A Negro spiritual is a religious storytelling song created in the 1700-1800s by enslaved African Americans that expressed their faith, struggles, and hopes for the future. Often recited extemporaneously, songs were typically sung by enslaved people in a call-and-response style that created a communal environment, inviting others to join in as they felt so moved. According to Spirituals Database, the Fisk Jubilee Singers are credited as being the firsts in bringing Negro spirituals to the concert stage in the in 1870s, making tours across the United States and even performing before European royalty. Since then, newer genres such as jazz, rhythm & blues, and rap have emerged, with each genre displaying traces of its African and African American gospel roots and expanding the ways in which Black people can artistically express themselves through times of resistance. As the fight for true freedom evolves, should what we consider to be a Negro spiritual evolve as well? And if so, could “Get Paid” by Young Dolph serve amongst the catalog of the new-aged Negro spirituals?
“Get Paid” by Young Dolph is the eighth track of Dolph’s debut Hip-Hop/Rap studio album, “King of Memphis”, released on February 19, 2016. Similar to Negro spirituals, the song is loaded with the repetition of a stark call to action, the main one being to simply get paid. “Whatever you do, just make sure you get paid,” Dolph raps in the opening and closing verses. Similar to Dolph, a popular Negro spritual song “Follow the Drinking Gourd” also contains this refrain, with the opening verse being “Follow the drinking gourd/Follow the drinking gourd/For the old man is a–waiting for to carry you to freedom/If you follow the drinking gourd.” As both songs encourage listeners towards a manifestation of freedom, it is hard to ignore the lyrical parallels between “Get Paid” and many popular ancestral hymns. Christopher Bryson, executive producer of the PBS’s History Detectives says that Negro spirituals often implored for a “hope for redemption in the life beyond.” I find that “Get Paid” mirrors that sentiment, but instead calls for redemption in this life rather than the next. As Negro spirituals are rooted in the enslaved people’s faith in God as Christians, their songs were often prayers to this higher power. ‘I Love The Lord He Heard My Cry’ is a Negro spiritual song whose title comes from the Bible verse Psalm 116:1 that reads “I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.” While Young Dolph’s song is not exactly filled with the gospel, his song has some cries for mercy of its own with the end of the first verse, going into the chorus saying “When I was small, I ain’t have nothin’ (D—)/Started sellin’ dope and prayed to God for a plug/He showed up and said/Get paid young n—, get paid.” In this lyric, Young Dolph, who was an active member of the St. James Missionary Baptist Church, expresses to listeners that at his lowest times, he turned to God in need of guidance and possibly forgiveness, who heard his pleas and granted him the monetary security and occupational freedom that he was searching for.
Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up” serves as bridge between the traditional Negro spirituals and its modern renderings, displaying the evolution of the sounds of Black liberation and resilience. Released in the 1970s, the song carries the same uplifting spirit that guided spirituals sung on plantations centuries earlier. With it optimistic rhythm and recurring command to “move on up,” Mayfield’s anthem evokes the motivational repetition and communal energy that define Negro spirituals. Its message of persisting through struggle, rising above hardship, and belief in the promise of better days, echoes the enduring themes found in spirituals. When placed alongside songs like “Get Paid,” “Move On Up” shows how the essence of the Negro spiritual continues to transform across generations, adapting its message of deliverance to self-empowerment and independence.
Some may criticize the use of explicit themes in Young Dolph’s “Get Paid,” arguing that it takes away from its message or artistic value. This view overlooks and almost contradicts the idea that music’s role is to serve as honest self-expression. Much like in the earliest renditions of the Negro spirituals, Dolph’s lyrics are a reflection of the conditions and culture that shaped him. His use of strong language does not corrupt the art, but rather reinforces its authenticity. Art, especially Black art, has always been a tool for liberation and self-definition and was not created to exist within the margins but rather to expand boundaries, challenging societal expectations.
While parental advisory is encouraged for listeners, Young Dolph’s “Get Paid” can be used as an anthem for the Black community, a hymn encouraging financial triumph, motivation, and unity. When viewed through the lens of cultural evolution and self-determination, “Get Paid” embodies the same spirit once found in the foundation of Negro spirituals.