Holler If Ya Hear MeA New Musical Inspired by The Lyrics of Tupac Shakur2Pac

Holler If Ya Hear Me

Intro


Overview

The purpose of the Holler If Ya Hear Me Portal is to create an online education zone for middle school, high school and community educators. It functions much like a traditional study guide - but is much more than that. The Portal also teaches, learns, develops and grows from the users’ input and use. It searches and explores a variety of materials that relate to the themes and content of the play. More than a lesson plan, the Portal treats each theme as a prompt to build knowledge, develop, share and critique ideas as we grow. This is Hiphop so there are no limits to how far we may go to build and facilitate program development and education about the musical “Holler if You Hear Me” and the book by Todd Kreidler and music by Tupac Shakur.

Objectives

Holler If You Hear Me is a musical inspired by the artistic work of the late Tupac Shakur whose mcing, poetry, acting and community presence has inspired youth across racial lines around the world. The objective of this education portal is to inspire young people to Holler and bring their own story and to inspire educators to develop programs, lesson plans, field trips, and other educational experiences that address the life of Tupac Shakur and how his audacity for living has inspired creativity.

Curated Sections

Scholars and artists have collaborated on developing content for each interactive model. The Portal is scheduled to grow like a rose in concrete. The first three sections to grow are: Broadway: From August Wilson to Tupac Shakur, Hiphop Theater Documenting Urban Life and WORD Up: The Language Genius of Hiphop. Collaborators for these sections include works from: Jamaica Kincaid, Dionne Bennett, Nicole Hodges Persley, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Mark Anthony Neal and more.

Study Guide - Explore the Musical

The music is Tupac.
The story is now.


The world inside Tupac Shakur’s music and lyrics blazes to life in an entertaining new musical!

Broadway has always given voice to popular culture and social change. South Pacific, West Side Story, Hair, For Colored Girls…, Sarafina and Rent are among the hits that hit home. Now Broadway gives voice to the lyrics of Tupac Shakur, whose music has sold over 77 million albums!

HOLLER IF YA HEAR ME is an original work that is at once a love story and a vivid picture of life in the streets.

Don’t miss this chance to experience the sheer brilliance of one of the 20th century’s most prophetic and influential voices whose message continues to echo throughout our culture today.

 Buy tickets here

 

Cast of Characters

JOHN CAVINESS (27), Two strikes, fresh out of jail, a self-taught cartoonist

VERTUS WESTON (26), Slings drugs, King of My Block

BRIAN GRIFFIN (23), a white mechanic, plays acoustic guitar

CORINNE (24), Vertus’ girlfriend, works in a grocery store

KAMILAH (24) Corinne’s friend

ANDREA WESTON (47), Vertus’ mother

NUNN (34), one of Vertus’ two man crew

MY BLOCK CHORUS – Array of men and women from the neighborhood. Among them...

An OLD LADY living out of a bag

A STREET PREACHER on the corner with a bullhorn A CRAZY LADY, her belly with a baby

YOUNG SOULJAS – A band of friends, all a year out of high school. Among them...

ANTHONY (19), best friend of Vertus’ brother DARIUS (20), the other of Vertus’ two man crew REGGIE (19), LEMAR (18)

Check out the Cast, Creative, and Producer Bios at HollerIfYaHearMe.com

THE PLAY

The Time is NOW on MY BLOCK in Winter, a Midwestern industrial city

Act 1 Scenes 1-3


Act 1 Scene 1

Scene Snapshot

The opening number “The Block” introduces the characters of the story. In the opening scene of the play we meet John who is drawing. John has just left prison and is on his way to find a job and his new place in a world that seems unfamiliar and unwelcoming. The scene John is drawing comes to life before our eyes. John draws to express his feelings and to talk about what he sees around him. In John’s drawing, you can see pain, happiness, confusion, regret and many other emotions. The characters in the opening song express that they feel their environment is unsafe. They sing and rap about pipe dreams and wanting a better life. This opening number sets the tone of the play and establishes the characters struggles between wrong and right and their desires to leave the block for something more.

Activities:

ART – Drawing exercise. What do the characters say about their environment in the opening number “The Block”? How do they describe their lives? What relationships do we see? We can also make maps of our thoughts. Draw a map of your thoughts about your block. Does your environment make you feel happy? Sad? Safe? Discuss your map with your class. Write down three things that you want to change about your community. (CHANGE, COMMUNITY, SOCIAL ISSUES)

FAITH – The main characters in the play talk about prayer and faith. Make a list of what you understand about faith and prayer. What popular songs can you list that talk about prayer or faith? Make a link between your favorite Hiphop’s artist’s idea of faith and the characters in the opening of the musical. What are they trying to tell us? (CHANGE, FAITH, REDEMPTION, RELIGION)

ART (Key Word: “Pipe dream”) – The characters in the opening talk about pipe dreams. What is a “pipe dream”? Have you ever had a pipe dream? If so, what obstacles in your environment stopped you from achieving it? Create a drawing, painting, collage or take photographs on your smart phone of that you dream of. What steps can you make to achieve your pipe dream? (CHALLENGES, DREAMS, GOALS, PERSEVERANCE)

COMMUNITY (CIPHER) – Students form a sharing circle by gathering into a simple circle, or cipher. Each person in the cipher agrees to respect everyone that is a part of it. Place a talking stick in the center of the circle (You can make a talking stick out of any found object that you have (a stick, a ball, a cup, etc.) Pass the talking stick around the circle and share what the opening of the musical means to you. Make a list of how many people had the same idea. What could you change in your community if you got together with people with life ideas?

BRAINSTORMING (Key Words: “Denotation” & “Connotation”) – In the scene, Nunn invokes the phrase “Thug Life.” Tupac himself has this phrase tattooed across his stomach. So what does “thug life” actually mean? According to the general public, it is generally considered to be a negative phrase based on its denotation. But, according to Tupac, “Thug Life” carried a positive connotation; he actually turned it into an acronym meaning “The Hate U Give Little Infants F***s Everyone.” With a partner, brainstorm a list of other words and phrase that have contrasting denotations and connotations. Compare your list with those of your classmates.


Act 1 Scene 2

Scene Snapshot: 

In this scene, we meet Griffy, who is a mechanic at an urban garage. He has inherited the garage because his father is dying from cancer and can no longer work. The garage represents Griffy’s desire to fix broken things, including the people around him. What he wishes to fix the most, his father, cannot be done, so he pours his heart into his work. His garage has a graffiti painting of a bird with wings saving a wrecked car. John, our main character, enters the scene. He is recently release from jail after receiving “two strikes.”  The three strikes law argues that three violent felonies equals 25 years to life in prison.  John has one more strike to receive before he faces a life in prison.

Meanwhile, John is interested in making an honest living. He is seeking a new job at the garage and wants to start a new life. Benny, (who is not seen) also works at the garage and has told Griffy about John’s arrival.  Vertus, Darius, Anthony and Nunn come to hang out at the garage and see John for the first time after his release from prison. As the crew tries to make up for lost time, word breaks over the police scanner that there has been a fatal shooting. As the news spreads, the characters learn that the shooting victim is Benny, Vertus’s brother and Griffy’s partner at the garage.

Activities:

DEBATE – In the scene, we learn that John has two strikes against him, in regards to law and the criminal justice system. If he is found guilty of another crime, that will be his third strike, and he will likely be imprisoned for the rest of his life, without the chance of parole. In small groups, research the “Three Strikes Law” and prepare for a debate on the fairness of the law. Should lawbreakers be given multiple chances at redemption? Or is three enough to prove that a person is unlikely to ever change their ways? (CONFLICT, SOCIAL ISSUES)

MUSIC – In this scene, the characters rap/sing the number “What’s Going On?” Listen to this song by Marvin Gaye and compare its story to the one depicted the scene. Share your thoughts and ideas with a partner. (COMMUNITY, CONFLICT, SOCIAL ISSUES)

MUSIC/MAKING CONNECTIONS – When the scene opens, Griffy is playing a song on his guitar and singing along. Griffy is playing a song by a 1980s pop star named Suzanne Vega. Listen to the song. What is Vega talking about that relates to Griffy and John? Meanwhile, Vertus also knows the words to the song. What is the connection between the two characters? Vertus samples from Suzanne Vega’s song to make his own song called “Dope Fiend’s Diner,” the second number of the show. What does Vertus say in his freestyle?  (COMMUNITY, CONFLICT, REMIXING/SAMPLING, STREET VIOLENCE)

POEM – When Anthony finds out that Benny has died, he raps Tupac’s song “Life Goes On.” Listen to the original song. What connections to faith and determination is Anthony making when he sings this song? How did Tupac write about coping with the death of a loved one? Have you ever had to face the death of a loved one? A pet? A close friend? Write a poem about your reaction to or feelings about death. (DEATH, FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, REMEMBRANCE, STRUGGLE)

ART (Key Word: “Ritual”) – After Benny’s funeral, his boys, friends and family have a house party to celebrate his life. One of the rituals they perform is to pour out alcohol on the ground for their lost brother. This is part of an African American tradition to pour out a drink, or libation, for a lost family member or friend. What types of rituals do your, your family or friends have to commemorate life and death? List two examples and create a digital or paper collage that represents your particular ritual practices. Pass the images around and ask your classmate what they see. How many people in your class have similar images? What cultural differences and similarities can you name? (COMMUNITY, FRIENDSHIP, LOYALTY, REMEMBRANCE)

REMEMBERING (Key Word: “Memento”) – In many cultures, family members and friends keep something that was important to a friend or loved on after they die to remember them. This item is called a memento. A memento is an object that helps you to remember a person, place, thing, or idea that you have experienced. One of Benny’s close friends, Anthony, kept his military jacket. This jacket represents a crossroads for Anthony to continue in the footsteps of his lost friend: he can “wear” Benny’s past, or use the jacket as a reminder of choosing a different path.

What type of mementos do you have in your life? List three. Set a timer in your classroom to play a small game. Two people sit face to face and describe their object. Try to remember everything that you can to describe the object. The other person tries to guess what it is. Once the person guesses, the person who has the object must talk about what memory it represents. After everyone has had a chance to guess, return to a conversation circle and discuss why mementos are important. (FRIENDSHIP, LOYALTY, REMEMBRANCE, SYMBOL)

PHOTO ESSAY (Key Word: “Memorials”) – Memorials are used to remind us of people who have died. Use your phone or a disposable camera to take images of memorials around your community.  You can also use old magazines or Google images to make a collage of images that remind you of someone to make a paper memorial. Discuss your memorial in a cipher, or sharing circle, with your class. (FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, LOSS, LOVE LOST, REMEMBRANCE)


Act 1 Scene 3

Scene Snapshot:

The scene opens at a makeshift memorial for Benny, with John drawing in his tablet and the Street Preacher on his pulpit, trying to spread the word of God. John gets annoyed with the Street Preacher and gives him food and drink in efforts to cease his religious preaching. Meanwhile, Corinne enters the scene and begins to speak with John about her relationship with Vertus. John wants nothing to do with Corinne and takes off. As John walks off, he passes by a group of Young Souljas and Young Women. The Young Souljas are in the middle of a conversation about the ways in which one can be a man on the street: through violence and sexual conquests. While on the other hand, the Young Women sing and rap about keeping one’s head up and being brave and courageous in the face of trouble. The Young Souljas conversation drifts back onto the topic of violence. In particular, they identify Benny’s murderers, the 4-5s, and begin plotting for revenge. 

Shortly thereafter, John and Vertus enter the scene. Vertus asks John why he didn’t come visit upon being released from prison. John tells Vertus that he is no longer a part of the game; he is trying to live a simple life, and tells Vertus he must get back to work, then exits the scene. After his departure, Vertus and some of the Young Souljas, in particular Anthony and Darius, begin discussing the 4-5s and plans for retaliation for the death of Benny. Darius is insistent that the 4-5s killed Benny to get to Vertus. He even informs Vertus that the 4-5s have gone so far as to threaten his mother as well.

