Hate Me Now Analyses

"Hate Me Now" Analysis

“Hate Me Now,” by Nas (featuring Diddy), is a single from I Am… which was released in April 1999. It is considered one of the greatest songs in the history of rap music and has landed some of the top spots on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Singles. The song is notably known for its musicality, lyrics, and controversial video. The three elements combined are what make “Hate Me Now,” in my opinion, one of Nas’s greatest pieces of art.

The song opens with a sample of “O Fortuna,” a Latin poem written in the early 13^th century as part of the collection known as Carmina Burana. “O Fortuna” was set to music by German composer Carl Orff and is the opening and closing movement of his cantata Carmina Burana. When translated into English, the poem reads:

O Fortune,

like the moon

you are changeable,

ever waxing

and waning;

hateful life

first oppresses

and then soothes

as the sharp mind takes it;

poverty

and power

it melts them like ice.

Fate – monstrous

and empty,

you whirling wheel,

you are malevolent,

well-being is vain

and always fades to nothing,

shadowed

and veiled

you plague me too;

now through the game

I bring my bare back

to your villainy.

Fate – in health

and virtue –

is against me,

driven on

and weighted down,

always enslaved.

So at this hour

without delay

pluck the vibrating strings;

since Fate

strikes down the strong man,

everyone weep with me!

The manner in which Orff sets the text of the poem to the music is evocative of the poem’s meaning. The dynamics of the initial phrase are fortissimo (meaning very loud) and the volume shifts to pianissimo (meaning very soft) in the second phrase. Through the dynamics of the choir and orchestra, Orff conveys the power of fortune and evokes a sense of motion. “O Fortuna” should make the listener envision a wheel (the Wheel of Fortune) which symbolizes man being tossed from a state of good fortune to a state of ruin. Using samples of “O Fortuna” throughout “Hate Me Now” symbolizes the cycle of Nas’s life and his struggle of hope and happiness against the cruelties of fate.

Another reason why “Hate Me Now” is one of Nas’s greatest masterpieces is because of his lyricism. In the last verse of the song, Nas says:

“It's a thin line between paper and hate

Friends and snakes, nine millis and thirty-eights

Hell or the pearly gates; I was destined to come

Predicted, blame God, he blew breath in my lungs.”

In the first two lines, Nas is saying that with success comes hatred and the lines become thinner when determining those who are for you and against you. It should also be noted that the thin line Nas describes between the “nine millis and thirty-eights” refers to the close measurements of the rounds in a 9 mm and .38 Special. The 9 mm’s rounds measure at .355 inches and the .38 Special’s rounds measure at .357 inches. At the end of this excerpt, Nas is saying that he was chosen by God and his success is because of God so if anyone is upset about his accomplishments, they can’t fault him for what God gave him.

“Hate Me Now” has one of the most controversial videos in the history of rap music. The video begins with Nas carrying a cross as Jesus did before His crucifixion while being “tortured” and having stones thrown at him. In the last verse, Nas is nailed to the cross he carried. Of course those who believe in Jesus Christ have plenty to say about Nas’s decision to depict himself as a Christ-like image but artistically I understand the message he wanted to convey. The cross represents the burdens or the struggles of success and in the beginning he is carrying those burdens. At the end of the video he is nailed to the same cross he carried representing his willingness to endure the hatred and scrutiny to save the rap game or keep real rap music alive.

As a fan of music and a fan of hip-hop, “Hate Me Now” is one of the greatest pieces in my opinion. Everything about the song, from its musicality to its lyricism to its visual components, makes this song amazing and makes Nas a genius.