Othello: The Remix | Teacher Resources

TEACHER RESOURCE PACK

12 - 29 SEPTEMBER 2013 | UNICORNTHEATRE.COM

OTHELLO: THE REMIX RESOURCE PACK

CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER & RICHARD JORDAN PRODUCTIONS PRESENT THE Q BROTHERS’

OTHELLO: THE REMIX

Created, directed and music by GQ and JQ, Developed by Rick Boynton

CONTENTS PAGE

INTRODUCTION HOW THIS PACK WORKS

1 2

SECTION ONE - CONTEXT & BACKGROUND 3

Background to Othello: The Remix

The cast and creative team

4 5

A brief summary of the original and the re-mixed versions of Othello

Context for the play

6-13

- A brief history of hip-hop - The relationship between hip-hop & Shakespeare - How The Q Brothers made the show

SECTION TWO - PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES Overview

15

Sequence A

Exploring character in Shakespeare’s Othello 16-17

Sequence B

Adapting shakespeare into a modern context

Sequence C

Extended drama - Those who knew Othello and Desdemona

RESOURCES FOR PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES FURTHER READING & USEFUL WEBSITES

18-19 20-23 24-36 37- 38

OTHELLO: THE REMIX RESOURCE PACK

INTRODUCTION Welcome to the Unicorn teacher resources for Othello: The Remix by The Q Brothers.

The Q Brothers’ Othello: The Remix is an imaginative reworking of Shakespeare’s tragedy of jealousy and revenge. This high energy, hugely entertaining and accessible production has a great deal to offer students in years 8 and above.

This pack is designed to provide teachers and students with materials that can extend and deepen your student’s visit to the play. The resources are intended to support work before and after seeing the play and aim to enrich the experience through active and reflective engagement with the piece and to connect with students’ classroom learning.

The play and resource are relevant for students of Drama and English and are designed to be flexible enough to offer something at Key Stages 3, 4 and 5. We also hope that Music teachers will also find these resources helpful.

The resources are written for those who have prior knowledge of or are studying Othello, as well as those who are encountering the story for the first time and have no experience of Shakespeare.

IF YOU ARE STUDYING OTHELLO

Othello: The Remix will give you the chance to explore a fresh take on Shakespeare’s original and the opportunity to look at how characters and themes translate into a hip-hop setting.

IF YOU ARE NOT STUDYING OTHELLO

This is an accessible, enjoyable play about jealousy, revenge and ambition and this pack will offer creative ways to explore the play and become informed and critical theatre goers.

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HOW THIS PACK WORKS SECTION ONE context, background and ideas for further research including: • A brief summary of both Shakespeare and The Q Brothers’ versions of the story.

• Context for the play: musicality, lyricism and storytelling in Shakespeare’s Theatre and hip-hop.

• An insight into the making of Othello: The Remix and The Q Brothers’ process of translating and adapting Shakespeare.

SECTION TWO practical drama activities which can be built into a unit of work: • Practical exploration of how to translate from Shakespeare into a contemporary setting.

• An extended drama that explores the responses of those left behind after the death of Othello and Desdemona – allowing for a deeper understanding and analysis of the play, with work that can be developed in the English and Drama curriculums.

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SECTION ONE BACKGROUND TO OTHELLO: THE REMIX Chicago based The Q Brothers’ Othello: The Remix was created for last summer’s Globe to Globe festival as part of the Cultural Olympiad. The Globe Theatre programmed all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in 37 different languages. So while The Belarus Free Theatre translated King Lear into Belarusian and Theatre Walay–Kashf translated The Taming of the Shrew into Urdu, The Q Brothers were commissioned to transform Shakespeare’s Othello into the language of hip-hop. The ambition of the festival was to celebrate the connection of countries worldwide through the universal and timeless nature of Shakespeare’s plays.

‘Shakespeare is the language which brings us together better than any other, and which reminds us of our almost infinite difference, and of our strange and humbling commonality. And above all there are the plays themselves, plays which have travelled far and wide, and which on their travels have midwifed new theatre cultures, spread light and laughter, and helped nations, new and old, to define themselves.’

Dominic Dromgoole - Artistic Director of the Globe Theatre www.globetoglobe.shakespearesglobe.com

Rooted in the artistic traditions of American hip-hop and experimental theatre, The Q Brothers, led by two brothers GQ and JQ, are a company who are all part of the American hip-hop scene as well as successful actors and directors.

This wasn’t a first for The Q Brothers; Othello: The Remix, which was co-produced by The Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, followed their previous productions ‘Funk it up about Nuthin’ (Much Ado about Nothing) also co-produced by CST and their first Shakespeare Ad-rapptation in 2000 - ‘The Bombitty of Errors’ (The Comedy of Errors).

Othello: The Remix does not just translate Othello into hip-hop, but adapts the story to a hip-hop setting, where all the characters are clear archetypes within that world.

Shakespeare’s play is set against the backdrop of armed conflict, with Othello a General in the Venetian army, deployed by the Duke of Venice to defend their interests in Cyprus.

Othello: The Remix re-sets the action on tour with Othello, the greatest MC of his generation, and his crew. In the world of hip-hop the mix of heightened maculinty, ambition, bravado and competition provides the ideal context for replaying Shakespeare’s classic tale.

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THE CAST

JACKSON DORAN (CASSIO, EMILIA)

POSTELL PRINGLE (OTHELLO)

GQ (CREATOR/DIRECTOR, IAGO, BRABANTIO)

JQ (CREATOR/DIRECTOR, RODERIGO, LOCO VITO, BIANCA)

CLAYTON STAMPER (DJ)

THE CREATIVE TEAM RICK BOYNTON SCOTT DAVIS JESSE KLUG JAMES SAVAGE MELISSA VEAL SOPHIE GRIMM PAGE 4

DEVELOPMENT SCENIC AND COSTUME DESIGNER LIGHTING DESIGNER SOUND DESIGNER WIG AND MAKE-UP DESIGNER ADDITIONAL VOCALS

A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE ORIGINAL AND THE RE-MIXED VERSIONS OF OTHELLO WRITTEN BY THE Q BROTHERS

OTHELLO: THE REMIX RESOURCE PACK

SHAKESPEARE'S STORY OF OTHELLO...

