Not too long ago, a good friend of mine showed me a video that changed my life. After watching it, I felt a painful urge to write an essay on it. You can find the original video here, and the PROFFESIONAL STUDIO REMAKE here.

Keep on Hustling
The Hidden Inspirational Story of Success

There are but a mere few moments in life in which one watches a video that makes them seriously contemplate their existence: Where they are going, what they want to become, and how they can truly achieve success. Just the other day, I stumbled upon something that did just that. It was a music video made by a young, fit African American gentleman who goes by the name of ABU777ALI. It's for a song he made called KEEP ON HUSTLIN. It's one minute and fifty four seconds of life changing beauty. If you have not already had the pleasure of viewing this masterpiece, then you can find it here.
On the surface, it is a simple song about a wondrous career in hustling, an increasingly beneficial income flow, and a train apparently made out of money. When it's all taken out of context, it's rather unremarkable. But the true genius lies in the underlying message. In order to hear this beautiful tale, one must read between the lines of what is being said. It may take a while to fully comprehend the complexities of the verses, but it is incredibly worth it. One is left with a heart-felt message of hope and courage in a world that is quickly decaying before our very eyes.
The song is broken into three parts, which I have dubbed The Hustling Era: Of Good Times and Bad, Optimism in an Unoptimistic Land, and the money train choo choo all aboard!!!. These three distinct parts tell the story of a man who is stuck in a dead-end, dangerous career that he feels isn't as fulfilling as it could be. Though he lives a life of aggression and mistrust, he feels a strange sense of hope for the future. That better things lie ahead. That good can truly come from bad. It's only a matter of mindset and determination.
Before we discuss the content of these individual parts, we must first determine what the definition for "hustle" actually is. According to the Unabridged Version of the Oxford Dictionary of the English Language, it means to "obtain money aggressively or dishonestly." While this does not necessarily specify illegal means of obtaining said currency, it certainly does imply a negative income system. Most Americans are fortunate enough to not have to hustle to put bread on the table, but there are an unlucky few that must resort to this method. Obviously, the narrator in KEEP ON HUSTLIN is forced to do this on what can only be assumed to be a daily basis.

The Hustling Era: Of Good Times and Bad
Now it's time to cut to the chase and get right into the music. The lyrics for this section are a mere nine words, but they give the listener more of an emotional impact than many thousand page novels.

A'ight
You gon' be a'ight
You gon' be a'ight
Jus' keep on hustlin'
You gon' be a'ight ('Ey)
You gon' be a'ight ('Ey)
You gon' be a'ight
Jus' keep on hustlin'
You gon' be a'ight ('Ey)
You gon' be a'ight ('Ey)
You gon' be a'ight
Jus' keep on hustlin'
You gon' be a'ight ('Ey)
You gon' be a'ight ('Ey)
You gon' be a'ight
Jus' keep on hustlin'
You gon' be a'ight ('Ey)
You gon' be a'ight ('Ey)
You gon' be a'ight
Jus' keep on hustlin'

One can truly feel the tears that went into this. This part tells of a man who hustles. One would assume he is just fine with his current predicament based on the tone of the vocals, but when one takes into account his repeated mantra of "You gon' be a'ight," it becomes clear that he is striving for more. He continues to tell himself that everything is going to be alright, even with his current status as a hustler. It is an extremely relatable verse, as we have all been in situations where we've had to tell ourselves that it's all going to be alright. Things will get better. Just keep a positive attitude.
Note how it starts at what appears to be the end of a line (A'ight). This tells us that his unfortunate life style has been going on for a long time, and we have entered into the story on just another day in the life of a hustler. He has already started to repeat this line of hope. This is a very good example of skilled songwriting. It tells you that you haven't started at the true beginning of the story, for the story has been going on for too long. This is his life. He lives it. There is no beginning or end that we can see. It's continuous.
The repeated "'Ey" can easily be mistaken as a simple lyrical filler. This is definitely not the case. This puts impact on his cries for a better life. Notice how they aren't present in the beginning four lines. This is because he has only recently begun to take his dream of a brighter future seriously. The "'Ey" seems to scream out at us, telling us that you can't wait any longer. If the change doesn't occur soon, it'll never occur at all.

Optimism in an Unoptimistic World
The second part to this song is very interesting and continues to show ABU777ALI's expertise as a songwriter. It might not seem so obvious at first, even when reading the lyrics, but several days of analysis have shown me differently.

