Humanities Homework Help

Part 1 250 words

Please listen to the following three message rap songs by Public Enemy, Tupac and Kendrick Lamar.

Describe the overall sonic texture for each recording, and identify the message for each song, and consider the strategy used by each artist in articulating their message.

Which of the three is most effective in doing so and why?

Also consider the audience for each song, and who each was intended for.

Public Enemy – “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos” (1988)

Tupac Shakur – Changes (1993)

Kendrick Lamar – Alright (2015)

Part 2 250 words

Please listen to N.W.A.’s “A Bitch Iz a Bitch” with Queen Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y. (Who You Callin a Bitch?)”.

Compare and contrast how these two songs address the word “bitch,” and how they characterize women during the golden age of hip hop.

Which of the two better reflects the current characterization and representation of women in rap music?

N.W.A. – “A Bitch Iz a Bitch” (1989)

Queen Latifah – U.N.I.T.Y. (1993)

Part 3 250 words

Please begin by watching the first 24 minutes of the cool documentary Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme (2000).

Reflect on what you learned about the origins of rap, and the art of improvisation and freestyling.

What conclusions or takeaways can you draw from the art of rhyming, and battling as discussed in the film?

Highlight two scenes from the film that stood out or caught your interest in some way.