Desdemona, the daughter of a nobleman of Venice, has just eloped with Othello, a hired general in the Venetian army—and a Moor.

Roderigo, lovesick for Desdemona, is assured by Iago that he, too, hates Othello, who has promoted Cassio over him as lieutenant.

Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, seeks the full justice of Venetian law, but the Duke is concerned with pressing affairs of state: the Turks threaten Venetian interests in Cyprus, and Othello’s service is required.

Othello prepares to leave for Cyprus with his new bride.

Iago plots to make Othello believe that the young Venetian officer Cassio is Desdemona’s lover.

‘Shakespeare is the language which brings us together better than any other, and which reminds of our almost infinite difference, and of our Iago plies Cassio with drink and then gets Roderigo to provoke a fight; Iago looks on as Othello strange and humbling commonality. And above all there are the plays dismisses his new lieutenant. themselves, plays which have travelled far and wide, and which on their travels have midwifed new theatre cultures, spread light and laughter, and Iago suggests Cassio ask Desdemona’s help to get back in Othello’s favour. He then suggests to helped nations, new and old, to define themselves.’

Othello that his wife’s interest in Cassio’s misfortunes may signify her infidelity.

Dominic Dromgoole - Artistic Director of the Globe Theatre www.globetoglobe.shakespearesglobe.com Othello insists that he needs proof of her infidelity; he needs to see with his own eyes and not just hear rumours and suggestions.

Othello’s first gift to Desdemona, a handkerchief, is misplaced and, with help from Iago’s wife Emilia, ends up in Cassio’s possession.

Othello sees Cassio with the handkerchief and overhears a conversation between Iago and Cassio – he thinks they are talking about Desdemona, when they are in fact discussing Bianca, a prostitute that Cassio knows.

For service to his general, Iago is appointed Othello’s new lieutenant.

Stunned by her husband’s accusations, Desdemona pleads with Othello—first for his compassion, then for her life. He does not spare her.

As Emilia comes to understand her husband’s crimes, she is murdered for the truth she dares to speak. Tormented by remorse and grief, Othello takes his own life.

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...IS REMIXED INTO...

Against all odds, MC Othello escapes the ghetto by giving rhythm and voice to the stories of the people in his hood.

As he rises to the top of the music industry, he is living proof of the “American dream.”

Othello falls in love with Desdemona, a beautiful singer whose vocals add the final piece that catapults him to stardom. They marry, despite her aristocratic father’s disapproval, and are sent by Loco Vito, the CEO of the record label, on a national tour.

Other members of the crew include Cassio, a glitzy pop music rapper, and Iago, a hardcore underground lyricist and hip hop purist.

Othello decides to release Cassio’s album next an effortwhich to reach a wider audience.

‘Shakespeare is theinlanguage brings us together better than any other, and which reminds of our almost infinite difference, and of our Angered by this decision, Iagostrange vows toand take Othellocommonality. down. humbling And above all there are the plays themselves, plays which have travelled far and wide, and which on their He enlists the help of Roderigo, the nerdy, socially new awkward lighting designer tour—and in love travels have midwifed theatre cultures, spreadon light and laughter, and with Desdemona. helped nations, new and old, to define themselves.’

Dominic Dromgoole - Artistic Director of the Globe Theatre With a promise to win him thewww.globetoglobe.shakespearesglobe.com heart of the one he loves, Iago steals Roderigo’s money and sells him on his plan to remove Cassio from the group.

Meanwhile, Iago continues to plant seeds of jealousy in Othello about a fabricated affair between Desdemona and Cassio.

Further upset by Cassio’s bizarre behavior at an important album release event, Othello kicks him out of the group.

Iago convinces Roderigo to kill Cassio. Roderigo bungles the murder attempt and Iago, worried that his plan will be uncovered, kills Roderigo himself.

Othello, now on the brink of insanity, flies into a jealous rage and murders his love, Desdemona.

Iago’s wife Emilia enters to find her friend dead, and reveals the truth of her husband’s evil plot.

In the wake of this overpowering news, Othello takes his own life.

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CONTEXT FOR THE PLAY HIP-HOP – A BRIEF HISTORY This is a story about this one fellow The greatest emcee, MC Othello He evolved from an artist who could pen rhymes phat Into a brilliant song writer and went ten times plat Critics called him the greatest poet of the century From Othello: The Remix Understanding the roots of hip-hop and its cultural context will be useful for students critically analysing the play and as context for the extended drama activity. The Learning Team at The Chicago Shakespeare Theater wrote a brief introduction to hip-hop when the production opened in Chicago earlier this year: The “four elements” of hip-hop—emceeing, deejaying, graffiti, and breaking—form the core of a creative, energizing, and bonding subculture that engenders freedom of expression.

The roots of hip-hop can be found in the songs of James Brown, the taunts of Muhammad Ali, the “toasts” of deejays in Jamaica, even as far back as West Africa’s griots—travelling storytellers and singers. It originated in the early 1970s at house parties and block parties in the Bronx, an area devastated by misguided urban planning.

A distinctive feature of hip-hop is showing off skills, boasting and one-upmanship. Improvised or memorized, self-aggrandizing raps spun by emcees—anecdotes, jokes, rhymes and poetry—are used as introductions, shout outs, insults and challenges to rival emcees. These are sometimes formalized into actual contests, battles raps where competitors vie for the loudest audience approval.

Hip-hop was largely an underground, live phenomenon until The Sugarhill Gang released “Rapper’s Delight” in 1979, which made it to #36 in the Billboard charts. Throughout the ’80s, the style diversified musically, and factions began to appear, with some emphasizing the party and dance atmosphere while others embraced political, even militant and confrontational agendas.

Hip-hop has achieved dominance as the most popular music in the United States, and is heard, and performed, globally. It continues to evolve and become more eclectic, borrowing from jazz, soul, and rock, incorporating live instrumentation and local idiom all over the world.

For the full introuduction visit the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s website (see Further Reading).

British hip-hop has its own characteristics. Homespun hip-hop, draws on stateside hip-hop but is also heavily influenced by the reggae sound system culture that travelled from Jamaica in the 1960’s and bought with it a different sense of rhythm and instrumentation.

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CONTEXT CONTINUED...

