#also science majors basically any fucking major that produces articles needs to know how to properly write papers

[altrxisme]

my boyfriend, a nutrition major: /writing a paper for class/ idk why we need to write papers

me, a former bio turned english major: /on tumblr doing replies, should be finishing my essays, who has proofread and edited his papers/ -_-

#; speak writer #like damn baby speak for yourself I've read your papers #also science majors basically any fucking major that produces articles needs to know how to properly write papers #it's appalling the most basic corrections I've seen ignored

[artworkandstuff]

Politics in rap (Protest songs)

Politics within rap isn’t new, however the most recent wave of mainstream rap has a heavy sense of political undertones. The term “Youthquake” was the number 1 word of 2017 as seen by the oxford dictionary. The term simply means that amongst young people they have opened their ears and eyes to listen and gain a sense understanding of the British political climate. Myself included I am one of many who realised that in order for myself to be respected by adults, I first need to gain the knowledge and full understanding of politics. Politics is everywhere. If you work, pay tax, drive a car, or simply watch tv, you are involved in politics. It’s important to know current affairs as everything affects everything else and can help you with understanding the world. Not only this, but a few close friends and myself included, we didn’t want to stay ignorant, we didn’t want to stay uneducated and lost, we wanted to gain knowledge as knowledge is power. If you are powerful and can hold a mature conversation about the current political climate, not only are you one up on others who are too ignorant to care, you are able to feel empowered by your knowledge and wider understanding of the world.

I would argue that rap is very much now the new “punk”. Punk was inspired by the anarchism and anti government movement of the 80’s. Pieces such as “stand down Margaret” by The English Beat and “1 in 10” by UB40 show this. However every other band since them, calling themselves punk or anti government/anti right wing have only really taken inspirations from other bands, not actual problems the original bands sung about. What I’m trying to explain is that there is a new type of artist, almost at the right time. Artists always appear at the right time as its people speaking out about problems. There are multiple artists who share this same attribute and its simply them being human and speaking out. Childish Gambino with “This is america” is a clear example. Many world renowned artists have money, have themselves sorted. But I feel that it says a lot when these artists are willing to risk their audience appeal and ignore typical trends and instead make the effort to help others lower than them. One very well known artist and well respected is no other then Grime Rapper, Stormzy. During the Brits award night, Stormzy had the chance to put his stamp on the stage and show the country where his heart lies. After winning two awards that evening Stormzy was clearly feeling good about himself and out of nowhere when it came to his performance, just before he performed “blinded by your grace”, water started to pour on him like rain as he ripped his top off and freestyled saying; “Yo Theresa May, where’s the money for Grenfell?”. He continued with; “What, you thought we just forgot about Grenfell? You criminals, and you’ve got the cheek to call us savages, you should do some jail time, you should pay some damages, you should burn your house down and see if you can manage this.” .This simple freestyle bought the country to a standstill and if anything it gained him popularity buy having the confidence to speak out about what he cares about. Although his work doesn’t directly point a finger at particular subjects like other artists such as DAVE, however it’s clear that he cares about politics and is using his voice for something powerful and good on him. Grenfell was and still is such an overlooked tragedy that he bought it back to the forefront to show the government that people are still suffering. That’s activism right there.

Talking about activism, not only here is it that stars are taking their privilege and using it, but over in America EMINEM certainly is. He risked losing fans when he done a freestyle rap out of disgust and frustration of donald trump. The reason I make a point about him losing fans is because, and I quote “ …and any fan of mine, who’s a supporter of his, I’m drawing in the sand a line, you’re either for or against. And if you can’t decide who you like more in your split, on who you should stand beside, I’ll do it for you with this… *middle finger to the camera* …Fuck you! “. Amazingly if anything his support grew and as someone who never really listened to 90’s rap or early 2000’s I never paid attention to his work but since that I’ve definitely taken a liking to his work. Clearly EMINEM was frustrated with Trump as throughout the freestyle he just kept going. As a performer I can sense how other performers feel and can easily read faces, and my word was he infuriated. The freestyle rap went on for 4:34 which even for a song is rather long. During the beginning he starts and gets so caught up in his pain he pauses and then starts again. Subjects such as the hell of a storm that hit Puerto Rico and the lack of support from Trump as well as the gun crisis. You could tell that he wanted to speak out and wanted to make his voice heard and Trump being the discriminative, right wing, selfish, misogynistic man he is, EMINEM needing to say something and it’s clear that Trump is what inspired him.