Activities:

HIPHOP SKETCHES – Have students write one-page scripts on any of the topics below. You can work in groups of 2-4. Make copies for the students and cast them in the roles. Each scene must be written for two people. Do not censor the dialogue. Let students write and spell the way the talk in everyday life.  If the student wants their script to be anonymous, this is ok. Create a sharing cipher by assembling all of the students into a circle to provide the “stage” for each small performance. (CHANGE, COMMUNITY, CONFLICT, STREET VIOLENCE, SPOKEN WORD, THEATRE)

WRITING PROMPTS

  1. Gang life. What do you know? What stereotypes are attached to gangs in our society?
  2. What is the playwright saying about having sex with multiple partners?  Can sex be just as dangerous as guns and violence to the health of communities?
  3. Why do people stay in bad environments? Why don’t they try to get out? 
  4. Think about the threat to Mrs. Weston’s life. Have you ever been in a life threatening situation.  Think about a life-changing event in your life that pushed you to change something. 

LANGUAGE/BRAINSTORMING/CREATIVE WRITING (Key Word: “Idiom”) – In the scene, some of the Young Souljas are rapping/singing Tupac’s song “I Get Around.” In particular, Reggie raps a line that includes the phrase “Loose lips sink ships.” This is what is called an “idiom” or “idiomatic expression.” Tupac was not literally rapping about lips and sinking ships; rather he was expressing the idea that we must beware of unguarded talk. What other idioms do you know? Brainstorm with a partner any other idioms you may have heard, and then attempt to explain what it’s figurative meaning is. Conversely, teachers could provide the pairs with a list of idioms, and groups could take turns attempting to describe their meaning. As a further step, students could select a handful of idioms and incorporate them into an original piece of creative writing. (CONFLICT, SEXUALITY, SOCIAL ISSUES)

Act 1 Scenes 4-6


Act 1 Scene 4

Scene Snapshot: 

As the scene opens, John is drawing a red dress in his tablet. His drawing comes to life and we see Corinne being fitted in a red dress by Kamilah. The two women talk specifically about Darius and Kamilah’s concern over his street lifestyle, but eventually the conversation drifts to the idea that we, as humans, are all trapped in some sort of cage. Corinne then leaves Kamilah and heads over to John’s apartment. As John opens the door for Corinne, he conceals a gun in the back waistband of his pants. Corinne pleads with John to help Vertus because he is in trouble. John is unsympathetic to her pleas; he is holding on to a grudge. Corinne and John had been an item prior to his imprisonment, but she did not wait for him. Corinne continues to plead with John about helping Vertus, and eventually she opens John’s tablet and his drawing explode into life, revealing his inner self. As John sings, “It is me against the world.”

Activities:

LOVE LOST/CONFLICT/POEM/JOURNALING – In this scene, the audience gains deeper insight into the emotional conflict between John and Corinne. Based on their conversations, we can infer that John and Corinne were romantically involved prior to John’s imprisonment. Unfortunately, his instructions to Corinne about not visiting or writing to him were too large of an obstacle to overcome, and she moved on while John was in prison. What about in your life? Have you ever had a romance or friendship come to an abrupt end due to circumstances beyond your control? Or were you able to overcome the seemingly impossible odds and maintain it? Write a journal entry or poem to vividly depict the situation and the emotions you experienced. (CONFLICT, LOVE, LOVE LOST, STRUGGLE)

POETRY/FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE – Write a poem about your environment using two unlike things as metaphors. How do Hiphop MCs use such strategies to create images like John’s in their raps?  What image can you draw or take photos of that goes with your poem? (COMMUNITY, SOCIAL ISSUES)

READING COMPREHENSION/SELF REFLECTION – Listen to “ME AGAINST THE WORLD.” What stops John from being the man he wants to be? Will he be drawn back into his past life? Now make a list of your fears. What are the similarities and differences? Discuss how you can get over your fears. Everyone takes a turn to tear up their fears and place them in the garbage to pledge a new start. (COURAGE, CONQUERING FEARS)

MAKING INFERENCES/CRITICAL THINKING/BRAINSTORMING/SELF REFLECTION – At one point in the scene, during her conversation with John about their romantic past, Corinne claims, “I ain’t living. I’m surviving.” What does she mean by this paradoxical statement? What conditions might cause a person to feel like they aren’t living? What does it mean to be surviving? Have you ever experienced something similar to the feelings Corinne expresses in this moment? (CONFLICT, COURAGE, FAITH)


Act 1 Scene 5

Scene Snapshot: 

In this scene, Vertus, Anthony, Nunn, and Darius are camped out on Vertus’s mother’s porch, standing guard against a possible conflict with the 4-5s. The men talk about how killing another man does a serious number on the human psyche, and Nunn admits to shooting a man (albeit not fatally). Corinne enters the scene and tries to persuade Vertus let Benny’s death go; revenge will do no one any good. Nunn takes her words to heart and bounces, unwilling to be either the killer or the killed. Vertus, meanwhile, is trying to give some money to his mother, but Mrs. Weston wants nothing to do with his “dirty” money. 

Activities:

LISTENING & READING COMPREHENSION/SELF REFLECTION (Key Word: Ripple Effect) – A ripple effect is a situation in which one event causes a series of other events to happen. Listen to the musical number “Whatz Next” Make a list of the obstacles that stop Anthony and Vertus’ from making an informed decision about their future. Actions have a ripple effect and can influence the lives of many other bystanders. What actions have produced ripple effects in your life? (CHALLENGES, CAUSE & EFFECT, OBSTACLES, SOCIAL PRESSURE, STREET VIOLENCE)

STORY CIPHER/SELF REFLECTION/MAKING INFERENCES/CRITIAL THINKING – Ask everyone to write an act they have done that they regret that had a ripple effect. A ripple effect occurs when one action creates another like action. One person draws from the hat and says the event out loud. Pass a talking stick (you can use any found object in the room) around the room stopping at each person in the circle.  Each person gives one possible ripple that could occur as a result of one action drawn from the hat. How might negative consequences be avoided and positive consequences encouraged? (CAUSE & EFFECT, MOVING ON, REGRETS, SOCIAL PRESSURE)

LETTER WRITING/CRITIAL THINKING – Listen to the song “Dear Mama.” Write a letter to your mother or caregiver. Share your feelings about what this person has done for you in your life or what you wish was possible. If you do not have a mother, think about the person who has filled that role for you in some way and write a letter to them about your feelings.  What issues have you been carrying with you in your heart that are no resolved? What can you share now that will free you from carrying these burdens with you as you pursue your dreams? Compare your letter with Tupac’s story about his childhood and his mother. What are the similarities? Differences? (COMMUNITY, CONFLICT, FAMILY, SOCIAL ISSUES/COURAGE)

MORALS/ETHICS/DEBATE – When Vertus raps the song “Dear Mama,” he references giving his mother money that he earned from selling drugs. Although his intentions are good (i.e. he is trying to help out his mother financially), the money is “dirty”; it was earned through illegal means. Situations such as this raise the following question: Do the ends justify the means? In other words if the outcome is well intentioned, is it ok to turn a blind eye to the harmful nature in which the outcome was achieved? What do you think? Create two sides and debate this issue with your classmates. (COMMUNITY, CONFLICT, FAMILY, SOCIAL ISSUES)


Act 1 Scene 6

Scene Snapshot: 

As the scene opens, John is working his new job over at Griffin Wreckers. As John and Griffy wrap up work for the day, they get into a brief argument about payment; John wants cash but Griffy can only pay him by check. John is annoyed at the situation and accuses Griffy of bamboozling people. Griffy defends himself and his father’s garage: he fixes things (the irony being he cannot fix his dying father). The two then get off topic and begin reminiscing about Benny. Their reminiscing takes a turn to the ever violent street violence, and we learn that John’s father was an innocent victim, just like Benny. As emotions run high, John begins rapping and the scene shifts to the Young Souljas on the block, armed to the teeth, waiting for something to happen with the 4-5s.

Activities:

AMERICAN DREAM/ANALYTICAL THINKING/DRAWING CONNECTIONS – During a conversation with John at Griffin Wreckers, Griffy explains to John how he and Benny were going to open up their own shop. John states matter-of-factly that such a plan is the “American Dream”? What does John mean by this? What is the American Dream in the eyes of John? What about for you? What is your version of the American Dream? In addition, what is the relationship between the “American Dream” and Hiphop? Share your version of the American Dream with your classmates in a sharing cipher. (AMERICAN DREAM, DREAM VS. REALITY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, HOPE, OWNERSHIP)

HOLLER LIST/ANALYICAL THINKING – Listen to the number “Holler If Ya Hear Me.” What does it mean to you? What is John preaching about in the song?  When he calls out to the audience to “holler” what does he want them to understand? What does he want young men and women to learn?  Make a scroll list of what you want people in your community to hear about your needs and wants for success. You can make a scroll by rolling a piece of notebook or printer paper into a tube form after you have written your list. Tie the scroll with ribbon or close it by wrapping a rubber band on it. Place the name of your neighborhood on the outside and send it to your local community leader. (COMMUNITY, CONFLICT, SOCIAL ACTIVISM, SOCIAL ISSUES)

Act 2 Scenes 1-3


Act 2 Scene 1

Scene Snapshot: 

Act 2 opens up with Anthony scribbling away in a tablet, just like John. Darius enters and playfully fights with Anthony, and even jokingly claims the block as his block; that is until John enters the scene. Darius defers to John, who pushes Anthony to share what he has been writing in his tablet. Anthony is hesitant, but relents and unleashed his seething and poetic critique of liberty and justice in America. John then tells Darius to meet at this same spot at 11 that evening. John, we can infer, is no longer on the sidelines living a simple life; he is back at his old ways. As Darius exits, John holds Anthony up and tells him to stay home tonight. 

Activities:

CREATIVE WRITING/SHORT STORY NARRATIVE – Write a short story about a moment in time where you knew you were about to take a wrong path, but you chose it anyway. What consequences did you suffer? Do you have regrets? How did the wrong turn shape your life? Narrate this story in 300 words or less. (COMMUNITY, CONFLICT, FAMILY, LOVE)

GRAPHIC NOVEL/DRAWING – Explore the graphic novel Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty. By G. Neri. Lee & Low Bks, 2010 or Blockhedz, Vol. 1 by Mike Davis Pocket: S. & S. 2007 (or any other graphic novel or comic). Draw and narrate a four-panel story about something that happens on your block. You can do this activity by folding a plain piece of paper in half and then folding it again to create four boxes. Create a beginning, middle and end in the first three boxes. In the fourth box, suggest what might happen next in the story. (COMMUNITY, POETRY, STREET ART)


Act 2 Scene 2

Scene Snapshot: 

In this scene, Griffy is closing up shop for the night when Vertus enters and gives him Benny’s old iPod. He also switches hats with Griffy, and petitions him for a job at the garage. Vertus is out of the game for good, having seemingly switched places with John. Griffy shares with Vertus the fact that the business may be closing soon. Griffy’s mother plans to sell the business when his father dies. Regardless, Griffy agrees to take on Vertus, so long as he is truly out the game. Griffy re-enters the garage office, while John enters the scene looking for Vertus. When John learns that Anthony has followed him, he admonished Anthony, again telling him to go home. Griffy comes back out of the office with a wad of cash to pay John for his week’s work, but at this point, John takes Griffy’s offering as a slight and refuses to accept the cash. Vertus attempts to interject on behalf of Griffy, but to no avail; John still won’t accept the money. Together, the men all lament that fact that the more things change, the more they stay the same. As a last effort, Vertus hands the cash to Anthony, and tells him to stay out of things later that evening.

