0:00:05.306,0:00:06.946 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. 0:00:06.946,0:00:10.870 If I could request the resetting of the clock, [br]it's on at four minutes at the moment, 0:00:10.870,0:00:12.963 I presume from the one before...[br]Fantastic! 0:00:12.963,0:00:14.732 Okay! So, my name is Akala, 0:00:14.732,0:00:16.616 I'm from the Hip Hop[br]Shakespeare Company. 0:00:16.616,0:00:19.138 And before we get into [br]the philosophy of our work, 0:00:19.138,0:00:21.720 what that means, what [br]the intention is behind it, 0:00:21.720,0:00:24.099 I'm going to challenge you guys [br]to a little bit of a pop quiz. 0:00:24.099,0:00:26.178 And we've done this pop quiz [br]quite a few times, 0:00:26.178,0:00:27.617 we'll talk about it after we do it. 0:00:27.617,0:00:30.538 I'm gonna simply tell you some quotes. 0:00:30.538,0:00:34.177 One line quotes, taken either from [br]some of my favorite hip hop songs, 0:00:34.177,0:00:36.945 or some of my favorite [br]Shakespearean plays or sonnets. 0:00:36.945,0:00:39.344 And you're gonna tell me[br]by show of hands, 0:00:39.344,0:00:42.791 whether you think it's[br]hip hop or Shakespeare. 0:00:42.791,0:00:43.662 (Laughter) 0:00:43.662,0:00:45.208 Does that make sense? Okay. 0:00:45.208,0:00:47.101 So the first one we'll go for is: 0:00:47.101,0:00:51.125 "To destroy the beauty from which one came." 0:00:51.125,0:00:55.957 "To destroy the beauty from which one came." 0:00:55.957,0:01:00.582 If you think that's hip hop, [br]raise your hands please. 0:01:00.582,0:01:02.908 If that's Shakespeare, [br]raise your hands please. 0:01:02.908,0:01:06.182 Brilliant, okay, that's 70 percent [br]towards Shakespeare. 0:01:06.182,0:01:10.261 It's from a gentleman known as [br]Sean Carter, better known as Jay-Z, 0:01:10.261,0:01:12.719 from a track called "Can I live?" 0:01:12.719,0:01:14.821 We'll go for another one. 0:01:14.821,0:01:19.781 "Maybe it's hatred I spew, [br]maybe it's food for the spirit." 0:01:19.781,0:01:25.982 "Maybe it's hatred I spew, [br]maybe it's food for the spirit." 0:01:25.982,0:01:29.985 Hip hop? 0:01:29.985,0:01:32.341 Shakespeare? 0:01:32.341,0:01:35.974 Getting overwhelmingly towards [br]Shakespeare. Interesting. 0:01:35.974,0:01:38.110 Anyone heard of a gentleman [br]known as Eminem? 0:01:38.110,0:01:39.500 (Laughter) 0:01:39.500,0:01:41.147 He's not Shakespeare. 0:01:41.147,0:01:43.822 That's from a track Eminem did [br]with Jay-Z actually, called "Renegade." 0:01:43.822,0:01:45.437 We'll go for a couple more. 0:01:45.437,0:01:50.663 "Men would rather use their broken weapons [br]than their bare hands." 0:01:50.663,0:01:56.343 "Men would rather use their broken weapons [br]than their bare hands." 0:01:56.343,0:02:00.986 Hip hop? 0:02:00.986,0:02:02.983 Shakespeare? 0:02:02.983,0:02:05.105 Pretty even spread with[br]a Shakespearean lean. 0:02:05.105,0:02:09.744 That one is from Shakespeare, [br]it's from a play known as "Othello." 0:02:09.744,0:02:11.064 We go for: 0:02:11.064,0:02:14.743 "I was not born under a rhyming planet." 0:02:14.743,0:02:20.664 "I was not born under a rhyming planet." 0:02:20.664,0:02:24.219 Hip hop? 0:02:24.219,0:02:26.969 Shakespeare? 0:02:26.969,0:02:29.420 That one is Shakespeare. It's from[br]"Much Ado about Nothing." 0:02:29.420,0:02:31.544 We go for two more. 0:02:31.544,0:02:32.944 We go for: 0:02:32.944,0:02:37.895 "The most benevolent king [br]communicates through your dreams." 0:02:37.895,0:02:43.618 "The most benevolent king [br]communicates through your dreams." 0:02:43.618,0:02:47.028 Hip hop? 0:02:47.028,0:02:49.189 Shakespeare? 0:02:49.189,0:02:51.438 Ah, fifty-fifty there. 0:02:51.438,0:02:54.230 A gentleman known as the RZA[br]who's the head of the Wu-Tang Clan. 0:02:54.230,0:02:57.732 We're gonna be revisiting the Wu-Tang later,[br]we'll be talking about him a lot. 0:02:57.742,0:03:00.293 He's one of the main exponents [br]of hip hop philosophy, 0:03:00.293,0:03:03.251 someone, or a collective, that [br]had a huge influence on me. 0:03:03.251,0:03:05.092 But we'll revisit them. 0:03:05.092,0:03:08.623 Last quote of the day.[br]Let's go for... 0:03:08.623,0:03:14.496 "Socrates, philosophies and [br]hypotheses can't define." 