Lately I've found myself fascinated by the connections between Shakespeare and hip hop, and it is likely that I will end up writing my final paper on this topic. I found a great video of the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company, founded by London rapper Akala:
Rap is an art form that is criminally undermined by its mainstream representation. Very few hip hop songs in the charts are any good, with many of them glorifying violence, sexism and homophobia. As Akala says, his work with the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company focuses on rap from the eighties and nineties, when the genre as a whole produced more socially conscious work. I don't believe the connection to be tenuous at all; the best rappers such as Ice Cube, 2Pac and Mos Def use extremely clever witticisms and wordplay to highlight and critique serious issues including gang culture, black on black violence and the treatment of women in society. Shakespeare himself was not above puns and double entendres, and many of his uses of these devices are cherished as great artistic touches. It feels as if there's an intellectual bias against hip hop - one that I hope society is able to overcome over time.
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