Activities:

FATE VS. FREE WILL/DEBATE/REFLECTIVE WRITING – In the number “Changes,” the chorus of the song repeatedly includes the line, “That’s just the way it is.” What philosophical ideology is evident within this type of statement? Is this statement suggestive of a belief that fate rules our lives OR that we are the ones in control and have the capability to create change? Debate amongst your classmates whether fate or free will rules our lives? Conversely, describe in a journal-type writing exercise one experience or memory in which fate seemed to be the guiding principle of the moment and a second experience or memory in which free will was a central theme. What happened in each? (FATE, FAITH, FREE WILL, PHILOSOPHY)

PAPER MURAL – Create an image on paper that demonstrates a change you want to make in your community.  (Use any types of materials that you like pen, collage, colored pencils, pencils, etc.). Place the papers edge to edge on your classroom wall using masking tape to make a paper mural. What do the images mean to you individually? Collectively? (COMMUNITY, REMEMBRANCE, SOCIAL ISSUES, STREET ART)


Act 2 Scene 3

Scene Snapshot: 

As the scene opens, Corinne and Mrs. Weston parallel the previous scene and discuss change, or rather the lack of it. As Mrs. Weston puts it, the only way people ever change is they get old or sick. Vertus enters the scene, and tells the women about his new plan: to work at Griffin Wreckers. As Vertus states it’s simply the first step of a thousand miles (aka a new life). Corinne, on the other hand, things Vertus needs to get out of this place, not simply get a legit job. Ignoring Corinne’s plea, Vertus explains the job is the first step toward being a business owner. As Corinne exits the scene, Vertus gets into a conversation with his mother about Benny, and blames himself for Benny’s death. The scene slowly shifts away from Mrs. Weston and Vertus. 

Now Anthony is on the block receiving a t-shirt wrapped bundle from Darius. Darius quickly exits to go round up the Young Souljas, and Anthony unwraps the bundle to reveal a gun. At this same time, the focus shifts to John in his apartment, preparing for the impending conflict with the 4-5s and his raging, inner emotions. As he slams down his tablet and exits his apartment, the focus shifts back to Anthony as he cocks the gun.

Activities:

EXPLORING ALLUSIONS – As Vertus is explaining to his mother, Mrs. Weston, and Corinne that he is getting out of the game, he informs them that he has found a job, and subsequently alludes to the following proverb from the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Research who Lao Tzu was and explore the meaning and context behind this proverb. What does it mean to Vertus? How might this proverb apply to your life, or the life of a friend or family member of yours? CHANGE, COURAGE, FRESH START, SOCIAL ISSUES)

MASK MAKING (Key Word: Façade) – Have you ever put up a façade? Or presented yourself with a hard exterior in order to protect yourself or someone you love? Make a mask out of paper or other found objects that represents how you protect yourself from others. Color it with words and images that describe how you feel. Discuss how this mask protects you. (COMMUNITY, COURAGE, LOVE)

ANONYMOUS REMEMBRANCE BOX – Do you have something given to you by a friend or family member? Collect found objects, pieces of fabric, images from magazines, etc. and collect them in an old shoe-box. Write a letter and put it in the box listing what each item symbolizes to you about someone you care about.  In your letter, write a line about your faith and what you believe in. Leave the letter anonymous. Pass your box around in your classroom and ask others to open it and share what the contents are. (COMMUNITY, FAMILY, FAITH, FRIENDSHIP, HOPE, LOVE)

Act 2 Scenes 4-6


Act 2 Scene 4

Scene Snapshot: 

The scene opens with John and Corinne on a rooftop watching the setting sun. Corinne tries to talk sense into John. She reminds him that he is two strikes, and that he will go right back to prison, forever. That or end up dead. Change is again a recurring theme in the conversation, as John invokes the story of his father, a man who preached peace yet was shot and killed by one of the young men he had worked so hard to try and save from the streets. The two also try to reconcile their emotions from their troubled romantic past, an unconditional love. 

Activities:

DEFINING TERMS/SHARING CIPHER – During an emotional exchange between John and Corinne, the two break out in the musical number “Unconditional Love.” According to John and Corinne, what exactly is unconditional love? Is/was their love truly unconditional? Is unconditional love even possible in reality? What are some instances in which a person may experience unconditional love? Is there a breaking point wherein love becomes no longer unconditional? (FAITH, FRIENDSHIP, GENDER, HOPE, LOVE)

SONG WRITING/SELF REFLECTION – The average song is 2.5 minutes long. Song writing is a very expressive form of creativity that is connected to theater. Try to write a song with characters that can tell a story that you want to tell about love, family, friends and/or faith.  How can you express your story in 2.5 minutes?  Try recording it on your phone or other recording device or give it to a classmate or friend that can rap or sing to record it for you. Have volunteers play the songs for the class. What is memorable about your song? (FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP, GENDER, LOVE, SEXUALITY, SOCIAL ISSUES)


Act 2 Scene 5

Scene Snapshot:

As the scene opens, John enters to find the Street Preacher painting his sign. John proceeds to call the man “Pops” and tries to feed him, as he has done multiple times throughout the musical. The man kneels and proceeds to pray, prompting John to do the same. Shortly thereafter, the Vertus and Young Souljas arrive prepared for battle. They look to John for orders, while the Street Preacher preaches on his bullhorn. Anthony tires of all the preaching and eventually knocks the bullhorn from the Street Preacher’s hands and curses God. John, in turn, knocks Anthony to the ground and tells the others that if they truly want change, it must start tonight. Change, for John, means not continuing to participate in the cyclical nature of street violence. John, back in his position as King of the Block, tells everyone that they are not going to retaliate against the 4-5s. He then exits the scene along with Vertus and the Street Preacher. At this point, most of the Young Souljas slink off, unsure of what to do, leaving behind Anthony, who stakes his claim to the block.

Activities:

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE – Everybody is angry about something in this world. You might feel abandoned, rejected, disregarded, unaccepted, and outcast. Make a list with two columns. On one side, list of all the things you are angry about in your life. On the other side, list something positive that you can do to change it, forgive it, and/or let it go. Cut the list in half and rip the negative and positive experiences. Place all of the words in an empty bottle (old Gatorade, soda, water, etc.). Fill the bottle with water and watch the troubles dissolve. Make a pledge to focus on your positive solutions. Let the bottle serve as a memento of letting your anger go and choosing positivity. (CHANGE, CONFLICT, COURAGE, FAITH, FAMILY, FOREGIVENESS, FRIENDSHIP, LOVE LOST)


Act 2 Scene 6

Scene Snapshot: 

The musical’s final scene begins as John and Vertus enter the gates to Griffin Wreckers. The previously covered vehicle Griffy had been working on is finally revealed – a ’64 Cadillac convertible. The men approach Griffy, who is hard at work under the car, and offer their condolences; Griffy’s father has passed away. They all talk about the car and Benny, but slowly their conversation shifts. Griffy asks of they are looking for a place to hide out. John and Vertus inform Griffy that nothing happened with the 4-5s; tonight is the night for change. The three men proceed to discuss and agree to go in as equal partners and buy the garage from Griffy’s mother, who intends to sell it. Some of the Young Souljas have even made their way to the garage. The scene becomes a celebration of sorts – a celebration for change, for a new life.

The celebration abruptly ends when Darius and Anthony enter the scene, trying to round up the Young Souljas and go after the 4-5s. John confronts Anthony and informs him that no one will be joining him; the garage is a place for them to be in peace. Anthony is having none of it though and raises the gun and points it at John. Unflinching, John talks Anthony down and he lowers the gun. Darius, on the other hand, sees Anthony’s action as unmanly, and in a show of misplaced bravado, Darius pulls his gun and shots and kills John. Panic sets in for Darius, and the word of John’s death spreads quickly. As the scene’s focus shifts back to the block, John speaks to the audience with a hint of hope that maybe, a lesson will be learned from his story.

Activities:

ENTREPENEURIALISM/OWNERSHIP – Griffy, John, and Vertus make a pact to buy Griffin Wreckers from Griffy’s mother, and become equal partners in running the business for themselves. Have you ever though of starting a business? In groups of two or more, imagine a business you would run or create if you had the opportunity. What skill sets do you think you need to have to run your business? Create a short business presentation with your partner(s) about the business you chose and why. Delegate roles for each member of the group in the company. Google the responsibilities for each role you propose (president, Accountant, etc.) and decide who will serve each role. (COMMUNITY, BUSINESS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, OWNERSHIP)

RELIGIOUS IMAGERY & SYMBOLISM – Throughout the musical there is an abundance of religious imagery & symbolism. What is the significance of their inclusion in the musical? What role does religion play in the lives of the characters? How do they navigate between their spiritual beliefs and the violent tendencies of life on the block? Identify all of the instances of religious imagery and symbolism in the numbers “Hail Mary,” “Thugz Mansion,” and “Ghetto Gospel.” Then discuss their function within the context of the song, and subsequently the function of the song within the storyline of the musical. (DEATH, FAITH, RELIGION, REMEMBRANCE, SOCIAL ISSUES)

PIECE BOOK – Graffiti writers make piece books to sketch out their ideas about burners that they hope to put up around their blocks or blocks in the city. A piece book usually consists of notebook or plain page book with sketches, words, characters, thoughts, concepts, etc., that express the artist’s hopes and dreams. Make your own piece book using a simple notebook. Cut out or draw images. Paste in photos. Write your dreams and hopes in it. Make an action plan to write what you will do to turn your dreams into realities. What obstacles will you overcome? Who can you ask for help? How can you become the change that you want to see in your community? Let this piece book help you live the mantra that the Street Preacher writes on the wall: “Peace is Now.” (COMMUNITY, FAMILY, GRAFFITI, LOVE, PERSEVERANCE, STREET ART, THEATER)

Rap Genius Song Annotations by the Holler Cast

Holler cast members have annotated 2Pac songs on Rap Genius. Check out the annotations here: http://rapgenius.com/artists/Holler-if-ya-hear-me

Download the Study Guide

The Holler If Ya Hear Me Study Guide is available as a pdf download. Click on the link below.

PDF iconholler-study-guide.pdf

Hiphop Theater Documenting Urban Life

I Wonder What It Takes to Make This?

by Nicole Hodges Persley

Theater and Hiphop are tools that can play the past, present and future to the audience. The stage, the wings, the lights, the scripts, the actors, directors and producers all work together to create a representation of a real or imagined life that help us to reflect upon our roles in the theatrical experiences of our lives. As the audience, we make a contract with theater artists to enter into the world that they create for us and to go on a journey with them. Hiphop music and culture, like the theater, is also space of suspended disbelief. MCs tell us about their lives and the people they want to become. Breakers dance their frustrations, triumphs and future hopes. Graffiti artists decorate the sets of our everyday lives coding our environments—city walls, sidewalks, trash dumpsters, etc. to give us messages about where they are going and who they want to become. DJs borrow parts of existing sonic stories and remix them into new soundtracks. Who are the lead performers in our lives? Who are the minor players? Who has the spotlight? Who is invisible? What are the obstacles that we face as the main characters in our narratives? What does the set look like as we move from scene to scene in our everyday interactions? Hiphop is everyday theater documenting the truth of urban life.