SHAKESPEARE AND HIP-HOP; MUSICALITY, LYRICISM AND STORYTELLING The connection between Shakespeare’s theatre and hip-hop says GQ writer, director and performer in Othello: The Remix, lies in musicality, lyricism and storytelling.

When you boil it down Shakespeare was telling stories through poetry and musical language. That’s what I would say is the most basic thing that he did and that is the most basic thing that rappers do.

GQ who wrote Othello: The Remix with his brother JQ, had worked as a hip-hop artist and trained as an actor before working on his first Shakespeare play ‘Bombitty of Errors’ in 2000. He talks about his difficulty with being made to read Shakespeare in school: I grew up with a reading disability, I hated Shakespeare growing up. I was crying ‘why am I being made to read this? This is some rich white people who want me to learn some other language’. He explains the moment when Shakespeare clicked; he was given a part in a Shakespeare play working with director Steve Wan. The rehearsal process was, for GQ, revelatory. They spent hours exploring the sounds in two lines of Shakespeare’s text, playing with how the vowel or the consonant sounds informed the meaning and emotion held in each word. They explored the lines of text physically; testing and experimenting. Then it began to make sense for him.

I was like ‘oh this is music, wow’ for the first time in my life, it still moves my soul to think about it, it was music, it was exactly what we were doing, (as rappers), to me it was seriously embedded in a historical, classical form, and that unlocked my block to Shakespeare.

Peter Brook, director of celebrated Shakespeare productions of the 20th Century, talks about the importance of musicality in Shakespeare and how understanding this changed his approach to directing the plays. He writes about why, in his view, his early production of Romeo and Juliet at the RSC failed: What was missing was an overall tempo, an irresistible pulse to lead from one scene to another. I had not yet learned that this was the basis of all Elizabethan theatre, and so began a long period of discovery. ……..When after two years of opera I returned to Stratford to direct Measure for Measure, I found that the immersion in music had brought me a new awareness of tempo and phrasing. Peter Brook, The Quality of Mercy 2013 Akala, who runs the London based Hip-Hop Shakespeare Company agrees that: both hip-hop music and Shakesepare’s theatre represent energetic and inventive forms of expression. Both are full of poetry, word play and lyricism……just like Shakesepare’s work, hip-hop is all about the rhythmic tension of words. (Akala’s TED talk - see Further Reading section) Hip-hop combines rhythmic phrasing of vocals, often fast paced and intricate and known as rapping or ‘spitting’ with a beat heavy backing track.

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CONTEXT CONTINUED...

Historically the accompanying music was made by isolating interesting sections of existing records before repeating or looping these phrases. Achieved in the early days of hip hop by mixing between two of the same records it subsequently morphed into sampling as technology progressed. Modern productions still draw on these techniques alongside a more up to date, crafted, produced sound.

Where the overall rhythm or metre in Shakespeare’s blank verse is iambic pentameter, which works within a structure of 10 syllables; 5 stressed, five unstressed in each line, hip hop, like a lot of modern pop music, falls mostly into a 4/4 time signature.

The metre, the rhythm are key, but equally important are the sounds within individual words and the relationship and patterns between words. Shakespeare, hip-hop and all forms of poetry use a combination of devices amongst them alliteration, repetition, onomatopoeia, and assonance.

To cut to the chase there are many devices you use; alliteration and repetition and onomatopoeia and all kinds of poetic devices that Shakespeare was using. Same thing that rappers are doing. GQ In performing Shakespeare’s plays actors make important decisions about how to work with the poetry; going with or cutting against the rhythm; where to lay emphasis; what to stress; how to sound the vowels and the consonants within words.

Similarly in rapping it’s all about the delivery; the language and the flow of language; each MC will have their distinctive style of performance; their own rhythm and flow.

If you want more on Shakespeare’s language the RSC have created a detailed and accessible introduction, which simply explains his use of prose, blank verse, rhyming verse and a range of poetic devices: www.rsc.org.uk/downloads/rsc-shakespeares-language-2011.pdf Shakespeare and hip-hop have stories to tell. Rapping is about giving voice to experience; it is personal, often autobiographical; it is about telling your story and keeping it real; it’s about what you know. In the US hip-hop emerged out of the civil rights movements of the 60’s and 70’s and documented the Black American experience, but the lineage and the philosophy of hip-hop is rooted further back.

Akala explains, in his TED talk, that the word ‘hip’ comes from the Senegalese word ‘hippy’, which means ‘to open your eyes to see’, it’s a term of enlightenment. And that together, the words hip-hop mean ‘intelligent movement’. Akala places hip-hop in the long tradition of storytellers, custodians of knowledge and spiritual leaders who tell the truth about the world we live in.

The most sacred histories of ancient African nations were recorded by a man known as a Griot, who was effectively a rapper. He would recite the nation’s history over a beat of a drum. So when hip-hop is put back in its proper cultural context as a tradition that dates back hundreds if not thousands of years, you realise that it is the same as The Iliad.

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CONTEXT CONTINUED...

In hip-hop culture knowledge is respected, in the 80s and 90s it was quite normal for rappers to boast about how clever they were; to talk about kicking science, dropping knowledge, spreading mathematics, at the same time as talking about life in the projects (Akala). Many lyrics are concerned with understanding the world, signalling intelligence, displaying knowledge and acknowledging the relationship between knowledge and power.

You can watch Akala’s TED talk for more on the links between hip-hop and Shakespeare and the wider cultural debate around language and power here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSbtkLA3GrY Taken together these hip-hop folk arts bear striking resemblance to the dramatic world realized through the plays of William Shakespeare. The drama of life, the flash and fanfare of the upper class, irony, misdirection, masking and, most importantly, language itself form the cultural currents commonly navigated by Shakespeare and so many of his rapping counterparts in the 20th and 21st Centuries. James Braxton Peterson - hip-hop acadmic (see Further Reading) Shakespeare told complex stories; stories which showed human relationships across the social spectrum; using the language of the court and tavern. Hip-hop when it first emerged told the stories of a very specific section of urban society, with lyrics that referenced the harsh reality of those lives. The verbal dexterity, the display of intelligent wordplay is a powerful ingredient in the potency of rap; the empowering, often boastful language, the battling and the contest.

Where there are those who see hip-hop and rapping as giving voice to the disenfranchised and marginalised, there are also those who vilify hip-hop, citing lyrics and videos which are perceived as promoting violence, drug use, misogyny and homophobia.

