Lupe Fiasco presents “Rap Theory & Practice: an Introduction”
MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing2022-12-06
1M views|1 years ago
💫 Short Summary
Lupe Fiasco, a Grammy-winning rapper and MIT visiting scholar, discusses rap theory and practice, emphasizing surprise and storytelling in music. He teaches a rap theory course at MIT and highlights the power of rap as a teaching tool. The evolution of hip-hop, the impact of storytelling in music creation, and the importance of intentional learning are explored. Fiasco encourages creativity in writing, mastering the basics, and building strong vocabularies. He also discusses creating unique album concepts, drawing inspiration from punk music, and incorporating diverse literary forms in classrooms. The video showcases the intersection of science and music through a rapper at MIT rapping about nuclear physics. Fiasco promotes diversity in rap music, supporting underground artists, and exploring unconventional topics beyond mainstream representations. He expresses gratitude to the audience, MIT staff, and faculty, and encourages students to engage in various activities and seek support during their tenure.
✨ Highlights
📊 Transcript
✦
Lupe Fiasco, Grammy award-winning rapper and activist, is a visiting scholar at MIT.
00:15MIT offers a rich curriculum in media studies, writing, and literature, in addition to technical studies.
The campus is expanding with a new MIT Museum, MIT Press Bookstore, and Welcome Center.
Past events at MIT have featured artists like Haitian rapper Bic Roosevelt Sayant.
Lupe Fiasco's talk is eagerly awaited, with the audience encouraged to ask questions.
✦
Lupe Fiasco shares his journey from high school talent shows to performing at MIT and Central Park, emphasizing the importance of education in his rap career.
04:11He discusses his background in rap and how he learned in a school environment, leading him to teach at MIT.
Fiasco connects his teaching at MIT to his roots in learning rap in school.
He transitions to discussing rap theory and practice, encouraging audience participation in creating acronyms related to rap.
✦
Development of an acronym for 'rap' or 'wraps'.
13:27Participants share interpretations such as rhythm and poetry, rhymes and pacing, and bass beats and stories.
Focus on artistic power, style, and constantly revising and setting new rules for acronym development.
Original acronym 'Sosa' leads to creation of curriculum for investigating definition of rap, including rhetorical, anthropological, and philosophical structures.
✦
Importance of Recognizing Analogous Patterns and Reconciling Adversarial Patterns.
14:16Emphasis on the need for constant attention and alteration in various aspects of life.
Significance of defining concepts within their own terms and the process to achieve that.
Analogy of bodybuilders used to explain starting with general shape and gradually focusing on details.
Stress on the balance between big ideas and executing through detailed concepts.
✦
Importance of micro decisions in shaping rap lyrics.
21:48Stretching vowels and regulating tones have a significant impact on crafting impactful verses.
Small details play a crucial role in winning accolades such as Grammys.
The video explores the process of making micro decisions to enhance lyrical quality and create a unique flow.
Surprise is highlighted as a fundamental element in life and learning, contributing to personal growth and knowledge acquisition.
✦
The impact of surprises on individuals and society.
22:20Surprises influence attention, learning, memory, attitudes, and behavior in individuals.
People tend to share surprises with others, leading to larger social influences.
Stories with surprising elements degrade and change less over time.
Surprising information impacts memory, facilitates learning strategies, and induces systemic processing.
✦
The power of rap as a teaching tool and its untapped potential for formal training and institutional recognition.
27:34Despite many rappers lacking formal training, they have the ability to positively impact society through their craft.
Successful rap artists can increase their earnings, enjoy themselves more, attract followers, and generate viral content.
Surprise in music triggers unexpected schema and discrepant events, resulting in strong reactions and schema revision.
Unexpected events lead to automatic interruptions in mental processes, followed by intentional shifts and event analysis, with schemas serving as worldviews and cognitive frames for understanding surprise.
✦
The segment explores how individuals perceive the world and pursue their purpose based on evolving schemas.
30:25It stresses the significance of being mindful of one's experiences and interactions as they shape these schemas.
The power of storytelling in influencing behavior is highlighted, along with the impact of external influences on actions.
The concept of repetition break in plot structure is illustrated using the story of the Three Little Pigs.
✦
Summary of Eminem's song "Stan"
37:34The song depicts a fan named Stan who writes letters to Eminem expressing his admiration.
The third verse reveals Stan's dark plot of a murder-suicide involving his girlfriend.
Stan records a message to Eminem while kidnapping his girlfriend, showcasing his obsession.
The fourth verse breaks the song structure and adds depth to the narrative, showing the consequences of Stan's actions.
✦
Eminem's songs Stan and Janayla showcase the power of rap in storytelling.
39:27Stan, a cultural phenomenon, depicts Eminem's empathetic response to a fan.
Janayla's tragic story is transformed into a meaningful song by Eminem, highlighting the impact of real-life experiences on music creation.
The importance of personal narratives in music is emphasized through Eminem's storytelling.
✦
The power of surprises in storytelling and creativity.
43:18A woman saves a little girl in her neighborhood after hearing gunshots, leading to a cathartic experience.
Kendrick Lamar's song 'Sing About Me' is analyzed for its storytelling genius.
Emphasis on navigating surprises by approaching concepts from various angles.
Importance of collaboration, exploring different avenues for creativity, and looking at words or concepts from varied perspectives.
✦
Overview of CMS S60 rap theory in practice course at MIT.
48:03The course is open to undergrads from MIT, Harvard, Wellesley, and Mass Art.
The syllabus will be available for pre-registration soon.
Sessions will be open to the public, grad students, faculty, and staff.
Final project involves creating an EP and students are expected to rap and turn in assignments.
✦
Discussion of 'Topics in Cognitive Science' journal and ER tournament organized by Society International.
51:08Invitation to participate in a tournament at the black student union with a $250 prize.
Gratitude for audience attendance and opportunity for questions and feedback.
Tribute to Houston's hip-hop scene through the song 'Hip-Hop Saved My Life' and its impact on the speaker's life.
Highlighting the dichotomous balance brought by hip-hop music.
✦
Emphasis on lifelong learning and expanding knowledge base.
55:29Importance of exploring new subjects, even those initially disagreed with.
Speaker's experience in deep diving into diverse topics such as nuclear weapons and skateboarding.
Desire to continue learning and exploring new areas for personal growth.
Value of engaging in conversations and considering different perspectives for personal development.
✦
Importance of intentional learning and application in life.
58:29The speaker's album 'The Cool' was inspired by making harmful things uncool and good things cool.
The album was intentionally crafted to speak to history and resonate with listeners.
Influences like Miles Davis were drawn upon to create a thoughtful narrative in the music.
The speaker emphasizes the significance of intentional learning and implementation in artistic pursuits.
✦
The segment explores the evolution and potential complacency of hip-hop as a genre.
01:01:38Anticipation is high for a paradigm shift in the future of hip-hop, influenced by Ultraviolence.
Japanese hip-hop artists are discussed for their unique cultural contributions to the genre.
There is an overall sense of anticipation for the future evolution and adaptation of hip-hop.
✦
Embracing the Creative Process
01:05:21The speaker argues that writer's block is a myth and suggests taking breaks and seeking new experiences when feeling stuck.
Experimenting with words, stretching vowels, and deriving new meanings from language can help overcome creative blocks.
Writers are encouraged to focus on generating concepts rather than solely aiming for impressive writing.
The joy of novel ideas and the dopamine rush from creative inspiration are highlighted as key motivators for writers.
✦
Importance of editing and refining writing for personal or commercial success.
01:10:35Emphasize developing a strong foundation of knowledge and skills for creative freedom and expression.
Mastering the basics is key to excelling in any writing style or genre, providing a solid framework for growth.
Building a strong vocabulary is essential for effectively conveying ideas and emotions in writing.
Show appreciation for audience support and engagement in sharing insights and experiences.
✦
Creating a strong and mysterious concept is essential when building a world or universe for an album.
01:10:54Borrowing worlds from existing sources like songs or albums can provide inspiration for unique ideas.
Incorporating unique ideas is crucial for creating a connected system within the album's universe.
Time constraints and creative decisions play a significant role in the recording process of albums.
A work-in-progress record inspired by the life of Amy Winehouse as a battle rapper called 'Samurai' is mentioned.
✦
Influence of punk music on live shows and use of inspiration from bands like Bad Brains and Joy Division.
01:16:05Emphasis on the performative and aesthetic aspects of punk as a foundation for energetic performances.
Incorporating different types of poetry in classrooms to inspire young students aspiring to be like Lupe Fiasco.
Highlighting the need for teachers to embrace diverse literary forms to encourage students.
✦
Importance of understanding doublethink in '1984' and using double entendres in writing raps.
01:17:41Encouraging students to explore their passions and empowering them through teaching moments.
Recognizing the influence of storytelling techniques in music creation.
Emphasis on applying knowledge to existing skills and meeting students at their level.
Mention of Mr. Kendrick as a great teacher inspiring students to delve into their interests.
✦
A rapper at MIT named Alex raps exclusively about nuclear physics, impressing the speaker with his talent and knowledge.
01:24:16The speaker describes Alex as ridiculous, amazing, and phenomenal, currently working on a particle accelerator project while writing raps about it.
This unique approach to rap showcases the intersection of science and music.
It highlights the creativity and diversity within the field of rap music.
✦
Diversity in the Rap Music Industry.
01:26:10The speaker emphasizes the variety of rap music beyond mainstream representations.
Discovering underground rap artists through live performances and open mics is crucial.
Listeners are encouraged to explore beyond popular playlists to find unique and meaningful rap music.
Positive aspects of rap music include artists rapping about unconventional topics without using profanity, as well as valuable research on the relationship between hip-hop and societal issues.
✦
Introduction of two boys from New Orleans and Chicago showcasing hip-hop and rap music in the Cambridge family.
01:28:12Artist releases record 'God and Girls Too' for free or at $5,000 price, not on streams.
Artist involved in activities at Harvard next semester.
Speaker expresses gratitude to audience, MIT staff, and faculty, announces upcoming events.
Office hours for students mentioned for various activities, showing availability for help and support during their tenure.
