His works are timeless. "The most benevolent king communicates through your dreams" Hip Hop Shakespeare 6. Cause theyre not that interesting. I always recognized that hip-hop had a range of expressions. In the 1400s, the main kingdom he speaks about in that book is the Empire of Mali. After this he does Sonnet 18 (that one that goes 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day) from shakespeare with a music background and he shows how it sounds like hip hop. Its interesting though, because they can do it when it comes to movies which is just as much entertainment as Hip Hop. BARBARA: Well, and thats the irony, too. It doesnt come from any region in England. He is like the quantum physics of literature. That boy Akalas a diamond fella.All you little boys are a Comedy of Errors,You bellow but you fellows get played likeThe cello. What kind of name means "messenger"? [Verse 1:] Nigga listen. Why might Akala say that we should teach Shakespeare? - Brainly . So, if we take the sonnets, 154 sonnets, all ten syllables each, all end up rhyming. How? Why might Akala say that we should teach Shakespeare? AKALA: Precisely. Akala, one to watch out for!!!! AKALA: Right. So, for example, Felipe Fernndez-Armesto, the great, you know, historian from Oxford University, he has a book called Millennium. Got linked here through an article on decolonising shakespeare and one rabbit hole later. damn Akala's good. And any good poet of any era employs similar themes and similar techniques. AKALA: And spending time with him and hearing him rap, in Brazilian Portuguese, I was like, the rhyme is not the same. What I would hear audibly as a rhyme in English isnt exactly what a rhyme is in Brazilian Portuguese. MICHAEL: Kingslee James Daley is better known as the rapper Akala. Such a freaking legend, I learnt so much from this. So if artists wanna learn how to make stuff rhythmic that doesnt rhyme, you think of Hamlet: What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving. So, even that in England people think, Shakespeare was posh, which, again, is a, you know, a statement of class and a statement of that way I was just talking. AKALA: Well, he wasnt from the bottom of the society. When asked if teachers can use hip-hop to connect students to Shakespeare, she said, "Students can use . Is it Shakespeare, or is it hip-hop? British poet, rapper, and educator Kingslee James Daley, who goes by the stage name Akala, likes to recite a passage and then challenge his audience with this question. I study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nottingham (2nd in the UK for my course according to the Guardian) and not one of my lecturers can deliver like this man! Akala is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. I wish she showed us more of him. Garland Scott is the associate producer. I am one that I sometimes am critical of mainstream hip-hop and the violence and the misogyny and whatever else. Angel And just as children from the Windrush generation didnt always receive a satisfactory education, so the precociously talented Akala had his own problems at school. Katherine Lim - Hip Hop or Shakespeare.pdf - Hip Hop or What education should look like. So I will think twice before ragging on hip hop after watching thisthanks Akala. Shakespeares characters are the best ones are all imperfect. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Showing this to my students. I mean its listen, I dont like to embarrass people but we did a workshop, one of our launch workshops. Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Shakespeare was a master in creating characters rich in personality and traits. You have just written some Shakespearean hip hop!!!. Akala is a man of wisdom after analyzing so many poems/rap lyrics. I remember Wu-Tang, particularly, was the first group that all the kids that listened to heavy metal, BARBARA: Oh, you went straight to Wu-Tang from, AKALA: Right, no, it really it literally before that, I guess hip-hop in the UK for a long time was came to the kind of British Caribbean community, via our cousins in New York. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. , the inclusion of a bill of rights in the u.s. constitution was the direct result of the. Our doors are reopening in Fall 2023! But youll learn it in a second because, as youll hear, asking the question, Is that Shakespeare or is it hip-hop? is often the opening gambit that launches a conversation about poetry and prejudice for the British poet, rapper, and educator, Kingslee James Daley, who goes by the stage name Akala. Genevieve White, writing for the British Council, stated that there are a variety of . But what do you want people to go home with? To Teach or Not To Teach: Is Shakespeare Still Relevant to Today No matter what you say it will never work. Turns out you can't syncopate every word lol. When you listen to Inspectah Deck say I bomb atomically, Socrates philosophy and hypocrisy, I bomb atomically, Socrates philosophies and hypothesesCant define how I be dropping these mockeries.Lyrically perform armed robbery,Flee with the lottery, possibly they spotted me,Battle-scarred Shogun, explosion when my pen hits,Tremendous, AKALA: I dont care who you are. [CLIP of the Hip-Hop Shakespeare Companys