt Julious is a freelance critic.