Struggles as a currency: how historical oppression shaped poverty’s place in black music
February 12th 2026 When Nigerian artist Burna Boy raps “I’ve been broke my whole life, poverty na my tradition,” or when Kendrick Lamar opens good kid, m.A.A.d city by chronicling life in Section 8 housing, they participating in a long-standing tradition within Black music: the valorisation of struggle. This celebration of poverty, however, is not […]
Struggles as a currency: how historical oppression shaped poverty’s place in black music Read More »