Hip-hop and rap are on the whole male preserves, with few female hip-hop artists who manage to hold their own in this very masculine environment. Miss Dynamite and Missy Elliott are two female MCs who have made it big. The energy of contest, the rap battles, the boasting and posturing is all part of the energy of rapping, but means that it will always be written off by some people.

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CONTEXT CONTINUED...

Hip-hop moved from a sub-culture on the fringes of society to the mainstream of popular music and became hugely commercially successful. It is at this point of tension in the evolution of hip-hop that The Q Brothers see Othello: The Remix taking place: There was a rift in hip-hop. It used to be if you were into hip-hop you had to know your history, the knowledge. It’s not a counter-culture anymore, it is the culture. In my head this takes place as the pop culture and the counter-culture were separating. A couple of the guys got really, really big. There was this whole rift that was about ‘lyricism, lyricism, lyricism, we are not selling out’, and that’s what Iago represents. At the same time all these pop rappers like Biggs and Jay Z (emerge). It was the first time in hip-hop that it was really huge. Ambition became part of the culture; to be rich and come up from nothing was part of it. At that time a lot of those guys got famous and you know Puff Daddy and P Diddy would put on people like Mace, people who did come from Harlem, but sort of glitz it up.

So Cassio kind of represents that; glitzy, like oh we’re just crafting music now for the public, because we can, we can be big.

GQ More context for the play can be found on the Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s website (see p.37).

PRODUCTION SHOT FROM OTHELLO: THE REMIX

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HOW THE Q BROTHERS MADE OTHELLO: THE REMIX SHAKESPEARE – INTERPRETATION, TRANSLATION AND ADD-RAPP-TATION Good story tellers borrow but great ones steal Believe me thievery is how we keep it real

Both Shakespeare and hip-hop take and re-use from previous generations, as well as from contemporaries. Shakesepare drew on a range of sources for his plays; the source material for Othello is said to be based on a 16th Century Italian short story by Cinthio Un Capitano Moro (‘A Moorish Captain’) Sampling is an important part of hip-hop; taking elements of songs and mixing them up with beats and other samples to create something new. For The Q Brothers taking Othello and mixing it up to create something different was a natural way to work. It did however demand a long and very detailed process.

The first stage for GQ was to go through the script and make a line by line translation into rhyme: This is our process; I went into a garage and I didn’t come out for two to three weeks. It felt like I was obsessed, ‘I’ve got to get every line’, it’s like a puzzle. At one point I was like ‘I can paraphrase, why don’t I do that!’ but we didn’t take the short route.

I sit there with the OED (Oxford English Dictionary), my computer and the internet and two different versions of Shakespeare’s play and ‘Shakespeare For Dummies. In that first translation I know every single word.

This level of detailed work on the script ensured that Othello: The Remix was rooted in the complexity of Shakespeare’s play and could use that as a spring board for the creation of a new, original piece for the 21st Century. It was a gradual process, moving slowly away from the original text.

There was a draft of the play which was very close to the original, that still had a lot of Shakespeare’s language and all the sentiments are there page for page.

At the same time as GQ was locked away with the text, JQ started to write the beats for rapping and the music for the piece. The collaborative process gives each of the brothers a clear role; GQ is the point of reference for textual analysis: I defer to you, when I read it, I burn through it, I’m looking at story arc and where songs will pop out and timing. Like ‘oh we’ve gone 18 minutes without a song and this is a long time we’ve got to put something in there because it’s a release for everybody’. I’ll be like ‘what does this mean’ and G says ‘oh it’s a cultural reference to some king’, and I’ll be like ‘oh’ and we’ll talk about some other rapper (that could be an equivalent).

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HOW THE Q BROTHERS MADE OTHELLO: THE REMIX CONTINUED...

JQ spoke about the creative challenge for him working on the Othello translation.

I was personally interested in making a piece with darker music. We had done ‘Much Ado’ which is a much more light-hearted piece, it doesn’t really get serious.

I was able to get a lot richer with the music, a lot more strings, a lot of minor keys, big drums, you know that kind of thing, things we weren’t able to do before, it wasn’t really appropriate before. For me that was the excitement of it.

Once the line by line translation was done the brothers then began to look at how to make the play work in their hip-hop setting, to find the parallels, truncate the play and make it work for four actors and a DJ to perform.

FINDING A HOOK FOR A CHARACTER

Part of the process is to find the essence or the ‘hook’ for each character. Some were more straight forward to translate than others: the main characters are all part of a hip-hop crew; Othello is the greatest MC of his generation, and becomes the biggest name in hip-hop; Iago is an underground rapper; Cassio is a more populist rapper he is like the pretty boy that hasn’t been into battle, who Othello promotes over Iago; Roderigo is a nerdy technician on the tour. The character of Ludovico however was a little more challenging to translate.

Shakespeare has the character of Ludovico, and he has the Duke and maybe even one other guy and we’ve squished him into one character, Loco Vito.

The brothers needed a way represent The Duke and Lodovico, two characters who in Shakesepare’s play represent Venetian authority. They started playing with the idea of a character Loco Vito, a west side gangsta from Venice beach. As they were improvising with rhymes; playing around with ideas JQ ended up rhyming ‘Venice’ with ‘tennis’.

We said that’s hilarious, that’s awesome, we said why does he like tennis? I said I don’t know. So we just embraced it and then went through the script again and laced it with 40 tennis references and it made so much sense of this guy who had made it from nothing, who runs a record company would either be into polo or tennis. You see it all the time, Jay Z is into collecting Bentleys, it’s like the guys who make it rich they want some rich guy thing to get into, like golf. Rappers starting wearing preppy polo shirts; Kanye and Jay Z dress like Brooke’s brothers now. Cuffing the crease, argyle sweaters, you know, so anyway that made sense and it was fun.

So our hook for him was ‘he’s a bad ass gangster, new money, but loves this old money sport’, so that’s an example of a hook that we consciously put in.

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HOW THE Q BROTHERS MADE OTHELLO: THE REMIX CONTINUED...