0:03:14.496,0:03:18.895 "Socrates, philosophies and [br]hypotheses can't define." 0:03:18.895,0:03:21.644 Hip hop? 0:03:21.644,0:03:24.034 Shakespeare? 0:03:24.034,0:03:26.380 Overwhelmingly towards hip hop. [br]And that one, that is hip hop. 0:03:26.380,0:03:29.622 That's Wu-Tang again, that's [br]from a man named Inspectah Deck. 0:03:29.622,0:03:32.936 Interestingly, that quote [br]comes from a single, or track, 0:03:32.936,0:03:35.067 known as "Triumph" [br]from the album "Wu-Tang Forever." 0:03:35.067,0:03:39.159 "Wu-Tang Forever" was the first hip-hop album[br]to go number one in this country. 0:03:39.159,0:03:42.539 So that was what made hip hop cross over[br]with this kind of lyricism, 0:03:42.539,0:03:47.091 but we're gonna revisit that a little later[br]and revisit the Wu-Tang, as I said. 0:03:47.091,0:03:52.103 So, as you can see, it wasn't as clear-cut[br]as many of us may have thought. 0:03:52.103,0:03:55.154 The language used,[br]the subjects spoken about, 0:03:55.154,0:03:58.292 various things make it very, very difficult[br]once the context is taken away, 0:03:58.292,0:04:00.033 once our perception is taken away, 0:04:00.033,0:04:04.061 and we have to look at just [br]the raw language of the two art forms. 0:04:04.061,0:04:07.223 And don't worry, we've done [br]that exercise over 400 times, 0:04:07.223,0:04:09.184 and as of yet, no-one[br]has got them all right. 0:04:09.184,0:04:12.101 Not even some of[br]the most senior professors 0:04:12.101,0:04:15.416 at some of the most respected [br]Shakespearean institutions in the country, 0:04:15.416,0:04:18.058 I shan't name names.[br](Laughter) 0:04:18.058,0:04:21.824 But needless to say: it's challenged [br]a lot of people's perceptions 0:04:21.824,0:04:24.044 and we extend from that, [br]we look at some of the other parallels 0:04:24.044,0:04:25.518 between hip hop and Shakespeare, 0:04:25.518,0:04:27.443 at some of the other things they share. 0:04:27.443,0:04:30.616 One of the main things that is shared [br]between the two is of course rhythm. 0:04:30.616,0:04:34.101 Iambic pentameter --[br]dee-dum, dee-dum, dee-dum, dee-dum, dee-dum. 0:04:34.101,0:04:37.372 Five sets, two beats, [br]it's actually a wonderful rhythm 0:04:37.372,0:04:40.166 to use in hip hop music[br]and translates in a way 0:04:40.166,0:04:42.816 that even artists writing[br]today find difficult. 0:04:42.816,0:04:44.046 What do I mean by that? 0:04:44.046,0:04:47.822 It's very difficult to take, even as an MC,[br]who is a professional MC, 0:04:47.822,0:04:49.505 a lyric written over a grime beat, 0:04:49.505,0:04:53.730 grime is a 140 bpm. [br]Very, very fast tempo. 0:04:53.730,0:04:55.911 And then take that same lyric [br]and put it on a... 0:04:55.911,0:05:00.067 what we consider to be a [br]traditional hip hop beat, 70-80 bpm. 0:05:00.067,0:05:02.582 A very, very difficult skill.[br]Even writing now, 0:05:02.582,0:05:03.975 with the music to hand. 0:05:03.975,0:05:08.048 Yet, the iambic pentameter [br]allows us to do just that. 0:05:08.048,0:05:13.170 I'll show you what I mean rather [br]than tell you. So listen up. 0:05:17.863,0:05:20.586 Cue music please. 0:05:20.586,0:05:22.393 (Music) 0:05:22.393,0:05:25.128 What you're about to hear, [br]some of you may know of it, 0:05:25.128,0:05:27.024 some of you may not. 0:05:27.024,0:05:30.421 It's Shakespeare's most famous poem,[br]Sonnet 18. 0:05:30.421,0:05:34.447 I haven't adopted it to make it[br]fit to the rhythm, but just listen close. 0:05:34.447,0:05:38.327 Okay. Yo. 0:05:38.327,0:05:40.448 "Shall I compare thee[br]to a summer's day? 0:05:40.448,0:05:43.007 Thou art more lovely[br]and more temperate: 0:05:43.007,0:05:44.926 Rough winds do shake[br]the darling buds of May, 0:05:44.926,0:05:47.147 And summer's lease[br]hath all too short a date: 0:05:47.147,0:05:49.448 Sometimes too hot[br]the eye of heaven shines, 0:05:49.448,0:05:51.648 And often is his[br]gold complexion dimm'd; 0:05:51.648,0:05:53.895 And every fair from fair[br]sometime declines, 0:05:53.895,0:05:56.169 By chance or nature's[br]changing course untrimm'd; 0:05:56.169,0:05:58.489 But thy eternal summer shall not fade 0:05:58.489,0:06:00.772 Nor lose possession[br]of that fair thou ow'st; 0:06:00.772,0:06:02.979 Nor shall Death brag thou[br]wander'st in his shade, 0:06:02.979,0:06:05.166 When in eternal lines[br]to time thou grow'st: 0:06:05.166,0:06:07.448 So long as men can breathe[br]or eyes can see, 0:06:07.448,0:06:09.768 So long lives this[br]and this gives life to thee. 0:06:09.768,0:06:12.008 So long as men can breathe[br]or eyes can see, 0:06:12.008,0:06:16.408 So long lives this[br]and this gives life to thee." 0:06:16.408,0:06:17.913 (Applause) 0:06:17.913,0:06:23.984 Now as you can see, [br]it sits right there in the rhythm. 