"Rap: Beyond Beats and Rhymes" Response

Playing a huge role in the contemporary era, the music genre of rap - stemming from its formation in the 1980's - also, argued in the film "Rap: Beyond Beats and Rhymes", also perpetuates a bad influence on today's youth, especially young African Americans.

Filming young African Americans' responses to questions about the "rap" culture and presenting correlations for evidence, the film maker argues that "rap" only demonstrates and encourages sexism, killing, guns, and other criminal acts and paraphernalia, glorifying deliberate breaking of the law. Focusing on shootings, the "carpe diem" attitude, and the treatment of young women, the film maker mentions vivid examples, and responses from men and women interviewed to further support this evidence.

Considering the roots and origins of rap in rhythm and blues, other aspects of rap music, and the attitude and focus of "Rap: Beyond Beats and Rhymes" on solely the perceived negative aspect of rap music, I would instead argue that, while it presents drawbacks, rap music also exerts a positive influence on contemporary culture. Adding music to a form of either structured or free verse poetry, rap - through both the spark of inspiration and subsequent results of publishing - not only fosters spiritual, emotional, and educational growth, but a sense of wisdom, understanding, and community that draws listeners and composers alike together, marrying reason and emotion into a transparent bond.

While rap does present inevitable drawbacks, stimulating and beneficial attributes begin with the original idea for the music; creation and publication spur the creator to exercise and expand creativity, and ignite a further interest, comprehension, and knowledge in developing poetic authoring and English skills. Stemming from Rhythm and Blues - in addition to Gospel - music, rap music also not only explores emotions and enlightenment, but transcendence to a higher plane of understanding and wisdom; both singer and listener contemplate deeper meaning and purpose of life, its struggles, and salvation.

Bringing the African American community together into a common sense of connection, rap also stresses the interdependence of the African American, and world, community at large, and surviving and enduring to achieve peace and prosperity for contemporary generations and posterity. Sharing personal revelations - for example, mental and emotional achievement of maturity of the singer in T.I. and Justin Timberlake's "Dead and Gone" - guide listeners through advice, impart information through ethos, and contemplate on the true nature of good, evil, redemption, and mankind in whole.

Extending beyond the individual singer, rap music also inspires and instructs listeners to consider the content and meaning of the words, and, in turn, set off a "domino effect", duplicating the composer's transformation among many.

"Hotel California" - Othello, Part V

"Hotel California" by the Eagles - Othello, Part V (Cassio and Bianca, etc.)

Cassio - "Othello" Act IV, Scene I

"I marry her! what? a customer! Prithee, bear some
charity to my wit: do not think it so unwholesome.
Ha, ha, ha!

This is the monkey's own giving out: she is
persuaded I will marry her, out of her own love and
flattery, not out of my promise...

She was here even now; she haunts me in every place.
I was the other day talking on the sea-bank with
certain Venetians; and thither comes the bauble,
and, by this hand, she falls me thus about my neck—

So hangs, and lolls, and weeps upon me; so hales,
and pulls me: ha, ha, ha!

Well, I must leave her company.

'Tis such another fitchew! marry a perfumed one.
[Enter BIANCA]
What do you mean by this haunting of me?"


"Hotel California" Lyrics

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be heaven, or this could be hell,'
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year, you can find it here

Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes Bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the captain,
"Please bring me my wine,"
He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine!"
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said, "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device."
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
"Relax," said the night man,
"We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!"

Why I Chose This Song

(coming soon)

"Judas" - Othello, Part IV

"Judas" by Kelly Clarkson - Othello, Part IV (Emilia and Iago)

Emilia - "Othello" Act V, Scene II

"Villany, villany, villany!
I think upon't, I think: I smell't: O villany!—
I thought so then:—I'll kill myself for grief:-
O villany, villany!

Good gentlemen, let me have leave to speak:
'Tis proper I obey him, but not now.
Perchance, Iago, I will ne'er go home...

O thou dull Moor! that handkerchief thou speak'st of
I found by fortune and did give my husband;
For often, with a solemn earnestness,
More than indeed belong'd to such a trifle,
He begg'd of me to steal it...

By heaven, I do not, I do not, gentlemen.
O murderous coxcomb! what should such a fool
Do with so good a woman?"

"Judas" Lyrics

The only one who took you in
The only one who held your hand
Defended you against the others
Had your back on everything
Never let you down
You turned around betrayed your only brother

Forgetting me, you took things in your hands and left me out
After we'd been through so much, how could you let me down?

