The overwhelmingly successful records of dream prediction in transmitted texts, I suggest, is largely due to the fabrication and retrospective inference of past dreams, as well as the under‐reporting of predictive failures. Through a comprehensive analysis of a large dataset of dream occurrences in the official Chinese historical records, I argue that the ubiquity and persistence of dream interpretation have a strong empirical component (predictively accurate dream cases), which is particularly vulnerable to transmission errors and biases. Think Eminem’s iconic “Lose Yourself.”Ĭue up the theme music to Rocky, and let’s get to it.Why did people across the world and throughout history believe that dreams can foretell what will occur in the future? In this paper, I attempt to answer this question within a cultural evolutionary framework by emphasizing the cognitive aspect of dream interpretation namely, the fact that dreams were often viewed as significant and interpretable has to do with various psychological and social factors that influence how people obtain and process information regarding the validity of dream interpretation as a technique. While not every rap song that inspires is necessarily an anthem, all anthems are inspirational, so it’s hardly surprising that our canon of all-time great motivational hip-hop songs is chock-full of them. There aren’t many musical experiences more beautiful than when a rapper waxes poetic over an earth-shattering beat-a core tenant of all anthems. An anthem is like a banger or slapper, in that it’s carried by the type of production that’ll have your group of friends throwing bows in the club like Disturbing the Peace circa 2000, only it doubles as gospel.

Then there is the top tier of motivational rap songs, which is made up of tracks that embody qualities similar to the aforementioned group but share an unmistakable identity. Banger isn’t the word anthem, more like. Somewhere in the middle lies rags-to-riches classics (see “C.R.E.A.M,” “Juicy,” “Exhibit C”) that are inspirational largely because they tell tales of young men fighting their way out of poverty by any means necessary. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are uplifting hymns like “Keep Ya Head Up,” “Ultralight Beam,” and “Love Yourz,” which inspire by radiating hope and positivity. There are certain tracks -songs like “Dreams and Nightmares” and “Knuck If You Buck”- that are motivational to the extent that, if played at a specific volume with a particular group of individuals, can convince you to commit violence against another person. You just know one when it smacks you upside the head. You know the ones that get you hyped, and the ones that make you move.

Every interpretation of music is subjective, and people are motivated by different things, so there is no single way to define a “motivational” hip-hop song .

Songs like dreams and nightmares