Now although Stormzy and EMINEM don’t create tracks and produce eps exposing and questioning politics, a favourite artist of mine does. At the age of 19 DAVE is one of Britain’s breakthrough artists of 2017. Not only that, but for his age he speaks with wisdom and is very wise when rapping about a subject which he addresses from an unbiased view. Majority of his work reflects his youth and his family and friends however a few of his pieces show his interest in politics. One of his most powerful pieces of work is “Question Time” which depicts the general election and Theresa May’s leadership as the PM. For someone who loves both politics and music this is bar one of my favourite songs to date just down to its facts and pure emotion as you can see doing the music video how emotionally attacked DAVE is to getting his message across. His message is that politics is something we all need to understand to avoid staying ignorant and if you don’t want to understand it, you can’t ever complain about a political situation. I for one feel that that is an appropriate way to interpret that particular pieces message. Even from the first line of the song it says “I got a question for the new prime minister, how do you have a heart so sinister, how are we so wasteful when people are dying in Somalia, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya. “. The beginning of this piece really allows me to not only connect with DAVE on an artistic level in the sense of poetry, but also in means of his actual question. Because as much as “Question Time” is a rap, it’s also one big question, hence the name. The country wants answers and DAVE is happy to ask them. He continues on to say “The irony is we have no business in syria, but kids are getting killed for all the business in syria”. Now although this was released back in October of 2017, it couldn’t be more relevant. With the recent airstakes of 2018 in Syria by the US, UK and France in retaliation to Bashar Al-Assad using illegal chemical weapons on his own people down to the civil war at play, DAVE’s song really does make you ask why. Why are we getting involved in other countries business. It’s ironic really as we condemn Bashar Al-Assad for basically bombing his own people, creating refugees which our government refuses to take in. So we bomb his country to tell him not to bomb his own, creating more refugees, which our government won’t take in, yet the reason we bombed his country is to warn him to look after his own people but we’re adding to the cycle. The logic is ridiculous and although our airstrikes were used to blow up “military bases” and “science research labs”, majority of airstrikes aren’t even that accurate anyway. Another one of DAVE’s lines from “Question Time” is; “What’s the difference between us and them, when you’ve got drones killing kids just touching ten”. The bars are so simple and there aren’t any metaphors used, its just straight up words that makes sense and want you wanting answers. DAVE continues on to talk about Brexit in frustration and says “What about the people that voted for us to leave for the money that it would see. £350 Million pound that we give to the EU every week that our health service needs.”. Brexit is a really interesting subject and one that divides a room much like marmite divides people’s taste buds. Brexit, regardless of its good or bad has brought about racial tension and a rise in hate crime. As a modern, progressive country this is embarrassing and the whole political climate is a complete joke. Now although I didn’t live through the 80’s it feels as if we are back there. Not only are we on the brink of a dirty nuclear war, but because of Brexit and Donald Trump race relationships aren’t the best. Though to top it all off we have an incompetent, selfish right wing conservative party in government.

Bibliography:

Newspaper article, ‘Youthquake’ named 2017 word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries, The Guardian, 2017

Sian Cain, Site editor, Written on 15/12/17

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/15/youthquake-named-2017-word-of-the-year-by-oxford-dictionaries

Webpage, Definition of Youthquake in English, Oxford Dictionaries, 1965

Oxford Dictionaries, English Dictionary, 2017

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/youthquake

Online video,  The English Beat - Stand Down Margaret (O.T.T. - Broadcast March 27, 1982), Youtube, 1982

Youtube, Online video website, Uploaded on 23/07/12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K6YWX4OL0o

Online video, UB40 - One in Ten, 1981

Youtube, Online video website, Uploaded on 06/05/13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usYgf8cVfvU

Online video, Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video), 2018

Youtube, Online video website, Uploaded on 05/05/18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY

Online video, STORMZY - BLINDED BY YOUR GRACE PT.2 & BIG FOR YOUR BOOTS [LIVE AT THE BRITs ‘18], 2018

Youtube, Online video website, Uploaded on 22/02/18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReY4yVkoDc4

Newspaper article, Stormzy asks Theresa May: “Where’s the money for Grenfell?” in Brit Awards performance, Mirror, 2018

Lucy Clarke-Billings, Assistant news editor, Written on 21/02/18

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/stormzy-asks-theresa-may-wheres-12067811

Newspaper article, Eminem attacks Donald Trump in scathing freestyle rap 'The Storm’ - and gives his fans an ultimatum, Mirror, 2017

