1
00:00:05,306 --> 00:00:06,946
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

2
00:00:06,946 --> 00:00:10,870
If I could request the resetting of the clock, 
it's on at four minutes at the moment,

3
00:00:10,870 --> 00:00:12,963
I presume from the one before...
Fantastic!

4
00:00:12,963 --> 00:00:14,732
Okay! So, my name is Akala,

5
00:00:14,732 --> 00:00:16,616
I'm from the Hip Hop
Shakespeare Company.

6
00:00:16,616 --> 00:00:19,138
And before we get into 
the philosophy of our work,

7
00:00:19,138 --> 00:00:21,720
what that means, what 
the intention is behind it,

8
00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,099
I'm going to challenge you guys 
to a little bit of a pop quiz.

9
00:00:24,099 --> 00:00:26,178
And we've done this pop quiz 
quite a few times,

10
00:00:26,178 --> 00:00:27,617
we'll talk about it after we do it.

11
00:00:27,617 --> 00:00:30,538
I'm gonna simply tell you some quotes.

12
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One line quotes, taken either from 
some of my favorite hip hop songs,

13
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or some of my favorite 
Shakespearean plays or sonnets.

14
00:00:36,945 --> 00:00:39,344
And you're gonna tell me
by show of hands,

15
00:00:39,344 --> 00:00:42,791
whether you think it's
hip hop or Shakespeare.

16
00:00:42,791 --> 00:00:43,662
(Laughter)

17
00:00:43,662 --> 00:00:45,208
Does that make sense? Okay.

18
00:00:45,208 --> 00:00:47,101
So the first one we'll go for is:

19
00:00:47,101 --> 00:00:51,125
"To destroy the beauty from which one came."

20
00:00:51,125 --> 00:00:55,957
"To destroy the beauty from which one came."

21
00:00:55,957 --> 00:01:00,582
If you think that's hip hop, 
raise your hands please.

22
00:01:00,582 --> 00:01:02,908
If that's Shakespeare, 
raise your hands please.

23
00:01:02,908 --> 00:01:06,182
Brilliant, okay, that's 70 percent 
towards Shakespeare.

24
00:01:06,182 --> 00:01:10,261
It's from a gentleman known as 
Sean Carter, better known as Jay-Z,

25
00:01:10,261 --> 00:01:12,719
from a track called "Can I live?"

26
00:01:12,719 --> 00:01:14,821
We'll go for another one.

27
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"Maybe it's hatred I spew, 
maybe it's food for the spirit."

28
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"Maybe it's hatred I spew, 
maybe it's food for the spirit."

29
00:01:25,982 --> 00:01:29,985
Hip hop?

30
00:01:29,985 --> 00:01:32,341
Shakespeare?

31
00:01:32,341 --> 00:01:35,974
Getting overwhelmingly towards 
Shakespeare. Interesting.

32
00:01:35,974 --> 00:01:38,110
Anyone heard of a gentleman 
known as Eminem?

33
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(Laughter)

34
00:01:39,500 --> 00:01:41,147
He's not Shakespeare.

35
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That's from a track Eminem did 
with Jay-Z actually, called "Renegade."

36
00:01:43,822 --> 00:01:45,437
We'll go for a couple more.

37
00:01:45,437 --> 00:01:50,663
"Men would rather use their broken weapons 
than their bare hands."

38
00:01:50,663 --> 00:01:56,343
"Men would rather use their broken weapons 
than their bare hands."

39
00:01:56,343 --> 00:02:00,986
Hip hop?

40
00:02:00,986 --> 00:02:02,983
Shakespeare?

41
00:02:02,983 --> 00:02:05,105
Pretty even spread with
a Shakespearean lean.

42
00:02:05,105 --> 00:02:09,744
That one is from Shakespeare, 
it's from a play known as "Othello."

43
00:02:09,744 --> 00:02:11,064
We go for:

44
00:02:11,064 --> 00:02:14,743
"I was not born under a rhyming planet."

45
00:02:14,743 --> 00:02:20,664
"I was not born under a rhyming planet."

46
00:02:20,664 --> 00:02:24,219
Hip hop?

47
00:02:24,219 --> 00:02:26,969
Shakespeare?

48
00:02:26,969 --> 00:02:29,420
That one is Shakespeare. It's from
"Much Ado about Nothing."

49
00:02:29,420 --> 00:02:31,544
We go for two more.

50
00:02:31,544 --> 00:02:32,944
We go for:

51
00:02:32,944 --> 00:02:37,895
"The most benevolent king 
communicates through your dreams."

52
00:02:37,895 --> 00:02:43,618
"The most benevolent king 
communicates through your dreams."

53
00:02:43,618 --> 00:02:47,028
Hip hop?

54
00:02:47,028 --> 00:02:49,189
Shakespeare?

55
00:02:49,189 --> 00:02:51,438
Ah, fifty-fifty there.

56
00:02:51,438 --> 00:02:54,230
A gentleman known as the RZA
who's the head of the Wu-Tang Clan.

57
00:02:54,230 --> 00:02:57,732
We're gonna be revisiting the Wu-Tang later,
we'll be talking about him a lot.

