Common’s “Black America Again” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Black Boy Fly”

1. Read Chapter 7 of That’s the Joint: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. 2. Watch Common’s “Black America Again” and read the lyrics. 4. Watch Kendrick Lamar’s “Black Boy Fly” and read the lyrics. Write an essay in which you do the following: • Summarize Dyson’s history of rap/hip hop music including its early innovators, musical features, criticisms, and successes. Include a thesis which names the two songs and issues* that you will analyze. (I am not requiring a Works Cited, but you do have name the author and title of Chapter 7 in this paragraph as your source for that information.) • Devote one paragraph to analyzing Common’s “Black America Again.” In the paragraph, explain the overarching message created by images and lyrics. What is the artist encouraging Americans to do? For evidence, describe a specific image, and quote a few lines as you explore one issue* that some might praise or criticize in the song. • Devote one paragraph to analyzing Kendrick Lamar’s “Black Boy Fly”. In the paragraph, explain the overarching message created by images and lyrics. What is the artist encouraging listeners to do? For evidence, describe a specific image, and quote a few lines as you explore one issue* that some might praise or criticize in the song. • In a conclusion, offer a more personal critique about the value of the genre in your own life and/or in the lives of people that you know. *Issues include class, race, economics, identity, gender, violence, politics. Avoid analyzing the same issue in both body paragraphs.