“Blood on the Leaves”; ’s Rendition and Additions to the Politically Charged “”

Jamie Aciukewicz Davidson College Humanities 104 Dr. Amanda Ewington and Dr. Scott Denham May 13, 2020

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“Strange fruit hanging from the poplar tree.”1 You can hear the pain in ’s voice as she sings this line, clearly not talking about some poor tasting fruit. No, the fruit to which Simone is referring is much stranger, so strange in fact that it does not belong hanging from a tree. Simone compares fruit to people, specifically African Americans who were lynched in the , “swinging in the Southern Breeze.” Kanye West samples Simone’s version of “Stange Fruit” in his “Blood on the Leaves”, which he does very deliberately. By including “Stange Fruit”, Kanye turns “Blood on the Leaves” to transform the song into a political anthem; Kanye pays tribute to Simone by creating his own version of “Strange Fruit” in the outro of his song, calling the listener to action to confront the racist history of in our country.

This song is far from Kanye’s first political move, so I examine his activism, using his fame to call for change. Kanye created his fifth studio album, , with the intent of commenting on problems he sees in society. In this sense, he connects to Nina Simone, both outspoken in their quests for justice and equality, using music to spread their messages. In order to understand the deeper significance of “Blood on the Leaves”, we must first understand the historical context of “Strange Fruit”, which Simone did not create by herself. Kanye juxtaposes

“Strange Fruit” with the loud horns of “R U Ready”, depending on his level of connection to his lyrical content. The song builds until the bridge, which he uses to make a larger claim about racial violence in the United States. Finally, Kanye ends the song with a powerful outro, delivering his rendition of “Strange Fruit”, altered to focus upon learning from past incidents of racism that continue to present themselves today. But first, some definitions.

1 “Nina Simone – Strange Fruit Lyrics | Genius Lyrics,” accessed May 13, 2020, https://genius.com/Nina-simone- strange-fruit-lyrics.

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In order to discuss this song and the context, I will use a few musical terms throughout this paper. The “intro” is how a song begins, often building to the climax of the song. The

“outro” is the opposite of the intro, acting as the conclusion of the song, slowly fading after the climax. The “hook” refers to an upbeat part of a song, designed to make the song appealing and catch the ear of the listener. Keep these definitions in mind as we discuss Kanye’s “Blood on the

Leaves”.

Rap music serves as a political platform for voiceless minority communities to call for social change: Kanye West has used his music and his fame to give a voice to the voiceless.

Jasmine S. Greene—a film director and author—writes, “Hip hop is extremely political and will continue to affect all avenues of American politics and society.”2 Since the beginning of the genre, rappers have been using their music for an outlet to the black experience in the United

States, which ripples throughout society and the political system. Kanye West—an Atlanta born,

Chicago raised rapper—basks in the spotlight and uses his fame to highlight issues in society.

Kanye has mastered the art of sampling, twisting from far and wide to fit his vision. Kanye draws from a huge range of influences, including jazz, soul, electronic, rock, and everything in between. Greene argues, “Like hip hop in its beginnings, Kanye West gave a political voice to the voiceless urban black community.”3 Kanye is incredibly outspoken and continues to use his platform to call for change.

Through the themes in his music, and his fearless ability to attack issues head on, Kanye ties in his personal experience to speak about larger social issues. Lori Burns—a music professor

2 Jasmin S. Greene, Beyond Money, Cars, and Women: Examining Black Masculinity in Hip Hop Culture (GB: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge Scholars Publisher, 2008), 100. 3 Greene, Examining Black Masculinity, 104.

