The best songs make us laugh and cry. They allow us to reminisce about the past and give us hope for the future – and of course, they make us want to get out of our seats and dance. But have you ever wondered about the story behind some of your favorite songs and what inspired the songwriter to put pen to paper to bring their idea to life?
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We have too, which is why we did a little digging into some of the most popular Black songs in history to learn more about their backstory. Check out some of the stories behind some of your favorite Black songs.
“Tyrone” by Erykah Badu
“Tyrone” was one of the most popular songs on Erykah Badu’s 1997 live album. And fans couldn’t help but wonder who she was telling to come get their sh*t. But in an interview with Tamron Hall, Badu said the idea for the song came from an inside joke.
“My sister and I, we always imitate our aunts, and they would be fussing and talking about the guy and what he needs to do better, you know, tearing him down,” she said. “[‘Tyrone’] was my homage to that.”
And to all who thought she was man-bashing, Badu says it was a freestyle that some people took too seriously.
“But if you throw a rock in a crowd, a hit dog will holler,” she said.
“Untitled (How Does it Feel)” by D’Angelo
D’Angelo fans lost their minds when D’Angelo dropped the music video for “Untitled (How Does it Feel),” but they may not know that the sexy song has a hilarious backstory. In an interview with NPR Music, songwriter Raphael Saadiq said the idea for the song started with his search for a joint that led him to Electric Lady Studios, where he hoped D’Angelo could help him.
“I rung the bell, ‘Is D’Angelo here?’ He opens the door,” Saadiq said. “He’s like, ‘What’s Up?’ I ask him, ‘You got a joint?’ ‘Hell yeah I got a joint!’ He’s like, ‘Can we do a song?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, whatever, yeah.’ We walk in and we do ‘Untitled’ in maybe, like, two hours.”
“I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” is a classic anthem about maintaining the strength to move forward during difficult times. Gaynor said she had an instant connection when she first got the song, which was originally recorded as a B-side for another track.
“Everyone will be able to relate to this because we all go through things in our lives,” she said in an interview.
Gaynor was surviving a lot in her personal life, including the recent loss of her mother, an on-stage injury that left her temporarily paralyzed from the waist down and the threat of losing her recording contract. She says recording this song was the answer to her prayers.
“A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke was known for songs like “Twistin’ the Night Away.” But he said he was inspired to write his classic “A Change is Gonna Come,” when he heard Bob Dylan’s 1962 protest single“Blowin’ in the Wind.” He drew on an experience he had a hotel in Shreveport, Louisiana when he booked a room, only to be turned away when the clerk learned he and his wife were Black.
The sould song, which was released after Cooke’s death in 1964, went on to become an anthem of the civil rights movement.
“They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)” by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth
Hip-hop duo Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth had a hit on their hands in 1992 with “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.).” The song, which samples Tom Scott’s cover of the Jefferson Airplane song “Today,” has a beautiful backstory.
In an interview with “People’s Party with Talib Kweli,” producer Pete Rock told Talib Kweli that the song was meant to be a celebration of Troy Dixon (aka Trouble T Roy), the hip-hop dancer who performed with Heavy D and the Boyz who passed away at age 22 in a tragic accident in 1990.
“I somehow found the inspiration in that song, in that sample, to create something for him,” he said.
“Redemption Song” by Bob Marley
“Redemption Song” is the last track on Bob Marley’s 1980 ‘Uprising,’ the last album he recorded with The Wailers before he passed away in 1981 at age 36. While it’s unclear if Marley, who was battling cancer at the time, knew the end was near, listening to simple melodic combination of Marley’s lyrics and the guitar, it sounds like a beautiful love letter to those he left behind.
“I Used to Love H.E.R.” by Common
If you thought rapper Common’s 1994 hit, “I Used to Love H.E.R.”was about a girl, listen again. The song, is actually about hip-hop (he gives it away in the last line). The concept, he said in an interview with VIBE, came from a conversation he had with friends about life, while listening to music, and the message continues to resonate with audiences over three decades later.
