"It's just the presidents"

The Ta-Nehisi Coates playlist. Shades of Luc Sante:

In hip-hop, words — optimally — work on two levels. They function percussively, so that certain syllables arranged correctly on the beat basically accent the drums. Then they work as just words in the sense of meaning and connotation. From hip-hop, I came to believe that words really should be beautiful on both levels. They should sound good, and when unpacked, they should also mean something beautiful too.