DESDEMONA, EMILIA, AND BIANCA Another challenge was how to tell the story with a cast of only four actors and a DJ. The four male actors play all of the parts including the roles of Emelia (Iago’s wife) and Bianca (a prostitute who is friendly with Cassio). The Q Brothers didn’t make this decision to emulate performances in Shakespere’s times, when male actors would play all roles; male and female. The decision was a response to the challenge of how to portay Desdemona. While they interrogated the text for hooks for the characters they found that Desdemona’s main characteristic was that she was this perfect, pure, beautiful woman, who got won over by Othello’s stories, but she didn’t have a lot of depth to her.

So while the characters of Emilia and Bianca are played by Jackson and JQ, part of the multi-role aesthetic of the production. It wouldn’t work to play Desdemona in this way, but nor would it work to have only one female character played by a woman. Emilia and Bianca are played predominantly as comic characters, albeit with growing depth and complexity as the tragedy unfolds. Desdemona is the focus of Othello’s jealousy and the primary victim in the play.

We found that she worked more strongly as a device than as a believable character, she became an audio device for people to be more affected by her presence and by her death. It’s super powerful because in our story she falls in love with his underground music and his storytelling and his lyricism, but he does not become a pop star until she starts singing hooks for him.

Desdemona is only encountered aurally; we first meet her when she and Othello make music together.

Othello heard a beat and brought his struggle to it She brought the emotion to elevate the music The decision also gives the production a very distinct take on the difficult final scenes of the play, where Othello accuses Desdemona, she pleads her innocence and he goes through with his brutal murder, smothering her to death with a pillow. Seeing the powerful physicality of Othello but only hearing Desdemona’s voice gives added tension to the powerful climax of the play.

Like in a horror movie seeing the reaction of the person (the perpetrator) is often more effective than if you see the (victim’s) genuine reaction, it allows for your imagination to do so much more.

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SECTION TWO DRAMA SESSIONS BEFORE AND AFTER YOUR VISIT OVERVIEW These drama sessions aim to allow students to: • Explore the play actively in order to get more out of their experience as audience • Engage with key themes of the play after their visit.

Activities are designed to be flexible so they can be used by Drama and English teachers and can be adapted for use at Key Stage 3, GCSE and A Level.

Activities build sequentially, however you may need to add further activities to get your students ready to work together. There are lots of warm up games and exercises that will fit thematically and get your students ready to work. You may also want to add activities that link the work directly to your teaching objectives. For example in the character work you may want to focus more on physicality or status.

POSTELL PRINGLE AS OTHELLO

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SEQUENCE A

EXPLORING CHARACTER IN SHAKESPEARE’S OTHELLO This sequence starts by exploring Shakespeare’s Othello, using selected moments and fragments of original text to explore characters at the opening of the play in order to identify an essence or ‘hook’ for a character.

ACTIVITY ONE: OTHELLO ‘STORY WHOOSH’ AIM To introduce key characters in Shakespeare’s Othello and the dynamic between them at the beginning of the play.

This is a ‘broad brush stroke’ activity to give an overview of plot and character, rather than detailed character analysis.

RUNNING THE ACTIVITY • Read the ‘story whoosh’ of Othello (Resource 1) to the whole class; make clear the 6 distinct moments you will be asking them to depict.

• Move the class into groups of 6 and ask them to allocate a main part for each member of the group; Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, Iago, Roderigo, Brabantio.

• Read the ‘story whoosh’ out loud again, ask the groups to work simultaneously to create a frozen image for each sentence in the whoosh, making as clear as possible relationships between the characters.

• Ask students to negotiate each image in silence, working together using their first instincts and building on each other’s ideas.

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ACTIVITY TWO: WORKING FROM TEXT AIM To explore Shakespeare’s text for clues into character and find the essence or hook for the character to present to the whole group.

‘We were looking for essences and hooks for characters’ GQ speaking about the process of adapting Othello.

RUNNING THE ACTIVITY First stage • Divide the class into small groups and give each group one of the characters from Resource 2.

• Ask the group to recap what they remember about their character from the ‘Story Whoosh’ activity.

• Give each group the Shakespearian text related to their character (Resource 2); ask them try to work out what their character is like by what others say about them and what they say about themselves.

• Provide each group with a role-on-the wall (Resource 3).

• Ask students to write things they know about their character on the inside of the figure.

• Now write things they think might be true (things other people say about them or things they have questions about) on the outside of the figure.

Second stage • Give each group a character card to explore the essence of their character (Resource 4).

• Ask each group to fill out their character cards.

This is a ‘broad brush stroke’ activity to give an overview of • plot Askand students to make a depiction of their character; a still image that encapsulates who they character, rather than detailed character analysis. are. They may want to think about what the character might be wearing and whether the important object is anywhere in the image with them.

• Ask all groups to present their characters to the rest of the group, using the still image and reporting what they have recorded on their character cards.

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SEQUENCE B

ADAPTING SHAKESPEARE INTO A MODERN CONTEXT Building on Sequence A, this activity explores the process of translating Shakespeare into a contemporary setting. Emulating The Q Brothers’ own process, students are required to make decisions that balance the core dynamics of the original text with the creative possibilities provided by the new setting.

AIM To explore how to adapt Shakespeare into different contemporary settings and some of the creative processes which need to be gone through.

As most of the roles in this activity are male you will need to cast across gender, just as Shakespeare and The Q Brothers do. The role Desdemona plays in these scenes is crucial to the finished piece, despite having no lines of dialogue.

RUNNING THE ACTIVITY • Move the class into groups of 5.

• Give each group the three short scenes that show how Iago manipulates others (Resource 5).

You may want to start with just one scene with some groups and let them work on that before introducing the other two scenes. If you choose to do that use one of the scenes with 5 characters.

• Ask the group to cast and read the scenes, then get them on their feet and walk through the scenes. Remind them that an audience would be interested in watching what happens as well as listening to what is being said.

• Now ask students to try to make a line by line translation into contemporary language of each scene.

Try to find a balance in the translations between working with initial ideas and guesses and going back to the text to interrogate for meaning.

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RUNNING THE ACTIVITY CONTINUED...

• Once groups have made their translations give each group a new setting for their adaptation.

• Now students need to rewrite and rehearse their three scenes in their new setting, paying particular attention to language; the appropriate register for their setting. Additional dialogue will need to be added to help set the scene.

• It is important to try to keep the dynamic between the characters as it is in Shakespeare’s Othello, but what happens in the scenes may change quite considerably.

