Day 1 - First Embedded Video

For this assignment, you will go on youtube and find your favorite hip-hop (rap) song OR your favorite spoken word piece.  You will then embed the video in a post with a paragraph underneath the video speaking to its importance to you.  Tell the class why you chose THIS video of ALL videos.  You should want to talk about its meaning.  I would appreciate if you could do the following:

1. Try to find the clean version of the video if you can.  Try to be aware if the language is too uncouth for school.
2. Work to find a video that represents something that affects you lyrically.  There may be songs you love musically, but they may lack meaning.  So I want you to find something that actually speaks to your heart.

Here's mine so you get the idea.

I chose J. Cole's "Be Free" because I see this song as so timely in terms of the Michael Brown and Eric Garner decisions.  J. Cole's latest album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, is his third album and it has met a lot of commercial success.  I believe this is because he is striking new ground in an industry hampered by misogyny and materialism as of late.  J. Cole works to be genuine in his lyrics and honest in his criticism of society.  In the video above, especially, he feels so raw and visceral:  a dimly lit stage, one person on keyboard, and attire that is downplayed.  It's just J. Cole and his feelings.  It reminds me of Nas' "One Mic".  Lastly, the repetition of "All we wanna do is take the chains off; all we wanna do is be free" makes me really question how a country so dedicated to liberty would still have someone like J. Cole yearning for freedom.  You can tell J. Cole puts a lot of his heart into this song and it has greatly affected my vision of the world in the past few months.