Draw For Your Sword]. Discover Shakespeares stories and the world that shaped them. And you could take any verse of Shakespeare thats in iambic pentameter and you can put it on most regular 4/4 hip-hop and you can put it on most of what we call in the UK grimeits a very transferable rhythm. Shakespeare Unlimited comes to you from the Folger Shakespeare Library, home to the worlds largest Shakespeare collection. I have used this as a concept for a university class presentation. Get real, homey. One of them knew it word for word! BARBARA: And what about rhyme? Joshua Sackey - TED TALK NOTES-Shakespeare.pdf - Course Hero Mansa Musa I, the ruler of that kingdom is, you know, many economists estimate the richest human of all time. BARBARA: So, and for people who havent heard it, you recite a passage, I gather, and you ask the audience, do they think its hip-hop or do they think its Shakespeare. The second. Although one might argue that all of his works should be included on this list due to his enormous literary . 6 why might akala say that we should teach shakespeare . I find him quite admirable and wilding a mind that is practically candy coated to a sapiosexual as myself. So what weve been trying to do is in keeping with its educational tradition.. We need more people like Akala and Lowkey. BARBARA: What do you want the takeaway to be for your audience? I dont think it has the same ring. So, in a lot of so our last production as a company was of Richard II which was, we did essentially a concept, rock opera, if you like, think, you know. We possess the speech.Draw for your sword and settle your quarrels.Draw for your sword orSee to it your knees meet and greet the ground,Bow! Learning never stops! It's because of the musicality of the rhymes and the flow, it eases the memorisation, and this is partly why hip-hop is so great. I dont think we can divorce Shakespeares global success from British imperialism and if India colonized the world, would we be reading the Mahabharata and the Rmyaa and these wonderful texts of Indian spirituality in the way that we read Shakespeare, as universal human text? William Shakespeare is regarded by many as the greatest playwright of all time and the most important author in the development of the English language. I'm laughing because everyone here is teenagers trying to do their English homework edited: LMFAO I DIDNT THINK THIS MANY PEOPLE WOULD SEE THIS AHAHA guys i got a 100% on this assignment so can you haha, yo brody send the assignment for mans bless. prologue reading and questions.docx - Course Hero Surrender yourself to the floor.Mowbray: come, come, settle down,Dont spit away your blood when you dont have a crown. Whereas if I play you Lauryn Hill performing it on MTV Unplugged, immediately youre like, I didnt understand half the words. @SelinaP95 I could not agree more. As part of the colonizing efforts of the British in imperial India, the first English literature curricula were constructed, and Shakespeare's plays were central to . Nasir Jones. BARBARA: The horrible ones are the interesting ones, yeah. So, I think, like I said, theres a lot of proeven Received Pronunciation. BARBARA: Well, what I find interesting about peoples misperceptions, I mean this gets back to this relationship between hip-hop and Shakespeare that you talk about, is that Shakespeare really was the original mash-up artist as well. Ancient. But also to show that theres still a rhythm in it. Brilliant. for someone from UK he knows the roots of hip hop. The plots we think of as quintessentially Shakespearean Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet and King Lear, among othersare based on old stories, histories and myths that he reworked into his own material. Wed really appreciate your help. #1 Universal appeal. Groundings with the brothers reveals a clear message That the strengths inherent in poor people to make good their lifes circumstance seems more resilliant and sustainable as an integral [part of their aspirations. On point all the time! And so if we take, say, jazz and we bring it all the way up to hip-hop, we talk about Congo Square. AKALA: Okay. The book analyses British society through Daley's experiences of British life as a child and later as a rapper, founder of the Hip-hop Shakespeare Company, a campaigner and a writer. Some of my uncles were gangsters. The question is, why are some people then turned off it and others not? Shakespeare is being taught all over the world, it's being taught in 9th grade all the way up to 12th grade. Materially corrupt,Spiritually amuck,Oblivious to the cause,Prosperously bankrupt.Blind leading the blind,Guilty never defined,Filthy as swine,A generation pure in its own mind. So you learn to articulate your feelings and that is really important. This was a great learner moment. Akala at TEDxAldeburgh, AKALA - DAT BOY AKALA (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO), Akala: The History Of Cultural Appropriation In Black Music, THIS CHANGED MY LIFE | Akala - Fire In The Booth (part 1) REACTION, Akala - The Thieves Banquet Part I + II ( Lyrics ), Akala & Ms Dynamite Ft Ghetto & Big Seac - Knowbody, Akala ft Kabaka Pyramid & Marshall - Giants, Akala Details The Roots Of His Philosophies: "There's Not Enough Seats At The Table", Akala - 10 Years Of Akala (Full Album Stream), A HISTORY OF RACISM | AKALA - MAANGAMIZI (REACTION), Deepest Song: Akala - "Find No Enemy" Via @AmaruDonTV, There Is No Escaping Shakespeare | The New York Times, IAMBIC PENTAMETER for Teachers and Students. But it was essentially a concept album with key passages from the text kept. He wasn't. Even an acclaimed Shakespearean actor like Sir Ian McKellen can't always answer correctly. Then he says how iambic pentameter is so similar to a heartbeat and how it is 'intrinsic to life' and how it helps people get across feeling and what u want with that rhythm. Even. This is great. 