“I”m mixed with black and white
I wish that didn’t matter… ‘
Jacobi Ryan, “Hated”

It’s Week 6 of the “52in365 Formerly Fresh” campaign and this week Jacobi Ryan gets a little personal and socio-political on his hard hitting track, “Hated”. Producer Nolan Ellis, provides the high energy soundscape which builds momentum into an ironically swagged out rhythm that compliments Jacobi’s despite everything theme. The lyrical content examines the unpolished sides of a coin in regards to race, religion and his undivided stance.

“One side of my family enslaved the other half.”

The product of mixed heritages himself (both black and white), in the song Jacobi takes all his people to task and neither the familiar systemic tactics (“Redlining out of blood smears…”) of the oppressor, nor the intracultural issues of the oppressed in his family tree are left unscathed. (“Are you trying to stop the cycle/Or are you too attached?”). In regards to religion, Jacobi also pulls out the hypocrite card by taking to task those who hide Jesus’s race and the reasons for his condemnation. Basically, it ain’t all unconditional love and acceptance all the time now is it? Just know Jacobi stands for the side of the creator. Now, the big middle finger to all of this can be felt in the powerful chorus where Jacobi lyrically plays target practice on the hate that haters hate bullet points and at the same time drives home the message that he is still all good regardless – hence the theme for his 2019 music campaign:

“Them people gon prolly hate it
But we gon get this money
Them peope gon prolly hate it
I love hip hop
I’m black, educated,
Reading books in a hoodie
Them people gon prolly hate it
I love hip hop…”

“Hated” unpacks a lot of issues (and we will explore this a little further with Jacobi in the next few days on TGSoHH pages) but still allows listeners to enjoy good music and appreciate this artist’s drive and motivation even more. Don’t forget to check out the podcast #TMIKTMID on Monday morning (click link here) as Jacobi provides the background story behind “Hated” which is now available on all streaming platforms. The campaign continues y’all – listen to the snippet below and enjoy!

Listen to last week’s episode of Jacobi Ryan’s “The More I Know, The More I Don’t” podcast below to find out the background story behind Week 5’s #52in365 #FormerlyFresh track release for “All Time High”, as well as his thoughts why he decided to vlog everyday, how Super Bowl commercials prove the value of Obama’s presidency, how accurate it is that advertising is the “art form” America contributed to the world.