58
00:02:57,742 --> 00:03:00,293
He's one of the main exponents 
of hip hop philosophy,

59
00:03:00,293 --> 00:03:03,251
someone, or a collective, that 
had a huge influence on me.

60
00:03:03,251 --> 00:03:05,092
But we'll revisit them.

61
00:03:05,092 --> 00:03:08,623
Last quote of the day.
Let's go for...

62
00:03:08,623 --> 00:03:14,496
"Socrates, philosophies and 
hypotheses can't define."

63
00:03:14,496 --> 00:03:18,895
"Socrates, philosophies and 
hypotheses can't define."

64
00:03:18,895 --> 00:03:21,644
Hip hop?

65
00:03:21,644 --> 00:03:24,034
Shakespeare?

66
00:03:24,034 --> 00:03:26,380
Overwhelmingly towards hip hop. 
And that one, that is hip hop.

67
00:03:26,380 --> 00:03:29,622
That's Wu-Tang again, that's 
from a man named Inspectah Deck.

68
00:03:29,622 --> 00:03:32,936
Interestingly, that quote 
comes from a single, or track,

69
00:03:32,936 --> 00:03:35,067
known as "Triumph" 
from the album "Wu-Tang Forever."

70
00:03:35,067 --> 00:03:39,159
"Wu-Tang Forever" was the first hip-hop album
to go number one in this country.

71
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So that was what made hip hop cross over
with this kind of lyricism,

72
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but we're gonna revisit that a little later
and revisit the Wu-Tang, as I said.

73
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So, as you can see, it wasn't as clear-cut
as many of us may have thought.

74
00:03:52,103 --> 00:03:55,154
The language used,
the subjects spoken about,

75
00:03:55,154 --> 00:03:58,292
various things make it very, very difficult
once the context is taken away,

76
00:03:58,292 --> 00:04:00,033
once our perception is taken away,

77
00:04:00,033 --> 00:04:04,061
and we have to look at just 
the raw language of the two art forms.

78
00:04:04,061 --> 00:04:07,223
And don't worry, we've done 
that exercise over 400 times,

79
00:04:07,223 --> 00:04:09,184
and as of yet, no-one
has got them all right.

80
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Not even some of
the most senior professors

81
00:04:12,101 --> 00:04:15,416
at some of the most respected 
Shakespearean institutions in the country,

82
00:04:15,416 --> 00:04:18,058
I shan't name names.
(Laughter)

83
00:04:18,058 --> 00:04:21,824
But needless to say: it's challenged 
a lot of people's perceptions

84
00:04:21,824 --> 00:04:24,044
and we extend from that, 
we look at some of the other parallels

85
00:04:24,044 --> 00:04:25,518
between hip hop and Shakespeare,

86
00:04:25,518 --> 00:04:27,443
at some of the other things they share.

87
00:04:27,443 --> 00:04:30,616
One of the main things that is shared 
between the two is of course rhythm.

88
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Iambic pentameter --
dee-dum, dee-dum, dee-dum, dee-dum, dee-dum.

89
00:04:34,101 --> 00:04:37,372
Five sets, two beats, 
it's actually a wonderful rhythm

90
00:04:37,372 --> 00:04:40,166
to use in hip hop music
and translates in a way

91
00:04:40,166 --> 00:04:42,816
that even artists writing
today find difficult.

92
00:04:42,816 --> 00:04:44,046
What do I mean by that?

93
00:04:44,046 --> 00:04:47,822
It's very difficult to take, even as an MC,
who is a professional MC,

94
00:04:47,822 --> 00:04:49,505
a lyric written over a grime beat,

95
00:04:49,505 --> 00:04:53,730
grime is a 140 bpm. 
Very, very fast tempo.

96
00:04:53,730 --> 00:04:55,911
And then take that same lyric 
and put it on a...

97
00:04:55,911 --> 00:05:00,067
what we consider to be a 
traditional hip hop beat, 70-80 bpm.

98
00:05:00,067 --> 00:05:02,582
A very, very difficult skill.
Even writing now,

99
00:05:02,582 --> 00:05:03,975
with the music to hand.

100
00:05:03,975 --> 00:05:08,048
Yet, the iambic pentameter 
allows us to do just that.

101
00:05:08,048 --> 00:05:13,170
I'll show you what I mean rather 
than tell you. So listen up.

102
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Cue music please.

103
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(Music)

104
00:05:22,393 --> 00:05:25,128
What you're about to hear, 
some of you may know of it,

105
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some of you may not.

106
00:05:27,024 --> 00:05:30,421
It's Shakespeare's most famous poem,
Sonnet 18.

107
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I haven't adopted it to make it
fit to the rhythm, but just listen close.

108
00:05:34,447 --> 00:05:38,327
Okay. Yo.

109
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"Shall I compare thee
to a summer's day?

