Sunday, February 08, 2009

Love/Hate


Radio Raheem probably captured it best, as he recounted Love's triumphant victory over Hate on that scorching hot summer day in Brooklyn. But this unforgiving and elusive quest to understand the deep complexities of two of man's most extreme emotions has been a reoccurring artistic theme that transcends various mediums through history, from Shakespeare to Martin Lawrence. (Barring sheer insanity) It is between these two extremes where the source of all artistic expression lies whether it be deep-seated rage, fear, infatuation or simply boredom. One might expect that with every imaginable emotion in between, the path from one extreme to the other would be enduring and the barriers resilient. However, this naivety is all too often met with the reality that no such linear spectrum of emotion exists "between" the two. In fact some might argue that Love and Hate share more in common than the differences that separate them.

As Man indefinitely hangs in the balance, helplessly inching his way forward along the razor-"thin line" between both extremes, this uncertainty will continue to fuel the vehicle by which an artist delivers his masterpieces to the common man.

Here's my favorite track from Q-Tip's latest album The Renaissance. It features Raphael Saadiq and is appropriately titled
"We Fight We Love"

Enjoy!

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