00:01I'm Nick Montfort professor of digital
00:04media here at MIT in comparative media
00:07studies and writing along with Mary
00:09Fuller from literature
00:11I'm very glad to be hosting Lou it the
00:15visiting scholar we all know as Lupe
00:18Fiasco AKA wasalu yaco through the
00:22Martin Luther King Jr Jr fellowship
00:25program
00:26my thanks to the Institute community and
00:29Equity office for bringing Lupe Fiasco
00:32to MIT this year
00:34and for the other good work they do on
00:36campus
00:39once in a while recently people have
00:42been asking me
00:44wait
00:45what's Lupe Fiasco doing at MIT
00:50it turns out
00:52they're not asking this because they're
00:54skeptical about Lupe Fiasco
00:58they're skeptical of MIT
01:02well
01:04our Institute is a very distributed
01:07place with a lot going on it may
01:10surprise some of you to learn we have a
01:12rich curriculum for undergraduates in
01:14media studies writing and literature
01:17and there's more on offer in the school
01:19of humanities arts and social sciences
01:22while technical studies are certainly
01:24the focus MIT has the first architecture
01:27school in the United States as well as
01:29the MIT media lab a program in art
01:32culture and technology and another in
01:34women's and gender studies the Sloan
01:36school and more
01:40I know many of you have come from off
01:42campus
01:43you made it through the Eventbrite
01:45registration system
01:47and it's not as bad as Ticketmaster I
01:49know but
01:51um you found your way to the building on
01:53this rainy night got into it got through
01:56part of the MIT maze to this numbered
01:58room
01:59now even though MIT has had to limit
02:02Public Access because of the pandemic
02:05we're very glad the people in the
02:07community come to join us for events
02:09like this
02:10I look forward to Lupe Fiasco's talk and
02:13hearing your questions for our speaker
02:15because I know that what you have to say
02:17and what you have to ask will help me
02:19learn
02:21as of tomorrow December 1st the MIT
02:23campus will be opening up further and it
02:26will be easier to visit us on campus
02:28you'll find a newly opened MIT Museum
02:32the MIT press bookstore the art shown at
02:35the list Visual Arts Center a public art
02:37collection that includes many sculptures
02:39Outdoors the MIT libraries and a new
02:42Welcome Center
02:44if you like rap
02:47I suspect
02:49some of you do
02:51you should know that in this room in
02:532017 thanks to the Center for art
02:55Science and Technology Professor
02:57Michelle DeGraff and I hosted Haitian
02:59poet singer songwriter rapper Bic
03:03Roosevelt sayant who gave a public
03:06concert
03:07just two months ago bridgeside Cipher
03:09brought a live band and welcomed rappers
03:12from the community to an outdoor area
03:14near the Kendall MIT t-stop thanks to
03:17mit's open space initiative which had
03:19brought rappers to the space before that
03:23to those who made the trip to be here
03:25tonight
03:26thank you for coming welcome to MIT and
03:30please consider yourselves welcome to
03:32visit us again
03:37now what can be said to introduce
03:40tonight's speaker
03:43MIT visiting scholar Grammy
03:45award-winning rapper record producer
03:48entrepreneur activist a founder of the
03:52Society of spoken art
03:54a founder of the Societe International
03:57de ER
04:00with Eight studio albums that run from
04:03Food and Liquor
04:04to this year's drill music in Zion
04:10colleagues
04:11neighbors friends
04:14here's Lupe Fiasco
04:16[Applause]
04:36I got to appreciate it
04:41hello thank you DACA T appreciate the uh
04:44the introduction
04:46um I don't know if Mary Fuller is here
04:47as well hey Mary full appreciate you
04:50both uh as well as uh uh Dr Fox
04:54um IR
04:55um appreciate you as well
04:57um my family here at MIT uh as well as
05:00Sophia the literature Department admits
05:03what's happening
05:05um compared to me to studies the entire
05:07shafts but as well as uh the mecca The
05:11Hobby Shop
05:13the sailing Pavilion
05:17uh
05:18Verdes
05:22appreciate you all
05:24um what I'm trying to do is keep this
05:26very casual
05:28um and what I'm doing is a little bit of
05:31what the class is the class I'll be
05:34teaching
05:35um and we're trying to run like a little
05:37mock beta version of that in here
05:40um so relax yourselves let your concert
05:42should be free you're not roll them with
05:44thugs or the MIT really
05:46um not thugs but you know
05:49rappers
05:51um
05:52so it's an introduction we'll we'll Pace
05:55it out there'll be
05:58um
06:00a little column response you have some
06:01duties if you have a piece of paper a
06:03pen or some type of writing material or
06:06even something digital I'm going to need
06:08that very soon
06:10so do that
06:12but let's get into it rap theory and
06:14practice and introduction
06:18to what I'm doing here at MIT
06:21and what the plans are for the future
06:25but first I have to introduce myself
06:28see if this works there we go
06:31that's me
06:33that's my high school yearbook picture
06:37right I think I was 17.
06:42and I think as you can see I clearly
06:44invested into
06:46sorry clearly invested into
06:51um this thing so that's my high school
06:53talent show
06:55I'm going to skip forward
06:58to
07:00that picture
07:03that is Spring Fest 2015 here at MIT
07:07so that's me performing
07:10at MIT
07:13and then we'll do another jump
07:16that is me
07:18a couple months ago
07:20in Central Park New York Performing as
07:23MIT
07:29um
07:31rap has always been a Scholastic Pursuit
07:33for me
07:34I learned how to rap in school
07:36that's where I hone my skill sets
07:39that's why I learned everything that I
07:42do now it's always been in a school
07:45environment
07:46so this isn't foreign right this isn't
07:49anything completely novel
07:52um
07:53and the proof is kind of in the pudding
07:55so it is for me this makes perfect sense
07:57that I would be back in a school
07:59environment teaching
08:01because I learned this craft at a school
08:04you know at my high school
08:07you know
08:08um
08:10we'll we'll belay the biography and
08:13other things and we'll get right into
08:14the meat of the matter
08:18what are
08:19slash
08:21is wraps slash wrap
08:26acronyms only
08:28right so this is your job now
08:30you got about a few minutes
08:36acronyms are you take the word
08:41I'm very fundamental
08:43you take each letter in the word
08:46and then you put another you make a
08:48letter out of that a word out of that
08:50letter
08:51that describes
08:53the word the original word The Source
08:55word
09:03let me know you got a good one like a
09:04real good one
09:08and then you can like stand up and
09:10blurt it out
09:14and disciplined way but think think
09:15through it think about it deeply I want
09:17you to reflect
09:19aggressively
09:23I want you to penetrate
09:25subconsciously
09:28and really think about it
09:31what are wraps what is rap
09:36all right
09:39give it like another minute to Stew
09:48doc you find you this is familiar
09:50to you.com T
09:57hey guys welcome
10:00it needs to come up with an acronym for
10:03rap or wraps you can pick
10:08not now
10:12whoa there cowboy
10:16all right that's eight okay who we got
10:21that's how we putting people on blast
10:24come on
10:25uh riffs and poetry riffs and poetry
10:29okay
10:30let's let's do a whole
10:37okay
10:39it's uh do let's do the new comma
10:44always I mean the thing is mine was
10:46Rhythm and poetry I'm trying to uh okay
10:49so you're buying Styles already I see
10:52um doc I.T
10:54okay
11:02Rhythm and people
11:07rooted autobiographies pronounced uh-huh
11:12nice
11:14Cowboy what's up
11:17okay uh realization and passion
11:20realizations and Passions
11:24which is randomly Point realist
11:26perspectives real ass perspectives okay
11:29it's a lot of ass in the room I don't
11:30know why
11:32I'm biasing to ask I will take it right
11:36Rhymes in facing Rhymes and pacing yeah
11:41rhythmic access to people's Souls ridden
11:44the access to people's Souls Jesus
11:46Christ
11:49utterly beautiful
11:50it's even meaningful
11:52um
11:55very Fuller
11:58ton four months righteous artistic
12:01performance
12:02cheesy
12:04D1
12:05my brother
12:14hey anybody else want to throw their
12:16last everybody's welcome
12:19running after purpose I like that
12:26shout out
12:28well mine was kind of already said I
12:30said right Rhymes and peace
12:33and pace
12:37yep mine is the base b-a-s-s beats and
12:41stories fun you know that's not wraps
12:44right
12:47do you play the bass is that why you did
12:49that no okay all right all right that's
12:53unaccepted just FYI
12:55um
12:56we enjoy it in country
13:00artistic power and Style hey rare
13:04artistic power and style okay
13:08cowboy
13:10did you have another one
13:12no
13:13okay
13:15I think about this
13:17constantly
13:19and I'm constantly revising
13:22and setting new rules about how the
13:24acronym should be developed
13:27the original acronym that we started at
13:29Sosa and built Sosa Society spoken upon
13:32uh was rhetorical
13:35anthropological philosophical structures
13:40and then we created an entire curriculum
13:42about investigating that particular
13:43definition
13:45of rap
13:47the most recent one that I had
13:51was relationships associations parallels
13:57and well I can't say the other I can't
14:00say that we'll leave it at that because
14:01that's that's come true later
14:04well I was here
14:06um maybe
14:09a month ago I came up with these
14:16recognizing analogous patterns
14:20maybe reconciling adversarial patterning
14:25and just goes on and on and on and on
14:27right constantly revising constantly
14:30being dynamic
14:32right because that's what rap deserves
14:35it deserves constant attention constant
14:39Focus constant alteration
14:42right constant changing in the face of
14:45new Ventures new places new spaces new
14:48ideas new generations
14:51as they take it
14:53and make it what it means to be for them
14:55right but it's also really really sexy I
14:59think
14:59right this idea of
15:03defining it by its own structures what's
15:06already there
15:08right not trying to go too far out and
15:11make it something that it's not like can
15:13we Define it within its own terms
15:15and then what is the process to get to
15:17that
15:19right what happens when you do that
15:21to your name
15:27right what do you happen what happens
15:28when you do that with your job
15:29description
15:31what do you have what happens when you
15:33do that to your belief systems
15:36what is the mechanisms and the tools and
15:38what changes
15:39right
15:41so it's meant to constantly be defined
15:47and then dug into right
15:50what does it mean to reconcile
15:51adversaries
15:54what does it mean to be righteously
15:55aggressive
15:57what does it mean to to base you know