110
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Thou art more lovely
and more temperate:

111
00:05:43,007 --> 00:05:44,926
Rough winds do shake
the darling buds of May,

112
00:05:44,926 --> 00:05:47,147
And summer's lease
hath all too short a date:

113
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Sometimes too hot
the eye of heaven shines,

114
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And often is his
gold complexion dimm'd;

115
00:05:51,648 --> 00:05:53,895
And every fair from fair
sometime declines,

116
00:05:53,895 --> 00:05:56,169
By chance or nature's
changing course untrimm'd;

117
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But thy eternal summer shall not fade

118
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Nor lose possession
of that fair thou ow'st;

119
00:06:00,772 --> 00:06:02,979
Nor shall Death brag thou
wander'st in his shade,

120
00:06:02,979 --> 00:06:05,166
When in eternal lines
to time thou grow'st:

121
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So long as men can breathe
or eyes can see,

122
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So long lives this
and this gives life to thee.

123
00:06:09,768 --> 00:06:12,008
So long as men can breathe
or eyes can see,

124
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So long lives this
and this gives life to thee."

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(Applause)

126
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Now as you can see, 
it sits right there in the rhythm.

127
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It's right in the pocket of the beat.

128
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Now we're gonna try a completely different
style of beat, different tempo of beat.

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You're gonna see the same lyric, 
because of this consistent rhythm, can fit.

130
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Let's try.

131
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(Music)

132
00:06:41,539 --> 00:06:43,172
"Shall I compare thee
to a summer's day?

133
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Thou art more lovely
and more temperate:

134
00:06:45,210 --> 00:06:46,544
Rough winds do shake
the darling buds of May,

135
00:06:46,544 --> 00:06:48,255
And summer's lease
hath all too short a date:

136
00:06:48,255 --> 00:06:50,010
Sometime too hot
the eye of heaven shines,

137
00:06:50,010 --> 00:06:51,691
And often is his
gold complexion dimm'd;

138
00:06:51,691 --> 00:06:53,412
And every fair from fair
sometime declines,

139
00:06:53,412 --> 00:06:55,128
By chance or nature's
changing course untrimm'd;

140
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But thy eternal summer shall not fade

141
00:06:56,852 --> 00:06:58,570
Nor lose possession
of that fair thou ow'st;

142
00:06:58,570 --> 00:07:00,090
Nor shall Death brag
thou wander'st in his shade,

143
00:07:00,090 --> 00:07:01,811
When in eternal lines
to time thou grow'st:

144
00:07:01,811 --> 00:07:03,571
So long as men can breathe
or eyes can see,

145
00:07:03,571 --> 00:07:05,333
So long lives this
and this gives life to thee.

146
00:07:05,333 --> 00:07:07,090
So long as men can breathe
or eyes can see,

147
00:07:07,090 --> 00:07:10,094
So long lives this
and this gives life to thee."

148
00:07:10,094 --> 00:07:14,931
(Applause)

149
00:07:14,931 --> 00:07:19,204
What I'd like you all to do is just 
put your hand on your heart for a second.

150
00:07:22,143 --> 00:07:24,143
Now... If you feel your heart,

151
00:07:24,143 --> 00:07:27,093
hopefully, your heart should 
be beating in sets of two,

152
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one off, one on, dee-dum, 
or an iamb, as we call it.

153
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If it isn't, I do suggest you 
consult a doctor as soon as possible.

154
00:07:34,132 --> 00:07:36,337
But because of that --
you can take your hands off your hearts now --

155
00:07:36,337 --> 00:07:39,936
But because of that, that's why 
this rhythm is so intrinsic,

156
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where, really, music is imitating 
the rhythm of life, the sounds of life.

157
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The heartbeat of life.

158
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And so, this rhythm, iambic pentameter,
even though being such a simple rhythm,

159
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is intrinsic to so many forms of music.

160
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Other places in the world, they 
have different sorts of rhythms.

161
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Like the West-African rhythms, 
it's on the three,

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people speak in triplets, essentially.

163
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Well, we found that this rhythm 
really acts as a mnemonic device,

164
00:08:01,741 --> 00:08:03,901
for young people to remember the lyrics.

165
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But also, really, as a way to understand 
some of what is being said.

166
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The rhythm helps us understand it.

167
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It helps us to communicate feeling.

168
00:08:12,140 --> 00:08:14,260
And of course, in hip hop, tonality,

169
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the way you say what you're saying,

170
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the mood with which 
what you're saying,

171
00:08:17,981 --> 00:08:19,821
the rhythm with which 
what you're saying,

172
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is as important as what 
you're actually saying.

173
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But revisiting the philosophies

174
00:08:23,786 --> 00:08:26,745
and the perceptions or conceptions 
of these two art forms,

175
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these two things we think
we know so much about,

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we'll start with Shakespeare.

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Over the course of the past 
three or four years,

178
00:08:34,340 --> 00:08:37,619
having worked with hundreds, 
thousands of young people now,

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at hundreds of workshops,

180
00:08:39,227 --> 00:08:41,901
we found out very interesting things

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about people's perception 
of Shakespeare.

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00:08:43,701 --> 00:08:45,420
Who they think he was,

183
00:08:45,420 --> 00:08:49,140
what the inherited beliefs 
of the time in which he lived,

184
00:08:49,140 --> 00:08:52,337
the people he was surrounded by, 
his background, are.

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Some of them are of course,
just as with hip hop, complete nonsense.

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This idea for example 
that Shakespeare spoke,

187
00:08:58,618 --> 00:09:01,802
as people say to us, posh, 
or the Queen's English.

