BlackStar (Mos Def and Taleb Kweli)

The subject of this week’s post is the rap album written by Taleb Kweli and Mos Def named Blackstar. The blog will discuss the different issues that the album raises: Modern-day issues, Philosophical ideas, and the toughness of life in Brooklyn.

Blackstar is more than just a rap album made for lucrative purposes, or fame.  Recorded by the two rappers their aim was to make people aware of what is really happening, about social issues in society, discrimination, but also criticizing the general way of thinking

Intro: the intro shows that both rappers are not rapping to get rich or only for the purpose of music, they are telling a story describing themselves as documentarian brining the truth to their listeners, introducing their album as a documentary.

8th light:

The first track of the classic 1998 album Blackstar, which united rising underground heroes Mos Def and Talib Kweli, this song features the two rappers exploring the meaning of “blackness” through rhymes that are both poetic and playful, indeed in this song they are praising the black colour that is always perceived as bad.

Definition: the song highlights the violence in hip-hop and its effects on rappers as the death of 2Pac and Biggie as they were both shot dead

Brown skin lady:

This song is about Mos Def and Talib Kweli’s admiration and appreciation of brown skin ladies, which include but aren’t limited to Latinas, Indigenous women and African American women. They are praising the coloured women and their beauty

Thieves in the night:

Thieves in the Night” challenges the beliefs as it says we shouldn’t change ourselves to conform to stereotypes and let ourselves be oppressed and judged. But instead, we should be proud of who we are and not seek the approval of any type of oppressor.

This album had a meaning to Kweli and Mos Def as they both decided to hold their solo albums so that they could work fully on Blackstar. Blackstar is not a conventional hip hop album; it does not praise the gangster lifestyle. This is an album made from normal people proud of their African origins, and their dark skin. Both, also are against all sorts of violence, they are promoting peace. As we listened to this album, we noticed a resemblance in problems that black Tunisians are dealing with, and the awful things done and said to them. From the common words used as ‘Kahlouch’ to describe a black skinned man, to different buses for black persons, but also to violence made against them. It made us realise the hard times the black community has had, the long journey full of sadness and oppression by the white man, but also the tremendous effort of generation to change their state from slaves to man of wisdom, speaking the truth, unveiling, the horrible acts made against them till this day. This album is not only tracks full with beats and words having the same end so that it rhymes. It’s a weapon, made by two great person seeking for freedom and equality. They used their words as sharp blades denouncing truths that everyone refused to believe. Mos Def and Kweli are not trying to create a racial revolution, they are only describing their anger and hatred toward different types of mind sets, stereotypes and lies.  

Pink Floyd : The Wall

This blogpost is an introduction and an analysis of the album “The Wall”. The Wall is the 11^th album written and performed by the rock band Pink Floyd, released on the 30^th of November 1979. It’s a set of songs that are mostly linked to intrigue, mystery and considerable imagination. The music has a unique characteristic, since it actually tells the story of the life of an individual called Pink Floyd. It mainly focuses on the theme of loneliness and isolation.

            

           The album starts by Pink losing his father due to war and starting to develop phobia and psychic problems due to his overprotective mother. The starting point explains how his difficult childhood hugely affected his adulthood afterwards. The boy becomes anti-social and rejects all forms of relationship with others so that he doesn’t get emotionally hurt. The single “Another Brick in the Wall” explains how all events in his childhood were like bricks participating in the development of the wall that isolates Pink. He didn’t have to only face his father’s absence and his mother’s presence but also a failing education system. Teachers are described as being constantly trying to make their students all the same. Pink becomes completely insane at some point and develops hate towards the war that took away his boyhood and his nation’s common sense.

            The first part entitled “The happiest days of our lives” is full of violent sounds and was more of warlike music with screaming. The production of videos was also dark to successfully complete the music. It described for example teachers as being cruel and hurting the children so they become disciplined like soldiers. The second part called “Lack of Freedom and Individuality” is actually the normal succession of indoctrination. With its calm rhythm and the lack of variation it perfectly describes how fear cancelled freedom. Students became brainless and without personality and it’s demonstrated by scenes of children in line listening to the teacher’s instructions. They all wear masks with the same forms, which represent the lack of individualism. Pink shows that students are not happy with this situation with the lyrics “We don’t need no education; we don’t need no thought control.” But these are the only lyrics in this part, which is a sign to tell the listener that the speaking faculty is being shut down. But in the end of the part, the words become repetitive and the tone changes from calm to violent again. But this dramatic change to violence again is not like the first part since it’s impacting the children. The third part “Rebellion” follows; the students begin to revolt against the system represented by the teachers and the music becomes solo. Visually speaking, the students throw their masks and get freedom again.

The alliance between the music, the lyrics as well as the image perfectly described the atmosphere and the philosophy meant by the story. It mainly criticizes the use of education to implement the government’s dictatorship.

References : http://www.thewallanalysis.com/main/   

http://stanford.edu/~cstein15/Music32N/Musicvidanalysis.pdf

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Being encouraged by Ella to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, free from the doctrines of Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm x decided to follow the true path of Islam on his own.

