DJing. MCing. Breaking. Graffiti. The four elements of hip hop allow creative young people all over the world the chance to express themselves through the medium of their choice. For this assignment you will create a piece of hip hop art (details below) that expresses your feelings about the anti-racism protests of May/June 2020 that brought the Black Lives Matter movement roaring back into focus. You may connect this topic to other or past events, but the central theme of your work should be as stated.
Choose one of the following options:
The MC
Write an original rap song containing a minimum of two verses (minimum 16 bars/lines apiece) and a chorus (minimum 8 bars). You may submit this as a written document, or you may record your song and submit an MP3. Consider writing to an instrumental beat so that your song feels consistent and cohesive. Sampling is permitted, but the lyrics of the song must be predominantly your own,
The point of this assignment is to play to your strengths and create an original piece of art that expresses your feelings about the protests and what caused them. What you create does not have to be the greatest thing ever made, but it should be sincere and thoughtful. If you are unfamiliar with the details of the events that this assignment is based on, we will be discussing them in class, but you may also wish to do some independent research to inform your work.
Creating a piece of art allows us to think critically about a subject and articulate it in a way that others can understand. It requires just as much work as a traditional paper and may prove slightly more difficult if you are unfamiliar with the various options. Do take this assignment seriously. It is worth a large percentage of your overall grade and you may benefit from working on it throughout the term.
Your assignment will be graded according to three metrics, each on a scale of 1-10 (with 1 = No; 5-6 = Yes; and 10 = Exceptionally So):
Does the work meet the requirements?
Does the work clearly articulate the creator’s intention?
Does the work engage in existential questioning?
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