16:01to be based
16:07cook and dance
16:09so
16:11shapes and details right
16:14sometimes we get this confused we talk
16:17about rap right I like to keep things
16:19very fundamental very simple very basic
16:21we can get complex later
16:23we're already complex that's the problem
16:25too complex
16:27right we need to
16:29dumb it down
16:31going over people's head
16:34s
16:34um
16:35I like to do it this is very to me this
16:37is very clean right
16:39the metaphor or the analogy would be
16:41bodybuilders
16:44right
16:46if you want to become a bodybuilder
16:48first thing you have to do
16:49is get into
16:52shape
16:55right just a general shape a generable
16:58general workable
17:01shape
17:02right big exercises just do some squats
17:06let's do some bench presses right just
17:09big exercises
17:11then as you start to want to get your
17:13pro card
17:14you got to get into the details
17:17right a little five pound little joints
17:20once you just do this little thing right
17:22here to get this little part right here
17:24to just pop a little bit right
17:26get into these details
17:28right shapes and details
17:31right big big ideas
17:33big big Concepts
17:35then how do we execute through those
17:37Concepts
17:38right how do we filter through and come
17:39and get the details
17:41right and they play off each other yeah
17:44I have both you can't just be super
17:45duper detail-oriented with no shape
17:48right you can't just have shape all the
17:51time with no details right if you want
17:53to be
17:54subjectively good but even objectively
17:57good
17:58right because this is happening whether
18:00you want to or not
18:03you're playing with shapes Primal big
18:05primes and playing with these little
18:07small things shapes and details to keep
18:10it really basic
18:12so get a little bit more
18:14precise
18:15is my favorite word in rap
18:18she knows where it was in rap
18:21because I put it there
18:24yeah use it all the time micro decisions
18:27right your details
18:30we'll get into what these are
18:33a couple
18:35micro decisions May consist of
18:44stretching
18:45or extending specific vowels
18:50in words
18:51to achieve or regulate certain tones
18:56moods or temporalities
19:00right
19:01so you have to do all of this all you
19:03need is I need this punch line I need
19:04this I need that like no I need you to
19:06put a little more stress
19:09lay on that oh
19:11so it goes oh
19:14did you behold
19:17what I did
19:18right I need that ah and what to be very
19:22quick
19:23right so behold feels like this
19:27how do you do that in words well you
19:30have to say oh
19:31[Music]
19:34right
19:35seems silly
19:37it won me a Grammy
19:39right
19:40[Music]
19:44right seems Seems like Ah that's nothing
19:48so millions of Records
19:51Millions
19:53made millions of dollars
19:57cars jewelry it's ridiculous
20:00what you could do
20:03with stretching vowels right
20:06one simple tool that one simple micro
20:09decision
20:10right and you can just play with it all
20:13day you sit with words and say I'ma take
20:16take the word itself micro decision
20:19my Crow
20:23decision
20:24right well I'm gonna do my growth
20:27decision
20:30okay all right I got I got my
20:33I got what I want to put my stresses on
20:35my vowels
20:36right and now I'm gonna go write this
20:38verse
20:40right I already got the shape I already
20:41know what I'm gonna talk about but now
20:43let me get into these details work on
20:44these micro decisions and there's more
20:46there's a list but we don't have time
20:49macro decisions
20:51big [ __ ]
20:53right big old things
20:56Big Ideas
20:58right big shapes
21:04we're going to dive deep into this this
21:06next one
21:08one of the best
21:10macro decisions and what I've been
21:11studying here on the research side since
21:14I've been at MIT
21:16has been studying
21:18surprise
21:20right
21:23surprise is one of the fundamental
21:26Primal pieces
21:30of life
21:32this is rap of life
21:36[ __ ] right
21:39I can make the claim that everything you
21:40learned
21:42was by surprise
21:46in one way or another
21:48right it's kind of crept up on you
21:56right
21:58you didn't know before you know it now
21:59what's the mechanism to get it
22:01to Traverse that distance that Gap
22:04it's probably surprise
22:06right
22:07let's go deep you ready ready to get
22:10deep ready to go to class check this out
22:13that's right I read white papers and I
22:15cite
22:18surprises
22:20not only influence individuals attention
22:23learning memory attitudes and behavior
22:27they can also have larger scale
22:31social influences this is because people
22:34seem to be interested in Sharing
22:37Surprises with others
22:41who shared the meme today
22:44we shared the video today
22:46right what's the word I give you two
22:49dollars not in real money
22:52but in Lupe dollars
22:54if you tell me what's one of the
22:56one of the phrases that we always see
22:58one of the common phrases that we see
23:01and videos being posted on social media
23:04huh
23:07viral yeah yeah but we don't really see
23:09this is this is viral like what do we
23:12see in the comment section in the
23:13description
23:19watch till the end
23:24right or
23:25wait for it
23:28what is that
23:31wait for it right
23:33share that
23:36right it goes viral
23:40because you see that one thing and then
23:41you like she's like
23:44buddy right
23:46you know that one look at you surprised
23:48he's like she was surprised that I knew
23:49that didn't you
23:51but it's right you're laughing how many
23:54times did you watch it
23:56yeah
23:58bye
24:00bye right I didn't expect that little
24:03girl to do that
24:04I watched that [ __ ] so many times it was
24:06crazy
24:08right and there's others
24:13right
24:18stories with surprising elements tend to
24:20degrade and change less as they are past
24:23the law than stories without surprising
24:26elements
24:29a surprising
24:31right
24:33how does Lupe Fiasco persist
24:36this long people can't believe it right
24:39I don't talk about sex I don't talk
24:41about guns
24:43I kind of do but I don't know
24:46I want to really bad
24:49it's just littered with little surprises
24:52little land mines of whoa
24:56bars that you don't get until like five
24:59years later
25:00when you're watching some random cartoon
25:02from Turkmenistan maybe I'm like
25:05oh oh
25:07right
25:11they sustain they're stable
25:14right ain't that what we want in careers
25:18right
25:19isn't that kind of the essence
25:21of longevity right it doesn't degrade
25:24how do we get to that maybe do surprise
25:27here's another one I got them all day
25:30surprising information has been shown to
25:33impact what we remember
25:35and to facilitate transfer of learning
25:38strategies
25:39inducing an uncertain mood like surprise
25:42has been found to lead to more systemic
25:45processing which might Aid learning
25:50what does rap do all day
25:53you know how much [ __ ] I learned from
25:54rap
25:56I learned how about Rolexes from rat
26:00did you know Rolex is a 501c3
26:04that's a non-for-profit
26:07I didn't learn that from rap but
26:10surprise
26:12right
26:14I bring it up not lightly
26:19rap teaches a lot
26:21is one of the most ultimate teaching
26:23tools teaches you how to dance
26:25teaches you how to dress
26:27es you how to talk teaches you how to
26:29walk teaches you how to think
26:33it's ridiculously
26:35ridiculously capable
26:38right
26:40you can also teach how to kill people
26:42teach you how to sell drugs teach you
26:44how to die teach you how to go to prison
26:47right teach you how to survive in prison
26:50get your job it could teach politics
26:52right teach you to vote for
26:54it's a teaching tool
26:58right
27:00how many people intentionally use it
27:02as that
27:04how many people just do it for fun how
27:06many rappers in it
27:11for fun right
27:15for money
27:17money and fun there we go right
27:19he didn't say teaching
27:23because unfortunately most rappers don't
27:25know how
27:27right
27:29we live by phrase that Sosa
27:31that rappers know
27:34how to do it
27:36but they don't know what they're doing
27:40because rap was never formally trained
27:44it was never put into an institution
27:46and all of these things like this
27:49you didn't have to take a test
27:51to become a rapper
27:53your test was doesn't work at your strip
27:55club
27:56which is the Atlanta formula
27:59for real
28:01does it work at a strip club
28:03that is the test for rep
28:06I don't care how you got there but can
28:08you have that effect
28:10can you teach strippers to dance
28:15right that has its place
28:19right but rap has so much potential
28:22right
28:24so if you come to the class
28:26you're going to be doing this [ __ ]
28:29We're not gonna have we're gonna have
28:31some fun I'm gonna make it fun
28:33but we're gonna be doing this that's a
28:35warning
28:36to the students out there
28:39who thought she was going to be in here
28:40making strip club music with Lupe Fiasco
28:45we're going to be reading white papers
28:47about surprisal foreign
28:50you how to do that with intention
28:53so you can really
28:56elevate
28:58the power of The Craft
29:00right and really use it as a teaching
29:03thing
29:04because if you do it successfully guess
29:05what my man's
29:07you'll make more money and have more fun
29:11because you'll have more followers
29:13because more things will go viral
29:16you create deeper
29:18relationships
29:20associations parallels and surprises
29:23right
29:25here's another one
29:26surprise we still surprised surprises
29:29evoked just to give you a little sense
29:31of what it is
29:33right that stuff was kind of descriptive
29:35this is what it is how it works surprise
29:38is evoked by unexpected schema
29:42discrepant events
29:44and it's intense intensity is determined
29:47by the degree of the scheme of
29:49discrepancy right how far off is this
29:52from normality for you
29:54right it's how big the surprise is
29:58unexpected events cause an automatic
30:00Interruption of ongoing mental processes
30:02that is followed by an intentional shift
30:04and intentional binding to the events
30:06it's like oh what is that oh what's that
30:09right
30:12which is often followed by causal
30:14and other event analysis processes
30:17and by schema revision
30:21schemas are kind of World Views kind of
30:23conceptual frames cognitively how you
30:25view the world how you pursue through it
30:27right and run after purpose
30:31right you do that in certain ways in
30:33certain paths based on what your kind of
30:35fundamental schemas are these schemas
30:37are constantly being changed as you
30:38interface with different types of
30:39information and different types of
30:41experiences people's places
30:43right
30:45so that's why you have to be careful
30:46what you listen to