Zoe Forsey, Audience writer, Written on 11/10/17

https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/eminem-attacks-donald-trump-scathing-11323842

Online video, Dave - Question Time, 2017

Youtube, Online video website, Uploaded on 09/10/17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ff6CjYBhoI

[moreartworkandstuff]

Politics in rap (Protest songs)

Politics within rap isn’t new, however the most recent wave of mainstream rap has a heavy sense of political undertones. The term “Youthquake” was the number 1 word of 2017 as seen by the oxford dictionary. The term simply means that amongst young people they have opened their ears and eyes to listen and gain a sense understanding of the British political climate. Myself included I am one of many who realised that in order for myself to be respected by adults, I first need to gain the knowledge and full understanding of politics. Politics is everywhere. If you work, pay tax, drive a car, or simply watch tv, you are involved in politics. It’s important to know current affairs as everything affects everything else and can help you with understanding the world. Not only this, but a few close friends and myself included, we didn’t want to stay ignorant, we didn’t want to stay uneducated and lost, we wanted to gain knowledge as knowledge is power. If you are powerful and can hold a mature conversation about the current political climate, not only are you one up on others who are too ignorant to care, you are able to feel empowered by your knowledge and wider understanding of the world.

I would argue that rap is very much now the new “punk”. Punk was inspired by the anarchism and anti government movement of the 80’s. Pieces such as “stand down Margaret” by The English Beat and “1 in 10” by UB40 show this. However every other band since them, calling themselves punk or anti government/anti right wing have only really taken inspirations from other bands, not actual problems the original bands sung about. What I’m trying to explain is that there is a new type of artist, almost at the right time. Artists always appear at the right time as its people speaking out about problems. There are multiple artists who share this same attribute and its simply them being human and speaking out. Childish Gambino with “This is america” is a clear example. Many world renowned artists have money, have themselves sorted. But I feel that it says a lot when these artists are willing to risk their audience appeal and ignore typical trends and instead make the effort to help others lower than them. One very well known artist and well respected is no other then Grime Rapper, Stormzy. During the Brits award night, Stormzy had the chance to put his stamp on the stage and show the country where his heart lies. After winning two awards that evening Stormzy was clearly feeling good about himself and out of nowhere when it came to his performance, just before he performed “blinded by your grace”, water started to pour on him like rain as he ripped his top off and freestyled saying; "Yo Theresa May, where’s the money for Grenfell?". He continued with; "What, you thought we just forgot about Grenfell? You criminals, and you’ve got the cheek to call us savages, you should do some jail time, you should pay some damages, you should burn your house down and see if you can manage this." .This simple freestyle bought the country to a standstill and if anything it gained him popularity buy having the confidence to speak out about what he cares about. Although his work doesn’t directly point a finger at particular subjects like other artists such as DAVE, however it’s clear that he cares about politics and is using his voice for something powerful and good on him. Grenfell was and still is such an overlooked tragedy that he bought it back to the forefront to show the government that people are still suffering. That’s activism right there.

Talking about activism, not only here is it that stars are taking their privilege and using it, but over in America EMINEM certainly is. He risked losing fans when he done a freestyle rap out of disgust and frustration of donald trump. The reason I make a point about him losing fans is because, and I quote “ ...and any fan of mine, who’s a supporter of his, I’m drawing in the sand a line, you’re either for or against. And if you can’t decide who you like more in your split, on who you should stand beside, I’ll do it for you with this… *middle finger to the camera* ...Fuck you! “. Amazingly if anything his support grew and as someone who never really listened to 90’s rap or early 2000’s I never paid attention to his work but since that I’ve definitely taken a liking to his work. Clearly EMINEM was frustrated with Trump as throughout the freestyle he just kept going. As a performer I can sense how other performers feel and can easily read faces, and my word was he infuriated. The freestyle rap went on for 4:34 which even for a song is rather long. During the beginning he starts and gets so caught up in his pain he pauses and then starts again. Subjects such as the hell of a storm that hit Puerto Rico and the lack of support from Trump as well as the gun crisis. You could tell that he wanted to speak out and wanted to make his voice heard and Trump being the discriminative, right wing, selfish, misogynistic man he is, EMINEM needing to say something and it’s clear that Trump is what inspired him.