0:06:23.984,0:06:26.066 It's right in the pocket of the beat. 0:06:26.066,0:06:29.406 Now we're gonna try a completely different[br]style of beat, different tempo of beat. 0:06:29.406,0:06:34.211 You're gonna see the same lyric, [br]because of this consistent rhythm, can fit. 0:06:34.211,0:06:35.039 Let's try. 0:06:35.039,0:06:41.539 (Music) 0:06:41.539,0:06:43.172 "Shall I compare thee[br]to a summer's day? 0:06:43.172,0:06:45.210 Thou art more lovely[br]and more temperate: 0:06:45.210,0:06:46.544 Rough winds do shake[br]the darling buds of May, 0:06:46.544,0:06:48.255 And summer's lease[br]hath all too short a date: 0:06:48.255,0:06:50.010 Sometime too hot[br]the eye of heaven shines, 0:06:50.010,0:06:51.691 And often is his[br]gold complexion dimm'd; 0:06:51.691,0:06:53.412 And every fair from fair[br]sometime declines, 0:06:53.412,0:06:55.128 By chance or nature's[br]changing course untrimm'd; 0:06:55.128,0:06:56.852 But thy eternal summer shall not fade 0:06:56.852,0:06:58.570 Nor lose possession[br]of that fair thou ow'st; 0:06:58.570,0:07:00.090 Nor shall Death brag[br]thou wander'st in his shade, 0:07:00.090,0:07:01.811 When in eternal lines[br]to time thou grow'st: 0:07:01.811,0:07:03.571 So long as men can breathe[br]or eyes can see, 0:07:03.571,0:07:05.333 So long lives this[br]and this gives life to thee. 0:07:05.333,0:07:07.090 So long as men can breathe[br]or eyes can see, 0:07:07.090,0:07:10.094 So long lives this[br]and this gives life to thee." 0:07:10.094,0:07:14.931 (Applause) 0:07:14.931,0:07:19.204 What I'd like you all to do is just [br]put your hand on your heart for a second. 0:07:22.143,0:07:24.143 Now... If you feel your heart, 0:07:24.143,0:07:27.093 hopefully, your heart should [br]be beating in sets of two, 0:07:27.093,0:07:30.213 one off, one on, dee-dum, [br]or an iamb, as we call it. 0:07:30.213,0:07:34.132 If it isn't, I do suggest you [br]consult a doctor as soon as possible. 0:07:34.132,0:07:36.337 But because of that --[br]you can take your hands off your hearts now -- 0:07:36.337,0:07:39.936 But because of that, that's why [br]this rhythm is so intrinsic, 0:07:39.936,0:07:43.499 where, really, music is imitating [br]the rhythm of life, the sounds of life. 0:07:43.499,0:07:45.339 The heartbeat of life. 0:07:45.339,0:07:49.226 And so, this rhythm, iambic pentameter,[br]even though being such a simple rhythm, 0:07:49.226,0:07:51.104 is intrinsic to so many forms of music. 0:07:51.104,0:07:53.025 Other places in the world, they [br]have different sorts of rhythms. 0:07:53.025,0:07:55.343 Like the West-African rhythms, [br]it's on the three, 0:07:55.343,0:07:58.784 people speak in triplets, essentially. 0:07:58.784,0:08:01.741 Well, we found that this rhythm [br]really acts as a mnemonic device, 0:08:01.741,0:08:03.901 for young people to remember the lyrics. 0:08:03.901,0:08:08.660 But also, really, as a way to understand [br]some of what is being said. 0:08:08.660,0:08:10.461 The rhythm helps us understand it. 0:08:10.461,0:08:12.140 It helps us to communicate feeling. 0:08:12.140,0:08:14.260 And of course, in hip hop, tonality, 0:08:14.260,0:08:16.502 the way you say what you're saying, 0:08:16.502,0:08:17.981 the mood with which [br]what you're saying, 0:08:17.981,0:08:19.821 the rhythm with which [br]what you're saying, 0:08:19.821,0:08:21.869 is as important as what [br]you're actually saying. 0:08:21.869,0:08:23.786 But revisiting the philosophies 0:08:23.786,0:08:26.745 and the perceptions or conceptions [br]of these two art forms, 0:08:26.745,0:08:29.035 these two things we think[br]we know so much about, 0:08:29.035,0:08:31.461 we'll start with Shakespeare. 