Recently Pablo Picasso has been name-checked by various rap artists. Here are a couple of examples:

Eminem’s Rhyme or Reason from Marshal Mathers LP2: “But docile and impossible to explain and, I’m also vain and/ Probably find a way to complain about a Picasso painting.” Another example is from the inescapable B.o.B less track, ‘So Good’ from Strange Clouds in which he “She says that I’m her favourite, Cause she admires the art/ Michelangelo with the flow, Picasso with the bars.” The most prominent of all though has to be Jay Z’s ‘Picasso Baby,’ from his twelfth studio album Magna Carta Holy Grail. This track has been turned into ‘Picasso Baby: A Performance Art Film,’ which takes footage from a six hour performance of the track which Jay Z carried out in New York art gallery and which features him interacting with guests such as Judd Apatow and Marina Abramovic.

The opening lines of the track:

“I just want a Picasso, in my casa/No, my castle, I’m a hassa, no I’m an asshole,”

articulate a purely materialistic desire to own a Picasso paintings. He takes this further in one line from the performance art video in which he describes himself as the ‘modern day Pablo.’ The desision to align himself with the great artist seems to be a fairly arbitrary choice based on the fact that Picasso’s works are now phenomenally valuable and he is considered by many as a genius.

This comparison to greatness is hardly surprising or shocking, especially seeing as Jay Z and Kanye West have alluded to being kings, on their Watch the Throne album and Eminem has described himself as a ‘rap-god’ on The Marshal Mathers LP2. What is worth noting however from this choice of comparisons is that often Picasso’s art was politically charged and would very often stand for something. Picasso was a political activist whose work would often hold a strong anti-war message. Geurnica (1937) and Massacre in Korea (1951) are just two examples of paintings that intentionally capture the horror of war. Picasso’s ‘dove of peace’ symbol has remained a lasting political symbol that Picasso contributed to and which has become globally adopted. Picasso supported a range of humanitarian causes that included calls to end apartheid in South Africa, campaigns against racial persecution and campaigns against the death penalty.

Activism and rap music can go hand in hand. Plan B’s Ill Manors, from the album of the same name, addressed the conditions and attitudes which contributed to the mass violence and disorder of the London riots, and was described by a review in the Guardian as ‘the greatest protest song for years’. Across the pond there is Harlem rapper Immortal Technique whose music addresses a variety of social injustices and inequalities.

Thankfully rap music does not have to be political but I believe that Picasso has not secured a place as one of the greats in art history purely because he drew pretty pictures. Jay Z himself has done a lot to support charities and causes and has written very socially conscious lyrics. Jay Z is also incredibly aware of quite how powerful rap music can be in effecting peoples beliefs. In order for Jay Z to truly be a ‘modern day Pablo’ perhaps he should use this comparison as a base in order to continue to articulate topics that truly mean something to him (I do not mean a new Bugatti), rather than using it as an arbitrary comparison to greatness.