untitled- Mixtape

 Jadyn Bradley 

ENGL 2016 

11/27/2025 

Major Project 

For my major project, I have decided to create a mixtape with songs from various black artists. The goal of the mixtape is to show the meaning behind each song and detail how they highlight the multiple struggles in the lives of black Americans. It is meant to highlight the complexities of black culture, the great and the bad, but both sides are important stories to tell. I wanted to focus on a few aspects that relate to the story of Bigger Thomas in ‘Native Son’, so the songs focus on topics like poverty, systemic oppression, childhood trauma, violence, but also hope and black excellence. 

1. m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar - I wanted to start the playlist addressing struggles within the black community first, so I put ‘m.A.A.d city’ by Kendrick Lamar at the top of the playlist. The song focuses on violence within the black community. He retells his story of watching men be killed off in front of him, watching shootings within his neighbourhood, friends that he lost due to violence, and how he has become desensitised to it all due to growing up with it. He also dives into the topic of gang violence and the pressure of survival. 

 2. PTSD by G Herbo -  I followed that song up with ‘PTSD’ by G Herbo, where the rapper talks about the normalcy of watching shootings and witnessing friends dying young, and even talks about his diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder due to witnessing such violence throughout his childhood.  G Herbo goes a bit further, delving into the mental health crisis within the black community and how young boys are expected to be strong despite the chaos they live in, and how therapy isn’t always available.  Both songs, in my opinion, complement one another, each telling almost the same story. Both Kendrick Lamar and G Herbo speak about the effects on a child’s psyche, and also factor in what causes someone to turn to gang violence, like poverty, and lack of a way to make it out of said communities. 

3. This is America by Childish Gambino - Childish Gambino speaks about the media and how it portrays black communities, how the public likes to participate in trends, memes, music, etc., that are created by black Americans, all while ignoring the struggles they face, like police brutality, shootings, state violence, mass incarceration, anti-black discrimination, etc. As lighthearted as the song sounds, it’s meant to distract you, especially when paired with the music video. It’s all symbolism, showing that people care more about the trends and when black people can entertain, but not any of the issues that they face.

  4. You & the 6 by Drake - Even though it is a song that is a lot more personalised to Drake and does not really address the community, it is still relevant. He raps about ‘the six’, and how it shaped his life, but especially the way he was treated differently from the rest of his peers as a black boy in Toronto. He speaks about police violence and how his mixed identity didn’t keep him safe from the discrimination he experienced. Like ‘PTSD’ and ‘m.A.A.d city’, it’s a commentary on the cycle of poverty and violence and how that shapes someone. Bigger’s crowded apartment, living in poverty, lack of stability, the constant responsibility, and many more issues in his life contributed to the way he saw life and, in turn, people. Bigger’s violence in ‘Native Son’ is not random or something he just felt like doing; it comes from years of oppression and the circumstances in which he was placed.

 5. Alright by Kendrick Lamar - ‘Alright’ holds more of a darker but hopeful tone compared to Childish Gambino’s song. He points out various topics, like the fear of dying at the hands of law enforcement, racial profiling, and the cycle of poverty and violence that some black Americans face. However, the song carries an optimistic tone, it promotes black people to stay aware of these topics but keep their heads up regardless of it. ‘Alright’ is the hope that Bigger didn’t have.

 6. Brenda’s Got a Baby by Tupac - A song meant to tell the story of a young girl who has been failed by almost every system and institution around her. School, family, government, and her community, all systems that didn’t seem to care about her or for her. Both Bigger and Brenda are born into extreme poverty, over policed areas, and have little to no community or opportunities, as well as no father figures in their lives. Their stories, Brenda’s pregnancy and her child, and Bigger killing Mary and soon after Bessie, are both sensationalised, and the two are also demonised for their actions, their childhoods, and their living situations, not taken into consideration. They are written off as monstrous for their actions and nothing more. 

7. Ville Mentality by J Cole - Ville Mentality is a song that explains what can happen when being exposed to so many things growing up can go left. J Cole explains how his hope during his childhood had been replaced with anger, and his fear replaces any ambitions. Survival became his number one priority above all else. This is exactly Bigger’s mentality. During the scene where he accidentally kills Mary, he fears being accused before anything even happens, which leads to Mary’s death. He was scared of being seen as something he wasn’t, so he acted without thinking. 

8. Answer by Tyler, the Creator - ‘Answer’ is a song about the hurt of having an absent parent, but specifically for Tyler, the Creator, an absent father. It discusses the uncertainties and instability that come with having someone who is meant to be there, not be there. Bigger grows up without a father, which makes the reader wonder how different his life might’ve been with a father or a father figure present in his life.

  9. Daddy Lessons by Beyonce - A song that speaks about lessons inherited from family to be able to survive being black in a dangerous world. The song is told from the perspective of someone being taught by their father; however, Bigger learns these lessons from his mother. Due to being the only man in his family, he’s forced to grow up quickly. His masculinity is questioned when he doesn’t “be a man” and take care of the family. The song is a critique of some parents, particularly black parents, and the way they pass down generational trauma onto their kids, keeping them in a state of fear by teaching them to be distrustful of everyone, emotionally stiff and in some cases, violent. Bigger learns these lessons throughout his life, not needing to be told, just looking at the environment around him. He turns on Bessie because of fear. He decides that he doesn’t trust her anymore and kills her to ensure his safety. 

10. Swimming Pools by Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools is about alcoholism within the black community, how drowning themselves in alcohol is a way of coping with fear, pressure, and to numb themselves. Bigger doesn’t use alcohol as far as the reader is concerned, but he does use other means of self-destruction. He uses recklessness and violence to fix his problems and numb himself instead, which only leads him deeper and deeper into his drowning and more and more into trouble. 

11. Started from the Bottom by Drake - A song about finally making it out and rising above humble beginnings, which is a desire that we see from Bigger. While the song is mostly a flex for Drake, it can be applied to Bigger. At the beginning, Bigger longs for autonomy and respect, something that Drake was able to accumulate, but not every black person can achieve due to systems that keep them from doing so. Bigger’s violence against Mary and Bessie is his twisted way of being able to take back that control. 

12. Not Like Us by Kendrick Lamar - I see ‘Not Like Us’ as another song from Kendrick Lamar that is, in a way, celebrating black culture, despite it being a diss track towards Drake. His usage of a West Coast hip hop beat, as well as using slang from the West Coast, all while pointing out Drake's comments that might hint towards hatred towards his own blackness (his comments about Kendrick freeing the slaves with his music, Kendrick pointing out his cultural inauthenticity and lack of respect for hip hop and its roots, etc), is something that I think is very important for the black community as well as history, in my opinion. It calls for other black people to be authentic, be themselves, and just happens to use Drake as an example. 

13. Glory by John Legend & Common - I wanted to end the playlist with another song of hope. Like ‘Alright’ by Kendrick Lamar, ‘Glory’ is a song that raps and sings about police brutality and systemic inequality of black people, but to keep the strength despite it all. It’s a song of looking towards tomorrow and hoping for better, an outlook that was never given to our main character.

 Here is a link for the playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5iMT2kW91LCi8GijuJZnEO?si=c94bf7fc24e14065