• Remember to place Desdemona in these scenes too. How does her role change in this new setting?

POSSIBLE NEW SETTINGS Lawyers at the law courts / Politicians in the Houses of Parliament Bar / A chicken shop / Contestants on Britains Got Talent / Market place / Prison / Hosptial.

Or, students may want to think of their own setting.

• You will need to encourage a discussion about the culture of these different settings; what kind of world this is, what kind of codes of behaviour operate in this setting and what kind of language is used?

EXTENDING THE ACTIVITY Student’s scene making can be developed into performance with further research and thinking around the setting.

• Set homework; ask students to research their setting; thinking about costume, design, physicality and music. Bring in images, music and video that might be relevant to your setting.

• Research words that belong or originate in that context/setting. Think about how that might relate to the codes that operate in that setting. What is important to the people in this world?

• Develop the performances with particular attention to the relationship between the three scenes; for example ask the group to show their work employing the use of split screen, narration and music to underscore. How would the group manage the transitions between the three scenes?

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SEQUENCE C

EXTENDED DRAMA - OTHELLO AND DESDEMONA: THE HOT TOPIC This sequence of activities places students in role as people who knew, or felt they knew, Othello and Desdemona before and during the action of the play. Activities are sequenced in a way to allow students to build belief in the role they are creating and the world they are a part of. The final whole group improvisation, the filming of the chat show ‘The Hot Topic’, is the climax of the drama where different perspectives and attitudes can be explored from within the fictional context of the play.

Activity One can be done either before or after your visit to Othello: The Remix. Activities Two - Four need to be run after your visit to the theatre as knowledge of the events of the play is the heart of the drama work.

ACTIVITY ONE: WHAT PEOPLE SAID ABOUT OTHELLO AND DESDEMONA AIM Using text from Othello: The Remix, build a picture of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship when they first got together.

RUNNING THE ACTIVITY • First ask two volunteers to read the back-story of Othello and Desdemona from the play as a reminder (Resource 6).

• Give each student one line from the text that says something about their relationship (Resource 7).

• Ask students to move around the room familiarising themselves with their line.

• When you say ‘stop’ students stop and all speak their line out loud at the same time.

• This time when you say ‘stop’ students find a partner and share their lines, as if they are exchanging a piece of gossip.

• Repeat the activity a few times so that everyone hears a range of opinions and comments about Othello and Desdemona.

• Come back to a circle and ask people to share some of the things they have heard said about the couple. What kind of a picture of their relationship are we forming?

KEY QUESTIONS Are Othello and Desdemona suited?

What are the pressures on their relationship?

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ACTIVITY TWO: THE PEOPLE WHO KNEW THEM AIM For students to explore their responses to the play through in-role work as a character that would care about and have an opinion on what happened to Othello and Desdemona.

RUNNING THE ACTIVITY • Discuss who might have been talking about the tragic events at the end of the play? Who might have an opinion on the events? (draw out thoughts about who might have spoken in the media, close friends family, employee’s, people who have an opinion about hip-hop and its influence in society). What might they be saying? Record ideas on a large piece of paper/white board.

Othello and Desdemona in the play are world famous artists, similar to Jay Z and Beyonce or Chris Brown and Rhianna. The impact of such a murder and suicide would be talked about all over the world.

First Stage • Ask students to choose a character to be that is connected to the couple in some way. They may choose to be a fan who feels very close to them, they may be someone who knew them from their childhood (remember their back stories), a family member, someone who works with them (cleaners and catering staff , record producers, makeup artists, designers etc), someone from a church group, or someone in the media.

• Ask students to individually create a frozen image that shows them just after they have heard the news of Othello and Desdemona’s deaths.

• Thought track some of the characters.

Second Stage • Explain that we are going to create the setting for a televised chat show called The Hot Topic.

The discussion this week will be: ‘Why did Othello and Desdemona die, and was it inevitable?’

INFORMATION TO SET THE SCENE The news of these celebrity deaths has dominated the news for days.

Everyone is talking about what has happened and how it came to happen. The great audience chat show – The Hot Topic – is having a debate. It’s like a mix between Question Time, Jeremy Kyle and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

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ACTIVITY TWO CONTINUED • Explain that everyone has been invited as guests on the show. The producers want people who have a strong connection with the couple, but also those who have opinions about the couple and their lifestyle.

• Explain that everyone is back stage in the green room before the live recording. Create a whole group image of this moment. Ask people to think about how they are feeling about events and what they are thinking.

• When the image has been created bring it to life for a whole group improvisation. Ask students to introduce themselves to other people, saying who they are and why they are there.

• Use a listening hand or spotlight listen into some of the conversations: this freezes the action of the majority so that we can hear one conversation.

Third Stage • The improvisation now moves into the studio for recording. You may want to enlist the class’ help in creating the layout for the studio.

• When everyone is in position, move into role as the host and welcome all the guests to the studio for tonight’s The Hot Topic. It is worth writing and rehearsing your introduction in order to seed possible areas for fruitful discussion.

INTRODUCTION FROM HOST (TEACHER-IN-ROLE) Welcome to The Hot Topic, tonight we are discussing this terrible tragedy which has been reported throughout the world. We welcome our studio audience which includes family, friends and colleagues. Those who knew Othello and Desdemona personally, and those who knew them only through their music. The questions we are asking this evening: • What does this tragedy tell us about the world we are living in and the hip-hop industry?

• How and why did this happen? Was it their different backgrounds? Was their relationship doomed from the start?

• Was Othello always going to revert to type – his mother was a crack addict; he grew up in the ghetto surrounded by gang culture? Some say a Leopard can never change its spots.

• Some say they weren’t really in love, that it was all a publicity stunt, they did it for the record sales.

• Is hip-hop to blame? Some say this is a male dominated world with no respect for women.

• And what kind of example do they set to young people?

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• Facilitate the debate in role as the chat show host and bring in as many differing viewpoints from the audience as possible.

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ACTIVITY TWO CONTINUED As the discussion evolves challenge students’ thinking from within the role play. It is worth preparing some statements that you can quote, for example opinions from church leaders, women refuge organisations, other family members, those that work in the industry etc. You may develop debate around the themes of jealousy and ambition, the cultural and political context, masculinity and misogyny, materialism and competition within the world depicted in Othello: The Remix.