0:08:31.461,0:08:34.340 Over the course of the past [br]three or four years, 0:08:34.340,0:08:37.619 having worked with hundreds, [br]thousands of young people now, 0:08:37.619,0:08:39.227 at hundreds of workshops, 0:08:39.227,0:08:41.901 we found out very interesting things 0:08:41.901,0:08:43.701 about people's perception [br]of Shakespeare. 0:08:43.701,0:08:45.420 Who they think he was, 0:08:45.420,0:08:49.140 what the inherited beliefs [br]of the time in which he lived, 0:08:49.140,0:08:52.337 the people he was surrounded by, [br]his background, are. 0:08:52.337,0:08:56.259 Some of them are of course,[br]just as with hip hop, complete nonsense. 0:08:56.259,0:08:58.618 This idea for example [br]that Shakespeare spoke, 0:08:58.618,0:09:01.802 as people say to us, posh, [br]or the Queen's English. 0:09:01.802,0:09:03.445 Received pronunciation. 0:09:03.445,0:09:06.042 Well, received pronunciation [br]we know wasn't invented 0:09:06.042,0:09:08.123 well after 100 years [br]after Shakespeare died. 0:09:08.123,0:09:11.122 He'd never heard what we think[br]of today as the Queen's English. 0:09:11.122,0:09:13.614 When he was alive, people [br]spoke a bit more like a mix 0:09:13.614,0:09:16.004 between people from [br]Yorkshire and Cornwall. 0:09:16.004,0:09:18.405 So for example, the word "hours" [br]was pronounced "urrs." 0:09:18.405,0:09:19.925 "Urrs and urrs and urrs." 0:09:19.925,0:09:22.279 Or: "mood" and "blood" ... rhyme! 0:09:22.279,0:09:26.802 "mu:dd" and "blu:dd" was the way[br]in which people would pronounce those words. 0:09:26.802,0:09:29.122 The times in which he lived, you know, 0:09:29.122,0:09:31.847 the chasm between rich and poor[br]being larger than it is today, 0:09:31.847,0:09:35.324 though we seem to be doing our best[br]to recreate that chasm. 0:09:35.324,0:09:38.884 But... you know, he was living in very[br]tumultuous, very violent times 0:09:38.884,0:09:42.483 and we really receive almost [br]a sanitized vision of that violence, 0:09:42.483,0:09:44.164 you know, coloring our view of the past. 0:09:44.164,0:09:46.481 We know over ninety percent [br]of Shakespeare's audience 0:09:46.481,0:09:48.325 couldn't read or write. 0:09:48.325,0:09:51.364 So how is it that in the [br]21st century in Britain 0:09:51.364,0:09:55.731 that he's come to be viewed[br]as almost the poster child for [elitism], 0:09:55.731,0:09:58.470 and even within that now [br]we're getting a debate: 0:09:58.470,0:10:00.532 Did he even write his own plays? 0:10:00.532,0:10:02.469 Because of course, this comes down to 0:10:02.469,0:10:05.570 who's allowed to be the custodian [br]of knowledge and who isn't. 0:10:05.570,0:10:07.265 Shakespeare was someone[br]who didn't go [to uni]. 0:10:07.265,0:10:11.466 He wasn't Oxbridge. He's seen -- by some --[br]they need to see him that way -- 0:10:11.466,0:10:15.019 as someone who's not entitled to be [br]a custodian of knowledge. 0:10:15.019,0:10:18.023 So we have to find an explanation[br]for his intelligence 0:10:18.023,0:10:21.577 rather than just accepting [br]his intelligence as an actual fact. 0:10:21.577,0:10:23.743 Which brings me on to hip hop. 0:10:23.743,0:10:25.780 Many people have opinions of hip hop -- 0:10:25.780,0:10:28.702 of course, the media's had some [br]very loud opinions of hip hop. 0:10:28.702,0:10:31.378 But I've found again over this [br]working with thousands of people, 0:10:31.378,0:10:32.978 and these hundreds of workshops, 0:10:32.978,0:10:35.161 and interactions with these institutions, 0:10:35.161,0:10:37.237 many people who have [br]an opinion of hip hop 0:10:37.237,0:10:39.060 know absolutely nothing about it. 0:10:39.060,0:10:40.939 Zero. Zip. What do I mean by that? 0:10:40.939,0:10:43.539 So... the very words "hip hop," 0:10:43.539,0:10:46.626 the "hip" in that word comes [br]from the Wolof word "hipi," 0:10:46.626,0:10:48.339 Wolof is a Senegalese language, 0:10:48.339,0:10:51.219 it means "to open one's eyes and see" [br]as a term of enlightenment. 0:10:51.219,0:10:53.780 The word "hop" from the English [br]signifying movement, 0:10:53.780,0:10:57.929 thus "hip hop" means [br]"intelligent movement." 