188
00:09:01,802 --> 00:09:03,445
Received pronunciation.

189
00:09:03,445 --> 00:09:06,042
Well, received pronunciation 
we know wasn't invented

190
00:09:06,042 --> 00:09:08,123
well after 100 years 
after Shakespeare died.

191
00:09:08,123 --> 00:09:11,122
He'd never heard what we think
of today as the Queen's English.

192
00:09:11,122 --> 00:09:13,614
When he was alive, people 
spoke a bit more like a mix

193
00:09:13,614 --> 00:09:16,004
between people from 
Yorkshire and Cornwall.

194
00:09:16,004 --> 00:09:18,405
So for example, the word "hours" 
was pronounced "urrs."

195
00:09:18,405 --> 00:09:19,925
"Urrs and urrs and urrs."

196
00:09:19,925 --> 00:09:22,279
Or: "mood" and "blood" ... rhyme!

197
00:09:22,279 --> 00:09:26,802
"mu:dd" and "blu:dd" was the way
in which people would pronounce those words.

198
00:09:26,802 --> 00:09:29,122
The times in which he lived, you know,

199
00:09:29,122 --> 00:09:31,847
the chasm between rich and poor
being larger than it is today,

200
00:09:31,847 --> 00:09:35,324
though we seem to be doing our best
to recreate that chasm.

201
00:09:35,324 --> 00:09:38,884
But... you know, he was living in very
tumultuous, very violent times

202
00:09:38,884 --> 00:09:42,483
and we really receive almost 
a sanitized vision of that violence,

203
00:09:42,483 --> 00:09:44,164
you know, coloring our view of the past.

204
00:09:44,164 --> 00:09:46,481
We know over ninety percent 
of Shakespeare's audience

205
00:09:46,481 --> 00:09:48,325
couldn't read or write.

206
00:09:48,325 --> 00:09:51,364
So how is it that in the 
21st century in Britain

207
00:09:51,364 --> 00:09:55,731
that he's come to be viewed
as almost the poster child for [elitism],

208
00:09:55,731 --> 00:09:58,470
and even within that now 
we're getting a debate:

209
00:09:58,470 --> 00:10:00,532
Did he even write his own plays?

210
00:10:00,532 --> 00:10:02,469
Because of course, this comes down to

211
00:10:02,469 --> 00:10:05,570
who's allowed to be the custodian 
of knowledge and who isn't.

212
00:10:05,570 --> 00:10:07,265
Shakespeare was someone
who didn't go [to uni].

213
00:10:07,265 --> 00:10:11,466
He wasn't Oxbridge. He's seen -- by some --
they need to see him that way --

214
00:10:11,466 --> 00:10:15,019
as someone who's not entitled to be 
a custodian of knowledge.

215
00:10:15,019 --> 00:10:18,023
So we have to find an explanation
for his intelligence

216
00:10:18,023 --> 00:10:21,577
rather than just accepting 
his intelligence as an actual fact.

217
00:10:21,577 --> 00:10:23,743
Which brings me on to hip hop.

218
00:10:23,743 --> 00:10:25,780
Many people have opinions of hip hop --

219
00:10:25,780 --> 00:10:28,702
of course, the media's had some 
very loud opinions of hip hop.

220
00:10:28,702 --> 00:10:31,378
But I've found again over this 
working with thousands of people,

221
00:10:31,378 --> 00:10:32,978
and these hundreds of workshops,

222
00:10:32,978 --> 00:10:35,161
and interactions with these institutions,

223
00:10:35,161 --> 00:10:37,237
many people who have 
an opinion of hip hop

224
00:10:37,237 --> 00:10:39,060
know absolutely nothing about it.

225
00:10:39,060 --> 00:10:40,939
Zero. Zip. What do I mean by that?

226
00:10:40,939 --> 00:10:43,539
So... the very words "hip hop,"

227
00:10:43,539 --> 00:10:46,626
the "hip" in that word comes 
from the Wolof word "hipi,"

228
00:10:46,626 --> 00:10:48,339
Wolof is a Senegalese language,

229
00:10:48,339 --> 00:10:51,219
it means "to open one's eyes and see" 
as a term of enlightenment.

230
00:10:51,219 --> 00:10:53,780
The word "hop" from the English 
signifying movement,

231
00:10:53,780 --> 00:10:57,929
thus "hip hop" means 
"intelligent movement."

232
00:10:57,929 --> 00:10:59,740
Hip hop contains five elements

233
00:10:59,740 --> 00:11:03,299
as codified by its founding 
fathers in New York City.

234
00:11:03,299 --> 00:11:04,857
It contains five elements.

235
00:11:04,857 --> 00:11:07,885
DJing, MCing, break dancing, graffiti art

236
00:11:07,885 --> 00:11:10,818
and the fifth element, which is the one
I want to talk about today:

237
00:11:10,818 --> 00:11:12,262
Knowledge.

238
00:11:12,262 --> 00:11:15,904
An element we don't see so much
in the television or the radio, perhaps.

