Before I examine the song itself, I will first talk about the “Originale Poète” behind it. Eve Crazy is a Senegalese artist and rapper. She is currently based in Finland and is dabbling in the Finnish folk scene with her duo “Eve Crazy & Mar Yo”, through which she raps and adds African and hip-hop stylings into the genre. Much like her unique musical background, this song and the music video that accompanies it are a glimpse into the unique, lasting influence the Black American hip-hop sound has on hip-hop in the diaspora today.

The song

This song, Originale Poète, is one of my absolute favorites of the semester that I’ve covered. I greatly appreciated that Eve Crazy decided to sample Ready or Not by the Fugees (which was a sample in itself from the song Boadicea by Irish singer Enya). I thought it was a really good nod to her rap predecessors and is reminiscent of a lot of hip-hop made today, which uses samples from iconic tracks of the past and gives them a new, more current spin. The instrumentation reflects current hip-hop music with its synth drum and hat patterns, as well as the trend in which the music gets broken up by a speech interlude. I thought it was really interesting how much the song parallels hip-hop music in the States and made me think about how the entire diaspora has allowed hip-hop to survive through the cycle of sharing, influencing and innovating.

The music video

After scouring the internet for lyrics and attempts to manually translate, I unfortunately was unable to provide a side-by-side lyrical translation and analysis like I usually am able to. In light of this, I decided to put the work done in class and apply it to the real world. In class, we have done body language, vocal, and cinematography analyses of music videos performed in other languages. So, I decided to do the same. Based on the music video, Eve Crazy adopts a very self-assured, confident, yet laid-back posture. She also takes up a lot of the space of the sets and raps really close to the camera at times. Additionally, I noticed that during the entire music video, the camera is usually in her face, at eye-level, or below her, and never really strays from those points. We learned that these angles are often used to show the artist is assuming dominance over the frame and is confident in their work and what they say. Additionally, the tone of her voice is very steady and strong. Her delivery in this way allows her words to captivate the audience. Based on these visual and vocal cues, as well as the name of the song itself, I came to the conclusion that Eve Crazy is asserting the confidence she has in herself as a worthy rapper. My conclusion ended up being correct as the video’s description states, “Eve Crazy’s new single ‘OGP’ is a bold ego trip where she confidently asserts herself as the number one female rapper in Senegal… In ‘OGP’, Eve Crazy celebrates her success and dominance in a male-dominated rap scene, using sharp lyrics to declare her superiority and showcase her lyrical prowess. By blending her assertive rap style with a legendary sample, she not only pays homage to hip-hop history but also carves out her own place in it” (Eve Crazy, 2024). This shows that even without understanding the lyrics, the audience is able to at least somewhat understand the theme based on how a song and music video are delivered.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this song was very enjoyable to listen to and was another enlightening example of the history of Black American hip-hop’s continued influence in the diaspora’s music and performance. The music itself and the video were a beautiful homage to that history, even down to what she was wearing. It shows intentionality with her performance as well. This whole experience made me reflect on the concept of how hip-hop survives on the cultural cycle of sharing and innovation amongst the entire diaspora. It was a joy listening to and reviewing this song.