POSSIBLE VIEWPOINTS Othello was an artist - he spoke for a generation. His only flaw was that he loved Desdemona too much and Iago was able to exploit that.

Hip-hop is a misogynist culture that gives status to male posturing and dominance.

Hip-hop is cartoon-like and not real – it is just like wrestling; putting on an act, people shouldn’t take it seriously.

Hip-hop is an expression of a harsh reality, it is survival of the fittest, dog eat dog world. It’s about energy, contest and survival. Those that criticise are from privileged backgrounds and don’t understand that world.

If we glamourise ambition, money and status in this way, this kind of tragedy is inevitable.

• Bring the debate to an end, thank the guests and sum up the conversation and questions posed as the television host.

EXTENDING THE ACTIVITY There are opportunities for creative writing out of this drama work - either in role as their characters writing a diary entry later that day, or as a journalist writing a review of the television programme.

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RESOURCE 1 : OTHELLO STORY WHOOSH 1.

Othello is a great general in the Venetian army; he is admired and respected

by the noblemen of Venice. But being from North Africa he is also an outsider.

2.

Othello secretly marries Desdemona.

3.

Desdemona’s father Brabantio, an important man in Venice, finds out about the wedding and is furious. He disowns Desdemona.

4.

Othello promotes one of his soldiers, Cassio, to be his second in command.

Iago has not been promoted, but thinks he should have been instead of Cassio.

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5.

Roderigo, a rich Venetian noble man, is in love with Desdemona. No-one knows, but Iago has noticed.

6.

Iago points out to Roderigo that Cassio and Desdemona are very friendly with each other. He persuades Roderigo that he can win Desdemona; he says that Desdemona will lose interest in Othello.

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RESOURCE 2 : TEXT FOR CHARACTER WORK - OTHELLO OTHELLO • Othello is a great and respected general in Venice. Being from North Africa he is also an outsider.

• He has married Desdemona in secret and without her father Brabantio’s consent.

• He wooed Desdemona through telling her stories of his adventures and bravery as a soldier.

WHAT OTHELLO SAYS ABOUT HIMSELF: Rude am I in my speech, And little bless’d with the soft phrase of peace: And little of this great world can I speak, More than pertains to feats of broil and battle…

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT OTHELLO: The noblemen of Venice: …the warlike Moor Othello… …brave Othello…

DESDEMONA’S FATHER, BRABANTIO, ACCUSES OTHELLO O thou foul thief, where hast thou stow’d my daughter?

Damn’d as thou art, thou hast enchanted her; That thou hast practised on her with foul charms, Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals That weaken motion IAGO ON OTHELLO I hate the Moor: And it is thought abroad, that ‘twixt my sheets He has done my office…

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RESOURCE 2 : TEXT FOR CHARACTER WORK - IAGO IAGO • • • •

Iago is an officer in the Venetian army under Othello’s authority.

He wanted to be promoted to lieutenant, but Othello promoted Cassio instead.

Iago begins to spread lies and rumours.

He points out to Roderigo that Desdemona and Cassio are very friendly.

WHAT IAGO SAYS ABOUT HIMSELF: But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve For daws to peck at. I am not what I am.

WHAT IAGO SAYS ABOUT HUMANKIND: We cannot all be masters, nor all masters Cannot be truly follow’d.

Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners: so that if we will plant nettles, or sow lettuce… why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills.

I never found man that knew how to love himself.

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT IAGO: Othello: Iago is most honest…

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RESOURCE 2 : TEXT FOR CHARACTER WORK - RODERIGO RODERIGO • Roderigo is a rich Venetian noble man; he is in love with Desdemona.

• Roderigo is persuaded by Iago that he can win Desdemona’s love and that she will lose interest in Othello.

• Iago plants a seed: he tells Roderigo that he suspects that Cassio and Desdemona are attracted to each other.

WHAT RODERIGO SAYS ABOUT HIMSELF: I will incontinently drown myself.

It is silliness to live when to live is torment; and then have we a prescription to die when death is our physician.

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT RODERIGO: Iago: Now, my sick fool Roderigo,

Whom love hath turn’d almost the wrong side out..

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RESOURCE 2 : TEXT FOR CHARACTER WORK - CASSIO CASSIO • Cassio is a young attractive soldier in the Venetian army.

• Othello has recently promoted Cassio, despite Cassio having little experience of fighting.

WHAT CASSIO SAYS ABOUT HIMSELF: I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking: I could well wish courtesy would invent some other custom of entertainment.

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT CASSIO: Iago: That never set a squadron in the field,

Nor the division of a battle knows

As masterly as he: mere prattle, without practise,

Is all his soldiership.

Iago: If I can fasten but one cup upon him,

With that which he hath drunk to-night already,

He’ll be as full of quarrel and offence

As my young mistress’ dog.

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RESOURCE 2 : TEXT FOR CHARACTER WORK - DESDEMONA DESDEMONA • Desdemona is the daughter of a powerful nobleman of Venice.

• Desdemona secretly married Othello behind her father’s back • When her father challenges her she chooses Othello over her father and her father disowns her.

WHAT DESDEMONA SAYS ABOUT HERSELF: WHAT OTHERS SAT ABOUT DESDEMONA: Brabantio: O heaven! How got she out? O treason of the blood! (her Father) Fathers, from hence trust not your daughters’ minds

By what you see them act.

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Iago:

It cannot be that Desdemona should long continue her love to the Moor…………….She must change for youth: when she is sated with his body, she will find the error of her choice: she must have change, she must:

Cassio:

She’s a most exquisite lady.

Indeed, she’s a most fresh and delicate creature.

An inviting eye; and yet methinks right modest.

She is indeed perfection.

Iago:

I’ll warrant her, fun of game.

What an eye she has! methinks it sounds a parley of provocation.

And when she speaks, is it not an alarum to love?

Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see: She has deceived her father, and may thee.

RESOURCE 3 : ROLE ON THE WALL OUTLINE

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RESOURCE 4 : CHARACTER CARD

NAME: POWER RATING OUT OF 10: AMBITION: WEAKNESS: SPECIAL SKILLS:

3 WORDS THEY WOULD USE TO DESCRIBE THEMSELVES:

3 WORDS OTHER PEOPLE WOULD USE TO DESCRIBE THEM:

LINE OF TEXT THAT GIVES THE STRONGEST CLUE:

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RESOURCE 5 : SCENES FOR ADAPTATION ACTIVITY IAGO AND RODERIGO ACT II, SC I (Roderigo and Iago are watching Desdemona and Cassio who are at a distance and out of earshot) IAGO (About Cassio) first, I must tell thee this--Desdemona is directly in love with him.

