A breathtaking saxophone melody intertwined with a warm organ grant part two a heavenly airiness where a flute melody lifts part three to one of the most beautiful hip-hop tracks ever put to tape.įlowing through the stages of life and progressions in musical compositions in equal measure, Luv(sic) remains one of hip-hop's most unlikely and precious accomplishments.
Nujabes' production, while not technically stunning, is consistently gorgeous, utilizing jazzy, melodic loops to form a musical bedrock for Shing02's rhymes.
Over the course of the Hexalogy, Shing02 explores the stages of love - from physical infatuation to well-wishes beyond the grave - over straightforward beats that avoid distracting from his lyrics while providing increasingly intricate instrumental backdrops. It's this separation from American culture that allows Luv(sic) to transcend its genre. In such a way, the political complications of American hip hop are shifted out of the picture to form a wholly alien, beauty-oriented take on the genre that showcases the style's strengths outside of its cultural context. While Shing02 navigates metaphors of human desire for love and progress ("Lovesick like a dog with canine sensitivity/Developing this new theory of relativity"), Nujabes provides gorgeous beats that amplify the surface beauty of each rhyme rather than attempting to create artistry through juxtaposition. MC Shing02's relentlessly sincere approach to romance anchors Nujabes' classically beautiful instrumentals, neglecting nuance in favor of immediate emotional impact. The Hexalogy provides a similar haven for the celebration of romantic love. It was, in many cases, a safe haven where cultural language rejected by the classroom could come to life. Before it ruled the airwaves, hip hop was a stage upon which artists would compete to demonstrate mastery of a language imposed upon themselves and their families.
Springing out of dub music and blues, the genre owns political ambitions that conflict with the simplicity of its structure: the instrumental and the verse, two elements whose relationship has only grown more complex over time.
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