Che Noir - Daddy's Girl
"He broke my heart. That was before I learned to read and write."
Album: As God Intended Genre: Hip Hop, Conscious Hip Hop, East Coast Hip Hop
Release: July 10th 2020
Length: 3.29
Producer: Apollo Brown
Vocalist: Che Noir [age 26]
Label: Mello Music Group
Official Audio
Live version from 2022
Charts, Streams & Sales
Spotify: Over 130 thousand
YouTube Music: Over 50 thousand
Credits
Details
- Che Noir's dad was a drug addict. The track is autobiographical and partially told from the point of view of Che as a child. She laments her absent dad missing key moments in her life, such as learning to fly a kite, and is aware of how her childhood continues to damage her well into adulthood. By alternating between her point of view as a child and as an adult, the rapper describes not only what happened to her but the also the long-term consequences of it. It's this elevated sense of awareness, to see herself progress through time, that shows a real maturity in her work
A parent only has a certain amount of time to nurture their child because the clock constantly ticks forward. The damage caused by missing key developmental milestones can be difficult to reverse. Che knows this fact all too well. She knows her relationship with men is tarnished because of her absent father "As I deal with men and make them suffer for my father's mistakes". When delivered at the right time, crucial advice about the opposite sex can be of great significance to a persons success in romantic relationships throughout life.
Che Noir tells the story of her upbringing in a brutally honest, forthright way that's a breath of fresh air. This is a real subject that doesn't get talked about in music enough and it's interesting to hear it from a female perspective. She has all the lyrical prowess of her male colleagues and a killer flow to match.
I don't want to make too much of Che being female because her music stands on its own two feet, but the truth is the feminine standpoint is woefully underserved in hip hop. As such, her rapping becomes valuable because of its relative scarcity. But it's more than that, there's real insight here, regardless of male or female. - Storytelling track.
- The entire album is produced by Detroit hip hop stalwart Apollo Brown.
- Being a Christian, Che Noir's lyrics mention her faith often. This track includes a line about her grandma taking her to church to learn about "Christ and sin".
- In the late 2010's a new wave of New York hip hop emerged not from New
York city itself but from the broader region, especially around Buffalo
and Rochester. There was Che Noir and 38 Spesh from the Trust Gang but
also Conway, Westside Gunn and Benny the Butcher from Griselda Records,
Jae Skeese, Eto and Elcamino among others.
The artists had an undeniable classic east coast boom bap influence but it was updated with production techniques to create something new, authentic and exciting in a space where too many artists sounded the same. It was a genuine shot of adrenaline for an east coast scene that had become stale when compared to the surging popularity of trap from the south.
The success of Griselda Records provided both opportunity and proof of concept to other people in the area who harboured similar ambitions. If you had beats and didn't know what to do with them you could send them to Griselda. If you didn't get a reply you could knock on the door.
Artists like performing close to home because they don't have to pay for travel expenses and before long a strong local scene emerged around Buffalo, Rochester, Albany and Syracuse that rivaled that of the great New York city itself. 38 Spesh also set up Trust Comes First Music Group headquartered in Rochester. - "There’s a song called “Daddy’s Girl,” and it’s about my relationship
with my dad. I never publicly talked about that before, but in the song,
I got personal about how not having him in my life growing up affected
me. It’s a song I know a lot of people can relate to." (Che Noir talking to DJ Booth)
Lyrics