Now although Stormzy and EMINEM don’t create tracks and produce eps exposing and questioning politics, a favourite artist of mine does. At the age of 19 DAVE is one of Britain's breakthrough artists of 2017. Not only that, but for his age he speaks with wisdom and is very wise when rapping about a subject which he addresses from an unbiased view. Majority of his work reflects his youth and his family and friends however a few of his pieces show his interest in politics. One of his most powerful pieces of work is “Question Time” which depicts the general election and Theresa May’s leadership as the PM. For someone who loves both politics and music this is bar one of my favourite songs to date just down to its facts and pure emotion as you can see doing the music video how emotionally attacked DAVE is to getting his message across. His message is that politics is something we all need to understand to avoid staying ignorant and if you don’t want to understand it, you can’t ever complain about a political situation. I for one feel that that is an appropriate way to interpret that particular pieces message. Even from the first line of the song it says “I got a question for the new prime minister, how do you have a heart so sinister, how are we so wasteful when people are dying in Somalia, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya. “. The beginning of this piece really allows me to not only connect with DAVE on an artistic level in the sense of poetry, but also in means of his actual question. Because as much as “Question Time” is a rap, it’s also one big question, hence the name. The country wants answers and DAVE is happy to ask them. He continues on to say “The irony is we have no business in syria, but kids are getting killed for all the business in syria”. Now although this was released back in October of 2017, it couldn’t be more relevant. With the recent airstakes of 2018 in Syria by the US, UK and France in retaliation to Bashar Al-Assad using illegal chemical weapons on his own people down to the civil war at play, DAVE’s song really does make you ask why. Why are we getting involved in other countries business. It’s ironic really as we condemn Bashar Al-Assad for basically bombing his own people, creating refugees which our government refuses to take in. So we bomb his country to tell him not to bomb his own, creating more refugees, which our government won’t take in, yet the reason we bombed his country is to warn him to look after his own people but we’re adding to the cycle. The logic is ridiculous and although our airstrikes were used to blow up “military bases” and “science research labs”, majority of airstrikes aren’t even that accurate anyway. Another one of DAVE’s lines from “Question Time” is; “What’s the difference between us and them, when you’ve got drones killing kids just touching ten”. The bars are so simple and there aren’t any metaphors used, its just straight up words that makes sense and want you wanting answers. DAVE continues on to talk about Brexit in frustration and says “What about the people that voted for us to leave for the money that it would see. £350 Million pound that we give to the EU every week that our health service needs.”. Brexit is a really interesting subject and one that divides a room much like marmite divides people's taste buds. Brexit, regardless of its good or bad has brought about racial tension and a rise in hate crime. As a modern, progressive country this is embarrassing and the whole political climate is a complete joke. Now although I didn’t live through the 80’s it feels as if we are back there. Not only are we on the brink of a dirty nuclear war, but because of Brexit and Donald Trump race relationships aren’t the best. Though to top it all off we have an incompetent, selfish right wing conservative party in government.

Bibliography:

Newspaper article, ‘Youthquake’ named 2017 word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries, The Guardian, 2017

Sian Cain, Site editor, Written on 15/12/17

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/15/youthquake-named-2017-word-of-the-year-by-oxford-dictionaries

Webpage, Definition of Youthquake in English, Oxford Dictionaries, 1965

Oxford Dictionaries, English Dictionary, 2017

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/youthquake

Online video,  The English Beat - Stand Down Margaret (O.T.T. - Broadcast March 27, 1982), Youtube, 1982

Youtube, Online video website, Uploaded on 23/07/12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K6YWX4OL0o

Online video, UB40 - One in Ten, 1981

Youtube, Online video website, Uploaded on 06/05/13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usYgf8cVfvU

Online video, Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video), 2018

Youtube, Online video website, Uploaded on 05/05/18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY

Online video, STORMZY - BLINDED BY YOUR GRACE PT.2 & BIG FOR YOUR BOOTS [LIVE AT THE BRITs '18], 2018

Youtube, Online video website, Uploaded on 22/02/18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReY4yVkoDc4

Newspaper article, Stormzy asks Theresa May: "Where's the money for Grenfell?" in Brit Awards performance, Mirror, 2018

Lucy Clarke-Billings, Assistant news editor, Written on 21/02/18

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/stormzy-asks-theresa-may-wheres-12067811

Newspaper article, Eminem attacks Donald Trump in scathing freestyle rap 'The Storm' - and gives his fans an ultimatum, Mirror, 2017

Zoe Forsey, Audience writer, Written on 11/10/17

https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/eminem-attacks-donald-trump-scathing-11323842

Online video, Dave - Question Time, 2017

Youtube, Online video website, Uploaded on 09/10/17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ff6CjYBhoI