Aciukewicz 4 at the University of Ottawa—discusses Kanye’s political activism, “[Kanye] has consistently focused on themes of race, gender, class, fame, and consumer culture, writing himself into the stories in order to contextualize his own lived experiences within larger political contexts.”4

Tying in his personal experience allows Kanye to ground the themes he talks about in his music, making his calls for change more effective. Without the necessary step of bringing in his personal experience, Kanye would be unable to call for change, despite his fame. One of the most famous examples of Kanye using his platform to highlight issues in our society was after

Hurricane Katrina in 2005, at which point he had only just risen to the spotlight with the release of his debut album in the year prior. During a fundraising campaign, broadcasted live on NBC, for victim relief following the natural disaster, Kanye went off script to share his thoughts and disappoints with how the government handled the situation. Kanye then delivered one of the most iconic lines of his career to the millions of people watching the broadcast, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people”.5 Kanye did not shy away from sharing his true thoughts to avoid potential criticism, but rather leaned into discomfort to tell the world his feelings.

In his fifth album—Yeezus--released in 2013, Kanye experiments more and talks about societal issues in new way compared to his previous projects. The album relies on heavy electronic influence-- more so than other projects—especially compared to My Beautiful Dark

Twisted Fantasy, his 2010 album, of which Kanye has nothing but praise. Burns describes this transition, “West expands his sonic palette into minimalist textures and industrial sounds.”6

(Yeezus sounds completely different compared to his prior projects, but this was very much his

4 Lori Burns, Alyssa Woods, and Marc Lafrance, “Sampling and Storytelling: Kanye West’s Vocal and Sonic Narratives,” in The Cambridge Companion to the Singer-, 1st ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2016), 168-169. 5 Kanye West as quoted in Greene, Examining Black Masculinity, 104. 6 Burns, Kanye West’s Vocal and Sonic Narratives, 161.

Aciukewicz 5 goal in creating the project. When comparing the two albums Kanye stated, “I showed people that I understand how to make perfect. ‘…Dark Fantasy’ could be considered perfect. But I’m not here to make perfect, I’m here to crack the pavement and make new grounds sonically and society, culturally.”7 The transition is very notable when listing to the album as Kanye builds upon all his past projects. Kanye feels Yeezus more accurately depicts what is inside of his mind,

“I feel I was able to start making exactly what was in my mind, again. And not having to speak with the textures of the time.”8 This album is heavy, and at times hard to listen to, but that is exactly what Kanye intended. Kanye masterfully weaves current social issues into his lyrics and

Burns explains, “with his fifth and sixth albums, West embarks on a harsh critique of race and class in relation to American consumerism and the music industry.”9 Two tracks that specifically highlight Kanye’s societal critiques are “” and “Blood on the Leaves”, the latter of on which my paper will focus.

“Blood on the Leaves” opens with an excerpt of Nina Simone’s song entitled “Strange

Fruit”, which she recorded in 1965. Simone, however, was not the first artist to record the song, as her version is a cover of Billie Holidays rendition under the same name, originally released in

1939. Although, the song goes further back into history as a Jewish teacher from New York--

Abel Meeropol—wrote a poem after viewing an image of a lynching. The image is particularly graphic, depicting two black men--Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith-- presumably dead after being hung. A white mob looks on and some point at the lifeless bodies swinging. Holiday’s version went on to be named the best song of the 20th century by time magazine. However,

Kanye chose to use Nina Simone’s version partially due to her status as a political activist and

7 Kanye West as quoted in Burns, Kanye West’s Vocal and Sonic Narratives, 161. 8 Kanye West as quoted in Burns, Kanye West’s Vocal and Sonic Narratives, 161. 9 Burns, Kanye West’s Vocal and Sonic Narratives, 168.

