Toronto’s Ironman, Brooklyn’s Batman

The Heroes Our Culture Deserves?

The end was nigh. The Avengers looked dejected. Thanos lorded over the battlefield with a mixture of pride and exhaustion written on his face. Then just as he was about to condemn half of all that lives Ironman makes the ultimate sacrifice, ending the greatest run in cinematic history.

Hip hop has always had connections and inferences to film. From The Wu-Tang Clan’s obsession with 70’s martial arts flicks to Tupac and Dre channeling Mad Max in the “California Love” music video. For this story we are going to draw a completely different parallel.  From 2008-2019 the Marvel Cinematic Universe had the most entertaining, compelling, and interwoven stories that excited hood dudes and nerds alike. The MCU during that period created 22 films that amassed over $20B. Out of those 22 films most were good, some were great, and some were outright bad. (looking at you Captain Marvel and damn near all the Thor films) Either way you had to watch them to reach the inevitable peak in 2019 when the Infinity Saga concluded with Endgame. Since then, the MCU has created let down after let down with few exceptions. 

Where am I going with this? Drake. Drake is a whole industry in one talented, albeit sometimes corny rapper. Drake albums were like Marvel movies. It was something everyone can be entertained by. The Hip Hop heads could vibe to all the “time stamp” records because all of the real bars were regulated there. The ladies could vibe with…. well…. with everything else.

In 2008 “Ironman” was the spark that ignited the MCU franchise and Drake’s “Best I Ever Had” did the same for the Toronto rappers career trajectory. If “Endgame” was the bookmark to the downfall of Marvel, then “Scorpion” was the end of Drake’s meteoric rise. Every single album since then has turned an absolute phenom into a ladies’ man who makes music designed for college kids.

The Hip Hop heads checked out. The movie heads checked out of Marvel. Why?

For the same reason. The target audience changed. Boys read more comics than girls. Men watch more action films than women.  Marvel decided to cater more towards women and the men unknowingly to themselves checked out on claims that they simply lost interest.

Bars got Drake a seat at the table. Hits afforded him the ability to create his own table and then some. Catering to a younger audience unknowingly alienated the bar listeners. Was there ever a better way? Is there a way for a star to mature sonically, maintain success and have respect?  Didn’t the MCU follow the same paths as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, and 007? Don’t all great things end tragically? No.

Deep in the Marcy Project emerged a very different example. Oddly enough so did Gotham City.  Jay-Z has an enigmatic career. The drug dealer turned serial entrepreneur and family man found a way to do the unthinkable. Age gracefully in a culture that seldom matures. The coke raps evolved into childhood trauma, fixing his broken marriage, leaving an inheritance for his kids, and encouraging black culture to build wealth.

Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy accomplished a similar feat. The DKT turned a commonly overused character (the dope boy Shawn) and made him into a symbol for using ones resources to transmute heroism from pain(the mogul Jay-Z) On a more shallow level we can compare albums to films.  “Batman Begins” is the first installment of the DKT.

Raw. Honest. Needed improvement.

We can take Jay-z’s first 4 albums and see a similar track. Then came the “Dark Knight”, arguably one of the best films in history according to IMDB. “The Blueprint” and “The Black Album” are the dead center of Jay-z’s career and are some of his best works and Hip-Hop classics. Now here is where it gets interesting. The finale. The Dark Knight Rises and 4:44 have the greatest parallel. For both the film and the album respectively, they are caught in an interesting time.

Does Nolan decide to add more humor and increase special effects to make “The Dark Knight Rises” a more palatable experience to adapt to Marvel’s success? Does Hov decide to follow common rap trends of the era he finds himself in? The answer?

No. Hell no.

Both men decide to paint an honest portrayal of fantastical subject matter created for reality. That decision transcended their mystique further in their respective fields. Jay-Z decided to let us in the mind of a man coping with success, fatherhood, fame, infidelity, what it means to be a black mogul and the weight of his decisions.

The weight of responsibility.

Nolan made a hero dealing with the aftermath of being ostracized, grief, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds, redemption and what it means to really sacrifice everything. 

That wasn’t rap music. That was Hip-hop refined to its most potent quality.

That wasn’t a film. It was cinema at its zenith while using a beloved character as the vehicle to tell a very human story.

What can we draw from this?

Neither one of these projects is their best work respectively so what’s the point?

Authenticity will always be superior to pandering.

There has been a long-standing debate amongst nerds. Who would win in a fight?

Ironman or Batman?

Most can confidently say Ironman. More money. More technology. More support. Surely Ironman would win.

Perhaps you’re right but remember this: the circumstances that created Bruce Wayne would’ve broken Tony Stark.

Fin.

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