79. Derez De’Shon - “Fed Up”

This is the second track of Derez De’Shon’s to make it on this list. The first one can be found over here alongside my thoughts on his artistry and the reason Hip-Hop is in desperate need of more artists like him.

The same holds true for this track. Only this jam takes those sentiments even further. There’s an urgency to it. If the first track trended more towards the classic glow and exuberance of Hip-Hip’s dual spirit (joy over the acquisition of the lifestyle your people have always been denied vs. the earnest revelation of the Black experience within America), then this track represents its darker side, the angry and unfiltered politically-infused social commentary. De’Shon is no longer reminiscing within the warm glow of nostalgia. He’s emerged from the halls of reflection and is ready for a reckoning. It’s the resiliency of the oppressed in action, of staring systematic racism and classism dead in the eyes and pushing forward, pressing onward despite the continuous and potentially overwhelming stream of setbacks emanating from oppression. There’s a heartbreaking undercurrent of emotion throughout. It runs the gamut, seamlessly oscillating from crests of anger to troughs of pain, all the while held together by an earnest and relentless spirit of perseverance. It captures the trials and tribulations of America’s most vulnerable beautifully, so much so that it leaves the listener in the same state as the artist – fed up.