Aciukewicz 6 partially because her rendition brought attention to the song in a way that Holiday’s version had not.10

Like Kanye, Nina Simone was incredibly outspoken, and she used her platform as a performer to call for social change. Throughout her career, Simone fought for women’s as well as blacks’ rights across the globe. Ruth Feldstein—a history professor at Rutgers University— describes Simone’s activism, “[Simone] was known to have supported the struggle for black freedom in the United States earlier, more directly, and in a more outspoken manner around the world than had many other African American entertainers.” 11 Outspokenness is a trait that both

Kanye and Simone share, both unafraid of spilling the contents of their minds, regardless if some people might be offended. Feldstein talks about how Simone used her songs, “the challenges to liberalism that Simone posed in her songs about race relations led many fans to associate her with black power and black cultural nationalism.”12 By singing about relevant social topics,

Simone cemented her image as a fighter for rights and became known as an important figure in the social rights movement throughout the 1960s. This platform is partially why her version of

“Strange Fruit” brought fame both to the song itself, as well as the issues the song highlights surrounding the lynching of African Americans across the United States. Simone became known as an activist, not just as a musician, as Feldstein recounts, “Nina Simone's stardom over the course of the 1960s-her music, her activism, her reception and self-presentation, and the intersection of all of these in her highly visible public persona-helps us to render black activism

10 David Margolick, Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song, 1st ed. (New York: Ecco Press, 2001). 11 Ruth Feldstein, “‘I Don’t Trust You Anymore’: Nina Simone, Culture, and Black Activism in the 1960s,” The Journal of American History; Oxford 91, no. 4 (March 2005): 1350–51. 12 Feldstein, Black Activism, 1366.

Aciukewicz 7 in all of its richness.”13 Her activism, combined with the deeper meaning of the song itself, pushed Kanye to sample her work in his song “Blood on the Leaves”.

Kanye’s raps about previous experiences--especially relating to past relationships and drugs—but the inclusion of “Strange Fruit” pushes “Blood on the Leaves” to have a deeper political meaning. Kanye’s lyrics are not overtly political and “Blood on the Leaves” would have a very different, much less significant, feel without Simone. In both the second and third verses,

Kanye raps, “Or was it on the first party, When we tried our first molly, And came out of our body, And came out of our body.”14 These lyrics can be taken completely at face value, there is no underlying, deeper meaning, which plays into the traditional rap narrative of talking about money and drugs. Later in the song, Kanye describes the dichotomy of appearing wealthy, although the façade is fake, “Two-thousand-dollar bag with no cash in your purse.”15 The idea of buying expensive goods to appear wealthy and gain social standing applies so heavily to consumer culture, regardless of race and gender. These lyrics by themselves are not very political, and in many senses align with traditional rap music narrative mentioned above. But these lyrics, coupled with “Strange Fruit”, turn the song into a political statement. Kanye switches between the backing tracks of “Strange fruit” when he raps from his personal experience and thoughts, and the heavy industrial horn sound of “R U Ready” by TNGHT— another sample Kanye uses in “Blood on the Leaves”—to speak on collective experiences and hypothesize other peoples’ thoughts.

13 Feldstein, Black Activism, 1379. 14 Kanye West – Blood on the Leaves, accessed May 13, 2020, https://genius.com/Kanye-west- blood-on-the-leaves-lyrics. 15 Kanye West – Blood on the Leaves.

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Kanye and Simone are connected through using their fame as a platform for outspoken activism, and thus Kanye relies on “Strange fruit” to discuss his own thoughts and the contents of his mind. This connection is apparent in the first line of the song as Kanye opens, “(Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees—blood on the leaves), I just need to clear my mind now, It's been racin' since the summertime (Breeze).”16 Immediately, the listeners hears the link between

Kanye and Simone as Kanye begins the song talking about his mind. From the beginning, Kanye makes it clear that this song does have significance as he uses the melody to clear his mind and get his thoughts recorded, despite most of the song seeming to have no greater meaning.