0:10:57.929,0:10:59.740 Hip hop contains five elements 0:10:59.740,0:11:03.299 as codified by its founding [br]fathers in New York City. 0:11:03.299,0:11:04.857 It contains five elements. 0:11:04.857,0:11:07.885 DJing, MCing, break dancing, graffiti art 0:11:07.885,0:11:10.818 and the fifth element, which is the one[br]I want to talk about today: 0:11:10.818,0:11:12.262 Knowledge. 0:11:12.262,0:11:15.904 An element we don't see so much[br]in the television or the radio, perhaps. 0:11:15.904,0:11:19.261 But of course the representations [br]of that culture today are not owned 0:11:19.261,0:11:21.463 by the people who founded that culture. 0:11:21.463,0:11:22.905 But when it's understood, 0:11:22.905,0:11:24.989 if we go back to the medieval [br]West-African empires 0:11:24.989,0:11:27.543 of Mali, Songhai, Gao, ancient Ghana, 0:11:27.543,0:11:30.459 you have a character that [br]the Malians refer to as a griot. 0:11:30.459,0:11:32.730 These griots still exist today,[br]well, who was the griot? 0:11:32.730,0:11:36.970 The griot was a rhythmic,[br]oral poet, singer, 0:11:36.970,0:11:41.762 musician, custodian of the history, [br]of the spiritual tradition, etc. etc. etc., 0:11:41.762,0:11:43.971 of those empires, of that culture. 0:11:43.971,0:11:45.531 When we start to understand 0:11:45.531,0:11:49.527 how those musical oral cultural traditions [br]manifested in many complex ways, 0:11:49.527,0:11:53.290 in the Americas, and helped[br]influence jazz, blues, funk, 0:11:53.290,0:11:54.929 up to hip hop, 0:11:54.929,0:11:57.662 we get a much greater sense [br]of what the founding fathers, 0:11:57.662,0:12:01.492 Afrika Bambaataa, Kool DJ Herc [br]and Grandmaster Flash were trying to do 0:12:01.492,0:12:03.493 when they codified this culture in this way, 0:12:03.493,0:12:05.571 and understood in that context, of course, 0:12:05.571,0:12:08.277 hip hop becomes a very [br]different proposition 0:12:08.277,0:12:12.411 to a way in which much of the time [br]it has been represented, 0:12:12.411,0:12:14.811 when we understand what [br]was going on in New York City 0:12:14.811,0:12:16.527 in the late seventies, early eighties. 0:12:16.527,0:12:18.809 People coming out of [br]a post-civil rights era, 0:12:18.809,0:12:23.450 aesthetic influence by the literature [br]of Amiri Baraka or James Baldwin, 0:12:23.450,0:12:25.528 influenced by the persona [br]of a Muhammed Ali, 0:12:25.528,0:12:27.111 influenced by the funk [br]of a James Brown. 0:12:27.111,0:12:30.130 James Brown the drummer, incidentally, [br]is the most-sampled drummer in history. 0:12:30.130,0:12:33.653 His famous loop becomes [br]the basis of all hip hop music. 0:12:33.653,0:12:35.810 And that is the only [br]intellectually honest context 0:12:35.810,0:12:38.361 in which to place hip hop as a culture. 0:12:38.361,0:12:40.371 And that's kind of what I grew up in. 0:12:40.371,0:12:42.414 That's what I was massively influenced by. 0:12:42.414,0:12:46.091 And it became, really... Up until [br]the mid-nineties, it was still normal 0:12:46.091,0:12:50.489 for the most commercially successful rappers [br]to boast about how clever they were. 0:12:50.489,0:12:53.089 To talk about kicking science, [br]dropping knowledge, 0:12:53.089,0:12:55.570 spreading mathematics, [br]while simultaneously 0:12:55.570,0:12:58.944 talking about what life was like [br]in the projects of New York City. 0:12:58.944,0:13:01.694 There was no contradiction between[br]both of those elements, 0:13:01.694,0:13:05.210 and again, it was about who [br]was custodian of the knowledge. 0:13:05.210,0:13:07.262 Who was choosing to pick up that [br]baton and run with it? 0:13:07.262,0:13:10.255 And one of the things that was [br]so inspirational about hip hop 0:13:10.255,0:13:12.620 was that people who were told [br]they were not supposed to do that, 0:13:12.620,0:13:14.393 without trying to be anything they weren't, 0:13:14.393,0:13:16.340 without dressing any different, 0:13:16.340,0:13:18.341 without speaking any differently, 0:13:18.341,0:13:20.139 they decided, they made the decision: 0:13:20.139,0:13:21.890 "We're going to become [br]custodians of this knowledge. 0:13:21.890,0:13:23.181 We're gonna educate ourselves 0:13:23.181,0:13:25.861 and we're gonna transmit [br]this knowledge through the music." 