Hiphop theater is used by artists to document the urgency of urban life and to mark its influence on all aspects of American and global popular culture across racial, gender and class lines. Hiphop’s influence began in the American theater in the mid-1990s with underground off-Broadway shows such as “So! What Happens Now” (1990) and “Jam on the Groove” (1995) conceived and performed by the legendary Rock Steady Crew. Danny Hoch and Kamilah Forbes started the first Hip-hop Theater Festival in New York in 2000 showcasing Hiphop inspired theater artists in theater, spoken word and dance. These shows paved the way for future shows inspired by Hiphop to make it on the Great White Way.  Shows such as Russell Simmons Def Poerty Jam on Broadway (2001), Sarah Jones Bridge and Tunnel (2006), and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights (2008) brought the urgency of Hiphop to mainstream theater audiences offering them a glimpse into the lives of a multi-racial group of prolific new poets, a one-woman show that opened conversations about the diversity of American immigrants striving towards achieving the American Dream and the story of Latino/as in the diaspora making powerful claims to Americanness that render them visible players in Hiphop and integral to the changing face of American identity. These aforementioned artists and stories were prescient in that combined Hiphop and theater as a documentary art form that archives the relationship of the past to the present as they dreamt of new futures of American theater live before our eyes connecting stages off Times Square with street stages created by urban youth in Baltimore, Chicago, Cape Town and the Paris Banlieue.

Holler if Ya Hear Me the musical inspired by the life and lyrics of Tupac Amaru Shakur, builds on an amazing legacy of Hiphop inspired theater on Broadway to bring something new, fresh and exhilarating to the American stage. The language, story, dance, rap, songs, and art in the musical all work together to immerse audiences in the hard-core realities of young and old people living day to day, trying to, (as Tupac reminds us), make a dollar out of fifteen cents as they make choices that push them either closer to premature death or closer the edge of their own possibilities.

You have seen Hiphop inspired theater. Maybe you are a teacher and you heard one of your students rap in your class to tell their story. Maybe you are a young artist who has painted your truth on a city wall using graffiti. Perhaps you have stood in a city park and observed a group of young dancers in a circle spinning on their backs, moving their bodies across the simple stage they have created to talk to one another. Hiphop theater is everywhere. The elements of mainstream theater, the stage, the script, the lights, the wings, the audience, the players, the dancers, the costumes, the sounds, are all part of Hiphop. Hiphop creates its own environment wherever it is. It brings with it all of the drama and comedy that it takes to really act out a story and to make audiences believe it, for real.

Holler if Ya Hear Me is a live theatrical event that uses Hiphop to document the inner life of youth living in the Mid-west. The location of the play is everywhere as urban landscapes in the United States narrated through Hiphop often mirrors those in Durban or Dakar just as much as they chronicle Detroit or Baltimore.

Holler is a call to action to all of those on the inside or the perimeter of American’s inner cities. Holler asks you to be a part of its performance by calling out to you to see yourself on the stage as an agent of change. It tells the truth, the hard truth about growing up in an urban environment where most of the citizens feel abandoned, hopeless and ignored. It asks us to see them, listen to them, because we are all connected by the fundamental human desire to live and to be loved. No matter what your background, racial identification, national origin, gender, sexual preference, disability, we all want the same thing: to be healthy, happy and loved. We are all urban, despite fabricated tales that continue to marginalized groups into ‘us’-‘them’ binaries. As Tupac Shakur reminds us “every revolutionary act is and act of love.” Holler if Ya Hear Me explores the depth of love and it’s various forms: familial, spiritual, fraternal, and romantic. Hiphop is made of love for the city, for the people, for a better today, for a better tomorrow. Holler marks one of the first Hiphop Theater piece in American history to enliven the archive and artistic contributions of a fallen brother, Tupac Amaru Shakur, as an embodiment of Hiphop’s contradictions, social critiques, quests for social justice and embracing of family. The musical invites its audiences to join the family of Hiphop in a public theater space to act, rap, sing, dance, paint and pray our way to a better tomorrow for all. Tupac is everyman and everywoman caught at the crossroads of contradictions embedded in the American Dream. John, the main character of the musical, and his friends from the block, stand in for all of us as we witness the decline of sustainable life chances for America’s poor youth. What will do to help make the world a better place before its too late? African American males make up 40% of the country’s incarcerated. Tupac used his lyrics to reveal the challenges that young black men in urban spaces are confronted with on a daily basis that make survival a daily quest. Even when the sparks of change are in their hearts, many poor men and women across racial and ethnic lines live just enough for the city as they face obstacles such as hunger, lack of clean housing, unstable nutrition and health care that make the pursuit of change a pipe dream.

Hiphop documents life and is the soundtrack and artistic practice of choice for youth around the world. The late Tupac Amaru Shakur knew this, predicted this, lived this theater in his everyday life and inspired a generation of young artists to embrace who they are and to become the change that they want to see in the world by being themselves without apology. Similar to the little theater movement in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance, Hiphop theater performers use street corners, libraries, community centers, and prisons as theater spaces just as often as they do theaters, dance studios, and theaters with professional stages. Similar to Hiphop artists in the United States, and around the world, Hiphop theater and performance artists speak to multiple Hiphop generations that span the almost forty year chronology of the music and culture since its inception in New York in the early 1970s. For over twenty years, Hiphop theater artists have borrowed from the sights, sounds and collage-like aesthetic of Hiphop music to create a theater and performance practice that is familiar to a new generation of artists that sample aesthetic, linguistic and embodied practices from radical theater practices that are simultaneously polycultural and expressly indebted to African American and African Diaspora theater and performance practices. Such improvisational impulses are at the core of Hiphop Theater and have helped to shape its aesthetic as one that is flexible, collaborative, based in coalition building and connective in that it brings diverse groups together to experience theater connected to Hiphop music and culture.

To say that theater is entirely separate from Hiphop music and culture would be a mistake. One could more accurately assert that Hiphop inspired theater and performance is an extension of the ways that Hiphop culture expresses itself. The core elements of Hip-Hop culture, graffiti, mcing, djing and breaking are expressed in literal and abstract projections on the theater stage using the voice, the body and the stage itself as an extension of writing, translating and performing the diverse cultural practices of Hiphop. Like Hiphop music, Hiphop Theater is broad and cannot be confined to a single type of theater or performance practice because, like Hip-hop, it is influenced by a wide array of sonic, linguistic and embodied practices. Hiphop Theater hollers at the audience to say: “I am here. You are there in the audience watching me. Let’s really talk about what’s going on.”

Theater


Hiphop Arts Practice

by Nicole Hodges Persley

Hiphop’s theatricality has always been a part of the music and culture. In its early stages, Hiphop theater attempted to incorporate the sounds and practices of the Hiphop generation that were literally connected to the four core elements of Hiphop: djing, mcing, breaking, and graffiti. Hiphop is simultaneously an arts practice and cultural movement that reflects contradictory and controversial representations of its practioners and audience. Like Hiphop music, every play or performance in hip-hop theater does not have an original story or a deliberate socio-political message.  Hiphop arts practioners are committed to using theater as a platform to speak about the diversity of human experiences, institutional inequality, and social injustice around the world. They bravely attempt to balance the tension between social justice and status quo, pleasure and profit, to embrace the paradoxical nature of Hiphop music and culture around the world. The majority of Hiphop theater artists reconcile their desire to be successful with creating thought provoking work committed to social change. Artists using theater, spoken word, dance and other types of theatrical performance inspired by Hiphop are no longer restricted by genre or type of performance, but instead use Hiphop music and culture as a world-view that allows them to break down racial, cultural and national boundaries as they find the intersectional spaces of similarity between modes of artistic expression that allow them to connect across socially constructed boundaries of difference.  They are bold artists with revolutionary vision to use Hiphop as tool that can incite new ways of viewing the world. This snapshot of community resources, plays, books and performances can help you to learn more about the broad reach of Hiphop arts practioners, activists and scholars that use the art for social change around the world.

Hip Hop Arts Community Resources

These community based organizations, domestically and internationally, use diverse Hip Hop arts approaches to educate and uplift community members using Hip Hop theater, spoken word, art and dance.

United States

New York

Oakland

Los Angeles

San Francisco

Washington D.C.

 
International 

Initiatives in Azerbaijan, Ghana, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Middle East, Serbia, South Africa

UK

France

Senegal

Art

Banksy

Since Hiphop’s inception in the early 1970s, community artists have used the walls of the city to critique, suggest and imagine a better life for themselves and their communities. From the epic tags of TAKI 183 around New York City to the legendary Wild Style graffiti on urban subways, artists have taken their perspectives to the streets by translating their voices into visual manifestos of hope and that have changed the ways that we understand the reach of visual culture. Pioneering street artists such as Lady PinkCarlos “Mare 139” Mare, Fab Five Freddy, opened the doors for graffiti/street artists around the world such as Banksy, SwoonJR, ClawMoneyGasak, and countless others to create global conversations about social change  between urban life and the gallery and museum spaces that once relegated their the fine art world.  One of Hiphop’s most enduring elements, graffiti, continues into the 21st century as the bass of street art which has now become one of the most sought after commodities of art collectors and curators around the world. Street artists are now dominating the art world inviting new audiences using Hiphop’s visual language of protest to challenge us to see art as a fundamental part of our everyday experiences across racial, class and national lines. They visually critique and present intersection between our human experiences by putting socially constructed boundaries of difference and economic disparity on blast. Street artists challenge us to boldly paint and draw the world as we want it to be.

Hiphop Inspired Artists Gallery

Spoken Word


Hip Hop Performance Poets Gallery

by Nicole Hodges Persley

Hiphop is visual, embodied and sonic poetry. These spoken word artists have used the influence of Hip Hop music and culture to shape their world-view as they offer lyrical soliloquies and challenging dialogues of social change. These artists use poetry to share personal stories and to critique the world around them as they perform possibilities of social change. This gallery curates some of Hip Hop’s most intentional and influential performance poets who are reshaping the language and sounds of Hip Hop around the world on the page and stage. 

Speaking to the World Through our Communities

My Block


WORD Up! The Language Genius of the Hiphop Speech Community

by Marcyliena Morgan

East Palo Alto Mural

Holler If Ya Hear Me demonstrates the power of language to represent who we are, where we live and where we might be going.  The musical begins in the neighborhood and on the block, where there are rules for greeting, telling stories and jokes, showing respect and so on.  Most people throughout the world communicate in communities much like Holler’s block.  People who respect hiphop participate in a speech community and Holler speaks to that community and all people who will listen. Those who belong to the hiphop speech community are often called hiphop heads(z) because they are deeply interested in hiphop art and culture.  

A group of people is not necessarily a community unless they share common views, interests, activity, belief, etc.  Communities can also be defined and identified in terms of space, place, affiliation, practices, and any combination of these terms.  Similarly, speech is not simply sounds and words that come from a person’s mouth.  We make innate human sounds like screams, moans, cries, etc. without having to learn them. In contrast, the act of turning human sound into symbols and words that are recognizable requires an agreement of some sort regarding the system of language structure in circulation. That agreement can vary within a language and among various languages. Someone, usually a parent, must show and teach a child the language sounds and how they are organized and used to make things meaningful. 

Like all cultures, hiphop is defined by an elaborate communication and symbolic system as well as a system of practices, participation and interpretation.  In many respects, it is the quintessential modern speech community with both real and imagined members.  Hiphop challenges – and indeed toys with - the basic definition of dialect, vernacular, speech community and conversation.  Hiphop’s notion of the power of the word develops from the tension created by the reality that saying something – even when it is the truth – may not make it so if the person speaking doesn’t have power.   Hiphop’s famous expression “WORD is bond” also means and recognizes that “WORD is power.”  Those who recognize the WORD, operate within its realm as co-creators of power that not only writes and speaks youth and marginalized communities back into existence, but into prominence.  Within the hiphop speech community, the nature of lyrical power is determined through the collaboration of those who share its systems of meaning and interaction.  The members of this community constantly mention that they are trying to determine and interpret “what is really going on.”  