30:49be careful who you listen to and where
30:51you go
30:53because unconsciously
30:55your brain is changing
30:58right and not necessarily your neurons
31:00or like neuroplasticity and stuff like
31:02that that happens but on the front end
31:04just the way
31:06that your schemas change
31:09right
31:14Story Time repetition break plot
31:17structure
31:18here's a tool of how you can use
31:21surprise let's bring it back down to
31:23earth let's come out to white papers
31:25right let's take to the streets
31:27are you in a gang
31:29you
31:31you in a gang
31:34no okay
31:35which is actually infused in the game
31:37you got a lot of blue there I'm just
31:39making sure
31:40[Laughter]
31:46nice sweater I like it don't wet that
31:48out west though
31:51it's a joke I was just joking
31:56Once Upon a Time
32:00Three Little Pigs
32:03first Pig
32:05builds his house out of straw
32:09big bad wolf comes
32:11he says a huff and a puff little pig
32:13little pig let me in blue Pig says now
32:15by the hell am I
32:18right
32:20wolf was like yo
32:22and I'll Puff I'll blow your house down
32:24let me go blow this house down right so
32:28that little pig runs to his other homies
32:31Pig's house right which is made out of
32:34sticks
32:36and
32:41little pig little pig let me in not by
32:43the head on my
32:46the column response to the power of
32:48story
32:51so I just made you do that
32:53why did you do that
32:57right I've been in front of millions of
32:59people
33:01that I've never met before
33:03I had them doing all kinds of things
33:08right consciously unconsciously they
33:10just want to be that's power
33:12be careful rappers
33:21I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow
33:23your house down
33:26he helps he Puffs he blows House Down
33:29right
33:31those two little pigs go to the third
33:33Pig's house this house is made out of
33:36no it's made out of a Carbonite material
33:45at least here that mightier would be
33:46made out of that
33:48we made out of nuclear energy or
33:49something like that
33:51um
33:51it's made of bricks
33:53and he knocks Little Pigs Little Pigs
33:55let me in not by the hell my
33:57is
33:59I'm still saying it why
34:03oh dude
34:05Jazzy
34:07no I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow
34:09your house down he blows he blows he
34:10blows what happens
34:13repetition break plot structure is what
34:16happened
34:17it was a break in a repetition
34:21right
34:22first Pig did a thing we'll do the thing
34:25the thing happened you're like all right
34:26cool shiny change
34:29right
34:31next thing
34:32pigs do a thing wolf does the thing
34:35happens same thing happens
34:39right go the third one oh
34:43they do a thing they do a thing surprise
34:45nope
34:47can't blow on these bricks
34:50right repetition break plot structure
34:57where have you seen this
35:01we've seen this I know you've seen this
35:03everybody's seen this
35:05you've seen this in rap
35:09verse verse hook
35:10verse
35:12is that really
35:15that you know one two one two one two
35:17just
35:19Maybe
35:21so it's not really a macro
35:23right it's not some that rap macros that
35:25act like that but not really
35:42that happens musically happens in
35:44Beethoven
35:45right training training habituation
35:48habituation Divergence
35:57has the same kind of effect right
35:58training training training
36:00same same different right similarity
36:03similarity Divergence right
36:08um
36:12like the um the verses in Gold Digger
36:16where like the first perspective the guy
36:19who's done with everyone who keeps it as
36:21from the perspective of neural portrays
36:24the original narrator
36:29it's reputation the greatest the
36:32greatest example of that
36:34is this
36:39Stan
36:42right anybody where's anybody not aware
36:44of Stan anybody not not blown away about
36:47his list
36:49don't know what this means
36:52Stan is probably Eminem's uh
36:55greatest record
36:57right arguably hands down probably
36:59Eminem Eminem's greatest record
37:03right
37:04the song is about
37:07a fan is where we get the word stand
37:10from
37:12right anybody got any stands in here
37:16I got a couple stands I got I have a lot
37:18I have a lot I'm a stand of you
37:21yeah I do
37:23I appreciate that there's a Stan
37:26reciprocity going on right here
37:29hey Stand By Me
37:34um the song is about a fan
37:37who writes m m a letter
37:40and he's writing this letter
37:43dear Marshall right he writes a letter
37:46in the first verse
37:48then it goes and he writes a letter in
37:50the third verse
37:52and the second verse I apologize right
37:53writes another letter to Eminem
37:55this one's a little bit more
37:58kind of aggressive you know a little bit
38:00more
38:01yeah you know you owe me something I
38:03bought you know the third verse third
38:06verse isn't a letter per se
38:08it's a recording
38:10and the Stan this fan of Eminem
38:13he's recording himself
38:16kidnapping
38:18in true Eminem Fashion Is God
38:21um
38:23his uh his girlfriend
38:25and doing this weird kind of
38:28murder-suicide plot
38:31and he's recording this thing to Eminem
38:34and then at the end of the verse of the
38:37third verse he comes to the realization
38:39like we're going to drive this car over
38:41this bridge
38:43he's like oh [ __ ] how am I going to send
38:45this out
38:48right
38:49but that's not the plot twist is it for
38:53the stands of Eminem Who know right
38:55that's not the plot twist but that's
38:56great he got to stop right there
38:58but there's a fourth verse
39:00right kind of breaks this to this one
39:03one two structure or this this three is
39:06trifecta this tricolon was like one one
39:09then the twist
39:10he does one one one twist
39:13and the twist is
39:15Eminem
39:16finally receives
39:19the letter
39:21from the first verse
39:23right and he sits down to respond to it
39:27he says Dear Stan
39:29I appreciate that you got all my records
39:31right I'm sorry I couldn't get back to
39:34you I was on tour hey man I hear you
39:36going through a lot hey just you know
39:37chill out you'll be all right
39:39and then Eminem as he gets toward the
39:41end of the verse he said you know
39:42sometimes people do crazy things like
39:45there was this guy who got upset and he
39:48took his car with his girlfriend and he
39:51drove it off a bridge Into the
39:52Wilderness and Eminem has the Epiphany
39:54like oh [ __ ]
39:56it was you
39:59right
40:01the layering and the complexity
40:03right of how he worked
40:06right
40:07that repetition break repetition plot
40:10break structure right masterful
40:13right taking a very simple concept that
40:17we all learned when we were kids
40:20because we all knew China
40:23right
40:24so it's
40:26very very simple macros
40:30right that we've all can
40:32process and all have been
40:35privy to but then how do we turn around
40:38and use that
40:39in our work as rappers
40:42right very basic things instead of
40:44trying to do a bunch of details
40:48right a bunch of word flips and name
40:50flips and multiple syllables
40:52am I rapping it's having a hitting an
40:54end right right okay that's cool
40:56right why don't can you master these
40:59basic things
41:01and then the argument becomes Stan is
41:03one of the highest selling records of
41:05all time
41:08in any genre of music
41:11right to the point where the name of the
41:13song entered into common vernacular
41:19the power of rap
41:21right on par
41:24right
41:25on par culturally with E and E equals MC
41:28squared
41:31right on par
41:34right
41:36and other kind of catchphrases from
41:38different fields science social sciences
41:41archeology whatever you want history
41:44right Stan is right there
41:47right General if ever is a song that I
41:50wrote it's about a little girl
41:52true story and was janayla
41:55she was six months old
41:57she's murdered in Chicago
41:59she was she was shot about six times
42:03the gunman was trying to kill her father
42:07in retaliation
42:08stealing a PlayStation
42:12he didn't know that jenayla was sitting
42:14on the lap
42:16he just ran up to the car and started
42:17shooting
42:18Mr father hit her six times
42:21a six-month-old baby
42:23destroyed the city
42:27right I was like
42:30I need to make that a song right now
42:33and the song was about Janella
42:36growing up
42:38going to school being really smart
42:42going to school going to med school
42:44becoming a doctor
42:46instead of going to work at let's just
42:49call it
42:50I don't know MGH
42:53or whatever the hospital is
42:56um
42:56she goes to open up a free clinic
42:59in the neighborhood in which she grew up
43:01in
43:02and then one day she's in the office she
43:05hears some gunshots outside
43:08and then she runs outside
43:10to this van
43:12and gets this little girl
43:15triages her stabilizes her
43:18to the paramedics can come and
43:20eventually see you saved saves a little
43:22girl
43:24she doesn't realize that she just saved
43:25herself
43:28right
43:30repetition repetition
43:33The Twist the power of that the surprise
43:36all surprises don't have to be good
43:38surprises they can happen in they call
43:41it valence it could be somewhat sad
43:42right it doesn't have to be but a little
43:45glimmer of hope
43:46in there
43:48doesn't change the situation but it's
43:51cathartic it helps
43:53yeah
43:54Sing About Me Kendrick Lamar
43:57me to me one of his his greatest record
44:03just the first verse
44:07where he's singing about a guy wrapping
44:09him out of God
44:10who's in the streets
44:13and was involved in some violence
44:16and he does it a different way
44:19so I reveal I say it I reveal it you
44:22know you bet you didn't know you didn't
44:24you just saved yourself
44:26Eminem reveals it the words he says oh
44:30oh [ __ ] it it was you
44:34Kendrick and his genius
44:39he he's writing a letter in the in the
44:41person in this as he as if he's this God
44:44and he's like hey if you're if I live to
44:47see your album come out
44:53you just did a series of gunshots then
44:55the verse stops the beat keeps going
45:01so God he dies
45:04right if I live to see her I'm coming I
45:06just want you to do
45:10right repetition break structure in the
45:13class we study this
45:15right we'll take examples
45:18we'll set up a theme we'll say okay
45:19we're going to talk about surprise we're
45:21going to talk about a very specific type
45:23of surprise on how to utilize it and
45:25execute it and we'll use this particular
45:26frame right we'll start with three
45:28little pigs and then we'll end on
45:30Kendrick Lamar right and show you
45:32different ways to navigate and assess
45:34and then hopefully accomplish that
45:35process in your own work
45:37you can talk about whatever you want
45:39you talk about three little pigs if you
45:40want right so that's the rhyme you know
45:43that's the only thing I ask and it has