In his trip to Mecca, Malcolm describes his admiration of the Islamic world and the lack of racial divisions in it. He then highlights his changed point of view on racial problems he had to face in the United States. While in Mecca, Malcolm X came in contact with many white Muslims who were friendly and helpful toward him and who treated him as equal. He then began questioning himself and his knowledge about Islam after noticing that racial problems were more a matter of attitude than of color. Which led him to think that being white did not make a person evil, but being white in America generally meant a person who had been brainwashed and frightened, with its mind full with racial prejudices imposed by the American society. According to him (in his press conference), after his trip to Mecca, the people living in Saudi Arabia were "white" but only in skin color, they did not treat him the same way that white people in the United States did. In fact, he says that he was astonished by the variety of races making their pilgrimage in total peace and harmony as they   seemed to be able to get along in the holy city. He writes: I said, "The brotherhood! The people of all races, colors, from all over the world coming together as one! It has proved to me the power of the One God." (17.103). Which proves his point of view of the religion of Islam which is capable of making people forget racism and accept other people as human beings. All Muslims are restricted by Al-hajj rules. Their main aim is the search for redemption and to cleanse their sins. Any form of discrimination is forbidden in the holy Mecca. Which can be slightly compared to world war two, When America entered the war in December 1941, and black people participated in the war and fought alongside white soldiers sacrificing themselves for their homeland. Which proves that, when the aim of peace is shared in society, prejudices, discrimination and racial problems disappears leaving only the pure and honest will of fighting together for a common purpose. Another point is Experience as it is vital, as Malcolm X says "what I have seen and experienced, has forced me to re-arrange much of my thought patterns previously held". Those words showed the importance of experience, which allows us to rethink our thoughts and readjust our position towards a problem or a given information. An example that is relevant to this situation , (Muatasem Bellah Saker) “As a Libyan, I personally thought that it will be hard to live with Tunisians, to become friends with them, as I assumed that they will always see me as a foreigner. However, having been in Tunis experiencing the life of a student in Tunis among my fellow students, I noticed that my prejudices vanished and it also made me readjust my opinion, as I realized  how wrong I was, and now I’ve became friend with a lot of Tunisians.
After his trip to Mecca, Malcolm X radically changed his point of view. Not only in his religious beliefs, but also his thoughts about the “white man” as he noticed the harmony and the lack of racial divisions in Mecca.

Link to video :
MALCOLM X RETURNS FROM MECCA (Complete Press Conference)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0wnV0EsmqA

The Guest by Albert Camus ( Text Analysis )

The Guest is a text that communicates the feeling of alienation and desire of confinement that humans experience, it also explains the idea of absurdity and the sense of moral distress.

The environment in which the story takes place, creates a sentiment of isolation and solitude. The school where Daru teaches is located on top of a plateau in the cold mountains. The isolation of the school shows how every person is truly disconnected from everybody else.

Daru the protagonist of the story is an enigma. He is a hero, to others he is an agent of French oppression, but still he is something in between. The resemblance is noticeable when we take the author of book Albert Camus himself as an example, unable to reconcile between being French as he is born and raised in Algeria, he find it hard to make a choice, so he chose none.

All these different perspectives demonstrates how strange Daru is. He is in a constant battle through the story. Daru shows resistance while cooperating with Balducci when he asks him to deliver the prisoner.

Daru supports the man’s freedom, he then asks what the prisoner crime was and Balducci says he killed his cousin in a family quarrel. This can demonstrate that the murder he did was justified but yet he was captured not according to the Arab justice that he lives by, but by French colonial law.

“Daru felt a sudden wrath against the man, against all men with their rotten spite, their tireless hates, their blood lust.”

A brief reading of this part and one would think that Daru was disgusted by the Arab’s act, however a closer reading shows that he was talking about Balducci.

It appears that Daru comprehended the logic in the prisoner’s act of murder and understood that he is not by any means guilty, but simply misunderstood.

Since he couldn’t communicate in the French language he was not able to defend himself.

Daru is the only one that still sees that Arab as human. By trying to avoid the responsibility of having him executed. Daru gives the Arab the chance to make his own decision by untying his hands and giving him plenty of opportunities to escape.

But despite that, the Arab declines the offer. The choice that Daru made is similar to the German policy towards the Syrian refugees, as the German government keeps them in camps when they arrive, by doing so they will avoid interfering in Syria, which in this case the refugees are the "guests" of Germany.

Many would think of the Arab as a primitive, brutalized, and dull character, but if we take in consideration his background, then he is by all accounts a remarkable, decent man, and his action only seem absurd when looked from the perspective of Daru.

First let’s look at the reason why he killed his cousin. When Daru asks him the reason for his crime, he says “he ran away. I ran after him.”

Could it be that the cousin's act of running away, instead of taking full responsibility which constitutes shame and dishonor to the family, and that the Arab was only acting following his customs.

Seen from this point of view, the Arab made the best decision executing his cousin. And we can also understand the reason why he did not run away which is because he refuses to be like his cousin and desert when false accusations are made toward him.

The ethical understanding of the Arab is different than the world he is in, and this isolates him because he doesn't comprehend that what he did was a crime. When Daru asks him if he was sorry for what he did the Arab found no logic in the question, should he feel sorry about the killing if it was the honorable thing to do? Sadly his way of thinking leads to his death, because he did not understand that to the French mind, he is evil.

He then deliver himself to the police expecting to have a fair trial and to be found not guilty.

If the Arab ran away and became sheltered with the travelers then he would see himself as the weakling and criminal. And his action of delivering himself is explained by his experience as a guest of Daru's where he received honorable treatment which seems to have inspired an emotional response in him which made him believe he will be treated fairly, when judged for his crime.

Which show the tremendous mistake that Daru made by choosing to be passive and to not make a choice, which is resembling to the case of Rwanda’s genocide in 1994, where the world watched thousands of people dying but did not intervene to stop it because it was between the people of the same country in this example (The Arab prisoner).

In the world of Camus, a person can attempt to give meaning and nobility to his life through decisive, even rebellious, action to counteract immoral activity, but without a perfect, and fair judgement, there is no morality or immorality.