Towards the end of the first verse, Kanye highlights the connection between him and Simone,

“(Black bodies— (Simultaneous with Kanye, swinging in the southern breeze)) All want something out me, Then they talk about me (Breeze), Would be lost without me.”17 Neither

Kanye nor Simone shy away from the spotlight, and their actions are usually dissected and talked about in popular media. Both served as important voices for the black community and Kanye hints at this through the line “would be lost without me”. These words apply to Simone, as an extension of Kanye in the context. At the end of the second verse, Kanye delivers the powerful line, “(Black bodies- (simultaneous with Kanye) swinging in the Southern breeze) Before the blood on the leaves (Breeze),I know there ain't wrong with me (Strange fruit- (simultaneous with

Kanye, hanging from the poplar trees)), Something strange is happenin' (from the poplar trees).”18 This stanza is where Simone and Kanye are most connected, as Kanye directly ties in

Simone’s own lyrics while she sings in the background. White mobs lynched Africans

16 Kanye West – Blood on the Leaves. I added the parenthesis to denote how Kanye uses “Strange Fruit”. Commas denote line breaks, according to Genius.com 17 Kanye West – Blood on the Leaves. 18 Kanye West – Blood on the Leaves.

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Americans throughout the United States, solely due to their skin color. Kanye claims, albeit not explicitly, that he knows there is nothing wrong with him—and thus all black people around the world—solely due to skin color.

Kanye raps over the horns from “R U Ready” when talking about collective experience with another person or other people’s thoughts, from which he feels disconnected. The bare bones industrial sound of this sample lacks feeling and emotion but is more piercing than the soft piano accompaniment of “Strange Fruit”. Kanye paints a picture of a molly trip, “Running naked down the lobby, And you was screamin' that you love me, Before the limelight tore ya, Before the limelight stole ya.”19 While Kanye feels disconnected here, these lyrics parallel “Strange

Fruit” as society “stole” the protagonist from Kanye, like how white mobs stole black people from their families before lynching them. Later in the song, Kanye sings, “Then she said she pregnant-ated, that's the night your heart died, Then you gotta go and tell your girl and report that.”20 While this segment has nothing to do with Kanye’s life, another potential connection to

Simone exists. Many black men were lynched for accused sexual relations with white women, and pregnancy leaves no doubt about sexual intimacy. The horns to me seem like a strange addition to this song, however Kanye might have chosen the juxtaposition on purpose.

Kanye includes the hook as a racial commentary, which contrasts much of the song and furthers the political significance of “Blood on the Leaves”. The bridge marks the climax of the song, with Kanye rapping over both Simone and the horns of “R U Ready”. The hook is Kanye’s rendition of C-Murder and Snoop Dogg’s song “Down 4 my N’s” which addresses the idea of protecting your own people, even at the cost of others, specifically revolving gang violence in

19 Kanye West – Blood on the Leaves. 20 Kanye West – Blood on the Leaves.

Aciukewicz 10 the 1990s. “Down 4 my N’s” has become one of the most sampled tracks in rap music, with high name artists, including Kanye, building upon the beat. Kanye raps, “Fuck them other n****s

'cause I'm down with my n****s, Fuck them other n****s 'cause I'm down with my n****s,

Fuck them other n****s 'cause I'm down with my n****s, I ride with my n****s, I'd die for my...”21 Kanye does not use the n word throughout the entire song, except for this part, where he packs the word in 7 times in four lines. The n word carries a lot of historical weight, and the heavy concentration in the bridge displays Kanye’s greater goal with this song. By combining the historical significance of “Strange fruit”, the industrial sound of “R u Ready” and the message of loyalty displayed in “Down 4 my N’s”, Kanye uses the issues in his life to make a larger statement about racial violence in this country.

Kanye uses the outro of “Blood on the Leaves” to craft his own modern-day rendition of

“Strange Fruit”, beautifully stripped down to highlight Kanye’s greater message of learning from the past racial violence that has plagued the country. Throughout the whole song, Kanye only uses two snippets of “Strange Fruit”, but these cannot be torn from the great meaning of the original poem that inspired the song. The outro for “Blood on the leaves” mimics the tone of

“Strange fruit”, with only piano accompanying the vocalist, which is much more mellow than most of the song. The most powerful part of the outro is when Kanye diverges from “Strange

Fruit” adding his lines, “And breathe and breathe, And breathe and breathe, And breathe and breathe, And live and learn, And live and learn.”22 Kanye pushes the listener to question the past and learn from previous mistakes, both on a societal and personal level. Kanye preaches to live

21 Kanye West – Blood on the Leaves. I intentionally altered Kanye’s lyrics to censor the n word. I am not justified in using the very politically charged word, and so I deliberately chose to exclude it. Throughout out the rest of the paper, I will refer to the word solely as the n word. 22 Kanye West – Blood on the Leaves.