“That song, to this day, I’m very just grateful for it, because I can perform it to this day and different generations are familiar with it,” he told VIBE in an interview.
“The Boy is Mine” by Brandy & Monica
It’s safe to say that singers Brandy and Monica haven’t always been the best of friends, but some thought they they were taking their beef to the recording booth when they made the 1998 hit, “The Boy is Mine.” But Monica swears there was no boy and the back and forth between the two was just for show.
“People are still asking, ‘Who got the boy?’ and there was no boy!” Monica said in an interview with HuffPost Live. “We played up the dramatics of it all, but we were 16 and 17—there was no boy, no beef.”
“Papa Was a Rolling Stone” by The Temptations
The Temptations’ 1972 track “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” soared all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, but legend has it that the song almost never made to the airwaves.
The song was written by well-known Motown songwriters, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. Strong said the melody made him think of conversations young Black children have with their mothers about their absent fathers.
“A child asks his mother why his father is like that. Then the child has to live with what he’s told. In the song, the mother rationalizes the father’s behavior and blames it on his nature, even though they’re left with nothing. It’s about hopelessness and hope,” Strong said in an interview.
The Temptations lead singer Dennis Edwards, who had recently lost his father, didn’t like the first lines.
“It was the third of September; That day I’ll always remember, yes I will; ‘Cause that was the day that my daddy died; I never got a chance to see him.”
He also didn’t like the way Norman Whitfield was asking him to sing it.
“I did not (appreciate) it until I heard the record,” Edwards said in an interview with The Detroit Free Press. “And I said, ‘Wow.’ What he was doing, he was getting me into a certain mood.”
“I Got a Story to Tell” by The Notorious B.I.G
The Notorious B.I.G. got his boys together to tell them about a night that almost went all the way wrong in “I Got a Story to Tell” on his ‘Life After Death’ album. In the song, he raps about messing around with a girl who was involved with a a New York Knicks basketball player while he was out of town, only to have him come home and ruin the whole thing.
In an interview with ESPN, former Knicks player John Starks confirms that the song is based on a real story, but says he’s not the baller Biggie was rapping about. Just don’t count on him to reveal the name of the real subject.
“That wasn’t me,” he said. “First and foremost, I’m not even 6’5″, I’m 6’2”. I know who it was about, but I’m not going to say.
“Roxanne’s Revenge” by Roxanne Shante
In 1984, rap group UTFO came out with “Roxanne, Roxanne,” a song about a girl, they call stuck up because she won’t give them any play. We’re not sure if they were expecting a response, but boy did they get one. With the help of Marley Marl, a then-14-year-old Lolita Shanté Gooden wrote “Roxanne’s Revenge,” a response to the UTFO record, written from the lady’s perspective who is less than impressed.
“I met this dude with the name of a hat;
I didn’t even walk away, I didn’t give him no rap;
But then he got real mad, and he got a little tired;
If he worked for me, you know he would be fired.”
The song was a hit, selling more than 250,000 copies, and put Roxanne Shante on the map.
“Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince
Go to any wedding reception, class reunion or karaoke bar, and you’re sure to hear Prince’s hit “Let’s Go Crazy.” Although you may think the song is about a serious party, the actually meaning is a lot deeper. The rocker is singing about a battle between good and evil happening here on Earth and offering listeners the promise of something better in the afterlife.
“So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills;
You know the one, Dr. Everything’ll-Be-All-Right;
Instead of asking him how much of your time is left;
Ask him how much of your mind, babe;
‘Cause in this life;
Things are much harder than in the afterworld;
In this life;
You’re on your own.”
“All of Me” by John Legend
John Legend’s wife Chrissy Teigen was the inspiration behind his beautiful love song “All of Me.” Legend, who co-wrote the song with Toby Gad, who also has co-writing credits on Beyoncé’s “If I Were a Boy,” says the song is all about how he and Teigen, who met on a video set in 2007, complete each other. She even makes an appearance in the music video.
“Cause all of me;
Loves all of you;
Love your curves and all your edges;
All your perfect imperfections.”
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