What’s in a Word?

One of the hardest things to define is a word. Why? Words are meaningful sounds we speak and represent in writing. Every word is not meaningful to everybody. If you don’t know the language, you may not know a word when you hear one. That is why we stress that a word has meaning for people who speak the same language.  When we refer to what a word means, we often call it a lexicon. When we refer to how a word sounds and how it is formed we call it a morpheme and the process is called morphology.

In hiphop, the WORD is the bible, the law and a source of worship and competition. It is the core of the hiphop nation, the power, trope, message and market all in one. Through the words that you use, we can tell where you’re from down to the block where you live. Thus, while the hiphop nation is constructed around the belief that one must represent, build and respect, what the signs and symbols index remains fluid and prismatic rather than fixed.

In Holler If Ya Hear Me, and hiphop performance in general, the styles of language used by the characters connect them to the audience/generation, speech community, and bring urban youth into existence.  In this sense, an artist is a composite of the audience - representing experiences that are shared - and the audience determines whether the artist can assume that role.  The artist must represent where he and she is from, irrespective of how distant it may seem to others. Since Holler takes place in the Midwest, the characters don’t have to use east coast, west coast or southern dialects since the Midwest is in the middle. But they still must stay true to hiphop styles.

In hiphop, since the WORD dominates everything, MCs must know and understand standard and general American English (GE), their regional dialect, social dialects and African American English (AAE).   Choosing the right word is a complicated process in hiphop. For example, if Tupac had named his song Holler Would You Please - we might be here talking about his brilliance today.  Besides choosing the right words, one must also have a position on profanity and the use of the N-word.

Characters in Holler use many words that are considered to be profanity and offensive.  The writers use these words because they are present in some of the lyrics of the songs and because that is how young people often talk.  The teenage years mark the period when youth repeatedly explore boundaries and rules of their language use. In Holler it is mainly men that use profanity and the women seem to find its usage unnecessary.  The characters use profanity and the N-word to establish their anger and estrangement from society at large.

The N-word may be one of the most offensive words used in society today. It remains a racist word that symbolizes and reminds us of prejudice against people of African descent in the U.S.  Yet the N-word is used throughout Holler and found in numerous songs throughout hiphop as well.  Even when the term is deleted and replaced by another word, most young people already know the original version. 

Ideology refers to what people believe and their overall philosophy.  We use the term language ideology to describe what speech communities believe about how they use language and speak to one another.  When the N-word was first used in America to refer to black people, the speaker meant that blacks are inferior and not equal to whites because of their skin color.  It was a racist term used by whites about blacks to signify that whites are superior to blacks and that blacks are inferior - and should understand that. This definition is an example of the language of white supremacy.  Under this system blacks did not have the right to free speech and could not defend themselves.  What they did do however, was very powerful under the circumstances.  

During slavery and later the Jim Crow period when blacks used the N-word to each other, it meant the opposite of what white supremacists thought about blacks.  Even when black people were being critical of their community, the N-word was a reminder of bigotry against the community.  Today blacks are not in agreement on the use of the word and those who use it believe that it is now a term of both friendship and critique.  Many who argue that it is a somewhat neutral term contradict themselves by insisting that it should only be used among black people.  The negative presuppositions associated with the N-word means that the meaning of the word as intentionally bigoted speech persists.  That is why non-black teenagers cannot ‘play’ with the N-word without possible consequences.  As long as the term continues to be associated with its past history, it is understood as also representing racist usage 

Not surprisingly, in hiphop another important aspect of word play is to not only uproot conventional signs but also to change what is actually meant by the conventional by forcing the listener to pay attention to (or develop knowledge about) the said and the unsaid, the marked and the unmarked meanings and references.  The whole point is to challenge society and be seen, heard and respected.

A useful link about attitudes, dialects, and hiphop is by Professor Renee Blake at NYU is called WORD. http://africanamericanenglish.com

Educational resources:

The PBS website has section on AAE from its ‘Do You Speak American?’ program with a detailed outline that covers some of the grammatical and syntactic features and includes examples. It also has a brief section on the important Martin Luther King Junior Elementary School Children v. Ann Arbor School District Board case that established one of the first legal precedents for educators to be aware of and properly sensitized to AAE.

Books:

Spoken Soul, by John and Russell Rickford, is a wonderful resource for in-depth analysis of the grammar, syntax, and phonetics of AAE. It also explores the history and development of ‘black english’ in America.

Beyond Ebonics, by John Baugh, gives a detailed and informative account of the Oakland school board Ebonics controversy of 1996. It’s a well-researched  portrayal of the language education hurdles facing America’s black youth.

English with an Accent: Language, Ideology and Discrimination in the United States by Rosina Lippi-Green and Verbal Hygiene, by Deborah Cameron, are two fascinating books that will change the way you think about your attitudes towards language. You may have more prejudices than you think!

Talkin that Talk: African American Language and Culture, by Geneva Smitherman (aka “Dr. G”, aka “Mother of AAE”), is a compilation of the work of this early scholar of AAE.  It is a wonderful resource for understanding the history behind issue pertaining to AAE.

Community


Community: “It’s All Good in the Hood”

By Marcyliena Morgan

When I was a teenager on the South Side of Chicago in the late 1960s, my interests in my community were cultivated by the songs and accompanying talk I heard billowing from apartment windows and cascading from the cocktail lounges that populated my block at 59th and State Street.  One song in particular always conjures up “home” and the rich textures and complexities of adult black life.   It is by Little Milton, who sings with truth and sincerity

If I don’t love you baby - Grits ain’t grocery.
Chicken ain’t poultry.
And Mona Lisa was a man. 

The men and women in my neighborhood loved this song and applauded its recognition of the struggle between doing what one must do, would do, should do, could do, and has to do and doing what one is  'gonna' do. The neighborhood employed an inventory of strategies to expose the basic truth and they understood these lyrics to be more than mere words, but rather the major unveiling of a truth about black life.   How else can one explain the smiles that traveled across normally grimaced adult lips, the nodding of heads and the responses echoing throughout the neighborhood: “You tell it like it is!  Talk that stuff!” and “You go on now - fool!” when Little Milton’s pleading voice was heard. I understood these statements to be what Goffman (1967, 1997) calls response cries, self-talk that is meant to be overheard and that aligns speakers with events.   

Yet, as an adolescent, I didn't understand how these cries work to both corroborate and chronicle facts about life.  I remember once attempting to offer my naive theory about the song to my aunt.  I suggested: “Yeah, he should have said grits aren't groceries, right?”  She said “What?”  I said, “He shouldn't say 'ain't he should say aren’t and he forgot to put the s on grocery.  He should have said groceries!”  My aunt shook her head in disbelief.  I didn't know what exactly all the fuss was about.  

Of course, the commotion was about how cultures practice love, sincerity and commitment.  Not simply the love of another person, but how love for the symbols of home and culture can represent 'true love'.   So “Grits Ain’t Groceries” is a song about truth in a philosophical sense: how we know what is real and how we prove what we mean.  It illustrates how, as both agent/subject and object, our understanding is directly related to culture and a shared social world.  For my community, this social world was local in a particular way. It was a Black world that, as a part of cultural practice, interrogated all words spoken but also searched for the lie.  After all, many black communities could not assume that even a basic statement like "You can trust me” conveys the true intention of the speaker since it lived with systemic betrayal for hundreds of years. 

Little Milton sang through the love, brutality and irony of black life and sought the symbols that simultaneously embody cultural practice and a bone chilling social world.  After all, grits is only an essential urban grocery item in select neighborhoods.  In many black communities, it is not simply a Southern food, but a cultural one.  It is a ‘home’ food and preparing it just right means you can taste the past as well.  Because of its symbol as a ‘home’ food, the refusal of a plate of grits -, especially when offered by mothers and grandmothers -is always noticed.  Most refusals are considered personal and responded to with indirect jibbing about identity and suspicious silences and stares.  Moreover, Little Milton pronounces  “poultry” as “po’try”.   Black Chicagoans call this particular style of talk  “country”, as it connotes further images of Southern ‘home ways’, family and the best fried chicken on the planet.  As an old neighbor would say with a broad smile every single time he knew our other neighbor Mary Baker was frying chicken: “Don’t trust a man [that] don’t likes Mary’s fried chicken.” 

Finally, for the adults of my parent’s generation, it was Nat King Cole who interpreted the true meaning of Mona Lisa.  According to Nat’s crooning of the song, the Mona Lisa is an exquisite painting because it captures the look of women who know their power, and men’s weakness and denial.  My neighbor Mrs. Bitts, used to say: "Mens cry over her 'cause they can't have her.  If they could, they wouldn't want her and she knows it.  She [would] be too real! She just might have something to say they don’t want to hear!"   

Real communities are not only defined and identified in terms of space, place, affiliation, practices and any combination of these terms.  As my Chicago block and the block in Holler If Ya Hear Me shows, speech communities are one way that we learn who we are.

So in my neighborhood, Mona Lisa represented a particular truth about loyalty and commitment because it was thought that she understood her admirer’s desires, imagination, dreams, fantasies and wants.  The blues song “Grits Ain’t Groceries” shows how people use all of their linguistic resources to construct, mediate and instantiate cultural and social beliefs, norms and practices.  Little Milton makes himself vulnerable and truthful by proclaiming his version of the essence of blackness and humanness and ultimately the truth that  - at least for now - he is hopelessly, helplessly and truly in love. 

Culture

Coming soon...

Language

Coming soon...

Violence

Coming soon...

Locating Tools, Building Hope

Courage - Peace is Now

Diversity

Coming soon...

Gender and Identity


How Hiphop Culture Makes Feminism Work

by Dionne M. Bennett, PhD

"Did you ever really love me?" This is what Nicki Minaj asks a gentleman named Stevie in her song "The Boys." The question may be a reference to an altercation in the "Love and Hip Hop" television series or it may invoke one of two Stevie Wonder songs, "If You Really Love Me" or "Did I Hear You Say You Love Me." This Women's History Month, we may ask how Minaj's question goes to the heart - or, perhaps, breaks the heart - of our ongoing conversation about gender and sexual politics in Hip Hop Culture.

In some ways, Nicki Minaj's question - Did you ever really love me? - is one that members of the Hip Hop nation, especially those of African descent must ask each other. We must ask if we ever really loved each other before Hip Hop even arrived on the cultural scene to take the blame for all the sexism and misogyny in the world. Minaj's question, also, calls forth Common's poignant allegorical claim about Hip Hop music when he rhymed, "I Used to Love Her." As we and Hip Hop continue on a cultural journey characterized by complex gender dynamics, if we do conclude that we did in fact really used to love each other, then we must ask if we love each other still.

Both hip hop and sexism are more complex than many of the conventional discourses we have about them would suggest. As we reflect on Hip Hop and women's history month, we must simultaneously recognize both Hip Hop's problematic gender dynamics and recognize the larger problems of sexism and misogyny in the world for which Hip Hop is not responsible. Hip Hop did not make a member of the Taliban shoot Malala Yousafazi, the now-famous 11-year old Pakastani girl and education activist, in the head. The bullet did not kill her body, spirit, or passion for justice as she recently revealed when she said, "I want to serve. I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child, to be educated" (1). During this year's Academy Awards ceremony, when 9-year old Quvenzhané Wallis, an African American girl and the youngest person ever to be nominated in the best actress category in the history of the awards, was sitting at the ceremony with her fabulous puppy purse, Hip Hop did not make the writers of The Onion tweet a statement that attacked her with one of the single most offensive terms that one can use to describe a woman or her body. The slur - which many find more offensive than the "b-word," which has been so frequently associated with Hip Hop culture - is predominantly used in and by white communities, yet those communities, unlike Black and Hip Hop communities, are rarely labeled as universally misogynistic.