I didn't know, I didn't know
I couldn't see, I couldn't see
Never thought you'd forget me
Couldn't believe, couldn't believe
How you deceived, you deceived
I never thought you'd do that to me

I will never be like you
I'll never do the things you do
Selfish and lonely, what's your problem
Letting go of you and this
Is harder than I thought but I will not be poisoned by your actions

Forgetting me, you took things in your hands and left me out
After we'd been through so much, how could you let me down?


Why I Chose This Song

(coming soon)

"There are Worse Things I Could Do" - Othello, Part III

"There are Worse Things I Could Do" by Stockard Channing (Grease Soundtrack) - Othello, Part III (Bianca and Cassio)

Bianca - "Othello" - Act III, Scene IV to Act V, Scene I

"O Cassio, whence came this?
This is some token from a newer friend:
To the felt absence now I feel a cause:
Is't come to this? Well, well...

But that you do not love me.
I pray you, bring me on the way a little,
And say if I shall see you soon at night...

I am no strumpet; but of life as honest
As you that thus abuse me."

"There are Worse Things I Could Do" Lyrics

There are worse things I could do, than go with a boy or two
Even though the neighbourhood thinks I'm trashy and no good
I suppose it could be true, but there are worse things I could do

I could flirt with all the guys, smile at them and bat my eyes
Press against them when we dance, make them think they stand a chance
Then refuse to see it through, that's a thing I'd never do

I could stay home every night, wait around for Mr. Right
Take cold showers every day, and throw my life away
On a dream that won't come true

I could hurt someone like me, out of spite or jealousy
I don't steal and I don't lie, but I can feel and I can cry
A fact I'll bet you never knew
But to cry in front of you, that's the worst thing I could do

Why I Chose This Song

(coming soon)

"Everybody's Fool" - Othello, Part II

"Everybody's Fool" by Evanescence - Othello, Part II (Iago and Othello)

Iago - "Othello", Act I, Scene I

"Despise me, if I do not. Three great ones of the city,
In personal suit to make me his lieutenant,
Off-capp'd to him: and, by the faith of man,
I know my price, I am worth no worse a place:
But he; as loving his own pride and purposes,
Evades them, with a bombast circumstance
Horribly stuff'd with epithets of war;
And, in conclusion,
Nonsuits my mediators; for, 'Certes,' says he,
'I have already chose my officer.'
And what was he?
Forsooth, a great arithmetician,
One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,
A fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife;
That never set a squadron in the field,
Nor the division of a battle knows
More than a spinster; unless the bookish theoric,
Wherein the toged consuls can propose
As masterly as he: mere prattle, without practise,
Is all his soldiership. But he, sir, had the election:
And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof
At Rhodes, at Cyprus and on other grounds
Christian and heathen, must be be-lee'd and calm'd
By debitor and creditor: this counter-caster,
He, in good time, must his lieutenant be,
And I--God bless the mark!--his Moorship's ancient.

O, sir, content you;
I follow him to serve my turn upon him:
We cannot all be masters, nor all masters
Cannot be truly follow'd. You shall mark
Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave,
That, doting on his own obsequious bondage,
Wears out his time, much like his master's ass,
For nought but provender, and when he's old, cashier'd:
Whip me such honest knaves. Others there are
Who, trimm'd in forms and visages of duty,
Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves,
And, throwing but shows of service on their lords,
Do well thrive by them and when they have lined
their coats
Do themselves homage: these fellows have some soul;
And such a one do I profess myself. For, sir,
It is as sure as you are Roderigo,
Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago:
In following him, I follow but myself;
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so, for my peculiar end:
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, 'tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am."

"Everybody's Fool" Lyrics

Perfect by nature
Icons of self indulgence
Just what we all need
More lies about a world that

Never was and never will be
Have you no shame don't you see me
You know you've got everybody fooled

Look here she comes now
Bow down and stare in wonder
Oh how we love you
No flaws when you're pretending
But now I know she

Never was and never will be
You don't know how you've betrayed me
And somehow you've got everybody fooled

Why I Chose This Song

A big Evanescence fan, I chose this particular song because it reminded me of Iago's attitude towards Othello's promotion of Cassio over him at the beginning of the play.

Sung from the perspective of a sarcastic and bitter point of view, the singer mocks the superficiality of those surrounding her, satirizing their apparent worship of their "leaders". Similarly, at the beginning of "Othello", everyone highly idolizes and idealizes the war hero Othello to the point of legend, an adoration that Iago, in turn, mocks, viewing himself "above" everyone else - the "true mastermind".

Whereas Iago stayed by Othello's side in the war, when Othello "betrays" him by promoting Cassio over Iago - even though Iago served much longer and experienced battle - Iago comes to a self-epiphany. To him, Othello possesses a gilded, false good reputation based on what Iago considers Othello's lies and false appearance to maintain his cushioned hero's treatment among the Cyprus commoners and rulers.

