Hip-Hop in Literature, Literature in Hip-Hop Alex Spare Littleton High School http:// alexspare.com

1. Hip-Hop in Literature, Literature in Hip-HopAlex SpareLittleton High Schoolhttp://alexspare.com “I can think of nothing heavier than an airplane I can think of no greater conglomerate of steel and metal I can think of nothing less likely to fly There are no wings more weighted I too have felt a heaviness The stare of man guessing at my being” – Blackalicious Featuring Saul Williams

2. Hip-Hop is… “The expression of the relationship between urban youth and their environment. The art of the streets.” • Graffiti. • DJing. (Mixing and scratching existing music on a turntable to create a new sound) • MCing. (Stands for Master of Ceremonies or “Mic Controller” – rapping) • B-Boying. B-Girling. (Hip-hop dancing.) • Slam Poetry. • Tattoos. • Speech/Dialect. • Fashion. • Behavior (Street Entrepreneurship, for example) • A mind-set/set of beliefs. Adapted from El-Said, Almustafa. "Hip-Hop." Urbandictionary.com. 25 Feb 2004. 25 Jan 2009 <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hip-hop>.

3. Hip-Hop is… “…more than the 'four elements’ [DJing, MCing, graffiti and breakdancing]. If our culture is limited to writing illegible crap on walls, and yelling into a microphone, then it's not that great of a culture at all. Hip-Hop is the way we talk, the way we act, our fashion, our lifestyle, and our people. It's the culture of the streets…Secondly, hip-hop is NOT a music genre... “Like [KRS-One] said, ‘Rap is something we do, hip-hop is something you live.’ ” Johnny, Twoguns. "Hip-Hop.” Urbandictionary.com. 4 Aug 2004. 24 Jan 2009 <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hip-hop>.

4. Hip-Hop is… “What urban music was before gangsters got their hands on microphones.” Anonymous, "Hip-Hop." Urbandictionary.com. 9 Dec 2002. 25 Jan 2009 <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hip-hop>.

5. Hip-Hop is… “…a cultural throughline for the Oral Tradition.” Bob Holman, "congratulations. you have found a hidden book.," Alive: Voices from the Newyorican Poets Cafe, ed. Miguel and Bob Holman Alargin (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1994).

6. Hip-Hop is… …Now a part of mainstream culture at its highest levels. • On his Facebook page, BarackObama lists The Fugees under “Favorite Music.” • “Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.” –from “Inaugural Poem” by Elizabeth Alexander, January 20, 2009

7. Why Use Hip-Hop in the Classroom? Students Recognize Themselves: Hip-hop validates the students’ own experiences more than most “traditional” literature can. Depending on your audience, the study of hip-hop can expose students to other cultures, help them acknowledge their own culture, or both.(Read / Recognize Literature as a Record of Human Experience) Unpacking, Assessing, and Using Allusion: Many hip-hop artists are highly conscious of their place in history and culture. They mention current events, historical figures, philosophers, world religions, and almost anything else you can think of. Research opportunities abound. (Apply Thinking Skills to Reading, Locate / Select / Use Info, Read / Recognize Literature as a Record of Human Experience) Vocabulary and Stylistic Development: Despite racist and classist stereotypes, lots of hip-hop artists are well educated, well read and well spoken (in the traditional sense). Students will learn effective language use from them. (Locate, select, and use information) Form and Structure in Poetry: Using music and words on a page simultaneously can illustrate how poetic devices produce an effect on an audience. (Apply Thinking Skills to Reading, Locate / Select / Use Info, Read / Recognize Literature as a Record of Human Experience) Figurative Language and Other Poetic Devices: What does Tupac mean when he calls himself “The Rose that Grew from Concrete?” (Apply Thinking Skills to Reading, Read / Recognize Literature as a Record of Human Experience) Duh? They like it. Why not use what they already know and love to teach them something they don’t already know and love? All basic reading strategies come into play: decoding, summarizing, questioning, inference, intertextuality, repairing confusion, etc. (Read a Variety of Material, Apply Thinking Skills to Reading, Locate / Select / Use Info, Read / Recognize Literature as a Record of Human Experience)

8. The Rose that Grew From Concrete

9. “In the Event of My Demise” Dedicated 2 Those Curious In the event of my Demise when my heart can beat no more I Hope I Die For A Principle or A Belief that I had Lived 4 I will die Before My Time Because I feel the shadow's Depth so much I wanted 2 accomplish Before I reached my Death I have come 2 grips with the possibility and wiped the last tear from my eyes I Loved All who were Positive In the event of my Demise!