0:13:25.861,0:13:28.391 The main exponents of that in my life,[br]the main influence on me, 0:13:28.391,0:13:30.659 was this group I already [br]told you about, the Wu-Tang Clan. 0:13:30.659,0:13:33.140 When "Wu-Tang Forever" came out, [br]when I was in school, 0:13:33.140,0:13:39.186 it was the first album that united people[br]that listened to all different sorts of music. 0:13:39.186,0:13:43.976 And up to then, hip hop, still, in London, [br]really only appealed to 0:13:43.976,0:13:47.101 a particular segment of the people, [br]in my school, anyway. 0:13:47.101,0:13:48.976 And then "Wu-Tang Forever" came out, 0:13:48.976,0:13:51.419 and all of a sudden, kids [br]who listened to Heavy Metal, 0:13:51.419,0:13:52.740 kids who were into Blur and Oasis, 0:13:52.740,0:13:55.421 everybody was united around [br]this one sort of album. 0:13:55.421,0:13:57.019 And what was it about? 0:13:57.019,0:14:02.221 It was this openly proud, [br]intelligent discourse 0:14:02.221,0:14:04.500 that was so undeniable[br]that really appealed, 0:14:04.500,0:14:06.461 in my opinion, and pulled everybody in. 0:14:06.461,0:14:08.860 And I'm gonna show you [br]an example of a poem, 0:14:08.860,0:14:11.300 well, what I would call a poem, [br]but some people would call it rap, 0:14:11.300,0:14:14.660 by the lead member of this group,[br]a gentleman known as the RZA. 0:14:14.660,0:14:15.819 I spoke about him earlier. 0:14:15.819,0:14:18.261 He actually produced the music [br]for the film "Kill Bill" as well, 0:14:18.261,0:14:20.544 so some people may know him [br]better in that capacity. 0:14:20.544,0:14:22.321 There was a poem he wrote called[br]"Twelve Jewels," 0:14:22.321,0:14:24.419 and this will give you just a sense,[br]as someone, as I said, 0:14:24.419,0:14:26.939 who was one of the most [br]successful MCs of his time, 0:14:26.939,0:14:30.903 how normal it was to be so boastful [br]about one's intellect. 0:14:30.903,0:14:33.072 It's a piece called "Twelve Jewels," [br]you can look it up on the internet. 0:14:33.072,0:14:34.660 I'm only gonna share a little bit. 0:14:34.660,0:14:37.421 It goes like this: 0:14:37.421,0:14:40.419 "In pre-existence of the mathematical, [br]biochemical equations, 0:14:40.419,0:14:43.579 the manifestations of [br]rock, plant, air, fire and water, 0:14:43.579,0:14:46.740 without their basic formations,[br]solids, liquids and gases, 0:14:46.740,0:14:49.861 that cause the land masses[br]and the space catalysts 0:14:49.861,0:14:52.818 and all matter that exists [br]and this dense third dimension 0:14:52.818,0:14:55.085 must observe a[br]physical comprehension. 0:14:55.085,0:14:56.941 It takes a nerve to be struck. 0:14:56.941,0:15:00.260 Wisdom is the wise poet spoken to wake up[br]the dumb who've been sleeping. 0:15:00.260,0:15:03.583 The fourth dimension is time.[br]It goes inside the mind. 0:15:03.583,0:15:06.340 When the shackles energize[br]up through the back of your spine. 0:15:06.340,0:15:09.260 So observe as my Chi energy [br]strikes a vital nerve. 0:15:09.260,0:15:11.750 One swerve with the tongue [br]pierces like a sword through the lung. 0:15:11.750,0:15:14.918 Have you not heard that words[br]kill as fast as bullets? 0:15:14.918,0:15:17.540 When you load negative thoughts[br]from the chamber of your brain, 0:15:17.540,0:15:21.341 and your mouth pulls the trigger [br]that propels wickedness straight from hell. 0:15:21.341,0:15:24.542 From the pits of your stomach[br]where negativity dwells." 0:15:24.542,0:15:27.910 That's just a little piece [br]of the RZA's "Twelve Jewels." 0:15:27.910,0:15:29.625 But it's interesting. 0:15:29.625,0:15:31.909 Because when you understand[br]that kind of lyricism, 0:15:31.909,0:15:35.878 you realize that hip hop carries [br]that same power as with Shakespeare. 0:15:35.878,0:15:38.542 You know, the transmute philosophy,[br]as with any great art, 0:15:38.542,0:15:40.212 to question the world around us. 0:15:40.212,0:15:42.304 And this brings us, really, [br]to the conclusion 0:15:42.304,0:15:45.047 about what the work we do with[br]the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company 0:15:45.047,0:15:47.823 from theater productions[br]to education productions 0:15:47.823,0:15:51.252 to hopefully film and TV,[br]which we're working on at the moment. 