239
00:11:15,904 --> 00:11:19,261
But of course the representations 
of that culture today are not owned

240
00:11:19,261 --> 00:11:21,463
by the people who founded that culture.

241
00:11:21,463 --> 00:11:22,905
But when it's understood,

242
00:11:22,905 --> 00:11:24,989
if we go back to the medieval 
West-African empires

243
00:11:24,989 --> 00:11:27,543
of Mali, Songhai, Gao, ancient Ghana,

244
00:11:27,543 --> 00:11:30,459
you have a character that 
the Malians refer to as a griot.

245
00:11:30,459 --> 00:11:32,730
These griots still exist today,
well, who was the griot?

246
00:11:32,730 --> 00:11:36,970
The griot was a rhythmic,
oral poet, singer,

247
00:11:36,970 --> 00:11:41,762
musician, custodian of the history, 
of the spiritual tradition, etc. etc. etc.,

248
00:11:41,762 --> 00:11:43,971
of those empires, of that culture.

249
00:11:43,971 --> 00:11:45,531
When we start to understand

250
00:11:45,531 --> 00:11:49,527
how those musical oral cultural traditions 
manifested in many complex ways,

251
00:11:49,527 --> 00:11:53,290
in the Americas, and helped
influence jazz, blues, funk,

252
00:11:53,290 --> 00:11:54,929
up to hip hop,

253
00:11:54,929 --> 00:11:57,662
we get a much greater sense 
of what the founding fathers,

254
00:11:57,662 --> 00:12:01,492
Afrika Bambaataa, Kool DJ Herc 
and Grandmaster Flash were trying to do

255
00:12:01,492 --> 00:12:03,493
when they codified this culture in this way,

256
00:12:03,493 --> 00:12:05,571
and understood in that context, of course,

257
00:12:05,571 --> 00:12:08,277
hip hop becomes a very 
different proposition

258
00:12:08,277 --> 00:12:12,411
to a way in which much of the time 
it has been represented,

259
00:12:12,411 --> 00:12:14,811
when we understand what 
was going on in New York City

260
00:12:14,811 --> 00:12:16,527
in the late seventies, early eighties.

261
00:12:16,527 --> 00:12:18,809
People coming out of 
a post-civil rights era,

262
00:12:18,809 --> 00:12:23,450
aesthetic influence by the literature 
of Amiri Baraka or James Baldwin,

263
00:12:23,450 --> 00:12:25,528
influenced by the persona 
of a Muhammed Ali,

264
00:12:25,528 --> 00:12:27,111
influenced by the funk 
of a James Brown.

265
00:12:27,111 --> 00:12:30,130
James Brown the drummer, incidentally, 
is the most-sampled drummer in history.

266
00:12:30,130 --> 00:12:33,653
His famous loop becomes 
the basis of all hip hop music.

267
00:12:33,653 --> 00:12:35,810
And that is the only 
intellectually honest context

268
00:12:35,810 --> 00:12:38,361
in which to place hip hop as a culture.

269
00:12:38,361 --> 00:12:40,371
And that's kind of what I grew up in.

270
00:12:40,371 --> 00:12:42,414
That's what I was massively influenced by.

271
00:12:42,414 --> 00:12:46,091
And it became, really... Up until 
the mid-nineties, it was still normal

272
00:12:46,091 --> 00:12:50,489
for the most commercially successful rappers 
to boast about how clever they were.

273
00:12:50,489 --> 00:12:53,089
To talk about kicking science, 
dropping knowledge,

274
00:12:53,089 --> 00:12:55,570
spreading mathematics, 
while simultaneously

275
00:12:55,570 --> 00:12:58,944
talking about what life was like 
in the projects of New York City.

276
00:12:58,944 --> 00:13:01,694
There was no contradiction between
both of those elements,

277
00:13:01,694 --> 00:13:05,210
and again, it was about who 
was custodian of the knowledge.

278
00:13:05,210 --> 00:13:07,262
Who was choosing to pick up that 
baton and run with it?

279
00:13:07,262 --> 00:13:10,255
And one of the things that was 
so inspirational about hip hop

280
00:13:10,255 --> 00:13:12,620
was that people who were told 
they were not supposed to do that,

281
00:13:12,620 --> 00:13:14,393
without trying to be anything they weren't,

282
00:13:14,393 --> 00:13:16,340
without dressing any different,

283
00:13:16,340 --> 00:13:18,341
without speaking any differently,

284
00:13:18,341 --> 00:13:20,139
they decided, they made the decision:

285
00:13:20,139 --> 00:13:21,890
"We're going to become 
custodians of this knowledge.

286
00:13:21,890 --> 00:13:23,181
We're gonna educate ourselves

287
00:13:23,181 --> 00:13:25,861
and we're gonna transmit 
this knowledge through the music."

288
00:13:25,861 --> 00:13:28,391
The main exponents of that in my life,
the main influence on me,

289
00:13:28,391 --> 00:13:30,659
was this group I already 
told you about, the Wu-Tang Clan.

290
00:13:30,659 --> 00:13:33,140
When "Wu-Tang Forever" came out, 
when I was in school,

291
00:13:33,140 --> 00:13:39,186
it was the first album that united people
that listened to all different sorts of music.