I was down, but now my money up
I was down, but now my money up
I was down, but now my money up
I was down, but now my money up
I was down, but now my money up
I was down, but now my money up
I was down, but now my money up
I was down, but now (without) my money up

This second part, while adding no new chronological events to the story, does reinforce the narrator's feelings towards his lifestyle. The first part of the line ("I was down") is fairly obvious: He is feeling depressed about his occupation and wishes for it to change. He was "down," or sad, about everything. When these three words are looked at by themselves, it shows a side to the narrator that we haven't seen before. In the first part, we were shown nothing but an optimistic attitude. We were left to assume his negative feelings. But this confirms what we had thought before. He was, infact, "down." To what degree, though? Was he just slightly bummed out about it, or was he to the point of suicide contemplation? Who's to say for sure? How "down" he actually was is all up to the listener's own interpretation.
The second half of the line ("but now my money up") can be fairly tricky. The use of the conjunction "but" seems to imply that he is no longer upset about his situation because of his new found wealth. This could not be further from the truth. No matter how much money he has acquired, nothing would be enough to completely contradict what has already been established in the song. No matter the vast amounts of wealth in his possession, he is still unhappy. This is something that one must take into account.
The real point of interest in this part is the very last line. If one is simply listening to the music and not really paying attention to what is being said, the eight line sounds just like the previous seven. But with closer inspection, ABU777ALI masterfully changes how he sings it (it should be noted that this is definitely not an accident. This was done on purpose to add more depth to the story). But by adding a strange lisp-sounding effect to the vocals, what was once "but now" instantly becomes interchangeable with the word "without." This goes further to reiterate the point of him being unhappy, even with all of the money. It says that, no matter what happens, successful or not, he is not satisfied with his life. He wants something better.
It is also interesting to note how the first part is in the past tense. This could be taken as a kind of clever foreshadowing. By saying "was" instead of "am," he is hinting that the dream he was looking for has become a reality. By using the past tense, ABU777ALI has managed to work a very positive message within what seems to be the most depressing verse in the entire song.

the money train choo choo all aboard!!!
The final part of this masterpiece is my personal favorite. It begins with a unique, powerful break where ABU777ALI perfectly recreates the wonderful tone of a synthesizer with nothing but his amazing voice. When the repeated DO DOs end, he holds his hands up in the form of a triangle. This is a very inspiring image, representing the message that is being told. Each corner tells of a different part of the story. The first point (the lower-right corner), is the beginning of his hustling career, where he feels like there is no hope for any kind of positive future. The second point (lower left corner), represents the positive emotions he begins to feel about his future. The final corner (top) is him finally realizing his dream. It's when he becomes a happy, independent gentleman. Not necessarily as wealthy as before, but certainly finding success.

All Aboard
A'ight, is ev'rybody all aboard
We on the Money Train
We on the Money Train
We on the Money Train
We on the Money Train
All ABOOAAAARD
We on the Money Train
We on the Money Train
We on the Money Train

This is the big payoff that we've been waiting for. All the tears that have been spilling out throughout this work of art have finally dried up. This is when the clouds open up to reveal glorious rays of sunlight shining through the day. This part finishes off the narrative with an unmodest, uplifting ending that fills your heart with a powerful sense of satisfaction that one rarely gets when listening to music.
First off, it must be made clear that there is no actual train made out of money, contrary to popular belief. It is actually a highly original metaphor for a non-stop, one way path to success. His message is made even more righteous by the inclusion of the phrase "All Aboard," which is commonly associated with trains. With this inclusion he's saying that not only has he found success in life doing clean work, but you can do it to. All you need to do is try hard and keep a positive attitude. If someone who had to spend all of their life hustling has found fame and happiness, then anyone can.

With all of these key plot points analyzed, there is only one thing left to discuss that isn't in the actual song. At the start of the video, we see ABU777ALI replace a Kwanzaa Hat from Zazzle.co.uk with a traditional black baseball cap. This is early foreshadowing, quickly giving the message of "out with the old, in with the new" within the first few seconds of the video. Clearly, ABU777ALI is a master of English storytelling techniques.
In conclusion, it is obvious that KEEP ON HUSTLIN is one of the crowning jewels of our lifetime. It is an amazing feat of musical genius that can be compared to a scarce few. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and now ABU777ALI. When one finishes watching the video, one is left with an intense rush of emotions. You will laugh, you will cry, you will feel emotions you never knew you had.