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This is a college level tranfer course, the second in a series where we will examine the poetics of life lived on the ground...as in rough and tumble, as in America at war with herself. This is a world art alone makes sense of, an artist's work is a gift freely shared like air...sympathetic systems aligned, the the fictive or imaginary worlds of possiblity simply an inhale or exhale away. This class is an opportunity to close your eyes and believe.
18 comments:
Amanda Rodriguez
Responds paper to Say my Name
English 1B
A famous saying is “ the swords is mightier then the pen.” Well what if you didn’t have a pen, just your thought that flows out of your month. I would say that this idea of rap would be as mighty as the pen to paper. In the world of rap you could rhyme about whatever you want. It could be about violence, racisms, oppression, or just your everyday life.
This is what the women of the documentary Say my name rhyme about. Each have different lifestyle, reputations and even come from different parts of the world. Some were once famous in the world of rap and now live an ordinary life, while other are still trying to make it big in he music industry. But the art of rap for other is just an outlet to escape the world of poverty and oppression that they live in.
We are introduced to a young white lady who helps the homeless people of Detroit. In an underground battle, she is giving the opportunity to show off her skill as a poet and as a rapper.
Nicole Goolsby
English 1B
August 24, 2009
Response to: Say My Name
Say My Name portrays a strong message about women and their struggles to gain recognition and success in a male dominated profession. Although I am not familiar with the hip hop world, I did understand the significance of the women in this movie, and how they overcame many hardships to become successful. This movie was a reminder to me of the challenges women have gone through throughout our nation’s history to become equal and as powerful as a man.
Not only did these women become successful in a male dominated industry, they also used their talents to reach out to many people to show them a new sense of hope. Along with a new sense of hope, these women encouraged other women to not be afraid to compete against men, and became an inspiration to many young people teaching them to never give up on their dreams.
I found it to be inspiring that these women’s goals were only somewhat for themselves. The women in this movie have a true passion to change the world through their music. They are not selfish, as many artists are, not pursuing the career for the money or the fame. The kind of people that will make this world a better place and are inspiring to others are the women portrayed in Say My Name. I believe this movie was effective in portraying the women’s success and passion to inspire and help others through their music, as well as provide great role models to young girls across the world.
Erica Williams
English 1B
TTh 9-10:50
Assignment: “Say My Name”
After watching the documentary “Say My Name”, I chose to reflect on Detroit, Michigan’s female emcee Invincible aka Ilana Weaver. I decided to concentrate on her because of her lyrical inspirations as well as the similarities of her political views with my own. She shows true power and strength in this male dominated industry by founding her own record company Emergence Inc...
Invincible emigrated from Israel at the age of 7. Unable to speak any English after entering the U.S, Invincible listened to hip hop music as a way of learning the English language. From this she gained a passion for hip hop music. Invincible’s drive for the lyrics she produces come from many different avenues of her life, including her political views, as well as her family experiences. Much of her inspiration spawned from watching her parents’ depression as a child; to now, observing the activities in her community, including the gentrification in Detroit. She also credits her inspiration to artistic veracity in hip-hop, and to the ending Israel's presence of the West Bank. Invincible has also used her involvement with the Detroit summer program to utilize her lyrical skills to speak to the youth in the community as a way to engage them in the issues that directly effect their environment. Her writing process usually begins with listening to a beat, creating flow patterns, and coming up with a beat that from time to time inspires an idea for the song.
In doing further research on Invincible, I came across a song she wrote titled “Locusts”. The song was captivating, not only because of the catchy head bopping beat, but because of the true heart felt lyrics. She uses one of the bible’s deadly plagues (locusts) to symbolize the hovering destruction being cast over the city of Detroit as developers enter the city and tear down it’s historical culture to rebuild “cookie cutter houses”(as Invincible describes it), to basically move out the poor and bring in the rich. This song truly shows her strong lyrical abilities as a rap artist and is a sincere testament to what drives her to write such powerful lyrics.