10. In the Event of…(Poem after TupacShakur) Follow the following format and complete the poem in the space below: (Title) In the Event of_______________________ (Dedication) Dedicated 2 ___________________ In the event of… When… I hope… Or… I will… Because… So much… Before I have… And… I loved… In the event of…

11. “In the Event of My Deportation” In the event of my deportation border patrol agents will bust da door down When this happens I will defend my right of being here with anything I find I hope they got backup Or else I’ll get away I will die before I leave the US without a high school diploma Because I got to have something to be proud of. So much I’ve lived here and studied. No one will take this away Before they take me away I will fight the ones that want to take me back to Hell I have all right being here And I will fight to be here I loved the American life In the event of my deportation, the border patrol will waste their time because sooner or later I’ll be back.

12. “Tears of a Teenage Mother” He's bragging about his new Jordans The Baby just ran out of milk He's buying gold every 2 weeks The Baby just ran out of Pampers He's buying clothes for his new girl & the baby just ran out of medicine u ask for money for the Baby The Daddy just ran out the Door

13. “Tears of a Teenage Mother” Deconstructed 1. He's bragging about his new Jordans 3. He's buying gold every 2 weeks 5. He's buying clothes for his new girl 8. The Daddy just ran out the Door 2. The Baby just ran out of milk 4. The Baby just ran out of Pampers 6. & the baby just ran out of medicine 7. u ask for money for the Baby

14. Contrast Poem (After TupacShakur) Read the poem “Tears of a Teenage Mother” by TupacShakur. Then, write a poem of at least eight lines in which lines 1, 3, 5, and 8 contrast heavily with lines 2, 4, 6, and 7. You should show contrast in idea as well as form (for example, Tupac changes point-of-view every other line and indents every other line). You don’t have to copy him exactly! Take risks with ideas and form if you can.

15. “The Promise” "I will give u liberty, but first give me ure spirit, This I must confiscate because the evil fear it.” I too would be afraid of passion governed by reason An open mind 2 trying times when corruption is in season The promise that they claim 2 be completely true is hypocrisy at its finest A trick 2 silence u never will I believe a promise from the masters of the Art Trickery does not succeed with those with Honest Hearts

16. 1-2-4 with “The Promise” • Interpret the poem (In other words, try figure out what the poem means). Write your interpretation in your notebook. Then, write down a detail in the poem that’s worth special mention. • Draw a line in your notebook underneath your response. • Meet with a partner. Share ideas. Come to a joint interpretation of the poem. Mention any specific details that need mentioning. Take notes. • Draw another line in your notebook underneath your second response. • Meet with another set of partners. Share ideas. On a poster –sized sheet, write down a group interpretation and three details worth special mention. Star the most important detail to talk about. • Present your poster to the entire class.

17. What could you do with this image in your classroom?

18. One Idea: If you were going to create wall art based on a theme in a book, what would it look like? What would the text say? Draw the graffiti that expresses your idea (or use an online graffiti creator)

19. Saul Williams

20. “Release” (Saul Williams Section) Inner breathlessness, outer restlessness By the time I caught up to freedom I was out of breath Grandma asked me what I'm running for I guess I'm out for the same thing the sun is sunning for What mothers birth their youngens for And some say Jesus coming for For all I know the earth is spinning slow Suns at half mast 'cause masses ain't aglow On bended knee, prostrate before an altered tree I've made the forest suit me

21. “Release” (Saul Williams Section) Tables and chairs Papers and prayers Matter versus spirit A metal ladder A wooden cross A plastic bottle of water A mandala encased in glass A spirit encased in flesh Sound from shaped hollows The thickest of mucus released from heightened passion A man that cries in his sleep A truth that has gone out of fashion