Of course, Hip Hop must take responsibility for its sexism and misogyny just as every other form of culture must. There are no reasonable excuses for sexism in Hip Hop or anywhere else. However, there is plenty of blame to go around beyond the borders of Hip Hop Culture. Sexism and misogyny may be a part of the history and culture of Hip Hop, but they do not define the art of Hip Hop in the same way that sexism and misogyny are a part of the history and culture of cinema or literature, but do not define these art forms.

However, in addition to playing a problematic role in perpetuating sexism and misogyny, Hip Hop culture, also, performs important feminist labor in American and world culture. By doing feminist work, Hip Hop culture performs a unique and powerful cultural role that is rarely acknowledged. In many, even most, other cultural forms sexism is unacknowledged or under- critiqued. However, within Hip Hop culture, sexism and misogyny have been widely acknowledged and rigorously critiqued. Sexism in Hip Hop has been critiqued by Hip Hop Nation citizens of both genders and all ages, not only by academics, self-identified feminists, or those who simply wish to discredit the genre and use a critique of sexism to do so. The assertion that Hip Hop culture does powerful feminist work neither denies nor excuses sexist language and behavior within Hip Hop culture; instead it recognizes that the conversation about gender that Hip Hop inspires does not end with sexism even when it begins there. As Marcyliena Morgan documents in The Real Hiphop: Battling for Knowledge, Power, and Respect in the LA Underground (2), Hip Hop intellectual and critical engagement and debate are fundamental characteristics of Hip Hop culture. Therefore, it is not surprising that complex discussions about gender and sexual representations have emerged as a central discourse within Hip Hop's many local, national and global critical conversations. Issa Rae's sensationally satirical "Ratchetpiece Theater" demonstrates Morgan's claims regarding the central role of intellectual engagement within Hip Hop culture by seamlessly combining Hip Hop representations, feminism-informed cultural analysis, incisive political self-critique, and online comedic performance art. (http://www.issarae.com/ratchetpiece-theater/) Issa Rae reveals the degree to which intellectual performance in response to conventional cultural texts like songs, films, and music videos is one of Hip Hop culture's underrated art forms and reveals the degree to which Hip Hop feminists have become unacknowledged masters of intellectual performance art.

Unlike other cultural forms of sexism, sexist language and images in Hip Hop culture have produced a vibrant and vigorous counter-discourse within as well as outside of Hip Hop culture. Young men and young women who may never identify as feminists and who may never have participated in a sustained feminist critique of a wide range of cultural texts are actively involved in a sustained feminist critique of language and images through their critical engagement with Hip Hop culture.

Challenging the stereotype that Hip Hop is a "boys only" culture are women all over the world and the internet who combine their investment in Hip Hop, cultural politics and gender justice in writing blogs like www.crunkfeministcollective.com, www.forharriet.com, www.thehotness.com, and many more. Women web users write passionate comments on countless Hip Hop web sites about everything related to Hip Hop including its gender politics. These online Hip Hop feminist communities and thinkers are joined "in real life" by the many songs by women MCs and books and articles by women writers in which the gender and sexual politics of Hip Hop Culture have been analyzed and critiqued from the time that Hip Hop culture itself was created. Hip Hop's feminist labor was never more publicly evident than during the 2005 Feminism and Hip Hop Conference, which was organized by Cathy Cohen and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago, the first national conference of its kind and where I presented on a panel organized by the Marcyliena Morgan and the Hip Hop Archive. Conference events were filled to overflowing with people from all over the country who were simultaneously committed to Hip Hop and Feminism. Those who attended included women and men, academics and artists, youth and more mature citizens. The conversations spread from conference events to restaurants and hallways as sometimes heated discussions revealed the high stakes for everybody involved, for men as well as women. The feminist work inspired by Hip Hop culture was institutionalized at that conference and by the growing number of texts - musical, academic, journalistic, and online - on the subject. Furthermore, Hip Hop's feminist labor is occurring informally all of the time in conversations both verbal and digital in dorm rooms, bedrooms, and classrooms in which Hip Hop Studies is emerging as a growing academic presence. In those discourses, the many women and men who love Hip Hop and respect women discuss and debate the politics of representation with a vigor and depth that is rarely recognized. (I personally observed this over and over again while teaching my own class on the race and gender politics of Hip Hop culture.)

Arguably, there is no other art form in which men, especially young men, have been so actively and consistently engaged in a feminist analysis of their own cultural practices as they have been for decades within Hip Hop culture, even though we rarely explicitly name these analyses as feminist. We see this in the lyrics to Tupac's "Brenda's Got a Baby" and "Keep Ya Head Up," in Byron Hurt's film, Beyond Beats and Rhymes, and in the daily debates and discussions in life and online that young men are having about the politics of gender representation in Hip hop culture and in their own lives. It is no accident that young men, especially young black men, who have been involved in Hip Hop culture are, also, actively involved in organizations throughout the country that are attempting to address sexism and violence in dating and relationships.

The feminist work of Hip Hop culture was part of the creation of an extraordinary product last year when Angel Haze, an African American woman MC from Detroit, released "Cleanin' Out My Closet." Her autobiographical reimagining of the Eminem song of the same name is, arguably, one of the most incisive critiques of sexual violence against girls in any form of media in recent memory. In interviews, Haze is clear that her work speaks to men as well as women. She has stated, "I want someone who's a father to listen to the song, and be like: 'No one had better ever...touch my daughter like that. And if they do, you can tell me" (3). She describes the impact of people who have come up to her to share their similar experiences, "Surprisingly, more boys than girls...A lot of guys were like: 'I've been suffering, I don't know how to love anyone, you really helped me with that.'" (4) It is difficult to imagine either the possibility of the song itself or of young male Hip Hop heads confessing their private experiences of sexual suffering to a young woman without the sustained feminist critique and analysis that has become a central part of Hip Hop's cultural conversation.

Not only is hip hop performing feminist labor, it is performing feminist labor that even feminism is not performing. Feminist dialogue within and about Hip Hop has become an important part of the intellectual and political lives of many individuals who may have never engaged a feminist analysis without being inspired into that analysis by Hip Hop culture. This is particularly true for African Americans. Many African Americans have been taught that feminism is a "white women's issue," that it has little or nothing to do with African Americans despite the challenges around gender that are an significant part of many African American lives. Feminism has been an intellectual and cultural space that many African Americans have either avoided or from which African Americans have been excluded or marginalized. The discourse about sexism in Hip Hop opened a door into feminism that had been closed to many African Americans. Not only did this dialogue create a space for conversations about sexism within Hip Hop culture; they, also empowered previously silenced African American men as well as women to engage in a critique of sexism in all arenas of cultural experience and expression. Hip Hop culture's feminist work on gender has created a bridge to feminist discourse that conventional feminism has, historically, failed to build, leading many not only to a feminist consciousness but, also, to knowledge about important feminists of color to whom they may have never been introduced. In this way, Hip Hop culture is making feminism "work" in ways that has never worked before.

In her version of "Cleanin' Out My Closet," Angela Haze rhymes that "there's a story behind every scar that I show." Sexism is one of Hip Hop culture's most significant "scars," but there is a story of feminist critique and resistance that is, also, a part of Hip Hop culture, and it is a story that those of us who care about the lives and health of young women and men within the culture must continue to tell. That way, in years to come, when young Hip Hop Heads rhyme the words, "Did you ever really love me?" The answer from those of us who love Hip Hop and who love and respect all women and men will be: Yes, we used to love you, we still love you, and we always will.

  1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-21320346
  2. Morgan, Marcyliena. (2009). The Real Hiphop: Battling for Knowledge, Power, and Respect in the LA Underground. Durham, NC: Duke Unviversity Press.
  3. http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/31/rapper-angel-haze-religion-...
  4. Ibid.

Reminiscing

Coming soon...

Courage

by Jamaica Kincaid

Holler If Ya Hear Me - Hard! Holler If Ya Hear It – The Rebel 

-- Tupac Shakur

Courage.

Just to say the word itself brings to mind someone who has done something that is regarded as difficult certainly, and unimaginable because it has never been done by anyone before, it threatens our very existence. Courage, to have it, to embrace it, is so grand that we quickly domesticate it and make it everyday: we say to a child to be courageous and sleep in a dark room all alone and not be afraid of the emptiness that cannot be seen, the silence that sometimes is only sleep itself; we say it took courage to leave a perfectly good job that we somehow no longer find fulfilling and go and do something else that we imagine will bring us true happiness; and all this might be so, all this might be courage, for certainly a child coming face to face with the darkness that is childhood and surviving it and not losing her mind is courageous. But, it seems to me, real Courage has a capital C, it is something big and grand and it is not known in a present form, it is only known looking at it afterwards.

The courageous person and the courageous deed are not known to each other, they are not destined to meet. Deed and Person, Person and Deed may pass each other in the day or in the night and have no clue that they could share a destiny. But from time to time they do meet and unknown to each other they become one: the person, ordinary in every day human existence become extraordinary in taking an action, in performing a deed that needed performing, and so Deed and person become one, creating that thing called Courage. The courageous person does not know that she is Courageous. Caught up in immediate events, trying hard to survive the events that has given rise in her to act with courage, she is not aware that her actions are extraordinary; she is aware that she is in danger, she is aware of fear, she might even be aware of her own demise and erasure from human memory, but she is unable to do anything, only to take those actions which later, after the crisis has passed, will lead others to regard her as courageous. She will feel that she was without choice, that there was no other way open to her but to take those actions that are judged in the aftermath as courageous. In looking back, for her, there was no other way. We, who are not her, know this to be not correct, because we are evidence of this other way, we could not do what she has done, we did not meet the courageous person in our own selves and so our own selves could not then have found the deed.

Courage is not an attribute of Power. It is in the face of Power that Courage becomes needed. Power waxes and wanes: it waxes when Courage is absent, it wanes when Courage exists, it almost vanishes when Courage exists in abundance. 

Love, Family, Faith and Peace

That’s Just the Way It Is

Coming soon...

Love

Family

Coming soon...

Friendship

Coming soon...

God and Faith


Hiphop, Faith and Spirituality  

Nicole Hodges Persley

Is Hiphop just a euphemism for a new religion?

-Kanye West, Gorgeous

The Gospel of Hiphop

Hiphop and faith have a long history. From Islam and Christianity to Buddhism and Agnosticism, Hiphop’s dialogue with faith is expansive, enlightening and challenging.  The following sonic, visual and literary references allow you to explore the rich conversations that Hiphop artists and scholars have engaged about spirituality and religion and their complex historical relationships to social inequality and faith practice.

 

Women's Stance


How Hiphop Culture Makes Feminism Work

by Dionne M. Bennett, PhD

"Did you ever really love me?" This is what Nicki Minaj asks a gentleman named Stevie in her song "The Boys." The question may be a reference to an altercation in the "Love and Hip Hop" television series or it may invoke one of two Stevie Wonder songs, "If You Really Love Me" or "Did I Hear You Say You Love Me." This Women's History Month, we may ask how Minaj's question goes to the heart - or, perhaps, breaks the heart - of our ongoing conversation about gender and sexual politics in Hip Hop Culture.

In some ways, Nicki Minaj's question - Did you ever really love me? - is one that members of the Hip Hop nation, especially those of African descent must ask each other. We must ask if we ever really loved each other before Hip Hop even arrived on the cultural scene to take the blame for all the sexism and misogyny in the world. Minaj's question, also, calls forth Common's poignant allegorical claim about Hip Hop music when he rhymed, "I Used to Love Her." As we and Hip Hop continue on a cultural journey characterized by complex gender dynamics, if we do conclude that we did in fact really used to love each other, then we must ask if we love each other still.