45:45to be to a Beat
45:49there's more it's not just surprise
45:52right I call them Primes
45:55because I like to sound smart
45:58mathematical
46:00but fundamental rap primes we just went
46:03through surprisal there's different ways
46:05there's different mechanisms there's
46:06different approaches to generate
46:08surprise
46:09right to navigate through it right to
46:11process it the hope would be the same
46:14way that you did the acronym for rap you
46:17do that for a surprise
46:18right you look at this thing you look at
46:21this word the single word the single
46:22concept and you approach it from all
46:24these different angles and waves to try
46:26and hack it
46:28right come up with new novel surprising
46:32ways to surprise
46:34right maybe it's do it in a group
46:38right do a little Think Tank right do a
46:41little something do figure out different
46:43Avenues to generate that
46:46rhyme is the another one
46:49metaphor
46:51tone
46:53and then etc
46:54etc
46:55etc etc
46:57right and we can do this all day
46:59right all of those very very fundamental
47:01uh very very powerful things that we
47:04interface with on a daily basis are just
47:05kind of sitting dormant in rap
47:08waiting to kind of be explored in a very
47:10methodical very classical way
47:13with the goal of creating new work
47:17right not all work new work I want to
47:21create new work we have to advance some
47:23of these problems or rethink them in
47:25fundamental ways with the new knowledge
47:27or the New Perspectives that you as a
47:29younger generation have
47:31that I don't possess
47:33yeah
47:34yeah
47:36cool
47:38that's the name of the class for uh MIT
47:41undergrads
47:43it is also open to
47:46Harvard
47:48Wellesley and mass art in terms of cross
47:51registration so if you're interested
47:53you're our student of vanilla schools
47:55you know somebody that's in any of those
47:57schools
47:58they're more than welcome to apply
48:00that is the course number special
48:02subject
48:03CMS S60 rap theory in practice
48:07it'll be up on pre it'll be up for
48:09pre-registration tomorrow
48:10actually
48:12um
48:13and then outside of this
48:17one of the
48:18conundrums that me and dakati have been
48:20trying to solve
48:22is making sure that the community of not
48:24only Cambridge but Boston wide and
48:27Beyond those are able to participate in
48:30the course and in the class in some
48:32capacity so the syllabus will be up if
48:35you want to follow along nine times out
48:38of ten we will be working with ocw which
48:40is open courseware here at MIT to at
48:42least record it there's other things
48:44that we're thinking about and primarily
48:45we still want to hold sessions like this
48:47so talks that are open to the public
48:49open open to the to the grad students
48:52open to faculty open to staff anybody
48:54that wants to come in and kind of
48:56address and run through these in a
48:58different way for folks that are
48:59interested in taking a class want to
49:01have a little bit more information you
49:03will be rapping and recording in the
49:04class
49:05your final project is the EP
49:08I will [ __ ] fail you
49:15right I will
49:18I so will fail you
49:21my name is Fiasco so
49:23that is a failure and I have no problem
49:27sharing you
49:30no I don't know but I do want you to
49:32take it seriously
49:34you don't have to know how to rap
49:36I'll teach you
49:39um but you will be expected to rap and
49:41you will have rap assignments that you
49:42have to turn in okay so if you're afraid
49:45or if that's a challenge for you I
49:46cordially invite you so it's a wonderful
49:48experience I've taught this before so I
49:51know it works
49:53um but yeah so that's just a little
49:54information on the class if you're
49:57interested in going through some of
49:58those white papers about surprise
50:00um this is the uh
50:02uh it's a body of papers got the
50:05ubiquity of surprise developments and
50:06Theory conversion evidence and
50:08implications for cognition and it goes
50:10from computational like actual computer
50:13science all the way to cognitive theory
50:15it's a basic more even more kind of
50:17theories and applications a way to
50:18approach a prize and it's in a journal
50:21called topics
50:23um which is topics in cognitive science
50:24and it's on online
50:26Wiley library for those who are kind of
50:29astute but you you better if you're
50:31looking for it that is the uh the bundle
50:32of papers if you want to continue on
50:36yes
50:38there is an ER tournament
50:41I uh I play er there's a few other
50:43people who play her in this room maybe
50:44you don't know where her is but now's
50:46your time
50:47to do the thing with the phone maybe
50:49maybe you'll pick it up maybe not or you
50:51can go to player.org it's something we
50:54started here at MIT not too long ago
50:56this Society International the uh it is
50:58the governing body the only governing
51:00body for ER in the world
51:02I did it when I was finishing my
51:04syllabus because I got bored
51:06um and now we're throwing our first
51:08tournament
51:09at the BSU the black student union and a
51:12walker and it is uh Friday five o'clock
51:15it is ten dollars to register
51:18um but there are sponsored slots for the
51:21Brokey brokes
51:23um
51:24and there's a 250 first prize so come
51:27have some fun with us there'll be staff
51:29there it'll be students there's it's a
51:30great we've been playing for a couple
51:32like a month so if you're interested
51:34um there's that
51:35and then thank you appreciate your time
51:39coming out in the weather and the rain
51:41and I hope it added value and I will
51:44leave the balance of the time for
51:45questions or insights or follow-ups or
51:47hate mail which I also will take
51:50confrontations fights you want to throw
51:52hands I'm here for that
51:54um but yeah so appreciate you all hope
51:56it uh added value
51:57[Applause]
52:14all right uh I'm back as the Q a bouncer
52:18and wanted direct your attention to the
52:21two microphones we have set up
52:24please come to uh one of these if you
52:28have a question
52:29uh
52:31Mr Fiasco over here will be glad to
52:35address it absolutely
52:37there's uh two mics down here if you
52:39want to pull up this is your chance yeah
52:47[Music]
52:49what made you write the song hip-hop
52:51saved my life
52:56I mean because it did
53:00um
53:01a lot of my friends are dead
53:04um
53:18so
53:21me it did
53:23you know
53:25um
53:28I'm sure
53:31that I would have survived
53:33you know
53:35but it preserved a life that I wanted to
53:37lead
53:39right because of multiple lives we leave
53:41we lead a different life every day
53:42multiple lives in a day right but which
53:45life do you want to lead the most you
53:48know and Hip-Hop gave me the tools
53:51um and the opportunities
53:53proof is in the pudding
53:55um to live the life that I wanted to
53:57live yeah
54:00um
54:02hip-hop also kills a lot
54:04you know so just weird
54:06dichotomous balance that we're trying to
54:09do
54:10the song itself was was uh uh homage to
54:13Houston Texas though to the rap to the
54:16to the scene the hip-hop scene in
54:18Houston Texas which I was a huge fan of
54:20a huge fan of the uh the artist it's
54:22actually kind of loosely based on the
54:24life of Slim Thug
54:27um and if you see the video you see like
54:29Bambi in there you see a few other cats
54:31from Houston in there
54:32um
54:33and yeah it was it's a it's an homage to
54:36that scene I thought they were
54:37superheroes like when you look at
54:39Houston rappers and they Mouse on Iced
54:41Out the swag the whole I was like oh
54:43these dude like Paul Wall and all those
54:45guys so it was an homage to them but the
54:47message overall was you know it does
54:50save lives if you let it
54:52you know if you wanted to
54:55uh first off I want to say thank you
54:57Lupe for being here and one sharing your
54:59art throughout the years really
55:00appreciate it
55:01um my question is actually regarding
55:04just your philosophy for learning
55:06um I spent a lot of time listening to
55:08your podcast during the pandemic and one
55:11thing I really appreciated was hearing
55:12how you talked about your father and how
55:14he knew just a lot about everything and
55:16I think as someone like you you know a
55:18lot about everything as well too so I
55:20was just curious to hear about your
55:21philosophy for Learning and how you
55:23approach new things each day
55:25um
55:29I mean I love learning man you know I
55:31love it
55:33um we have nothing else to do you know
55:36um part of it is everything materially
55:38that I've ever wanted I had
55:40you know
55:42um everything
55:43experientially to a degree I've
55:45experienced
55:48um
55:49and that's not to like like humble Flex
55:51or anything like that but it's like of
55:54all the only thing left was to learn you
55:57know so I come to school every day I
56:00don't go to college right so this is my
56:03freshman year and I'm treating it like
56:05my freshman year at MIT right and so I
56:07just go to my office every day and read
56:08white papers you know and people come by
56:11and they drop off books they say hey do
56:12you want to go to the lab and I'm in
56:14there just like a freshman just in there
56:15doing Transformations and pipetting [ __ ]
56:17and reading through kind of historical
56:19monographs and all type of other
56:21craziness and I've been doing that since
56:23I was a kid I've been reading this like
56:25when I my sister's legend about me is
56:27that uh I used to just read the
56:29encyclopedia
56:31you know
56:33um and I think even just through rap I
56:36wanted to I want to talk about other
56:38things I don't want to talk about the
56:39same old ribbon Monroe I want to talk
56:41about different things novel things
56:42surprising things and it requires kind
56:45of extending yourself opening yourself
56:46up to other conversations right to other
56:50knowledge bases to other ideologies even
56:53if you disagree with them right and I
56:56look at my track record and I've made
56:57records about nuclear weapons I've made
56:59records about Houston Texas I've made
57:02records about skateboarding I've made
57:03anything that I could you know that
57:06spoke to me I pursued and pursued it
57:09deeply right and even me being at MIT
57:12part of this is like yeah I'm gonna
57:13teach some of the things that I know but
57:15I'm really here learning more than I'm
57:17teaching know because I want to get
57:19deeper into you know surprise you know I
57:22want to get deeper into rhyme I want to
57:23get deeper into Rhythm I want to get
57:25deeper into other things so I'm just
57:26constantly learning never stop learning
57:28right because you don't have a choice
57:31that's the real thing you're always
57:32going to learn
57:33so you might as well be very intentional
