Flocabulary and the admirably unlikely dreams of hip-hop Shakespeare!
admin September 19th, 2008
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So, there I was thinking about posting something that would be simultaneously entertaining and - eh, why not - vaguely educational all at once. As if the thought itself had conjured a new pathway in my reality, chance and fate unexpectedly driven me towards this arguably bizarre and unique project called “Flocabulary” which readily drew my attention after its self-proposed unlikely task of melding Shakespeare and … well, hip-hop music.
Yeah, that’s just what I thought, when I first read about such unholy alliance: it’s a stupid idea and it can’t possibly work. Not by a longshot. But you know what? It turns out its really, really not so bad, after all - I really like how they managed to put a half-decent plot summary of McBeth into a quite half-decent rap song… like this:
Now, tell me honestly… that wasn’t so bad, was it? In fact, I dare to say it was actually pretty good! I’m curious to hear the remaining adaptations from this intriguing group, and there are no words that could adequately express my admiration for having pulled off such a bold move. Now I’ll leave you to reflect upon this superb reflection on life from the pen of W. Shakespeare, that good ol’ ol’ school busta rhyme:
“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
Quite impressive and intense, quite dark and fateful, but all the while… quite lyrical. Ah, that’s some fine writing over there. Excessively gloomy, perhaps… for that reason I’ll leave you with another video from the Flocabulary gang, one delivered in a somewhat more upbeat tone. Just to show that life does have a meaning, provided that we give it meaning.
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