Citations:
1. Say My Name.Mamamess, 2009. DVD
2. Reyes, Andreas, Detroit’s First Lady: Invincible. Current TV.com Web October 22, 2008.
3. Locusts. You Tube. June 1, 2008, Emergence.com
Amy Quiton
Say My Name Response
Eng 1B
Aug. 25th, 2009
The documentary Say My Name by MAMAMESS was an interesting piece about different woman rappers and what made them significant. These woman, I believe, have pulled their inspiration to write lyrics from the environment they are in. Just about every woman featured in this film was coming from a tough background with the odds literally stacked against them. Whether it is because they grew up it a sketchy part of New York or Detroit, or because they didn’t have enough money to record, or simply because she was a female, these artists used that fuel to drive their message home. You can do it, no matter what. Instead of wishing it would happen, could happen, they channel their hardships into rhymes.
One artist in particular Remy Ma had an exceptionally tough life. Right when she landed a record deal she found out that her father passed away due to a heroin overdose. She goes on to explain that people say her music is too sad but she clarifies how pain is where the best music actually comes from (MAMAMESS). Remy Ma embodies her craft to become better than the struggles around her, better than their environment she is in. Change is important because she knows it’s feasible. It is a true inspiration to watch all these women featured in this documentary share their lives and struggles and actually show a product from their perseverance. Remy Ma’s story and the story of all these women could be used as a motivational tool for anyone trying to reach something that is said to be out of their league.
Say My Name. Dir. MAMAMESS. 2009.
Jamie Canfield
Eng.1b 8/26/09
Say My Name:
Say my Name is a documentry that follows women in Hip-Hop. Not just any women though. This movie doesn't follow the women we see in the music videos with no clothes on dancing nor does it show the female rappers Lil Kim or Foxy Brown who have made their name by being sexual explict and bearly dressed. This documentry shows women who want to be respected for their craft. The ones who want to be reconignzed for their lyrics as opposed to their looks. It shows pioneers like MC Lyte and Roxanne Shante to new comers like Estelle, and Invincible. To women who have been in the game for years like Eyrke Badu, and Rah Gigga.
One of the artist mentioned talked about in the movie is Roxanne Shante. She is known as one of the first female MCs. At the age of fourteen she came onto the scene with her song "Roxanne's Revange". The song was a a diss to a group called UTFO who had a song called "Roxanne Roxanne". The song was a free stlye done in one take over the UTFO song. To free style means to come up with at the top to your head. You really have to be abke to think on your feet.Its a kind of impromptu form of music."Roxanne's Revange" did more then just make her a star it sparked a feud with UTFO. They then made a song called the "REal Roxanne". Roxanne Shante went on to release two ablums and a bunch of singles. Then she retierd from hip-hop in her twenties to continue school.
Roxanne Shante's story stood out to me because she is considered one of the first female MCs. Her song really opend the door for many Female MCs to come. The hip-hop world is really a male dominated one and it is really hard to come into that buisness as a woman and be respected as an artist. That was something that Roxanne Shante managed to do at fourteen. She is a true pioneer.
Itzel Diaz
English 1B
Monie Love, along with the other female Hip-hop artist from the film "Say My Name", was trying to express herself and to obtain respect through out her music. Monie Love came from England to New York to find opportunities; she was looking for the big break that would give her voice the power to express he ideas and to be recognized in the Hip-hop industry. It was difficult for woman to be someone in the Hip-hop industry, there were really few choices in which a Hip-hop female artist could fit into: Monie could choose to be eather the girl, that at first glance looks like a guy or she could be the sex symbol that people look at, but they do not listen to. Monie Love did not consider herself any of those; she expressed in her music the beauty and importance of being a woman and she often expressed how difficult was to be recognized and taken seriously in the Hip-Hop industry. Monie's music empowered woman and proved that all forms of artistic expression are not to be categorized to be either for man or woman only. All forms of artistic expression are meant to give everybody the opportunity to be creative and show their ideals; Monie helped prove that Hip-Hop is not for man only. She proved that woman can also "rhyme" and most important she proved that Hip-Hop artist are made by their talent not their gender.
