The Powers That B meaning

Now that the album has leaked for a decent enough time and we've all listened to it endlessly, what does it all mean? I think this has something to do with it.

But beyond that, I saw someone suggest that Niggas on the Moon is the introspective, real inner mind of a person and Jenny Death is the ego. I think that makes a lot of sense. Niggas is really emotional and real while Jenny Death has a lot of intense, dark fantasies that heavily revolves around being a destructive, dominating force. It's the ego, its what you fantasize about being deep down. I've noticed that when I'm very introspective and thinking a lot about myself, I tend to listen to Niggas on the Moon. But when im angry and I feel inadequate, I listen to Jenny Death, to sort of bring myself up with thoughts about myself that, while empowering, just arent true. Thats the ego. To bring it back to June and Jennifer Gibbons, I think Niggas could be illustrating their life of seclusion together, with very personal thoughts only, since they arent out trying to prove anything. But when Jennifer died, June went out to the real world. I think that's where the ego forms and when shit gets crazy. Maybe that's sort of the meaning behind The Powers That B? Whatre you guys thoughts?

Posted Apr 11, 2015, 4:01 PM UTC

3020

oh fuck, i didnt know about jenny and june. thats very interesting. especially the pact they had about not speaking until one of them dies. and only when jenny death came out, did we find out the lyrics to niggas on the moon (june). also, notm was released in june.

i also think that its interesting that the album cover for JD kind of died when jenny death was released. death grips must have been aware that they couldnt put the image everywhere. so now when we open our cd or vinyl copies, jenny's image isnt there, she is dead. and only then june can speak.

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johncopterI'm busy loopin•

Woah. Shit's on point son.

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jenny_death_when•
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ZinchismOPlisten up you nosy bitch•

I think the phrase itself definitely comes into play, but I don't think the album is just about overarching powers that simply exist in our eyes, like government or even a higher power. But that phrase has to play in somewhere

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jenny_death_when•

Thats if you take the phrase literally. But i think the phrase, at least in this case, refers to not only the literal authority (government, higher power) but also to technology and even one's own consciousness as well.

Pretty much everything on the entire album is told from the perspective of someone who is living under, governed, and affected by the powers that be.

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flatbeard_balbus•

first coined in the bible, could b real

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Contrada21Your Intercom I'm Fingering •

I think you mean Jenny Death is the Id. The Id is where all of the instinctual, dark desires are.

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ZinchismOPlisten up you nosy bitch•

My mistake, sorry. Maybe Niggas is the super ego and Jenny is the id, with the powers that b being the ego that mediates the two? And this album shows us the intense concentration of the id and the super ego? "The Super-ego can be thought of as a type of conscience that punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt" could maybe apply to niggas. Or maybe Niggas is the ID slowly breaking the super ego to the point of a person completely giving in to his dark desires?

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ooronning•

This is probably the most cohesive idea I've found about how the two discs connect...

My original theory was that they're actually two separate albums. Harvest Records were being very proactive and contractually promised strict legal action should Death Grips put out another album for free. Death Grips ended up having two albums worth of material, and wanted to release Niggas on the Moon before they started recording Jenny Death. So, they say, "Yeah, this is a double album, and we're releasing disc one early."

To me that at least explains why JD came so much later, and why finding connections takes so much speculation. The cool part is that this idea doesn't really preclude OP's idea.

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BluecoolooooOOOOOoOOOoooooOOOOooOoooOooOO•

you can smell it when im walkin down the street

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AnjohnsPez•

Oh yes you can oh yes you caaaan

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adakopI LOVE DANK MEMES•

This male phallus is not free

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GoldDeloreanDoors•

The underlying influence that guides them in their creative process and life. A world we cannot see w/ our eyes but experience if we take notice to the subtle synchronicities.

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kirkvanhalen•

Did you intentionally post this today, on their birthday? 2spooky4me

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ZinchismOPlisten up you nosy bitch•

isnt their birthday in december?

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kirkvanhalen•

Well it says April 11th right at the beginning of that Wiki article, that's all I'm going off. (Although it's actually the 12th here now.)

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imfrickenknipe_rbrdbbrsguillotineeaHH•

holy shit AND jenny death came out in june..

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ooronning•

*niggas on the moon came out in june

AND it rhymes

holy hell this is cool!!!

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TEK42•
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ZinchismOPlisten up you nosy bitch•

I'm not referring to it, but thats definitely what Im thinking

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bLankstarenowhere•

It seems like it's just what is (as a hole) everything that is death grips. It just created them and it pushes them. Nothing really philosophical. that's just what it be.

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