22. “Release” (Saul Williams Section) A mode of expression A paint splattered wall A carton of cigarettes A bouquet of corpses A dying forest A nurtured garden A privatized prison A candle with a broken wick A puddle that reflects the sun A piece of paper with my name on it I'm surrounded I surrender

23. “Release” (Saul Williams Section) All All that I am I have been All I have been has been a long time coming I am becoming all that I am The spittle that surrounds the mouth-piece of the flute Unheard, yet felt A gathered wetness A quiet moisture Sound trapped in a bubble Released into wind Wind fellows and land merchants We are history's detergent Water soluble, light particles, articles of cleansing breath Articles amending death

24. “Release” (Saul Williams Section) These words are not tools of communication They are shards of metal Dropped from eight story windows They are waterfalls and gas leaks Aged thoughts rolled in tobacco leaf The tools of a trade Barbers barred, barred of barters Catch phrases and misunderstandings But they are not what I feel when I am alone Surrounded by everything and nothing And there isn't a word or phrase to be caught A verse to be recited A man to de-fill my being in those moments

25. “Release” (Saul Williams Section) I am blankness, the contained center of an "O" The pyramidic containment of an "A" I stand in the middle of all that I have learned All that I have memorized All that I've known by heart Unable to reach any of it There is no sadness There is no bliss It is a forgotten memory A memorable escape route that only is found by not looking

26. “Release” (Saul Williams Section) There, in the spine of the dictionary the words are worthless They are a mere weight pressing against my thoughtlessness But then, who else can speak of thoughtlessness with such confidence Who else has learned to sling these ancient ideas like dead rats held by their tails so as not to infect this newly oiled skin I can think of nothing heavier than an airplane I can think of no greater conglomerate of steel and metal

27. “Release” (Saul Williams Section) I can think of nothing less likely to fly There are no wings more weighted I too have felt a heaviness The stare of man guessing at my being Yes I am homeless A homeless man making offerings to the after-future Sculpting rubber tree forests out of worn tires and shoe soles A nation unified in exhale A cloud of smoke A native pipe ceremony

28. “Release” (Saul Williams Section) All the gathered cigarette butts piled in heaps Snow covered mountains Lipsticks smeared and shriveled Offerings to an afterworld Tattoo guns and plastic wrappers Broken zippers and dead eyed dolls It's all overwhelming me, oak and elming me I have seeded a forest of myself Little books from tall trees It matters not what this paper be made of Give me notebooks made of human flesh Dried on steel hooks and nooses Make uses of use, uses of us It's all overwhelming me, oak and elming me

29. “Release” (Saul Williams Section) I have seeded a forest of myself Little books from tall trees On bended knee Prostrate before an altered tree I've made the forest suit me Tables and chairs Papers and prayers Matter vs. spirit…. through meditation I program my heart to beat breakbeats and hum basslines on exhalation --Saul Williams in “Release Part 1, 2 & 3” by Blackalicious

30. Final Thought:(Thanks for coming!) “People will stand up and say really stupid things like ‘I don’t think profane language should be used’ or ‘They are always cursing and stuff, and I think they can make their point without bad language.’ But I always think bad language is ‘school vouchers,’ ‘lower taxes on capital gains,’ ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ and language like that, which, silently or not so silently, kills people who are different from what we want to think we are. But who, in truth, are not so different after all.” --Nikki Giovanni in the foreword to The Rose that Grew from Concrete

31. Hip-Hop is… Hip-hop is prosecution evidence The out of court settlement Ad space for liquor Sick without benefits Luxury tenements choking the skyline It's low life getting tree-top high Here there's a back water remedy Bitter intent to memory A class E felony Facing the death penalty Stimulant and sedative, original repetitive Violently competitive, a school unaccredited

32. Hip-Hop is… The break beats you get broken with on time and inappropriate Hip Hop went from selling crack to smoking it Medicine for loneliness Remind me of Thelonius and Dizzy Propers to B-Boys getting busy The war-time snap shot The working man's jack-pot A two dollar snack box Sold beneath the crack spot Olympic sponsor of the black glock Gold medallist in the back shot

33. Hip-Hop is… Where farmers have trouble with cash crops It's all city like phase two Hip Hop will simply amaze you Craze you, pay you Do whatever you say do But black, it can't save you From "Hip-Hop" by Mos Def