Both hip hop and sexism are more complex than many of the conventional discourses we have about them would suggest. As we reflect on Hip Hop and women's history month, we must simultaneously recognize both Hip Hop's problematic gender dynamics and recognize the larger problems of sexism and misogyny in the world for which Hip Hop is not responsible. Hip Hop did not make a member of the Taliban shoot Malala Yousafazi, the now-famous 11-year old Pakastani girl and education activist, in the head. The bullet did not kill her body, spirit, or passion for justice as she recently revealed when she said, "I want to serve. I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child, to be educated" (1). During this year's Academy Awards ceremony, when 9-year old Quvenzhané Wallis, an African American girl and the youngest person ever to be nominated in the best actress category in the history of the awards, was sitting at the ceremony with her fabulous puppy purse, Hip Hop did not make the writers of The Onion tweet a statement that attacked her with one of the single most offensive terms that one can use to describe a woman or her body. The slur - which many find more offensive than the "b-word," which has been so frequently associated with Hip Hop culture - is predominantly used in and by white communities, yet those communities, unlike Black and Hip Hop communities, are rarely labeled as universally misogynistic.

Of course, Hip Hop must take responsibility for its sexism and misogyny just as every other form of culture must. There are no reasonable excuses for sexism in Hip Hop or anywhere else. However, there is plenty of blame to go around beyond the borders of Hip Hop Culture. Sexism and misogyny may be a part of the history and culture of Hip Hop, but they do not define the art of Hip Hop in the same way that sexism and misogyny are a part of the history and culture of cinema or literature, but do not define these art forms.

However, in addition to playing a problematic role in perpetuating sexism and misogyny, Hip Hop culture, also, performs important feminist labor in American and world culture. By doing feminist work, Hip Hop culture performs a unique and powerful cultural role that is rarely acknowledged. In many, even most, other cultural forms sexism is unacknowledged or under- critiqued. However, within Hip Hop culture, sexism and misogyny have been widely acknowledged and rigorously critiqued. Sexism in Hip Hop has been critiqued by Hip Hop Nation citizens of both genders and all ages, not only by academics, self-identified feminists, or those who simply wish to discredit the genre and use a critique of sexism to do so. The assertion that Hip Hop culture does powerful feminist work neither denies nor excuses sexist language and behavior within Hip Hop culture; instead it recognizes that the conversation about gender that Hip Hop inspires does not end with sexism even when it begins there. As Marcyliena Morgan documents in The Real Hiphop: Battling for Knowledge, Power, and Respect in the LA Underground (2), Hip Hop intellectual and critical engagement and debate are fundamental characteristics of Hip Hop culture. Therefore, it is not surprising that complex discussions about gender and sexual representations have emerged as a central discourse within Hip Hop's many local, national and global critical conversations. Issa Rae's sensationally satirical "Ratchetpiece Theater" demonstrates Morgan's claims regarding the central role of intellectual engagement within Hip Hop culture by seamlessly combining Hip Hop representations, feminism-informed cultural analysis, incisive political self-critique, and online comedic performance art. (http://www.issarae.com/ratchetpiece-theater/) Issa Rae reveals the degree to which intellectual performance in response to conventional cultural texts like songs, films, and music videos is one of Hip Hop culture's underrated art forms and reveals the degree to which Hip Hop feminists have become unacknowledged masters of intellectual performance art.

Unlike other cultural forms of sexism, sexist language and images in Hip Hop culture have produced a vibrant and vigorous counter-discourse within as well as outside of Hip Hop culture. Young men and young women who may never identify as feminists and who may never have participated in a sustained feminist critique of a wide range of cultural texts are actively involved in a sustained feminist critique of language and images through their critical engagement with Hip Hop culture.

Challenging the stereotype that Hip Hop is a "boys only" culture are women all over the world and the internet who combine their investment in Hip Hop, cultural politics and gender justice in writing blogs like www.crunkfeministcollective.com, www.forharriet.com, www.thehotness.com, and many more. Women web users write passionate comments on countless Hip Hop web sites about everything related to Hip Hop including its gender politics. These online Hip Hop feminist communities and thinkers are joined "in real life" by the many songs by women MCs and books and articles by women writers in which the gender and sexual politics of Hip Hop Culture have been analyzed and critiqued from the time that Hip Hop culture itself was created. Hip Hop's feminist labor was never more publicly evident than during the 2005 Feminism and Hip Hop Conference, which was organized by Cathy Cohen and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago, the first national conference of its kind and where I presented on a panel organized by the Marcyliena Morgan and the Hip Hop Archive. Conference events were filled to overflowing with people from all over the country who were simultaneously committed to Hip Hop and Feminism. Those who attended included women and men, academics and artists, youth and more mature citizens. The conversations spread from conference events to restaurants and hallways as sometimes heated discussions revealed the high stakes for everybody involved, for men as well as women. The feminist work inspired by Hip Hop culture was institutionalized at that conference and by the growing number of texts - musical, academic, journalistic, and online - on the subject. Furthermore, Hip Hop's feminist labor is occurring informally all of the time in conversations both verbal and digital in dorm rooms, bedrooms, and classrooms in which Hip Hop Studies is emerging as a growing academic presence. In those discourses, the many women and men who love Hip Hop and respect women discuss and debate the politics of representation with a vigor and depth that is rarely recognized. (I personally observed this over and over again while teaching my own class on the race and gender politics of Hip Hop culture.)

Arguably, there is no other art form in which men, especially young men, have been so actively and consistently engaged in a feminist analysis of their own cultural practices as they have been for decades within Hip Hop culture, even though we rarely explicitly name these analyses as feminist. We see this in the lyrics to Tupac's "Brenda's Got a Baby" and "Keep Ya Head Up," in Byron Hurt's film, Beyond Beats and Rhymes, and in the daily debates and discussions in life and online that young men are having about the politics of gender representation in Hip hop culture and in their own lives. It is no accident that young men, especially young black men, who have been involved in Hip Hop culture are, also, actively involved in organizations throughout the country that are attempting to address sexism and violence in dating and relationships.

The feminist work of Hip Hop culture was part of the creation of an extraordinary product last year when Angel Haze, an African American woman MC from Detroit, released "Cleanin' Out My Closet." Her autobiographical reimagining of the Eminem song of the same name is, arguably, one of the most incisive critiques of sexual violence against girls in any form of media in recent memory. In interviews, Haze is clear that her work speaks to men as well as women. She has stated, "I want someone who's a father to listen to the song, and be like: 'No one had better ever...touch my daughter like that. And if they do, you can tell me" (3). She describes the impact of people who have come up to her to share their similar experiences, "Surprisingly, more boys than girls...A lot of guys were like: 'I've been suffering, I don't know how to love anyone, you really helped me with that.'" (4) It is difficult to imagine either the possibility of the song itself or of young male Hip Hop heads confessing their private experiences of sexual suffering to a young woman without the sustained feminist critique and analysis that has become a central part of Hip Hop's cultural conversation.

Not only is hip hop performing feminist labor, it is performing feminist labor that even feminism is not performing. Feminist dialogue within and about Hip Hop has become an important part of the intellectual and political lives of many individuals who may have never engaged a feminist analysis without being inspired into that analysis by Hip Hop culture. This is particularly true for African Americans. Many African Americans have been taught that feminism is a "white women's issue," that it has little or nothing to do with African Americans despite the challenges around gender that are an significant part of many African American lives. Feminism has been an intellectual and cultural space that many African Americans have either avoided or from which African Americans have been excluded or marginalized. The discourse about sexism in Hip Hop opened a door into feminism that had been closed to many African Americans. Not only did this dialogue create a space for conversations about sexism within Hip Hop culture; they, also empowered previously silenced African American men as well as women to engage in a critique of sexism in all arenas of cultural experience and expression. Hip Hop culture's feminist work on gender has created a bridge to feminist discourse that conventional feminism has, historically, failed to build, leading many not only to a feminist consciousness but, also, to knowledge about important feminists of color to whom they may have never been introduced. In this way, Hip Hop culture is making feminism "work" in ways that has never worked before.

In her version of "Cleanin' Out My Closet," Angela Haze rhymes that "there's a story behind every scar that I show." Sexism is one of Hip Hop culture's most significant "scars," but there is a story of feminist critique and resistance that is, also, a part of Hip Hop culture, and it is a story that those of us who care about the lives and health of young women and men within the culture must continue to tell. That way, in years to come, when young Hip Hop Heads rhyme the words, "Did you ever really love me?" The answer from those of us who love Hip Hop and who love and respect all women and men will be: Yes, we used to love you, we still love you, and we always will.

  1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-21320346
  2. Morgan, Marcyliena. (2009). The Real Hiphop: Battling for Knowledge, Power, and Respect in the LA Underground. Durham, NC: Duke Unviversity Press.
  3. http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/31/rapper-angel-haze-religion-...
  4. Ibid.

Reflections

This section is a collection of essays, videos, art, music, etc. that are used throughout the study guide.  The authors represent writers, academics, musicians, performers and many who have thought about the work of Tupac Shakur.


Ruby Dee – Tupac on Def Poetry Jam

Womb walked with the warriors
With the nation builders
Who believe that they could make a difference
Who made special rules
Who wore special hats
Who took special names
Who set up special schools
They tried to feed some of the hungry
Take responsibility for their lives, their communities
Tupac came after an aftermath
Child of these self made cut down warriors
Trails, memories and sounds of death lessons tattooed in the buildings and in the foreheads of his mammas and daddies
Big eyes swallowed some deep truths before brains got time to get in gear
Grows up out loud sometimes wrong but searching not knowing that the word’s been out for years
OK grow up, but quiet sing dance do your weed
CEO it even
Play ball.
But that revolution thang, we don't dat that no mo.
Any number of ways to like get with get over, get down.
Fuck revolution, Fuck thinking. Get yo self some money. Get with a gang.
Be a start, actor, rapper athlete, or the new town clown.
Revolutionaries don't get job security.
They compete with rats for cheese and with strays for shelter after the big bullets make feet out of their knees.
Tupac spelled backwards, caput.
Meaning finished over, ended, done.
26 was, oh my God, so young.
Jaws dropped, stopped in unbelieving anguish 
and surprise. And from dry eyes tears cascaded inside. 


A Rose Blooms on Broadway: Holler If Ya Hear Me Brings Tupac, Hip Hop, Black Humanity (and Black Human Beings) to the Great White Way

By Dionne Bennett

“I loved it.” Those were the words that immediately and emphatically erupted from the mouth of a young African American boy of about 11 whom I had just asked, “What did you think?” of Holler If Ya Hear Me, the new Broadway Hip Hop Musical, which is based on the poetry and music of Tupac Shakur after we both saw the opening in Broadways Palace Theater on June 19th.  I didn’t know the child and was immediately shuffled away from him by the crowd, but his was the opinion I most wanted to hear; it mattered the most.  Whatever you may think of my reflections below, which will be one of the only reviews of Holler you will read by a black woman unless – as I hope – other black women attend and write about the play, or whatever you think of the reviews by the predominantly white and male reviewers elsewhere, please remember that this black manchild’s rapid “review” of Holler If Ya Hear Me is the most important that you will read about the musical.  He loved it. We rarely ask black children what they think about theater – or about anything else for that matter – because they so rarely have the opportunity to attend theater productions, especially on Broadway, not only because of the expense but, also, because they are so rarely inspired by theatrical representations that engage experiences or ideas that speak to them. Holler If Ya Hear Me spoke to that young man. The play hollered, and he heard it. 