57:35about the things that you want to learn
57:36and then be very intentional about how
57:37you want to operationalize and submit
57:40those learnings in your own life yeah so
57:45which idea did you have first the song
57:48the Cool or the album the cool and what
57:50was your inspiration behind it
57:53um the cool started out my mentor was
57:55Cornell West Dr Cornell West and him
57:59Tavis Smiley I want to say uh Dr Dyson
58:03Michael Eric Dyson as well they were
58:05doing like this speaking tour kind of
58:07randomly right
58:10um and I don't know if it's part of like
58:11this the state of Black America it was
58:13something like this very just
58:14interesting it would go to these
58:15theaters and different cities and they
58:17would just sit up there and be smart
58:18right
58:20um and Cornell West said we have to find
58:24a way
58:25to make the things that are harmful
58:29uncool and make the things that you know
58:33are good
58:34cool
58:36and it was like
58:38I gotcha
58:41right
58:42um
58:43and I became the the initial point right
58:46a command was given by one of the elders
58:49you know to the artistic class who spoke
58:51to the youth with a mission to make
58:54those things uncool
58:55and I went right and then the whole
58:58process you might have seen some of it
58:59play out here the whole process of okay
59:02what do we do what is the most
59:06Immortal story
59:08that persists through all culture
59:11right what is that Trope that just never
59:15dies
59:16zombies
59:18right Thriller is one of the biggest
59:20records in the world
59:22and I was like oh zombies
59:24oh yeah zombies
59:27right so I'm going to turn the cool [ __ ]
59:31into a zombie Rotting Flesh
59:34you know like all of those trappings but
59:37I'm gonna do it through a frame so that
59:39it sticks and it stays
59:41right and it's my most popular album
59:43it's my highest selling album
59:46right and so there's something to that
59:48oh yeah being very intentional about
59:49that work and how you do it
59:52um
59:53and then it was just putting other
59:55pieces to it building out the storyline
59:57with the streets and the game and
59:59putting them in a narrative and having
01:00:01them play against each other and
01:00:02creating these different ideologies and
01:00:04then pulling in these different concepts
01:00:05that are cool a lot of it was uh Miles
01:00:08Davis the birth of the cool so it's like
01:00:11he did the birth of the cool I'm gonna
01:00:12do the death of the cool
01:00:15I can die right
01:00:17um so a lot of those decisions are very
01:00:19intentional to speak to history so that
01:00:21when questions are asked like that I
01:00:24could say oh there was a little
01:00:25influence from Miles Davis birth of the
01:00:27cool have you ever heard that album
01:00:28have you
01:00:30yeah now you're gonna hear it now
01:00:32yeah so
01:00:34indeed indeed right learning moments to
01:00:37help build into your own craft
01:00:39right but if you don't have that type of
01:00:41intentionality with how you learn and
01:00:43how you operationalize the things you
01:00:44learn then you won't be able to pass
01:00:46those things along right
01:00:49um
01:00:51what's up Ian Mr Professor condry great
01:00:54talk thank you so much for tonight
01:00:57um yeah so about surprise uh you know
01:00:59one thing so interesting about it is it
01:01:01keeps changing right there's no the old
01:01:03surprise I was thinking you know back in
01:01:05the day break dancing look he's spinning
01:01:07on his head and now it's like oh yeah
01:01:08it's break dancing and look he's
01:01:09scratching the record oh my God what's
01:01:11that and then it's like oh yeah he's
01:01:12scratching a record are there things
01:01:15that you've noticed lately and sort of
01:01:17how hip-hop's evolving and say oh yeah
01:01:19I thought there was nowhere to go but
01:01:21now this surprised me or because we're
01:01:23already used to all this other stuff
01:01:24like for you what what's a new frontier
01:01:27for surprise
01:01:28um
01:01:30devolving
01:01:33right there's a de-evolution taking
01:01:36place
01:01:37right
01:01:38um and that's surprising
01:01:40because hip-hop was all about evolution
01:01:44right it was all about multiple forms
01:01:47and that still exists and I want to take
01:01:49away from that
01:01:51but it's devolving content-wise or if if
01:01:54it's not devolving to that degree
01:01:57it's
01:01:59super adapted
01:02:01to the point where it has no other place
01:02:04to go and it's starting to become
01:02:05complacent and it's setting itself up to
01:02:08get overthrown and that is surprising
01:02:11and so what I look for is what is the
01:02:14thing that's coming next to disco
01:02:16hip-hop
01:02:17right
01:02:19right Punk got disco out of there a
01:02:22little bit then like rock and roll and
01:02:25Hip-Hop kind of got punk out of there
01:02:26now hip-hop is doing and rap is doing
01:02:30some of the same things that those
01:02:32genres which are still there but they're
01:02:35there calcified
01:02:37right and they're kind of being pulled
01:02:39from maybe an electronic music or just
01:02:41down the third but as a as a genre
01:02:43leading type thing or a genre in and of
01:02:45itself where people are still Giorgio
01:02:47moroder is like I mean he did the Daft
01:02:49Punk piece but it's like maybe that
01:02:51counts but it's not everywhere right
01:02:54but maybe it is we'll have that
01:02:56conversation later right
01:02:58um but I feel like that's what's
01:02:59happening
01:03:00right I feel like there's there's a
01:03:02paradigm shift that's about to happen
01:03:04and that some of that Ultraviolence
01:03:07right is contributing not only to the
01:03:10death of the artists themselves but to
01:03:13the death of the genre
01:03:15right
01:03:17um because it's starting it used to be
01:03:19surprising to hear somebody say I'm
01:03:21going to kill such and such
01:03:23right I was like oh my God
01:03:26he said he was going to kill such and
01:03:28such did you hear that cut that music
01:03:29off boy now that is there is no
01:03:33alternative
01:03:35and you can't cut the music off
01:03:38right it can't be that stuck out it's
01:03:40too it's too democratic
01:03:43so anyway that's what I think is it is
01:03:45but in terms of rap itself I really as
01:03:48you know I really enjoy Japanese hip-hop
01:03:51um it's always interesting to see the
01:03:53new artist that come out of these places
01:03:55where you don't expect it I expect it
01:03:57because I know the history but it's
01:03:59still interesting to see how they're
01:04:00taking the Farms that are coming out in
01:04:03the new generations and then processing
01:04:04it right and then given their kind of
01:04:07cultural spin on it so yeah
01:04:10appreciate you
01:04:11yo what's going on boss appreciate you
01:04:14um for the for tonight
01:04:16um so I got two questions the first one
01:04:18is really light it's um it's more so
01:04:20about the class like what's the process
01:04:22for a tough student particularly a Tufts
01:04:25graduate student if they wanted to to
01:04:26register for this class and then the
01:04:28second one is um in light of what you
01:04:31what you kind of discuss it it kind of
01:04:33like sheds like on the the morphing um
01:04:36or the appreciation of rap as an art and
01:04:38a science so what's what's your process
01:04:41for writing particularly in periods
01:04:43where you might have like a um a block
01:04:46of some sort in your writing
01:04:50um I don't believe there's a such thing
01:04:51as Rogers block
01:04:53um there's some we've had some
01:04:55interesting conversations in Sosa about
01:04:57that
01:04:58um some very very interesting
01:05:01kind of
01:05:02like there's a physical thing that is
01:05:04supposed to represent rather that's very
01:05:06interesting but anyway
01:05:07um I don't believe in writer's block
01:05:10um I believe that like there's some
01:05:12times where you just shouldn't write
01:05:14I do believe that
01:05:16I put the pin down my God you know go
01:05:19experience maybe you take that as a
01:05:21signal for you need new experiences
01:05:24right
01:05:26um
01:05:26I don't believe I don't necessarily
01:05:28believe in writer's wife because I have
01:05:29such a fascination with the base of word
01:05:32right maybe this is a lesson for you
01:05:35um If you experience in writer's block
01:05:37maybe there's something to you asking
01:05:38that question because you you got right
01:05:41as well right
01:05:43um like I fell in love with words
01:05:45you know in the same way where you can
01:05:47go back and analyze and assess just
01:05:49stretching vowels in the same word very
01:05:52basic things and pull out new meanings
01:05:54if not new semantic meanings new kind of
01:05:57structural kind of presentations or new
01:06:00Sonic ideas that come out of that you
01:06:03know
01:06:04um
01:06:05and just just work with the material
01:06:07that's there until something comes up of
01:06:09Interest right that's not necessarily a
01:06:11block like you're working
01:06:12right
01:06:13if if that's what you're doing
01:06:16right if you're just kind of like keep
01:06:18trying to throw bars and gather all
01:06:20these punch lines and be as witty as you
01:06:21can and you're coming up with weak ass
01:06:23punchlines
01:06:24um there are a bunch of weak ass punch
01:06:26lines you know I come up with silly dumb
01:06:29punch lines like nope nope no no no no
01:06:33um but then also come with a little fire
01:06:34thing here and there but a majority come
01:06:36up with is Concepts and a ways to
01:06:39approach a particular concept as opposed
01:06:41to like I need this bar to be dope
01:06:43because I want to sound like I'm on URL
01:06:45with every verse and it's like nah you
01:06:47know just enjoy words you know enjoy the
01:06:50feeling that you get when you have a
01:06:52novel idea and you get that Cascade of
01:06:55dopamine and it's like oh
01:06:56lovely right so you got it oh yeah
01:07:00what's up brother
01:07:02hey what's up Lupe uh firstly thank you
01:07:04for coming huge fan
01:07:06um so I was going to ask you two
01:07:08questions the first question was just
01:07:11asked
01:07:12um
01:07:13in regards to how do you approach
01:07:15writing
01:07:16um you know do you come in with the
01:07:18freestyle but you just talked about that
01:07:20so I'll go on to my second question
01:07:21which was what's your perspective on
01:07:25redrafting something you've already
01:07:27written or perhaps something you've
01:07:29already recorded
01:07:31um
01:07:32I mean I draft in real time I edit in
01:07:35real time right so as I'm writing I'm
01:07:37editing right
01:07:40um and there's some things that I won't
01:07:41depending on what the
01:07:44the
01:07:45what I'm writing for
