Rapsody
Please Don’t Cry
Jamla/Roc Nation
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“I think the most beautiful shit is when you can be the most honest with yourself,” Marlanna “Rapsody” Evans says at the beginning of “That One Time.” “I think that's when you the most free, when you can be vulnerable and allow yourself to not be perfect. Just be human.”
The greatest strengths of Please Don’t Cry come when Rapsody allows herself to be human. Which is often. It’s what makes the North Carolina-born emcee’s fourth full-length studio album such a rich and fulfilling listening experience. Much of the project is an exercise in allowing herself to be vulnerable to the world. And through making herself vulnerable, she comes out stronger on the other side.
The GRAMMY-nominated rapper is already “one of the greatest lyricists of a generation,” having released some amazing material over the last dozen years. And yet Please Don’t Cry is a coming of age album. Rapsody focuses on the growth that she has experienced since the release of her last project, Eve (2019), delving into her personal experiences, thoughts, and insecurities. In a recent interview with AP News, Rapsody said she recorded 350 songs during the process of creating this album, settling on the 22 that she felt were the most personal.
Over Please Don’t Cry’s 22 tracks and hour-long run time, she covers a wide range of topics, but the dominant theme is self-discovery. She frequently likens herself to Meshach from the Old Testament’s Book of Daniel, sitting in a hell-like furnace, her faith helping her persevere.
Musically, Please Don’t Dry utilizes a number of producers, though the majority of the load is carried by the Austin, TX-based BLK ODYSSY and S1 (aka Symbolyc 1) of the group Strange Fruit Project. Eric G, Hit-Boy, and others also contribute tracks. The overall sound is lush and soulful, in keeping with the album’s often pensive themes.
Rapsody sure reveals a lot about herself on Please Don’t Cry. The album is framed by multiple visits to her therapist, voiced by the venerable Felicia Rashad. “Marlanna” centers on Rapsody working through her identity issues, figuring out how “to be this naked, trying to find my way out the Matrix for real.” On “Stand Tall,” she explains she’s a multifaceted individual, coping with anxiety and a myriad of other psychological issues. Over a laid-back Eric G track, she also expresses bemused consternation that media and fans seem solely fixated on her sexual preferences.
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Rapsody touches on her orientation on the aforementioned “That One Time,” where she recounts her experience in a same-sex relationship. Rather than fixating on titillating details, she explains how this relationship helped her adjust her values and view of the world. She grapples with her strict upbringing as a Jehovah’s Witness and her own perceived hypocrisy in an honest fashion.
She also works to fully realize her sense of self as an artist. On “Asteroids,” the album’s Hit-Boy produced first single, she muses on coping with how others perceive her music. “Underappreciated, but I’m still the most respected,” she raps. “My insecurity is the fear of being rejected.” She addresses the constant pressure she feels to achieve greatness on “Look What You’ve Done,” likening herself to “2011 LeBron – I’m feeling the greatest without a ring.”
Rapsody delivers deeply heartfelt material throughout Please Don’t Cry. Accompanied by Erykah Badu, she explores her experiences with a loving relationship on “3:AM,” describing the blissful early days and the everyday minutiae that makes up their love for each other. During the song’s final verse, delivered as spoken word, she explains without bitterness how “we grew with each other 'til we grew apart,” wistful that they’re no longer together, but at peace with how things ended.
Rapsody also excels at conveying melancholy through her music. The reggae-influenced “Never Enough” finds her expressing regret about playing a large part in ending a loving relationship due to infidelity. “Loose Rocks” delves into tragedy, as she tries to cope with slowly losing her aunt to Alzheimer’s Disease, heartbroken as she watches her “second mother” lose her memory. “My reality is that I dread the day I walk into the house, and you ask someone who I am,” she laments.
Amidst all of this mature material, Rapsody isn’t afraid to assert her lyrical fury, as she does on tracks like “Back In My Bag” and “Raw.” The latter of the two is a highly entertaining team-up with Lil’ Wayne, each delivering rough rhymes over a dusty piano sample and rugged drums. Rapsody has said that after hearing Wayne’s verse, she completely rewrote her own. The result is one of her best verses on Please Don’t Cry, as she delivers “that bushy pussy rap they call me pick-me for.”
Rapsody directs her ferocity at many objects of her scorn on “Diary of a Mad Bitch,” proclaiming that she’s “’bout to blow my roof; the lyrical juice.” She rages at cheating boyfriends, “bitches who drop they britches for listens,” rappers who tell on themselves through their rhymes, and federal prosecutors who use rappers’ lyrics against them in court.
Rage turns to despair on “He Shot Me,” as Rapsody invokes Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sherriff” while venting her frustrations at the continued abundance of Black men and women killed by police officers. She memorializes victims like Breonna Taylor and Sean Bell, while reflecting on the debilitating effect these murders inflict on the Black community. “We still dealing with the trauma, praying for the mommas,” she raps. “Civil suits, they give us loot, but ain’t no healing in the commas.”
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In the face of all of this pain, Rapsody highlights the importance of self-care. On “DND (It’s Not Personal)” she extols the virtues of unplugging from the world in order to escape the stresses of daily life. “Lonely Woman” centers on self-care of an entirely different sort, as she describes the intimate details of self-pleasure. She narrates the song mid-session, in the throes of passion, breathlessly narrating the act as she eventually reaches her climax.
Rapsody draws Please Don’t Cry to a close with “Faith,” her dedication to the power of belief. After wrestling with her strictly religious upbringing throughout much of the project, Rapsody is still unwavering in her desire to inspire others with her words. “For people that need healing, I share my truth and my problems,” she raps. “Hope it might change your outcome even if it don't solve them.”
Rapsody doesn’t require any more accolades to justify her greatness, but the bravery and depth of feeling that she displays on Please Don’t Cry is moving. Being so vulnerable and so “human” throughout the album could not have been easy, and she deserves to be rewarded for her insight and bravery. It’s one of the best albums of the year and one of the most impressive achievements in her career to date.
Notable Tracks: “Never Enough” | “Raw” | “Stand Tall” | “That One Time”
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