292
00:13:39,186 --> 00:13:43,976
And up to then, hip hop, still, in London, 
really only appealed to

293
00:13:43,976 --> 00:13:47,101
a particular segment of the people, 
in my school, anyway.

294
00:13:47,101 --> 00:13:48,976
And then "Wu-Tang Forever" came out,

295
00:13:48,976 --> 00:13:51,419
and all of a sudden, kids 
who listened to Heavy Metal,

296
00:13:51,419 --> 00:13:52,740
kids who were into Blur and Oasis,

297
00:13:52,740 --> 00:13:55,421
everybody was united around 
this one sort of album.

298
00:13:55,421 --> 00:13:57,019
And what was it about?

299
00:13:57,019 --> 00:14:02,221
It was this openly proud, 
intelligent discourse

300
00:14:02,221 --> 00:14:04,500
that was so undeniable
that really appealed,

301
00:14:04,500 --> 00:14:06,461
in my opinion, and pulled everybody in.

302
00:14:06,461 --> 00:14:08,860
And I'm gonna show you 
an example of a poem,

303
00:14:08,860 --> 00:14:11,300
well, what I would call a poem, 
but some people would call it rap,

304
00:14:11,300 --> 00:14:14,660
by the lead member of this group,
a gentleman known as the RZA.

305
00:14:14,660 --> 00:14:15,819
I spoke about him earlier.

306
00:14:15,819 --> 00:14:18,261
He actually produced the music 
for the film "Kill Bill" as well,

307
00:14:18,261 --> 00:14:20,544
so some people may know him 
better in that capacity.

308
00:14:20,544 --> 00:14:22,321
There was a poem he wrote called
"Twelve Jewels,"

309
00:14:22,321 --> 00:14:24,419
and this will give you just a sense,
as someone, as I said,

310
00:14:24,419 --> 00:14:26,939
who was one of the most 
successful MCs of his time,

311
00:14:26,939 --> 00:14:30,903
how normal it was to be so boastful 
about one's intellect.

312
00:14:30,903 --> 00:14:33,072
It's a piece called "Twelve Jewels," 
you can look it up on the internet.

313
00:14:33,072 --> 00:14:34,660
I'm only gonna share a little bit.

314
00:14:34,660 --> 00:14:37,421
It goes like this:

315
00:14:37,421 --> 00:14:40,419
"In pre-existence of the mathematical, 
biochemical equations,

316
00:14:40,419 --> 00:14:43,579
the manifestations of 
rock, plant, air, fire and water,

317
00:14:43,579 --> 00:14:46,740
without their basic formations,
solids, liquids and gases,

318
00:14:46,740 --> 00:14:49,861
that cause the land masses
and the space catalysts

319
00:14:49,861 --> 00:14:52,818
and all matter that exists 
and this dense third dimension

320
00:14:52,818 --> 00:14:55,085
must observe a
physical comprehension.

321
00:14:55,085 --> 00:14:56,941
It takes a nerve to be struck.

322
00:14:56,941 --> 00:15:00,260
Wisdom is the wise poet spoken to wake up
the dumb who've been sleeping.

323
00:15:00,260 --> 00:15:03,583
The fourth dimension is time.
It goes inside the mind.

324
00:15:03,583 --> 00:15:06,340
When the shackles energize
up through the back of your spine.

325
00:15:06,340 --> 00:15:09,260
So observe as my Chi energy 
strikes a vital nerve.

326
00:15:09,260 --> 00:15:11,750
One swerve with the tongue 
pierces like a sword through the lung.

327
00:15:11,750 --> 00:15:14,918
Have you not heard that words
kill as fast as bullets?

328
00:15:14,918 --> 00:15:17,540
When you load negative thoughts
from the chamber of your brain,

329
00:15:17,540 --> 00:15:21,341
and your mouth pulls the trigger 
that propels wickedness straight from hell.

330
00:15:21,341 --> 00:15:24,542
From the pits of your stomach
where negativity dwells."

331
00:15:24,542 --> 00:15:27,910
That's just a little piece 
of the RZA's "Twelve Jewels."

332
00:15:27,910 --> 00:15:29,625
But it's interesting.

333
00:15:29,625 --> 00:15:31,909
Because when you understand
that kind of lyricism,

334
00:15:31,909 --> 00:15:35,878
you realize that hip hop carries 
that same power as with Shakespeare.

335
00:15:35,878 --> 00:15:38,542
You know, the transmute philosophy,
as with any great art,

336
00:15:38,542 --> 00:15:40,212
to question the world around us.

337
00:15:40,212 --> 00:15:42,304
And this brings us, really, 
to the conclusion

338
00:15:42,304 --> 00:15:45,047
about what the work we do with
the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company

339
00:15:45,047 --> 00:15:47,823
from theater productions
to education productions

340
00:15:47,823 --> 00:15:51,252
to hopefully film and TV,
which we're working on at the moment.

341
00:15:51,252 --> 00:15:52,304
What it's all about

342
00:15:52,304 --> 00:15:54,951
it's about who is going to be 
custodian of the knowledge?