6 why might akala say that we should teach shakespeare. It's only fitting that his plays . What is the rhythm of IAMBIC PENTAMETER? They don't give up much. Since 2009, under the auspices of his "Hip-hop Shakespeare Company," Akala has . High schools. So the point is to just show you that once you remove the baggage of what you think Shakespeares about and what you think hip-hops about, the all of a sudden it becomes much more difficult to differentiate. BARBARA: I still dont recognize that line from Shakespeare. Well what happens when you hear rappers rap in French or in Brazilian Portuguese or inI went to ZimbabweShona. We had help from Joe Philip at Covered PR, from Mariama Abudulai, and from Ryan Pate at the Dub Room Studio in Los Angeles. Dive deep into the worlds largest Shakespeare collection and access primary sources from the early modern period. Use this to follow along: Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Using hip-hop to explore Shakespeare is not as unlikely as it might sound. Although one might argue that all of his works should be included on this list due to his enormous literary influence, these seven plays and one book of poetry are unquestionably among his greatest works. School was fraught with contradictions and challenges for me despite my academic abilities. But that didnt mean he was always a good boy. AKALA: I am reckless what I do to spite the world.. Thank you for your service honey <3. Hip -hop or Shakespeare? is a challenge that Akala puts to lecture audiences including eminent Shakespeare scholars. BARBARA: So you do the Hip-hop and Bertolt Brecht Company? You are blessed with knowledge and you speak wise words. BARBARA: I mean he was rewriting and borrowing and. No one feels intimidated by Bob Marley, though. I'm a teacher, and my students and I love this performance. AKALA: So, yeah, lets play the first beat. Its for me, BARBARA: Well this is politics. AKALA: There was a it has echoes of Hamlet. Show all results: Artists. Big up Akala and the intelligent movement! Akala is one serious dude, man knows his stuff and reps "urban music" hard. Answer: He claims that they share rhythm. But, actually, perceptions of Shakespeare can be problematic. Yeah, I'm sure Akala would do a real bang up job explaining Lagrangian mechanics and the solution of partial differential equations. What a miracle. BARBARA: No. AKALA: Right. 1.) And obviously I deliberately picked rappers that were eloquent, rappers that were good, rappers that use I mean, weve got a line in there where the RZA says, the most benevolent king communicates for your dreams. You know, weve got another line fromthe Wu-Tang in particular were one of my favorite groups growing upwhere they say, judgment day cometh, conquer, its war. People hear the word cometh and obviously, naturally would assume its Shakespeare. Shakespeare had them bars tho he is one of the G.O.A.T. "Musicality was central to . This podcast episode, The Poets Pen Turns Them to Shapes, was produced by Richard Paul. The audience, such misers! And performance, you know, go I think for me, culture is has I unapologetically see culture as a tool for liberation, for people to come together, to better human society. Maybe its food for the spirit. Since 2009, under the auspices of The Hip-hop Shakespeare Company (THSC), Akala has been going to community centers, prisons, and schools in immigrant . Akala and Hip-Hop Shakespeare | Folger Shakespeare Library Similarly with Shakespeare, if you watch the Baz Luhrmann Romeo + Juliet or, you know, Laurence Fishburne as Othello, I mean if you cant enjoy that, I would suggest that theres something wrong with you, maybe? 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Disturb. British poet, rapper, and educator Kingslee James Daley, who goes by the stage name Akala, likes to recite a passage and then challenge his audience with this question. Since 2009, under the auspices of his Hip-hop Shakespeare Company, Akala has been going to community centers, prisons, and schools in immigrant and underserved communities using the tools of hip-hop to spread an understanding of the relevance of Shakespeares poetry. I think theres something about Shakespeare as a brand, but I think that comes as much from what has been written about him as what he wrote. [CLIP from the Sugarhill Gangs Rappers Delight], So after school, I take a dip in the pool, which is really on the wall.I got a color TV so I can seethe Knicksplay basketball.Hear me talking bout checkbooks, credit cards, more money, than a sucker could ever spend. The Hip-hop Shakespeare Company explores the parallels between two seemingly