01:07:48right if I'm just writing for the joy of
01:07:50writing then that you don't edit because
01:07:53you're writing for whatever comes out
01:07:55and you're writing things that feel good
01:07:57to you right if I'm writing to sell some
01:07:59records it'll be different right from
01:08:01writing to going to a battle would be
01:08:02different if I'm trying to go into
01:08:03something different
01:08:05um
01:08:06there is something to
01:08:11approaching things
01:08:14very systematically
01:08:16right if you have all of this kind of
01:08:19nascent knowledge there right if you're
01:08:22coming in within you've been practicing
01:08:24very intentional things right and then
01:08:26you can kind of suspend it was a there's
01:08:28a great uh jazz player by the name of
01:08:32Bill Evans right jazz pianist right and
01:08:35he says well you learn all of this kind
01:08:37of classical training and all these
01:08:39different core structures and you learn
01:08:41all this static you know kind of stuff
01:08:43and very academic and you you go through
01:08:45these standards and standards and
01:08:47standards and standards standard
01:08:48standards so these things become innate
01:08:51then once they become innate
01:08:53you can then collapse all that and then
01:08:56you can create
01:08:57right freely but you're creating from a
01:09:00space of Education you know you're
01:09:02creating from a space of knowledge as
01:09:03opposed to creating just pure virtuosity
01:09:05right and so that idea of
01:09:08build up your basic skill sets
01:09:12right if you build these muscles then no
01:09:14matter what you do right you'll be
01:09:17you'll already have edited your your
01:09:19synapses would have already kind of
01:09:21built in certain ways where it's just
01:09:22been like oh we only do this
01:09:24so if you build yourself just to don't
01:09:26do because you can do that you can build
01:09:27yourself to just do punch lines
01:09:30right and at the expense of what though
01:09:33right but you can do that you can build
01:09:35yours you can build a certain schema set
01:09:37that only makes this type of writing or
01:09:39that type of writing
01:09:41um
01:09:42but sometimes I do freestyle it out too
01:09:45right there is a there is something to
01:09:47just top lining business
01:09:54I'm gonna get in the back of this place
01:09:56and show everybody what I can do with my
01:09:58face I'm a smile on the style and hold
01:10:00down the island everybody
01:10:02maybe I'm gonna move into the South
01:10:04maybe I'm going to do Atlanta
01:10:06[Music]
01:10:07um
01:10:08maybe I'm gonna hit him with the cameras
01:10:10and scanners and animals right so that's
01:10:13just like got this top line
01:10:15just which is just these words but a
01:10:17feel and then I'm gonna come back and
01:10:19I'm gonna find the words that match that
01:10:20but if your vocabulary is this big
01:10:24you're not gonna do that
01:10:26right so focus on the basics
01:10:28Mastery of Basics is mastery period
01:10:33right
01:10:35thank you you got it yo
01:10:38song peace uh thank you for doing this
01:10:41I'm not an MIT student I'm studying film
01:10:43at Emerson so the fact that's open to
01:10:46Public's really cool of you so thank you
01:10:48um I have another writing question I
01:10:49think we got a lot of writers in here
01:10:50but uh all of your albums and songs uh
01:10:54feel like you build a world and then
01:10:56fill it with your ideas and thoughts so
01:10:58do you build a world and then go from
01:11:02there
01:11:02and develop an album through that or do
01:11:04you do it retroactively do you have uh
01:11:06specific song ideas and individual ideas
01:11:08you want to express to people and then
01:11:10build a world going backwards from there
01:11:13I mean you're always going to build a
01:11:15world
01:11:16right you're never not building a world
01:11:18right or borrowing a world
01:11:21right and maybe re colonizing different
01:11:24parts of that world right rarely do I
01:11:26hear somebody building a world
01:11:29from scratch I hear a lot of borrowing
01:11:31of Worlds or invasion of other worlds
01:11:34right
01:11:36um so be be cognizant of that
01:11:38um
01:11:39but with that said as just kind of like
01:11:41a general framework like yeah you I I
01:11:44start with a word
01:11:47that sounds good
01:11:49right like
01:11:52paper tiger
01:11:54right I'm like oh [ __ ] Paper Tigers
01:11:57origami
01:11:59um origami that's Japan oh but that's
01:12:00also these sharp edges
01:12:02oh okay what else have sharp edges maybe
01:12:04that Radiohead album cover for kid a
01:12:06Amnesia oh then you start to populate
01:12:10just off that one word right
01:12:12but you want to start with something
01:12:14very strong very visible but also maybe
01:12:16something very mysterious so it can
01:12:18become a surprising moment for somebody
01:12:19once you unfold that tiger and you
01:12:21realize it's the note
01:12:22That Eminem was writing back to stand
01:12:24right he didn't know what to do with it
01:12:26so he folded into a paper tiger and he
01:12:28put it on thing and it's like oh [ __ ]
01:12:30that's [ __ ] crazy little baby it's
01:12:31not all the songs in the talk together
01:12:33all right
01:12:35um so sometimes you build a world
01:12:37sometimes you borrow somebody else's
01:12:38world
01:12:39like how I just borrowed Stan's world
01:12:41right but now I Incorporated this idea
01:12:44into it to point it toward this culture
01:12:46so now we have this type of conversation
01:12:49right but that other world is still here
01:12:51so instead of building a world let's
01:12:53build a universe
01:12:55right let's build a system
01:12:57right and that's kind of where I am I
01:12:59want to build systems interconnected
01:13:00things
01:13:02um
01:13:03but it also depends on what
01:13:05the project is drill music is Zion I
01:13:09need to record an album in 24 hours from
01:13:11scratch
01:13:12right
01:13:13the first record is going to decide
01:13:16or here's the title
01:13:18cool
01:13:19it's a little vague but it sounds good
01:13:22right but it's from The Matrix
01:13:24so if anything happens we always get the
01:13:27Matrix right if anything happens that's
01:13:29from The Matrix Lupi I don't understand
01:13:31what this means it's just like Pac-Man
01:13:32or something like this like it's from
01:13:33The Matrix for the Matrix right
01:13:36um and then you'd start to just it's a
01:13:38time thing it's not even about what I
01:13:40want to do it's what I have to do if I'm
01:13:42going to meet this
01:13:43is time limit right kind of like this
01:13:46talk
01:13:47um
01:13:48but yeah so it depends on what I'm
01:13:51trying to do at that time some some
01:13:53records take a very long time I'm still
01:13:55writing this record called Samurai right
01:13:58which is the life of Amy Winehouse
01:14:00as a battle rapper right it's like holy
01:14:03[ __ ] right but it's like right
01:14:07um
01:14:08so it's it's a lot of different things a
01:14:10lot of different ways to go but do you
01:14:13understand all of them
01:14:15can you do all of them
01:14:18right as opposed to being aware of them
01:14:20and then how many different paths do you
01:14:22have
01:14:23at your disposal that's more important
01:14:26right having multiple paths
01:14:30yes hey salute my name is Chris what's
01:14:32up Chris first off late thank you
01:14:34because uh
01:14:36uh Food and Liquor was the first album
01:14:38or what in my household was this first
01:14:40secular album I bought oh wow thank you
01:14:42yeah and uh maybe wide in my perspective
01:14:45on what I perceived to be true and maybe
01:14:47look into a wider scope you know so
01:14:49thank you for that for sure because I
01:14:51learned from Abu gray to
01:14:53from a gold watch everything that was on
01:14:55gold watch from learning about what
01:14:57Heisman body was to I'd be just looking
01:15:00at the websites so I appreciate you for
01:15:02that oh you got it you got it but uh
01:15:04question I got is because
01:15:06so I remember the Japanese cartoon and
01:15:11remember Hello Goodbye had a real Punk
01:15:13feel to it and how early on did bands
01:15:18like uh I assume Joy Joy Division was
01:15:20one of your Inspirations yeah yeah Queen
01:15:23and how early on did that inspire you
01:15:26and like affect your writing
01:15:29um punk music is always just
01:15:31aesthetically we good
01:15:33okay they're not going to turn the
01:15:35lights off but our audio visual support
01:15:38will bounce ends in six minutes okay so
01:15:42uh we want to see if we can get to as
01:15:45many questions as possible maybe about
01:15:48the shapes indeed rather than the
01:15:50details in the details see how you use
01:15:52that against me
01:15:55could you cast that you see how you did
01:15:56that
01:15:57always been a fan of punk from a
01:15:59performative aspect to an aesthetic
01:16:01aspect right the energy of it the vibe I
01:16:05based my live shows if not the music
01:16:07pump Japanese cartoon was my I have a
01:16:09punk band called Japanese cartoon well I
01:16:11sing in a British accent it's [ __ ]
01:16:12hilarious
01:16:14um
01:16:15but more for the performative aspect so
01:16:17my stage shows a lot of that is pulled
01:16:19from Bad Brains and nerd and you know
01:16:22Punk and Ian Curtis and like stuff like
01:16:24that right
01:16:25um how they performed minimally without
01:16:27a lot of [ __ ] and we're still able to
01:16:29put on an energetic show and what does
01:16:31that take right so that's kind of like
01:16:33the cue for that and what I kind of
01:16:36pulled from that genre in a direct way
01:16:39that you can see right like when I'm on
01:16:41stage while on the [ __ ] out yeah cool yo
01:16:44we're gonna cycle through these things
01:16:45we're gonna get shapes
01:16:48you know
01:16:50good evening good evening thank you
01:16:52maybe I can keep mine brief with an
01:16:55invitation ah you mentioned earlier how
01:16:58you can get more of this out there I am
01:17:01a public school teacher hey just across
01:17:04the other side of Mass Ave in Arlington
01:17:06so you can come on over anytime
01:17:10um because what I was going to ask is
01:17:12both for the kids and for the teachers
01:17:15definitely and especially the district
01:17:17in which I work this is probably not the
01:17:20type of literature that is embraced so
01:17:23I'm wondering how to maybe get more
01:17:25teachers to kind of
01:17:27cultivate this different type of poetry
01:17:30in their classroom and also for the
01:17:33young kids that are dreaming of this
01:17:36being the next Lupe Fiasco who having no
01:17:39time to pay attention to my English
01:17:41class
01:17:42what message would you give them
01:17:46um the message I would give to your
01:17:47English class directly is uh
01:17:50I'm without 1984.