343
00:15:54,951 --> 00:15:58,590
And in the 21st century, particularly 
moving towards post-industrial societies,

344
00:15:58,590 --> 00:16:00,495
where we don't need masses of workers,

345
00:16:00,495 --> 00:16:03,098
we're not training masses of workers 
to go and work in factories anymore,

346
00:16:03,098 --> 00:16:04,667
these are big questions.

347
00:16:04,667 --> 00:16:06,778
What is the purpose of education today?

348
00:16:06,778 --> 00:16:08,781
What are we teaching young people?

349
00:16:08,781 --> 00:16:12,103
What are we training the 
next generation to do and form?

350
00:16:12,103 --> 00:16:14,583
Are we training each individual 
human being in a society

351
00:16:14,583 --> 00:16:17,983
where, increasingly, 
the success or failure of a society

352
00:16:17,983 --> 00:16:22,929
is going to be dependent on the mind, 
or ideas, of the people within that society?

353
00:16:22,929 --> 00:16:25,862
Are we training people to aspire 
to be the best they can be?

354
00:16:25,862 --> 00:16:27,740
To reach their full potential?

355
00:16:27,740 --> 00:16:29,461
Wherever they're born in that society

356
00:16:29,461 --> 00:16:33,022
or are we still working in the old, 
stratified ways of thinking

357
00:16:33,022 --> 00:16:35,740
that people have stations 
and places they need to be,

358
00:16:35,740 --> 00:16:37,824
or are we encouraging people 
to think as big as possible?

359
00:16:37,824 --> 00:16:39,541
Because maybe, I don't know 
who in Shakespeare's life

360
00:16:39,541 --> 00:16:42,405
encouraged him to become 
a custodian of the knowledge,

361
00:16:42,405 --> 00:16:46,049
but if he was not able to do that, 
we'd be missing his section of work,

362
00:16:46,049 --> 00:16:47,828
similarly with hip hop.

363
00:16:47,828 --> 00:16:49,706
So really, that's what
we want to think about.

364
00:16:49,706 --> 00:16:52,569
Education, who does it belong to,
who doesn't it belong to.

365
00:16:52,569 --> 00:16:55,808
And using these seemingly 
disparate art forms,

366
00:16:55,808 --> 00:16:57,369
these two seemingly disparate worlds,

367
00:16:57,369 --> 00:16:58,975
and putting them together,

368
00:16:58,975 --> 00:17:01,082
to show ourselves
a unity in human culture,

369
00:17:01,082 --> 00:17:05,124
a unity in the ideas
that humans pursue,

370
00:17:05,124 --> 00:17:07,123
in activities humans pursue.

371
00:17:07,123 --> 00:17:09,485
And to inspire people 
towards their own form

372
00:17:09,485 --> 00:17:14,034
of artistic, literary, cultural 
and societal accents.

373
00:17:14,034 --> 00:17:16,284
I'm gonna share with you 
a little bit... one final piece.

374
00:17:16,284 --> 00:17:18,722
It's a bit more... 
I don't want to say "fun,"

375
00:17:18,722 --> 00:17:22,723
but a bit more of a game
and a challenge.

376
00:17:22,723 --> 00:17:26,865
It came out of a radio,
"Freestyles" on Radio 1 Extra,

377
00:17:26,865 --> 00:17:29,283
about two and a half,
three years ago.

378
00:17:29,283 --> 00:17:31,884
And as a bit of a joke,
the DJ said to me,

379
00:17:31,884 --> 00:17:33,963
"Here's a list of 27 Shakespeare plays,

380
00:17:33,963 --> 00:17:35,882
attempt to fit them in a freestyle."

381
00:17:35,882 --> 00:17:38,884
Luckily, we did it, I don't know how, 
we had about ten minutes, though,

382
00:17:38,884 --> 00:17:41,283
so it wasn't a true freestyle 
in the truest sense,

383
00:17:41,283 --> 00:17:44,365
but we did it as a track that we then, 
subsequently, put on the album,

384
00:17:44,365 --> 00:17:46,804
so the first part contains 
27 Shakespeare plays,

385
00:17:46,804 --> 00:17:48,617
the next parts contains

386
00:17:48,617 --> 00:17:51,033
16 of Shakespeare's 
most famous quotes interwoven.

387
00:17:51,033 --> 00:17:54,081
It's entitled "Comedy, Tragedy, History,"

388
00:17:54,081 --> 00:17:56,328
you can look it up on the web, 
and it goes like this.

389
00:17:56,328 --> 00:17:58,724
I'm just gonna do it here, 
let's see how it goes.

390
00:17:58,724 --> 00:18:00,286
"Dat boy Akala's a diamond fella.

391
00:18:00,286 --> 00:18:01,867
All you little boys
are a comedy of errors.

392
00:18:01,867 --> 00:18:03,483
You bellow but you fellows 
get played like the cello.

393
00:18:03,483 --> 00:18:05,200
I'm doing my thing,
you're jealous like Othello.

394
00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,163
Who're you? What're you gonna do?
Little boys get Tamed like the Shrew.

395
00:18:08,163 --> 00:18:10,003
You're mid-summer dreamin',
Your tunes aren't appealing.

396
00:18:10,003 --> 00:18:12,964
I'm Capulet, you're Montague, I ain't feeling.
I am the Julius Caesar, hear me?