0:15:51.252,0:15:52.304 What it's all about 0:15:52.304,0:15:54.951 it's about who is going to be [br]custodian of the knowledge? 0:15:54.951,0:15:58.590 And in the 21st century, particularly [br]moving towards post-industrial societies, 0:15:58.590,0:16:00.495 where we don't need masses of workers, 0:16:00.495,0:16:03.098 we're not training masses of workers [br]to go and work in factories anymore, 0:16:03.098,0:16:04.667 these are big questions. 0:16:04.667,0:16:06.778 What is the purpose of education today? 0:16:06.778,0:16:08.781 What are we teaching young people? 0:16:08.781,0:16:12.103 What are we training the [br]next generation to do and form? 0:16:12.103,0:16:14.583 Are we training each individual [br]human being in a society 0:16:14.583,0:16:17.983 where, increasingly, [br]the success or failure of a society 0:16:17.983,0:16:22.929 is going to be dependent on the mind, [br]or ideas, of the people within that society? 0:16:22.929,0:16:25.862 Are we training people to aspire [br]to be the best they can be? 0:16:25.862,0:16:27.740 To reach their full potential? 0:16:27.740,0:16:29.461 Wherever they're born in that society 0:16:29.461,0:16:33.022 or are we still working in the old, [br]stratified ways of thinking 0:16:33.022,0:16:35.740 that people have stations [br]and places they need to be, 0:16:35.740,0:16:37.824 or are we encouraging people [br]to think as big as possible? 0:16:37.824,0:16:39.541 Because maybe, I don't know [br]who in Shakespeare's life 0:16:39.541,0:16:42.405 encouraged him to become [br]a custodian of the knowledge, 0:16:42.405,0:16:46.049 but if he was not able to do that, [br]we'd be missing his section of work, 0:16:46.049,0:16:47.828 similarly with hip hop. 0:16:47.828,0:16:49.706 So really, that's what[br]we want to think about. 0:16:49.706,0:16:52.569 Education, who does it belong to,[br]who doesn't it belong to. 0:16:52.569,0:16:55.808 And using these seemingly [br]disparate art forms, 0:16:55.808,0:16:57.369 these two seemingly disparate worlds, 0:16:57.369,0:16:58.975 and putting them together, 0:16:58.975,0:17:01.082 to show ourselves[br]a unity in human culture, 0:17:01.082,0:17:05.124 a unity in the ideas[br]that humans pursue, 0:17:05.124,0:17:07.123 in activities humans pursue. 0:17:07.123,0:17:09.485 And to inspire people [br]towards their own form 0:17:09.485,0:17:14.034 of artistic, literary, cultural [br]and societal accents. 0:17:14.034,0:17:16.284 I'm gonna share with you [br]a little bit... one final piece. 0:17:16.284,0:17:18.722 It's a bit more... [br]I don't want to say "fun," 0:17:18.722,0:17:22.723 but a bit more of a game[br]and a challenge. 0:17:22.723,0:17:26.865 It came out of a radio,[br]"Freestyles" on Radio 1 Extra, 0:17:26.865,0:17:29.283 about two and a half,[br]three years ago. 0:17:29.283,0:17:31.884 And as a bit of a joke,[br]the DJ said to me, 0:17:31.884,0:17:33.963 "Here's a list of 27 Shakespeare plays, 0:17:33.963,0:17:35.882 attempt to fit them in a freestyle." 0:17:35.882,0:17:38.884 Luckily, we did it, I don't know how, [br]we had about ten minutes, though, 0:17:38.884,0:17:41.283 so it wasn't a true freestyle [br]in the truest sense, 0:17:41.283,0:17:44.365 but we did it as a track that we then, [br]subsequently, put on the album, 0:17:44.365,0:17:46.804 so the first part contains [br]27 Shakespeare plays, 0:17:46.804,0:17:48.617 the next parts contains 0:17:48.617,0:17:51.033 16 of Shakespeare's [br]most famous quotes interwoven. 0:17:51.033,0:17:54.081 It's entitled "Comedy, Tragedy, History," 0:17:54.081,0:17:56.328 you can look it up on the web, [br]and it goes like this. 0:17:56.328,0:17:58.724 I'm just gonna do it here, [br]let's see how it goes. 0:17:58.724,0:18:00.286 "Dat boy Akala's a diamond fella. 0:18:00.286,0:18:01.867 All you little boys[br]are a comedy of errors. 0:18:01.867,0:18:03.483 You bellow but you fellows [br]get played like the cello. 0:18:03.483,0:18:05.200 I'm doing my thing,[br]you're jealous like Othello. 0:18:05.200,0:18:08.163 Who're you? What're you gonna do?[br]Little boys get Tamed like the Shrew. 