Emerson Residency
During the Fall 2022 semester, in a workshop-style class, through readings, videos, lectures, writing, discussion, research, but mostly CREATING, students at Emerson College learned about what elements are common in both Hip-Hop and Shakespeare. For their final project, students created and performed their own Hip-Hip songs expressing social justice issues, using Shakespeare’s words, Hip-Hop beats, and their own creative inspirations, as well as learning and performing numbers from I'm At Your Window.
“My son is like a work of art, his father's like Shakespeare.”
(Pusha T)
“The language in Shakespeare is wonderfully musical. You need to hear the music to connect with the words.”
(Mandy Patinkin)
Course Description
Shakespeare wrote for “common folk” using universal themes that are as relevant today as they were 400 years ago. With their polarizing characters, sophisticated hyperbole, sarcasm, sexual jokes, made-up words/jargon, “down with the ‘man’” mentality, and social justice themes, Shakespeare and Hip Hop are perfect together. “It's bigger than black and white, It's a problem with the whole way of life, It can't change overnight, But we gotta start somewhere, Might as well gon' 'head start here, We done had a hell of a year”
(Lil Baby - The Bigger Picture) Let’s see what Tupac and Mercutio have in common. Let’s learn Shakespeare with a Hip-Hop beat. Let’s see who can bring the “big d**k energy”. (Latto)
Hip-Hop, the most influential music of the 21st Century, has made its way to the theatrical stages of America and beyond. Using Hip-Hop to tell Shakespeare’s stories gives access to the brilliance and relevancy of Shakespeare’s work and allows students to learn and create in this new musical theatre genre. The tradition of both Shakespeare and Hip-Hop provides another way for students to speak their truths and fight for justice.
Who owns Hip-Hop? Who owns Shakespeare? What do we need to know about an art form to use it in performance? What can we learn about ourselves to bring our identities to our art? How can Shakespeare’s words and Hip-Hop beats be used to educate and transform the artist and the audience? Students will be exploring these and other related questions.
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