Jessica Farnlacher
Response to "Say my Name"
English 1B
The documentary, “Say My Name,” was a very inspirational film directed primarily towards women who are involved within the hip-hop culture. It consisted of multiple different genres of hip hop from all over the world. It depicts the hardships and obstacles that women had to go through in order to pursue their careers in hip hop, and also be respected.
In this response, I choose to write about Miss M.C. Lyte. Her story was very warming and she gave a good aspect as to how things were back in her day. She started out very young, and was released out on the radio less than a week from recording a freestyle in a studio around New Years. She grew up in a ghetto, rough society and had a passion she wanted to spur to the world and successfully did it through the hardships she went through; one having been a pre-teen mom at the age of 14. Apparently, she didn’t even know she was pregnant, so that HAD to have been an experience to tell. M.C. Lyte was also the first woman to receive a gold record for hip-hop and did a music video, “Ladies First,” with one of my idols, Queen Latifah, which title speaks for what it represents.
I have a lot of respect for people who come from nowhere and turn their nothing into gold. I especially respect people who pursue this gold by doing what their passion is, and achieving their dreams. There are many people out in the world who just pursue the ordinary careers and only go for what's within their reach. There are so many people who have things that others do not have, yet still don't use their resources for fear of failure, fear of rejection because going for their specific dream is something out of the norm. THESE women went through extreme hardships and kept working through all the hate and people who didn't support them. They had little, knew what they wanted, grasped it, didn't let it go, and inspired people all over the world and changed the views of all that doubted them.
Ilene Lee
English 1B
27 August 2009
Tuesday-Thursday
“Say My Name” is an independent film about the lives of female Hip-hop artists that went through the struggle of finding respect in the entertainment industry. The intertwining stories of each individual artist captured the essence of a women’s struggle to fulfill her dream as a rap artist and to earn the respect she deserves. Women who shared their stories provided a glimpse into the ups and downs of their lives and ultimately the success they achieved despite the male-dominating scene in the Hip-hop business. These women stood tall with their talent and demanded the spotlight on them – demanded the attention and respect they wanted.
In the film, Roxane Shante portrayed her story as an overnight sensation. She grew up not very rich and learned about the hardships a young girl needed to face as an upcoming Hip-hop artist. She wanted to share her story and express the truths of her life- the personal experiences and emotions that she was dealing with. Drugs, violence and preganancy were just a few of the struggles she had to face. Although she experienced peer pressure, she dedicated most of her efforts in rapping. At a young age, she had talent as a rapper. She did not let anything hold her back and rapped with passion to fulfill her dreams. Fame was inevitable with her vocal lyrics. When she shared her success with others, some did not respond with the same enthusiasm-a man beat her and brutally punched her out of envy. Despite the hardships she faced, she turned her experiences into motivation and beautiful lyrics that shared a part of her life.
Say My Name. Dir. MAMAMESS. 2009.
Amanda Rodriguez has some really good stand out points. These woman turn their frustrations into lyrics and rhymes. They did have a world of distaster to overcome and that is where their passion stemmed from. I do think however we were supposed to pick on particular person, I think if you did that this peice would be more specific and nail the point home better.
Amy Q
Jamie Canfield
I liked your writing about Roxanne. I didn't even think to say that she was actually the woman who opened the doors to hip hop for women. I was able to learn a lot of things about Roxanne that I completely missed in the film.
Jessica I like that you picked MC Lyte. I feel like when people talk about old hip-hop she doesn't get the respect she deserves. I also agree with you about these women and their stories everybody loves an underdog story.
Erica Williams says...
I really enjoyed reading Nicole Goolsby's response. It is very moving to read about a person who is really not familiar with the hip hop world, being moved and impacted by the women in the film "Say My Name". I am a huge fan of hip hop and I can relate to the female emcees and their passion for empowerment of women. Nicole summarizes the overall movie well, and I like her emphasis on the women's role in the music industry's male dominated world. Hopefully one day women will not have to justify their place in this industry.