RODERIGO With him! why, ‘tis not possible.

IAGO Her eye must be fed; her delicate tenderness will begin to disrelish and abhor the Moor.

Very nature will compel her to some second choice.

Now, sir, who stands so eminent in the degree of this fortune as Cassio does, the knave is handsome, young, RODERIGO I cannot believe that in her; she’s full of most blessed condition.

IAGO Didst thou not see her paddle with the palm of his hand?

Didst not mark that?

RODERIGO Yes, that I did; but that was but courtesy.

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RESOURCE 5 : SCENES FOR ADAPTATION ACTIVITY IAGO & CASSIO ACT II, SC II (The Venetian army are celebrating a victory) IAGO Come, lieutenant, I have a stoup of wine; CASSIO Not to-night, good Iago: I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking: IAGO O, they are our friends; but one cup: I’ll drink for you.

CASSIO I have drunk but one cup to-night, I am unfortunate in the infirmity, and dare not task my weakness with any more.

IAGO What, man! ‘tis a night of revels: the gallants desire it.

CASSIO I’ll do’t; but it dislikes me.

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RESOURCE 5 : SCENES FOR ADAPTATION ACTIVITY IAGO & OTHELLO ACT III, SC III (Cassio and Desdemona are noticed leaving by Iago) IAGO Ha! I like not that.

OTHELLO What dost thou say?

IAGO Nothing, my lord: or if--I know not what.

OTHELLO Was not that Cassio parted from my wife?

IAGO Cassio, my lord! No, sure, I cannot think it, That he would steal away so guilty-like, Seeing you coming.

OTHELLO I do believe ‘twas he.

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RESOURCE 6 : CHARACTER BACK-STORIES (FROM OTHELLO: THE REMIX)

DESDEMONA’S BACK-STORY She grew up in the burbs in a house with six floors With more stuff than anybody could wish for The fanciest threads the sweetest rides But still she was missin something deep inside Her mother died due to complications at birth She was raised by a nanny and a maid and a nurse Her father bought her things showed her love in this way But she got lost in the sounds of Othello’s first mix-tape

OTHELLO’S BACK-STORY I never knew my pops, moms was a junkie Raised by the streets with the beats that are funky Concrete and metal, a child of the ghetto Lookin’ for the loot, there was none for Othello I walk by people smokin dumb rocks Either ya slang crack or ya got a wicked jump shot I couldn’t shoot, so I grabbed the microphone Spittin stories for these people from this place I call home I survived the impossible Caught in gang crossfire and crawled to the hospital My hood was riots and uprising

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RESOURCE 7 : ABOUT OTHELLO & DESDEMONA

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Her vocal tracks and choruses supported his intensity.

He caught the heart of Desdemona she gave him her empathy she knew it was meant to be.

Her father couldn’t take it.

They knew their love was pure and true and truly something sacred. It was love at first sight.

They knew it was forever the moment they locked eyes.

He said - I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life / And I cannot be complete till I make you my wife.

Her Dad said: This has to be a joke. Forgive me, but I’m just a little bit reticent to understand how he attracts a child so innocent. Perfect and pure, sweet and lily-white, it’s silly right to think he’d be the one she’d really like.

Othello never knew his pops and his mom was a junkie.

Othello survived the impossible - Caught in gang crossfire and crawled to the hospital His hood was riots and uprising.

He said he won’t be satisfied hearin his name till he got the perfect dame wearin his chain.

Her face, so much beauty that it shattered him.

Othello heard a beat and brought his struggle to it / She brought the emotion to elevate the music.

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FURTHER READING / USEFUL WEBSITES

OTHELLO: THE REMIX RESOURCE PACK

CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER WEBSITE www.chicagoshakes.com Includes essays on the relationship between Shakespeare and poetic folk-culture in hip-hop, full cast biogs, an interview with the Producer of the show and other teaching materials.

There are also links to video clips from Othello: The Remix, audio clips from post-show discussions with the company and the full article by James Braxton Peterson: A Scholar’s Perspective.

INTERPRETING AND ADAPTING SHAKESPEARE PLAYS Here are links to a few examples: BBC: www.bbc.co.uk/drama/shakespeare/ IMDB: www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1771962649/

REVIEWS OF OTHELLO: THE REMIX The Telegraph: www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/william-shakespeare/9254140/Hip-Hop-OthelloThe-Globe-Theatre-London-review.html The Guardian: www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2012/may/07/othello-review British Theatre Guide: www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/othello-the-rem-pleasance-court-7801

AKALA & THE UK HIP-HOP SHAKESPEARE COMPANY www.hiphopshakespeare.com TED talk on Shakespeare & hip-hop: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSbtkLA3GrY Interview in the Guardian: www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/apr/15/shakespeare-hip-hip-rap Talking about misconceptions about hip-hop: www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/jun/02/akala-thievesbanquet-rap-interview

AN OVER VIEW OF HIP-HOP Including characteristics of hip-hop, rhythmic structure, instrumentation and production, history, social impact and censorship issues.

Urban Dictionary: www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Hip%20Hop%20Music&defid=2125133

GLOSSARY OF HIP-HOP TERMS www.mrwiggles.biz/ghetto_glossary.htm

ARTICLES ON HIP-HOP AND WOMEN AND THE DEBATE AROUND HOMOPHOBIA The Guardian: www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2013/jan/24/hip-hop-woman-world www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/17/jay-z-bitch-rapper-hip-hop

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OTHELLO: THE REMIX RESOURCE PACK

TEACHING RESOURCE US poetry and rap scheme of work using ‘The Anthology of Rap’ as a guide looking at four defining eras of hip-hop culture over four decades: Part 1: 1978-1984 ‘The Old School’ Part 2: 1985-1992 ‘The Golden Age’ Part 3: 1993-1999 ‘Rap Goes Mainstream’ Part 4: 2000-2010 ‘New Millennium Rap’ www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/lessonplans/arts/july-dec10/rap_12-10.html

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