"Be the universal language that's embodying all..."

- Common, "I am Music"

A classic song isn't so much capturing a feeling, thing, or moment in time - it literally is that specific moment in time. Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" wasn't just a song about lynchings - it *is* the renaissance, the anguish, the horror, resilience, and reality of a people. The classic song is as much a part of... as it is a testament to. "Say it loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)" is the voice of the black power movement. "My generation" is the 60's just as much as Jimi's rendition of the "Star Spangled" banner is the contradiction of ideals still present in our country. "Planet Rock" is literally built by the 5 pillars of hip hop. Stevie Wonder...just pick a song. Prince's "1999" is *every* new year. "Like a Virgin" is us all knowing Madonna's ass was grimy as hell. "Microphone Fiend" is the next evolution of the M.C., forever injecting flows into your mind. "The Bridge is Over" epitomizes the birth of battle rap. And then born from that tradition "The World is Yours" reminds us all of a time that somehow we'd forgotten the world was ours. B.I.G's "Juicy" is the 'come-up' anthem and Pac's "Dear Mama" is as much his story, and has a piece anyone who was in a womb can identify with (sorry test tube babies). Everytime you piss off your girl...best believe "R.E.S.P.E.C.T" is flowing through her veins and synapses. "Rebel Without a Pause" is the epitome of the rebel yell from a generation robbed of Huey, Fred, Martin, and Malcolm...and then sampled from literally and figuratively that same tradition as "Say it Loud" which sought to give a new identity to the faceless...which in itself was influenced by the realities of a young black boy, who no doubt heard whispers of "strange fruit" in rural Georgia. And there's hundreds more from Fela, Common, EPMD, NWA, MC Lyte, Jimi Hendrix, Outkast, Bob Dylan, etc... hip hop especially in its ability to reach back and like a supersonic oral tradition revive classics of the past and extend their relevance to a new generation in a slew of cuts, breaks, mixes, and samples.

A classic song is more than representing a genre, or even the artist who created it - a classic song is a moment in time brought to life through verse, lyric, rhythm, cadence; a classic song immortalizes us, itself, and everything it makes us remember.