Itzel,
Your response on Monie Love's strength to pursue her career as a women was very powerful. Women definitely had to make the extra effort to showcase their talents and abilities. Your response was very insightful and I learned a lot about Monie Love.
Ilene L
Kwan, Eugene
English 1B
08/23/09
“Say My Name” Artist Review: Estelle
The movie I had the opportunity to experience was a documentary on the female hip-hop artist’s perspective in the modern world. The struggle that these females have to put up with just to be apart of the musical movement of hip-hop that they love is inspiring, and I’m not even a woman. The cast is a selection of female artist who have arrived, or on their way to arriving in the center stage of the music world. I have chosen one particular artist named Estelle out of a line up numbering over a dozen.
My research on Estelle’s background uncovered a album that she produced in 2004, and within that album was a song called “Free” which instantly became a favorite. The message wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but the fact that Estelle narrated the message of being an individual who could be free from all the social traps, and adding a female touch, which made it brand new. The issue of individuality and fighting for that birthright has been touched upon before from great rappers like TuPac, Nas, Mos Def, etc., but the issue at hand has always been spun from a masculine or adolescence perspective. Estelle singing the tune of living as an honest individual and fighting for that right made the message easier to accept for me as a male. It could have been because it is easier for me to embrace that message in the context of motherly advice. Whatever she did I am more able to appreciate female artist in hip-hop because the film “Say My Name” does a good job announcing the issue of a female artistic value in a male dominated society.
After watching the video "Say My Name" I understand how the people feel, and how people get the message across the board. They all have different opinions on life, violence, race, and their feelings.
Everyone has a different style of singing and showing their feelings. They rap for pride, lifestyle and their reputation. They rap about their dreams and everything they try to rhyme with almost everything
Melissa Carpenter
English 1b
Homework
Say My Name: Response
The movie titled “Speak My Name” directed by Mamamess is about aspiring female emcees. Most of the women come from the ghetto areas of the world such as Detroit and the Bronx. One character that I chose to focus on is Jean Grae. Jean Grae grew up in a home that was filled with music by having two parents that were in the music field: Her father, a pianist and her mother, a singer. Most of her inspiration and motivation came from her parents, they where the backbone that kept her going when things got tough. Some over her motivation also came from her brother. Jean Grae and her brother were both born in South Africa, the same birthplace of their parents. Her parents went through self exile from Africa in order to pursue their rights to freedom and music. They wanted a better life for themselves and for their children. Jean Grae and her brother where home schooled by their mother, who was also a teacher. They learned how to read by the age of three and by this happening, had to enter school before most of the other kids their age. As Jean formed a love for the English language and music she began wanting to expand her talents. Later on Jean Grae started to record singles and let the world hear her voice. From what it seems she still struggles in the music industry by being broke, but that hasn’t stopped her from living her dream.
Ilene,
I like that you gave a lot of detail and explained the full concept of what the film was about. Your portrayal of Roxanne was also well done. You told her story in a manner that let us know what type of person she is, and what it was like for her to chase her dreams and make a name for herself.
Jose Vasquez
Response to say my name
Say My Name is a film that portrays the lives of upcoming female Hip Hop artist. Many of these young women come from rough neighborhoods. The main idea of the film is to show how young girls struggle to get accepted in a man-dominated business. Many of these women work extremely hard to achieve who they are. These young women they pride that some part in their lives they were nobodies but when the opportunity came they made the most out of it. They want to show the world that they can become someone no matters were they come from. Some want to show the world that they can compete with man in the music industry if giving the chance.
Many of the women in the film who has become known in the music business talk about trying to become role models for other women that feel that they want to become like them. They talk about the idea of bringing hope to others that might have lost it do the situation they may face. They feel that can change the world with their music because they feel that they can sing about positive stuff in life unlike man who mostly talk about the material stuff.
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