Aciukewicz 11 and learn for around 40 seconds, which makes up almost 1/9 of the six-minute song. Kanye encourages us to live this life while we can, remembering to breath. As a society, we need to learn from our history and come together to celebrate differences. Too many people in this country have lost their lives solely because of their race, and Kanye uses “Blood on the Leaves” as a racial commentary. The outro functions as Kanye’s greatest edition to the song and to society, building upon “Strange Fruit” to comment on the fact that racial bias still exists in the

21st century, and allowing the listener to reflect both on the song, and on their life, as the outro fades out.

Without knowing the historical context and significance of “Strange Fruit”, the listener cannot take “Blood on the leaves” as anything but face value. Kanye uses the sample to turn a traditional bass heavy rap song into a politically charged statement, calling for the country to learn from past racial violence, especially connected to , that still haunts this country.

Kanye deliberately included the sample, adding his personal touch to one of the most classic songs dealing with race relations. As I write this in 2020, “Strange Fruit”, and by extension

“Blood on the Leaves”, is more important than ever. On February 23, Ahmaud Arbery was murdered by a white father and son while jogging through a neighborhood in South Georgia.23

The photo associated with the New York Times article surrounding his death depicts tress, not unlike the tress mentioned in “Strange Fruit”. Even in the 21st century Lynchings still occur in this country, and we need to revisit our collective history to, as Kanye pushes us, to live and learn, hopefully stopping these horrible hate crimes for good.

23 Richard Fausset, “What We Know About the Shooting Death of Ahmaud Arbery,” The New York Times, May 11, 2020, sec. U.S., https://www.nytimes.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-shooting- georgia.html. I encourage you to read the article and see how you can get involved with the Ahmaud Arbery case.

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Bibliography

Burns, Lori, Alyssa Woods, and Marc Lafrance. “Sampling and Storytelling: Kanye West’s Vocal and Sonic Narratives.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Singer-Songwriter, 1st ed., 159–70. Cambridge University Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCO9781316569207.015. NPR.org. “Evolution Of A Song: ‘Strange Fruit.’” Accessed May 13, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2009/06/22/105699329/evolution-of-a-song-strange-fruit. Fausset, Richard. “What We Know About the Shooting Death of Ahmaud Arbery.” The New York Times, May 11, 2020, sec. U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-shooting- georgia.html. Feldstein, Ruth. “‘I Don’t Trust You Anymore’: Nina Simone, Culture, and Black Activism in the 1960s.” The Journal of American History; Oxford 91, no. 4 (March 2005): 1349–79. “Hidden Meaning behind Blood on the Leaves (Goat) « Kanye West Forum.” Accessed May 13, 2020. https://www.kanyetothe.com/forum/index.php?topic=588037.0. Jasmin S. Greene. Beyond Money, Cars, and Women: Examining Black Masculinity in Hip Hop Culture. GB: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge Scholars Publisher, 2008. Kanye West – Blood on the Leaves. Accessed May 13, 2020. https://genius.com/Kanye-west-blood- on-the-leaves-lyrics. Kaufman, Gil. “Kanye West’s ‘Blood On The Leaves’ And The History Of ‘Strange Fruit.’” MTV News. Accessed May 13, 2020. http://www.mtv.com/news/1709304/kanye-west-blood-on- leaves-strange-fruit/. Margolick, David. Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song. 1st ed. New York: Ecco Press, 2001. “Nina Simone – Strange Fruit Lyrics | Genius Lyrics.” Accessed May 13, 2020. https://genius.com/Nina-simone-strange-fruit-lyrics.