Kap G has a question for the guy in the Oval Office: what would it really be like without Mexicans? And considering the vast majority of production and culture created in this country by immigrants, it’s a fair question.
If you don’t know who Kap G is (though you should because Girlfriend was a 2016 banger), he’s a Mexican American rapper from College Park. Honestly, if you just go off of Girlfriend and the other tracks from El Southside you would think this is just another guy from the Southside of Atlanta, heavy on the adlibs and the repetition, with a heavy gutter slur to tie it all in, and who doesn’t care about much other than robbing you and taking your chick. And personal opinion, I wasn’t a fan of his hair in that video.
However, A Day Without a Mexican is a different kind of song. Though you can listen to it on repeat and enjoy it, it’s not banger-material. It’s definitely created to make a point. But rather than list off a bunch of accomplishments by Mexican Americans like we often do when we’re trying to prove the worth of our race to someone who doesn’t believe in it, he makes the song more personal. He speaks of his own experiences, and well as those of “regular Mexicans’. The point being that you don’t have to be rich or an all-star to prove that you have value as a human being or an inhabitant of this country. There’s no need to force a perception of excellence when existence is what matters.
And to be fair, it’s always lovely for an artist to connect with their culture and allow their listeners to be privy to that. From the instrumental to the infusion of Spanish in his lyric, Kap G doesn’t want us to forget who he is. He might make music with Thugger and Lucci, but as much as Atlanta is an influence on his style so is his heritage. I’m with that.
Play this whenever you want, really. Also play it to remind people that hip-hop and America, in general, would not be what it is without Latinxs.