In a culture that frequently dehumanizes black people of all ages and ignores the voices of young people of all ethnicities, Holler If Ya Hear Me represents an exciting and important moment in contemporary popular culture, a moment when Black men’s voices, humanity, and deep existential longing for peace of all kinds literally take center stage and hold it.  Like the Hip Hop music and culture that serves as its foundation, Holler If Ya Hear Me, is powerful not only because of the intriguing work of art that it is but, also, because of the intriguing discourses that it has the power to inspire.  The enduring symbol associated with Tupac is that of “the rose that grew from concrete” from his most famous poem and the title of his book of poetry.  It is the visual symbol on the musical’s playbill and posters and an apt image of the musical itself, a beautiful rarity – though one hopes it will become more common – Hip Hop musical theater blossoming on Broadway.

Holler If Ya Hear Me tells the story of black men who perform conflicted narratives of peace, violence, freedom, entrapment, loyalty, betrayal, suffering and redemption through Hip Hop and Hip Hop-inspired rhyme, song, speech, and dance, which are all based on the poetry, rhymes and music of Tupac. The male characters themselves are engaged in an ultimately disastrous emotional dance with and against each other as parents, children, brothers, and friends.  The early death of one young Black male character is the catalyst for the entire community to musically debate the price and power of peace, both psychological and social. Holler was written by Todd Kreidler and produced by Kenny Leon, who just weeks ago won a Tony Award for directing A Raisin in the Sun. This is a significant coincidence as Holler is a theatrical heir to Raisin, which was originally performed on Broadway in 1959; like Raisin, it is a social allegory about what it means to try to make good choices for one’s self and one’s family as a man, and specifically, a black man, in the face of bad, and sometimes, dehumanizing, social, economic, and racial circumstances. 

The story is built around contemporary African American male archetypes that are saved from stereotyping by compassionate characterization in the directing and writing and by the multidimensional performances of the actors. The central characters are estranged former friends, a successful street hustler played with charming nuance by Christopher Jackson, who was in In The Heights, Broadway’s last major foray into Hip Hop Theater, and an ex-con performed with masterful elegance, depth, range, and power by Saul Williams whose dynamic yet subtle and disturbing performance is one of the most compelling acting events of the year in any medium.  His performance of the play’s title song is so visceral and thrilling that one begins to imagine his character as a different version of Tupac in another life, a failed genius, one who never becomes famous but who just as compellingly symbolized the emotional ethos of a generation of young men.  If the Tony’s ignore Saul Williams’ performance next year, fans of the performance need to stage a Hip Hop protest and holler if they don’t hear us.  

The inclusion of the one “white best friend” is a suitable response to the countless films and television shows in which there is one “black best friend.” However, the white male character, portrayed by an appealing Ben Thompson, plays an essential role in the plot. The musical is elevated by the beautiful voice, presence, and performance of Saycon Sengbloh and grounded by the always magnificent Tonya Pinkins, whose performance in Caroline or Change remains one of 21st Century Broadway’s most remarkable. Given Pinkins’ artistry, one regrets that Holler does not give her more to do.  Supporting the leads is a cast of gifted young actors who provide not only a backdrop of pure talent but, also, give depth and pathos to the theme of a community in crisis.

Collectively, all of the performers sing, rap, and dance the roof off of the Palace Theater, and it doesn’t come down until the curtain falls.  Although there are many tragic elements of the story Holler tells – which some reviewers have, mistakenly, found cliché – the exuberant performances of Tupac’s poetry and music infuse the entire production with intense cultural and artistic joy, a pleasure which is, for Hip Hop heads and Tupac fans, sublimely nostalgic. Yet one does not have to be a Tupac fan or a Hip Hop head to appreciate Holler. Holler has been described as a “jukebox musical” because like other musicals such as Mama Mia (Abba), American Idiot (Green Day) it is a play whose music is inspired or derived from pre-existing popular music recordings. As is the case with those musicals, one need not be a fan of the original recordings, or even of Hip Hop music or culture, to appreciate their reinterpretation and application in a new musical theater context.  In fact, those who think they do not like Hip Hop music may be surprised when they see and hear Holler by how beautifully Hip Hop can be adapted to a musical theater context, a fact that Hip Hop theater artists discovered decades ago.

Holler is not without its flaws.  Despite their wonderful performances, including their delicious performance of “Keep Ya Head Up” as a musical feminist critique of the young men’s performance of “I Get Around,” the talented women of the cast are under-utilized by the production.  The representation of black women characters as admired but marginalized emotional accessories to more fully developed black male characters is a recurring weakness in some media by and about black men, and Holler is no exception.  However, the acting, singing, and dancing of the women in this cast is so phenomenal that one almost forgets the problem of their limited role in the narrative. Almost. The women’s sensational performance of “Keep Your Head Up” is artistically and rhetorically successful, yet one misses the power of a black man displaying deep empathy towards black women that Tupac expressed in the original recording.  Tupac fans will debate the inclusion or exclusion of various songs and poems. In keeping with my disappointment about the gender dynamics of the play, I longed for the inclusion of “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” one of Tupac’s most vividly theatrical songs.  Multiple performance planes, a revolving stage, and creative projection design elements added dimension to visual production dynamics that were, in some scenes, excessively minimalist. Given the global aesthetic wealth of the Hip Hop dance medium and the casting of remarkable dancers, the choreography would have benefited from a broader range of Hip Hop dance elements. Nevertheless, the intensity and vitality of the performances outweigh these weaknesses. 

In Holler, Tupac’s poems, both musically recorded and written, retain and renew their power because they speak so compellingly about central intellectual and emotional challenges of humanity in general and masculinity in particular.  While those of us who write about Tupac often address the contradictions between his aggressive, hyper-masculine “Thug Life” persona and his sensitive, vulnerable “Rose from Concrete” poetic spirit, perhaps his true power is that he candidly, courageously, and relentlessly exposed and excavated the sensitivity and vulnerability that the aggressive hyper-masculine stance struggles, sometimes violently, to conceal.  Holler recognizes and performs this revelation, peeling – sometimes ripping – away the hard layers of each young male character to reveal their fragile human cores.

In addition to its contributions to the evolution of 21st Century musical theater, it is useful to consider Holler as a testament both to the allegorical ethos of Tupac’s artistry and to the significance of Hip Hop Theater as an important genre of both Hip Hop Culture and of World Theater.  Although Tupac, the historical figure, is not an embodied character in the musical, through his art – his poetry, music, politics and ideas – his voice is arguably the musical’s most significant symbolic character.  Tupac’s enduring significance to young people has not abated in the years since his death and has, perhaps, intensified as his cultural identity has evolved from popular folk hero to international cultural legend. Tupac remains a powerful figure in global popular culture, in part because he merged the hustler’s ideology and the poet’s ideation into a lucrative brand and into what seemed a seamless identity until his tragic death from gun violence, a death that haunts Hip Hop culture and is deliberately signified in the narrative of Holler; Holler reminds us that Tupac was a unique individual who lived an unusual life, but his death by gun violence was a common one for a young black men in America. Tupac fans in the audience will recognize Tupac’s words. Hearing them vocalized in a new narrative context resurrects them; it amplifies and elaborates their impact in ways that are emotionally moving and add layers of both beauty and grief to the story that Holler tells. Through Tupac’s words, the entire musical asks us to consider how many other unique, beautiful, and brilliant young black men – less famous but equally troubled and valuable – have died before their time; how many others who loved them have suffered.

Holler If Ya Hear Me is also major contribution to the enduring but often marginalized traditions of both African American Theater and Hip Hop Theater.  Holler represents a valuable addition to the second century of the black theater tradition in New York City and the third decade of New York, national, and international Hip Hop Theater. It is, also, the first major “juke box musical” and Hip Hop Theater production organized around the art of a single seminal artist.  Aside from notable theatrical Off-Broadway productions such as Jam on the Groove (1995) and more recent Broadway productions such as  (2008), which was nominated for thirteen Tony Award’s, and won four including Best Musical, Broadway and the mainstream theater community have largely ignored the global phenomenon of Hip Hop theater and so have many consumers of Hip Hop culture, who have focused on the more conventional hip hop art forms and genres. 

With the help of Tupac’s status as an international icon and its powerful performances and production, Holler If Ya Hear me may help Hip Hop Theater attract the attention and resources it deserves and enable the multigenerational tradition of black theater to attract and inspire the next generation of theatrical artists and audiences. Holler’s significance to black culture is indicated by the fact that Henry Louis Gates, Jr. the nation’s most powerful black academic and champion of the nation’s most well-endowed African American Studies Department traveled from the ivory towers of Harvard to the streets of Broadway for opening night. 

During the play’s intermission, I found myself complaining for a moment that we had heard versions of this story before in African American Cinema. The musical features echoes of Do the Right Thing’s themes of community conflict and racial dynamics and, in fact, Spike Lee attended the premiere. It has elements of Boyz in the Hood’s themes of brothers, friends, gunshots, and revenge, and Menace II Society’s themes of violence, drug dealing, and failed fantasies of escape from the “hood.”  In fact, I wondered, haven’t we heard this story before in the music and poetry of Tupac himself? Before the second act began, I realized that I had heard versions of this story more recently and more intimately. I have heard versions of this story in my own family and over the last few months in the writing and presentations of my own students at CUNY City Tech, the majority of whom are brilliant young black men who have, in some cases, persevered in the face of violence and suffering to seek an education.  We all hear racist, classist, and dehumanizing versions of this story on the news and the internet every day. Some white reviewers are dismissive of the narrative, finding it melodramatic, yet for many young people of color, the consequences of violence that privileged white people may consider “melodrama” remain an all-too-familiar and very real part of everyday life. 

So for those of us, including myself, who may ask, “Haven’t we heard this story before? Haven’t we already heard the story of senseless violence, and even more senseless death, of drug-dealing, and prison sentences, and, and misguided loyalty, and fractured families and friendships, and and regret, and grief, and love?”  Holler If Ya Hear Me answers: “Yes. We have heard this story before, and we need to hear it again, and again, and again in new and compelling and creative ways. We need to see and hear this story until nobody, not one single working class or poor child of any race, is living this story any more. And, the musical adds, you have never heard this story told like this before, not in musical theater, not in Hip Hop culture, and not through the theatrically reinterpreted music of Tupac Shakur. So listen up. Hear this. Hear us. And Holler if you do!”  In this sense, the familiarity of its narrative elements, which may initially appear to be a weakness of the musical, is really one of Holler’s strengths and an aspect of the play that has great potential to engage young audiences. I saw the 2004 Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun – which was, also, directed by Holler’s director Leon – with an audience that included a large group of young people who may have been in high school or college and did not appear to be regular theatergoers. They were riveted by the play and responded with the same enthusiasm as the young man who loved Holler so much.  A story that was nearly half-a-century old still spoke to their aspirations and lives. Holler has that same potential to engage the imaginations and experiences of young people. 

Fortunately, the producers of Holler If Ya Hear Me are attentive to younger people who are an important audience for the play. They have made the play more affordable than most Broadway fare and have commissioned Marcyliena Morgan and Nicole Hodges Persley of The Hip Hop Archive and Research Institute at the Harvard University Hutchins Center to develop a curriculum for schools and communities.  Attentive to the twitter generation, the playbill included inserts asking audience members to tweet/holler about #hollerbway

Holler If Ya Hear Me, asks us to hear a story of violence, redemption, and the quest for peace in a new way and in a new form. When the young black man with whom I spoke so briefly at the premiere of Holler If Ya Hear Me hollered that he “loved it,” I heard him. Perhaps he loved it because, like me, he found that in Holler If Ya Hear Me, black male humanity is performed with beauty, energy, dignity, power and joy. And that is definitely worth hollering about.

Dionne Bennett, Ph.D. holds a doctorate in anthropology from UCLA and a B.A. from Yale University. She is an Assistant Professor of African American Studies at CUNY’s New York City College of Technology. 

 

 

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