quite different art forms. HipHop ain't dead Akala's got it at Ted and has risen Shakespeare from the dead. Shakespeare and hip hop are two similar things. Alexa Well, like this. Theres lots of stuff that doesnt rhyme anymore because the accent of English has changed. AKALA: Well I think one of the challenges we often have when interpreting the culture of the African diaspora is for a very long time, I think theres been a lot of great work done over the last half a century to repair but still to some degree because of the problems that many countries in Africa face today, we project those problems into the past in a time when they might not necessarily have existed. Your ears literally dont have the vocabulary to understand it. You look at the end of a Shakespearean text and theyll be the word mood and blood. And youll be like, why have that in there? Akala - Shakespeare Lyrics | Genius Lyrics -Because of the intrinsic value in inspiring people towards their own creative excellence. Shakespeares writing influences a lot of modern-day trends we see in todays society such as music. AKALA: Right, completely different atmosphere, completely different style of beat. Hip hop should be taught more in universities and people like him should be honorary professors. What was the popular perception of jazz when jazz was the dominant youth culture for black America? AKALA: I think a number of things. BARBARA: I want to start by picking up on something you use at the beginning of the presentations that you do, usually, and its the, Is it hip-hop or Shakespeare? bit. You can learn more about Akalas work at www.hiphopShakespeare.com. Hip Hop Shakespeare 4. After this he talks about the medieval empires of Western African and how they had people who were the custodians of the history and cultural and spiritual traditions and were often musicians. Theres only five percent that are old words. Who said maybe it's hatred I spew Maybe it's food for the spirit? Tes talks toAkala | Tes Magazine And with the music and the beats and the rapping, it makes an old subject brand new." He's also made a convert out of this . Also, on a mildly irrelevant note, his accent is my inspiration for speaking eloquently whilst retaining the ineffable London ghetto drawl. BARBARA: Do you also run into this idea that, well I cant even I dont think any of the things that youre quoting to me could be Shakespeare because I just dont even know Shakespeare. That people have a sense of whos allowed, or have a misperception or a bias about whos allowed to know Shakespeare well enough to even identity it? BARBARA: Now, you said even when you then change the rhythm its fine. Top stuff Akala! That piece by NPR has some examples of the pronunciation of the words as we know it from Shakespeare's time.Tell me if it sounds like Appalachian English or not. Its almost like hes poking fun at them. From the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Harry of Hereford, Lancaster, and DerbyAm I, who ready here do stand in arms. And its cause it was mood and blood or loins and loins, which means loins and lines. Why might Akala say that we should teach Shakespeare? Would love to see more of Akala on TedxTalks :). I will use this to start teaching the other kids I've taken under my wing about the importance of being the "custodian of knowledge" for themselves. The original Shakespeare theatre was built in 1599, it has since become Shakespeare's Globe theatre Although it's not "well known", Akala says the world in the book might feel familiar to some . And so if poets today try and do that, its like poetic mathematics. Absolute unit. This man is pure geniusshould be on telly. Wow love that! lololol we have to say one thing we find interesting about this tbh it's not that bad. A terrific introduction to hip hop and sonnets -- I love the final rap of quotes from plays. How did your school make this happen??? Man, this audience. They are quite bland. I think if you look at hip-hop in particular, in London, the most diverse audience youll ever see at any gig you ever go to, without question, will be a hip-hop show. But its a dangerous point of reference to think that people suddenly started making music under the condition of enslavement. Even though America has massive problems we dont have, they still have more paths out of the hood than we do. You know, so some people get confused there. For many who were intimidated or just plain bored by Shakespeare at school, its a revelation. Its not there to beat you over the head with. [CLIP from Comedy Tragedy History continues]. And before it became fully mainstream, you know, groups like the Wu-Tang and others, you know, made it mainstream but to a really credible audience. He became part of the elite in a way. Why might Akala say that we should teach Shakespeare? You know, they watch MTV and they see MTVs version of hip-hop culture, which is ironic given that, you know, Viacom is this massive big corporation. Thanks. TEDx + Akala = Best entertainment! Why You Should Study Shakespeare | Voices Some hiphop artists may not be educated in a way such as to use the vocabulary of Shakespeare and such. Akala and Hip-Hop Shakespeare on the Shakespeare Unlimited podcast The definition of hip hop he gave was fascinating.