For your final paper, use the song “Growing Pains III” by Logic, to formally explore one of the course topics we’ve covered on the list below. The song should be very relevant to the topic you choose. Be sure to take a deep look at the lyrical meaning, the cultural context (where is the artist from? what year was it released? what was happening at that time?) and include some musical analysis (for example, describe what you hear in the beat and how it relates to the theme of the song, or talk about the form of the song). This is not a formal research paper, so a works cited is not required, but do include parenthetical citations and/or hyperlinks to the sources you used to come up with your ideas. Don’t forget to include not only the name of the rapper(s)/group, but also the producer, the album, the label (if applicable) and the year produced.
TOPIC LIST:
- Signifying
- Slavery and Freedom
- Hip Hop and Realness
- Blues themes in hip hop
- Hip Hop and Sampling Soul of the Civil Rights Era
- Hip Hop and Afrofuturism
- Hip Hop and Gender Expression/Identity
- Hip Hop and LGBTQQIA Identity
- You can choose another topic, just run it by me first!