Nappy Nina’s New Single “Weight” Speaks to the Experience of Black Isolation

By Nia Tucker

Oakland-born rapper Nappy Nina, best known for their 2019 album The Tree Act and a feature on bedroom-pop star, Yaeji’s debut album WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던, has released a new single. “Weight” has been released through Brooklyn indie record label Mexican Summer’s quarantine-themed single series,“Looking Glass.” This series aims to release music, as they put it, “focused on the human condition as reflected through remote connection.” Nappy Nina’s song is no different from the rest; this single is a narrative, jazz-driven track that reveals the turmoil of the Black individual during this time of social isolation and unrest. 

In the opening verse she raps, “I invite your insight/ Especially if ends tight/ If you’re Black and live from end to end / By the end of the night all your limbs is lagging at job sites / No strikes to fight / Or a paddywagon patronizing your playground for fright.” Here, Nina’s flow runs all together on the piano and subtly orchestral backtrack, highlighting the conditions that COVID-19 and the summer of protests has only further emphasized. The violin moving in a languid manner from start to end, progressing like one would with weights and shackles on their feet. The “weight” that Nina raps about is the weight of capitalism, the weight of politics that constantly dismiss the Black community, the infiltrating and dominating presence of the police state—all bearing down on the shoulders of Black people during this exhausting year. 

Nina has an effortless cadence. It’s not preachy or explanatory—it’s raw and honest, understated even, as you can hear the weariness in their voice. The Black Lives Matter protests that continue into these months have burgeoned plenty of “protest anthems” by the likes of other rap and R&B artists such as Beyonce, but they aren’t comparable to Nappy Nina’s lyrical poetic tune that reads more like a forthright stream of consciousness you might have read in a private diary. 

The chorus, “What day is it / Whose say is it / Some delayin’ it / Come pray a bit / Not for the moment but for the weight of it,” is a call to action for creating intimate, communal connections within the Black community to hold one another as we all attempt to alleviate this weight of financial and anti-Black struggle. Not just from these past few months or what non-Black people see as a result of the “curse” of 2020, but from our lifelong experience of racial trauma.

You can buy the single here to support a Black indie rapper and the single is also available for streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.