01:17:52the book 1984 which I got in my English
01:17:54class
01:17:55right there is no Lupe Fiasco right
01:17:58arguably right because it was like oh
01:18:00you can tell a story like this and it
01:18:02has double think
01:18:05this concept of double thing and in the
01:18:07end at the back of uh of 1984 there's a
01:18:10whole dictionary which defines like all
01:18:11the words that they were using in the
01:18:13book and it was like a whole like weird
01:18:15like breakdown of it I was like oh my
01:18:17God double think oh two ideas operating
01:18:20at the same time oh man these bars
01:18:22punchlines metaphors um I need to have
01:18:24multiple triple entombres double
01:18:25entender is when I write raps so it
01:18:27became a teaching moment right so it was
01:18:30but I had to do that
01:18:32right nobody nobody said that now that
01:18:35you know
01:18:36you can see like what are you interested
01:18:38in my greatest teacher his name is Mr
01:18:41Kendrick
01:18:42Mr K rest in peace
01:18:45it was like
01:18:47[ __ ] all this
01:18:49right I'm gonna just give you this D so
01:18:52you can pass
01:18:53so you can focus on what you want to do
01:18:56right and I'm just here to empower and
01:18:59Surround what you already are good at
01:19:01and what you want to do so take this
01:19:04stuff
01:19:05right and then how can we apply it to
01:19:09what you already do
01:19:11and it's meeting them where they are
01:19:13right and then for at least for me
01:19:15humbly I would say so just tell them
01:19:17like hey man you can rap about this
01:19:21right
01:19:22because Lupe Fiasco said so
01:19:24um appreciate you but I will pay I will
01:19:26pay a visit yeah absolutely
01:19:29for sure
01:19:32hi Lou um so I have a question you
01:19:35mentioned the repetition break technique
01:19:37and you listed three songs but I'm
01:19:40curious if I have the wrong idea about
01:19:42that because the first thing that came
01:19:43in my mind is he say she say and the
01:19:47cool
01:19:48um because it comes back from the dead
01:19:50goes back to the people that killed him
01:19:52I was wondering why that wasn't listed
01:19:54or if I just have the wrong concept
01:19:57sometimes I forget my own songs
01:20:01and I was trying to find the most
01:20:03obvious examples oh okay
01:20:05um and and that's why but you're correct
01:20:06you're correct that that frame is there
01:20:08sometimes it's there unconsciously you
01:20:11know because that's just we were taught
01:20:12to tell stories in a certain way and we
01:20:14reference the stories that we know the
01:20:15most and are the most simple right so
01:20:17but you're correct it is in a cool it's
01:20:19in it's in other songs as well right and
01:20:22sometimes it's reversed
01:20:23right it's about oh how do we reverse
01:20:25that process what we actually start with
01:20:27the reveal and then it becomes educate
01:20:30you after the fact and then you're like
01:20:32oh [ __ ] that was a giant robot right
01:20:34kind of deal so yeah thank you thanks
01:20:37Mars yo
01:20:39nice to see you again
01:20:42so keep my question short how do you
01:20:45think that we like Mig students like
01:20:46scientists physicists Engineers like
01:20:49working we contribute to the rap scene
01:20:51or to the hip-hop music or the culture
01:20:54say that again
01:20:55oh what part
01:20:59like everything okay
01:21:00so uh what do you think that say us like
01:21:04MIT students like physicists Engineers
01:21:06uh mathematicians what can we contribute
01:21:09oh oh wow wow so one of the best rappers
01:21:12at MIT right now
01:21:14is a nuclear physicist bruncino his name
01:21:17is Alex
01:21:19all he raps about is nuclear physics
01:21:21[Music]
01:21:24right and I'll put him on blast he came
01:21:26to me he's a grad student he went to
01:21:28Caltech and then came here for
01:21:29Grassroots
01:21:31um
01:21:32all right docati all he raps about all
01:21:35of his raps
01:21:37are about nuclear physics
01:21:40right and he gets oh my God right but
01:21:44they're really [ __ ] good
01:21:46and he can perform them at length he
01:21:49came and did a five minute thing just
01:21:51kind of like
01:21:52and I'm learning and excited and dancing
01:21:55and going crazy and I was like oh my God
01:21:57right so
01:21:59it's how you approach it do you want to
01:22:00use it as attorney as a learning tool do
01:22:02you want to you know think about it and
01:22:04do you want to come up with a mathematic
01:22:06mathematical formula that represents
01:22:07this because the other part of these
01:22:09these uh papers is there is a
01:22:11mathematical formula for a surprise
01:22:13right it's like here's this Delta stick
01:22:16bug thingy with a zoo right and that's
01:22:20how surprised look it feels a
01:22:21mathematical equation right and that
01:22:23exists for everything so maybe the
01:22:25support would be like hey
01:22:26take a look at what we do
01:22:28the same way that you look at
01:22:29nanoparticles right and what do you see
01:22:33and then come and have come be in
01:22:35concert with us and come conversate with
01:22:37the rappers right and then we can give
01:22:40you what we see in you and in your field
01:22:43and how we can say Hey you know if you
01:22:44talked about it this way or maybe if you
01:22:46approach it this way you know maybe
01:22:47people will get it right instead of
01:22:50saying like you what's what's the thing
01:22:52uh
01:22:54you know in in calculus right just say a
01:22:58little bit of
01:23:00right just say a little bit of like this
01:23:03DX over the the that's just saying a
01:23:06little bit of this and a little bit of
01:23:08that
01:23:08[Laughter]
01:23:11right
01:23:12um got cool cool be good all right cool
01:23:15thank you so I gotta tell you this is
01:23:18going to have to be our last question
01:23:19but before we take it uh you notice that
01:23:21we you could hear everything yes that we
01:23:23were saying so let's let's give it up
01:23:26audio visually not possible
01:23:32right
01:23:33I'll have this one more yeah
01:23:37the daughter of two professors over here
01:23:39hey that's why I'm here um I was
01:23:41wondering I think you have an
01:23:42interesting point about like how current
01:23:44state of rap is like you know coming
01:23:45from devolving there's like a lot of
01:23:47people again I'm sorry I think you made
01:23:48like a really interesting point about
01:23:50how a lot of like current rap is sort of
01:23:52like devolving like there's a lot of
01:23:53violence Etc I was wondering if there
01:23:55are any newer like rappers that you feel
01:23:57like bring something new to the game and
01:23:59have been like interesting you
01:24:02uh new rappers
01:24:05um
01:24:13I mean Alex here at MIT raps about
01:24:16nuclear physics I mean like oh my God
01:24:17right
01:24:19like he's ridiculous and amazing and
01:24:21phenomenal and he's like running a
01:24:23particle accelerator right now somewhere
01:24:25and writing raps about that [ __ ] and I'm
01:24:27like oh my God right when I when I went
01:24:30out to look at rap and I and this is
01:24:31something that's going to be relevant in
01:24:33the class right is
01:24:36there's rap
01:24:38music business rap and billboard and the
01:24:43charts and Spotify and all these other
01:24:46things that is this much of rap it is
01:24:49very very tiny reflection of what rap is
01:24:52and who's doing rap and where
01:24:55and I try and be tuned into all of it
01:24:58right and when you tune into all of it
01:25:00even though that that piece the violence
01:25:03is there and we can't shy away from that
01:25:06right all of the other things are there
01:25:08the ills are there
01:25:10um but there's also a lot of not you
01:25:12know I meet a guy who everything he raps
01:25:14about is nuclear physics I mean another
01:25:15guy everything and he doesn't even curse
01:25:17D1 doesn't even curse the his raps at
01:25:20all which is wild to me you should curse
01:25:23man
01:25:24listen it's delicious baby
01:25:28[Laughter]
01:25:31um so there's a range and I don't want
01:25:33to pigeonhole and I also don't want to
01:25:35just point out
01:25:37or or limit you to think that what's
01:25:40available on Spotify on the playlist is
01:25:43the only thing that you have and the
01:25:45only thing you have access to right some
01:25:47of the best rap that you're ever going
01:25:49to hear is the rap that you go out and
01:25:50find and discover that you go out when
01:25:52they're doing an open mic at the Middle
01:25:54East or they're doing a thing over at
01:25:55what have you you know or Cambridge
01:25:57Cipher is doing something or something
01:25:59like that right like that's where you're
01:26:00going to see these moments in a context
01:26:03that'll really speak to you right
01:26:05because there's something yeah you can
01:26:06listen to it in the iPod and you can
01:26:08listen to it in this and listen to it
01:26:09and add or whatever but there's
01:26:10something about discovering some random
01:26:12God you know freestyling on the corner
01:26:16you know and it's wow the way he
01:26:19Incorporated what she or they or them or
01:26:22whomever Incorporated this little thing
01:26:23and it was like wow that was that was
01:26:25really good that's rap and it counts
01:26:28and it's valid right so yeah and buy
01:26:31more Lupe Fiasco albums he's great I
01:26:33hear he's I hear I hear that guy's
01:26:36really good you know maybe maybe not
01:26:38we'll see but good thank you you're
01:26:40welcome appreciate the question
01:26:42um I'll wrap up
01:26:47I do want to highlight uh my brother D1
01:26:51here uh stand up D
01:26:54um
01:26:57it's it's uh what is it Serendipity or
01:27:01like it was meant to what's that word
01:27:03yeah it was serendipitous that's good
01:27:06right yeah okay cool
01:27:09um how we arrived here in Cambridge on
01:27:11the same plane in the not on the same
01:27:13airplane but in the same time frame with
01:27:15the same Mission so while I'm here at
01:27:18MIT doing this uh my brother D1 is a uh
01:27:22is a Nas fellow down at Harvard
01:27:26um at the uh uh African-American
01:27:30Institute right
01:27:31um with uh skip Gates and the other
01:27:33folks that are there Professor Morgan
01:27:34and so he'll be here for the year just
01:27:37like I'll be here for the year hopefully
01:27:38we'll be here longer than a year maybe
01:27:39right dude maybe hey you know hey
01:27:42hey you know
01:27:45um
01:27:46but Dia's down there doing amazing work
01:27:49researching uh the relationship between
01:27:51hip-hop and violence hip-hop and
01:27:53Divinity and all these interesting
01:27:56layers and Chambers that are of interest
01:27:59to him and doing it at at the highest
01:28:02levels is some of the highest and
01:28:03greatest institutions that America has
01:28:06to offer so two boys who are been
01:28:08welcomed into the Cambridge Cambridge
01:28:10family from our respective cities D is
01:28:12from New Orleans from Chicago
01:28:14um on that same mission to kind of show
01:28:16hip-hop in a different way to show rap
01:28:19music in a different way and expose it
01:28:20to you in a different way so just want
01:28:21to give you your flowers
01:28:23um and he just released a record called
01:28:24God and girls too
01:28:27um which he released not on streams
01:28:29to your point right it's not on streams
01:28:31right you go to his website it's you can
01:28:34download it for free or you can
01:28:36pay five thousand dollars for it because
01:28:38he's a
01:28:40baby stop it stop lying man stop lying
01:28:44name your own price and then he's also
01:28:47doing more things at Harvard next
01:28:48semester and stuff like that so make
01:28:49sure you tune in to my brother D1 um uh
01:28:52so yeah
01:28:56uh lastly thank you again audio visual
01:28:59thank you guys
01:29:00um for hanging in there for us we
01:29:01appreciate it thanks to the staff here
01:29:02at MIT thanks to all the faculty for
01:29:04showing up really appreciate you
01:29:06um and we'll see you all next
01:29:08we'll see you all uh
01:29:10Friday at the ER tournament over at
01:29:13Walker pull up but we'll see you next
01:29:15time hopefully we'll have another
01:29:16Symposium like this and if you see it
01:29:18for the students for the students that
01:29:20are here I have office hours all the
01:29:22time I'm in building 14 on the fourth
01:29:24floor so if you want to come kick the
01:29:25[ __ ] you want to come play Early you
01:29:26want to come play some of your music for
01:29:27me you want to come talk about nuclear
01:29:29physics give me a book or anything like
01:29:30that I am available at service to you
01:29:32here as long as my tenure lasts okay so
01:29:35appreciate y'all enjoy the uh the
01:29:38evening try not to get wet and we'll see
01:29:40you next time thank you
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