397
00:18:12,964 --> 00:18:16,484
The Merchant Of Venice couldn't sell your CD.
As to me, All's Well That Ends Well.

398
00:18:16,484 --> 00:18:20,043
Your boy's like Macbeth, you're going to Hell.
Measure for Measure, I am the best here,

399
00:18:20,043 --> 00:18:21,923
You're Merry Wives of Windsor, 
not King Lear.

400
00:18:21,923 --> 00:18:23,564
I don't know about Timon,
I know he was at Athens.

401
00:18:23,564 --> 00:18:25,365
When I come back like Hamlet 
you pay for your action.

402
00:18:25,365 --> 00:18:27,123
Dat boy Akala, 
I do it As You Like It.

403
00:18:27,123 --> 00:18:28,724
You're Much Ado About Nothing,
All you do is bite it.

404
00:18:28,724 --> 00:18:31,724
I'm too tight, I don't need 12 Nights.
All you little Tempests get murked on the mic.

405
00:18:31,724 --> 00:18:34,842
Of course I'm the one with the force.
You're history just like Henry IV.

406
00:18:34,842 --> 00:18:38,200
I'm fire, things look dire.
Better run like Pericles Prince Of Tyre.

407
00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,784
Off the scale, cold as a Winter's Tale
Titus Andronicus was bound to fail."

408
00:18:41,784 --> 00:18:44,685
That's 27 plays.

409
00:18:44,685 --> 00:18:50,365
(Laughter) (Applause)
Listen up.

410
00:18:50,365 --> 00:18:54,531
And there is one final bit, this contains
16 of Shakespeare's most famous quotes.

411
00:18:54,531 --> 00:18:58,003
"Wise is the man that knows he's a fool
Tempt not a desperate man with a jewel.

412
00:18:58,003 --> 00:19:01,124
Why take from Peter to go and pay Paul?
Some rise by sin and by virtue fall.

413
00:19:01,124 --> 00:19:04,449
What have you made if you gain the whole world.
But sell your own soul for the price of a pearl?

414
00:19:04,449 --> 00:19:07,883
The world is my oyster and I am starving.
I want much more than a penny or a farthing.

415
00:19:07,883 --> 00:19:11,045
I told no joke, I hope you're not laughing.
Poet or pauper which do you class him?

416
00:19:11,045 --> 00:19:14,484
Speak eloquent, though I am resident 
to the gritty inner city, surely irrelevant.

417
00:19:14,484 --> 00:19:17,846
Call it urban, call it street.
A rose by any other name, smell just as sweet

418
00:19:17,846 --> 00:19:21,004
Spit so hard, but I'm smart as the Bard.
Come through with a Union Jack, full of yard.

419
00:19:21,004 --> 00:19:22,963
Akala, Akala,
wherefore art thou?

420
00:19:22,963 --> 00:19:24,805
[I rap] Shakespeare and
the secret's out now.

421
00:19:24,805 --> 00:19:27,950
Chance never did crown me, this is destiny.
You still talk but it still perplexes me.

422
00:19:27,950 --> 00:19:31,534
Devour cowards, thousands per hour.
Don't you know the king's name is a tower?

423
00:19:31,534 --> 00:19:34,724
You should never speak it, it is not a secret.
I teach thesis, like ancient Greece's

424
00:19:34,724 --> 00:19:38,123
Or Egyptology, never no apology.
In my mind's eye, I see things properly.

425
00:19:38,123 --> 00:19:41,484
Stopping me, nah you could never possibly.
I bear a charmed life, most probably.

426
00:19:41,484 --> 00:19:44,884
For certain I speak daggers in a phrase.
I'll put an end to your dancing days.

427
00:19:44,884 --> 00:19:48,366
No matter what you say it will never work.
Wrens can't make prey where eagles don't perch.

428
00:19:48,366 --> 00:19:50,322
I'm the worst with the words 
'cause I curse all my verbs.

429
00:19:50,322 --> 00:19:51,950
I'm the first with a verse
to rehearse with a nurse.

430
00:19:51,950 --> 00:19:54,843
There's a hearse for the first jerk who turn berserk.
Off with his head, 'cos it must not work.

431
00:19:54,843 --> 00:19:58,323
Ramp with Akala, that's true madness.
And there's no method in it, just sadness.

432
00:19:58,323 --> 00:20:00,963
I speak with the daggers and the hammers
of a passion when I'm rappin' I attack 'em.

433
00:20:00,963 --> 00:20:03,199
In a military fashion the pattern of my rappin'
chattin couldn't ever map it.

434
00:20:03,199 --> 00:20:08,430
And I run more rings round things than Saturn.
Verses split big kids wigs when I'm rappin'.

435
00:20:08,430 --> 00:20:11,243
That boy Akala, the rap Shakespeare.
Didn't want to listen, when I said last year.

436
00:20:11,243 --> 00:20:15,484
Rich like a gem in a Ethiopia's ear.
Tell them again for them who never hear."

437
00:20:15,484 --> 00:20:17,003
It's a pleasure.

438
00:20:17,003 --> 00:20:21,003
(Applause)