Anything that is created or experienced in life is a reflection of its creator, their past and their influences.
Homeless nigga pop music is the quintessential example of this: an audio vision board the life and influences of its creator, Jim Legxacy. Listening to homeless nigga pop music felt like a journey through Legxacy’s past experiences of being black in the UK, masculinity, relationships, and homelessness.
HNPM blends the genres of Midwest Emo, Afrobeats, Emo Rap, Jersey Club, Alternative R&B, [UK] Hip Hop, Afroswing, and UK Garage into one cohesive work. HNPM is the true definition of the (overused) term ‘genre-bending’. This blend of genres and styles feels cohesive because of Legxacy’s drive to wear his influences on his sleeve and channel them into his own personal style.
HNPM is both a journal and collage of Legxacy’s experiences, which can be heard through the numerous samples and genres present throughout the record.
One standout example was in the track mileys riddim. This track features a sample of the song Ordinary Girl by Hannah Montana. This is such a specific sample choice that it’s clear there was an untold story behind Legxacy’s experience with the song, whether it be something in his childhood or just his personal enjoyment of his song (or both).
(It’s also worth mentioning that the track opens and closes with an audio sample from iRoking.com, an Nigerian radio station. Being presumptuous, this could likely be the first place that Legxacy heard this Hannah Montana track as a child which further adds to the audio vision board of Legxacy’s life).
Another personal favorite use of samples was on the title track and ethos of the mixtape homeless nigga pop music. Here Legxacy raps about his experience of being homeless over a sample of Stand Up Tall by Dizzee Rascal. He references a specific time in his past while also making a meta callback to a previous track on the tape through the lyric:
“No silver spoons in my hood, just empty pockets
No candy raining, so we just singin’ to Candy Rain”
This lyric recontextualizes and gives a visual to the track 2 of the mixtape, candy reign (!) which-as the track name suggests-samples Candy Rain by Soul For Real. As soon as I heard this lyric at the end of the track, I realized why it was added to the record and made an already great track that much more resonant.
The samples throughout this record aren’t just there because they sound cool or recognizable, they’re core to who Legxacy is and the experiences that made him into who he is today.
Legxacy uses samples as visuals and portals into his past for the listener to travel through. The way he intertwines the hooks of songs he’s sampling while also singing over them within his own verse gives me a clear visual of him listening and drawing inspiration from these songs throughout the times he’s recalling throughout the tape.
Homeless nigga pop music is a testament to the value and importance of sampling culture in music as it’s a valuable form of self expression and storytelling.
