When the lyrics to Jay Z's "Holy Grail" were released last June — just days before his Magna Carta Holy Grail album — one particular part grabbed headlines: his use of the famous refrain from Nirvana's 1991 hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
Once the audio hit, we heard that it was also Justin Timberlake, not just Hov, singing the band's lyrics — while Jay name-dropped lead singer Kurt Cobain in his first verse. But that didn't change the question. Why were two of music's biggest names repurposing Cobain's famous words two decades after his death?
Hov and JT weren't trailblazing with their "Teen Spirit" interpretation; they were actually continuing a longstanding trend of hip-hop's homage to the late Nirvana frontman, who was found dead in his home on this day in 1994. Cobain had taken his life on April 5, but it was on April 8 that the news broke and the world learned of his passing.
In both his life and death, Cobain represents some of the very pillars hip-hop is built on: rebelliousness, innovation and voicing a generation. His disinterest in and complicated relationship with fame has become a hallmark of his rap relatability — including songs like "Holy Grail."
"F--k the fame, keep cheating on me, what I do, I took her back/ Fool me twice that's my bad, I can't even blame her for that/ Enough to make me wanna murder, momma please just get my bail/ I know nobody to blame, Kurt Cobain, I did it to myself," Jay raps, expressing feelings often echoed by ...
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