In addition, rather than pay attention to Iago rightfully, instead Othello pays attention to Cassio, his closer friend, leaving Iago the "third wheel" - not only ignored and humiliated, but thirsty for vengeance. Additionally, seeing through Othello's "golden" exterior - the assumption everyone else views him in - Iago vows to get back at the Moor, planning to root out and exploit Othello's "Achilles' Heel", or greatest weakness.

"Come Undone" - Othello, Part I

"Come Undone" by Duran Duran (1993) - Othello, Part I (Othello and Desdemona)

Othello

[He kisses Desdemona]
O balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
Justice to break her sword. One more, one more!
Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee,
And love thee after. One more, and that's the last!
So sweet was ne'er so fatal. I must weep,
But they are cruel tears. This sorrow's heavenly;
It strikes where it doth love. She wakes.

"Come Undone" Lyrics

Mine, immaculate dream made breath and skin
I've been waiting for you
Signed, with a home tattoo,
Happy birthday to you was created for you

(Woman: Can't ever keep from falling apart
At the seams
Can't I believe you're taking my heart
To pieces)

Oh, it'll take a little time,
Might take a little crime
To come undone now

We'll try to stay blind
To the hope and fear outside
Hey child, stay wilder than the wind
And blow me in to cry -

Who do you need, who do you love
When you come undone?

Why I Chose This Song

A notorious fan of rock band Duran Duran to my family, out of all their songs, this one in particular stands out to me among all the others, the absolute favorite song of my life since age fourteen.

If anything, when the music and words mingle together, they entrance me, something mysterious, despairing, haunting, and deep, intense passion from both the man and woman all the same time. So, in reading Othello, and the scene where Othello murders Desdemona, torn by grief and love at the same time, to me, it immediately matched the image of "doomed love" conjured by Duran Duran's "Come Undone".

In the music video, clips of a woman wrapped in chains and underwater reoccur; akin to the woman, Desdemona struggles, "drowning" due to Othello's flaw and "need for justice and honor", unable to understand why her husband comes to kill her - heartbroken and "come undone".

Dare You to Move

Reference the song "Dare You to Move", by Switchfoot.

Although the last time I saw Megan last proved our shared Disney World trip, nearly fifteen years ago, I managed to reconnect with her somehow over Facebook.

Normally my family cut off all ties with my father's original family; my father does not take my Uncle Don, his blood brother, lightly, and my cousins even less so. Of his two half-sisters, we see little to nothing of; sexual, alcohol, and drug abuse long drove the two out of sight, if not completely out of mind. Akin to the twins Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, they prove together, but opposites; one highly religious to the extreme, the other sickeningly off of her rocker.

Yet,somehow, I sensed that my cousins - Shawn and Megan, respectively - somehow escaped the madness from the household that my father ran away from at age sixteen to live with his best friend, Morgan, who even now submits willingly to the chains his wife figuratively leashes him with. Not seeing Megan nor Shawn since a young age - three, I believe - of course I would only, naturally, reconnect with Megan over Facebook fifteen years later.

Almost astoundingly, I felt shocked to see Megan - a smiling, innocent child in the faded picture next to I, much younger - a grown woman, and on top of that, with a steady boyfriend and very pregnant. At first, I deemed it inconceivable; at first, I could not wrap my mind around the image of my "little" cousin in the picture, only now "knocked up" for better terms; that she still stood unmarried bothered me not in the slightest, but that one fact stunned me. Pregnant? Where did the years go?

After two months of quietly reconvening and getting to know my cousin after years of separation - she lived in Seattle, I in Fort Myers, an entire swath of nation away - last night, she gave birth quietly to a little boy, Brayden Edward Barrett, weighing nine pounds and twenty-two inches long. I knew his identity beforehand, of coruse; but hearing it only proved far more mind-numbing and surreal - my "little" cousin, a baby boy and boyfriend in tow? Inconceivable, and yet, all the more real.

Maybe one of these days I will venture to Seattle; a particular wanderlust grips my body in its sway, and I feel all the more restless, to go and see the world. To me, the rainy country sounds so much more serene, its untouched copes of quiet woods proffering an alternative to the heat of the Florida summer, and somehow, I long for it.

Perhaps; but, perhaps not - for something in my bones does not sit well; with the earnest workings of my mind, so I experience the urge to move, to see that which I missed all this time and never even knew existed. Where did the years go?

In any case, my time approaches; soon the jesses of high school will melt away, and I, akin to a hooded Peregrine, kept quietly in the dark, will unfurl my wings and take to the infitinte blue. Only one question nags at my mind and spirit, plaguing my anxious, restless self: where do I go from here?