0:18:08.163,0:18:10.003 You're mid-summer dreamin',[br]Your tunes aren't appealing. 0:18:10.003,0:18:12.964 I'm Capulet, you're Montague, I ain't feeling.[br]I am the Julius Caesar, hear me? 0:18:12.964,0:18:16.484 The Merchant Of Venice couldn't sell your CD.[br]As to me, All's Well That Ends Well. 0:18:16.484,0:18:20.043 Your boy's like Macbeth, you're going to Hell.[br]Measure for Measure, I am the best here, 0:18:20.043,0:18:21.923 You're Merry Wives of Windsor, [br]not King Lear. 0:18:21.923,0:18:23.564 I don't know about Timon,[br]I know he was at Athens. 0:18:23.564,0:18:25.365 When I come back like Hamlet [br]you pay for your action. 0:18:25.365,0:18:27.123 Dat boy Akala, [br]I do it As You Like It. 0:18:27.123,0:18:28.724 You're Much Ado About Nothing,[br]All you do is bite it. 0:18:28.724,0:18:31.724 I'm too tight, I don't need 12 Nights.[br]All you little Tempests get murked on the mic. 0:18:31.724,0:18:34.842 Of course I'm the one with the force.[br]You're history just like Henry IV. 0:18:34.842,0:18:38.200 I'm fire, things look dire.[br]Better run like Pericles Prince Of Tyre. 0:18:38.200,0:18:41.784 Off the scale, cold as a Winter's Tale[br]Titus Andronicus was bound to fail." 0:18:41.784,0:18:44.685 That's 27 plays. 0:18:44.685,0:18:50.365 (Laughter) (Applause)[br]Listen up. 0:18:50.365,0:18:54.531 And there is one final bit, this contains[br]16 of Shakespeare's most famous quotes. 0:18:54.531,0:18:58.003 "Wise is the man that knows he's a fool[br]Tempt not a desperate man with a jewel. 0:18:58.003,0:19:01.124 Why take from Peter to go and pay Paul?[br]Some rise by sin and by virtue fall. 0:19:01.124,0:19:04.449 What have you made if you gain the whole world.[br]But sell your own soul for the price of a pearl? 0:19:04.449,0:19:07.883 The world is my oyster and I am starving.[br]I want much more than a penny or a farthing. 0:19:07.883,0:19:11.045 I told no joke, I hope you're not laughing.[br]Poet or pauper which do you class him? 0:19:11.045,0:19:14.484 Speak eloquent, though I am resident [br]to the gritty inner city, surely irrelevant. 0:19:14.484,0:19:17.846 Call it urban, call it street.[br]A rose by any other name, smell just as sweet 0:19:17.846,0:19:21.004 Spit so hard, but I'm smart as the Bard.[br]Come through with a Union Jack, full of yard. 0:19:21.004,0:19:22.963 Akala, Akala,[br]wherefore art thou? 0:19:22.963,0:19:24.805 [I rap] Shakespeare and[br]the secret's out now. 0:19:24.805,0:19:27.950 Chance never did crown me, this is destiny.[br]You still talk but it still perplexes me. 0:19:27.950,0:19:31.534 Devour cowards, thousands per hour.[br]Don't you know the king's name is a tower? 0:19:31.534,0:19:34.724 You should never speak it, it is not a secret.[br]I teach thesis, like ancient Greece's 0:19:34.724,0:19:38.123 Or Egyptology, never no apology.[br]In my mind's eye, I see things properly. 0:19:38.123,0:19:41.484 Stopping me, nah you could never possibly.[br]I bear a charmed life, most probably. 0:19:41.484,0:19:44.884 For certain I speak daggers in a phrase.[br]I'll put an end to your dancing days. 0:19:44.884,0:19:48.366 No matter what you say it will never work.[br]Wrens can't make prey where eagles don't perch. 0:19:48.366,0:19:50.322 I'm the worst with the words [br]'cause I curse all my verbs. 0:19:50.322,0:19:51.950 I'm the first with a verse[br]to rehearse with a nurse. 0:19:51.950,0:19:54.843 There's a hearse for the first jerk who turn berserk.[br]Off with his head, 'cos it must not work. 0:19:54.843,0:19:58.323 Ramp with Akala, that's true madness.[br]And there's no method in it, just sadness. 0:19:58.323,0:20:00.963 I speak with the daggers and the hammers[br]of a passion when I'm rappin' I attack 'em. 0:20:00.963,0:20:03.199 In a military fashion the pattern of my rappin'[br]chattin couldn't ever map it. 0:20:03.199,0:20:08.430 And I run more rings round things than Saturn.[br]Verses split big kids wigs when I'm rappin'. 0:20:08.430,0:20:11.243 That boy Akala, the rap Shakespeare.[br]Didn't want to listen, when I said last year. 0:20:11.243,0:20:15.484 Rich like a gem in a Ethiopia's ear.[br]Tell them again for them who never hear." 0:20:15.484,0:20:17.003 It's a pleasure. 0:20:17.003,0:20:21.003 (Applause)