I have selected punk rock, rap and hip hop. As far as the rap and hip hop is concerned, artists such as Public Enemy and Tupac represent the older sound. Public Enemy is critical of society and the media. In the song "She Watch Channel Zero?!" television is depicted as a mindless activity that brainwashes the individual and creates a false sense of reality. In the song "She Watch Channel Zero" Chuck D from Public Enemy states, "2, 7, 5, 4, 8 she watched she said/ All added up to zero/ And nothing in her head/ She turns and turns/ And she hopes the soaps/ Are for real- she learns/ Is that it ain't true, nope/ But she won't survive/ And rather die and lie/ Falls a fool- for some dude- on a tube." Other songs by Public Enemy are more political. It would be interesting to tie in a few other songs. I will ask students to bring in examples of rap and hip hop from today that convey a message critical of society. Some questions we will discuss are: How does Public Enemy convey their message? How would you describe Chuck D's voice? How is the sound of today different from that of the 80s?
Punk rock originated in the 70s. It was popularized briefly at this time. The music really expanded in America in the 80s when it truly existed as an underground sound. During these years spent outside of the mainstream punk rock developed a following. Nirvana was really the band that took this kind of attitude to the masses. Grunge is really a different sound all together, but punk built up to it. Now there are bands toting the title punk rock in the mainstream. Although it was a sound that appealed to the white, middle class teen, other cultures also found an appreciation for it. Bad Brains for example is a band comprised of African Americans. They were just playing the music they felt inspired to make when labeled punk rock. At any rate, this music was a way for people to express their discontent. Punk rock has had a revival among the youth of today. Therefore I felt it was a good medium to convey these themes and concepts discussed in this unit.
Some punk rock bands from the 80s include: Black Flag, Minor Threat and Fugazi. One song by Black Flag of note is "TV Party." It is a commentary on the laziness of society and it is critical of the media. "We've got nothin better to do than watch TV and have a couple of brews. Don't talk about anything else we don't want to know." The message is critical of society and is conveyed through yelling or screaming and short, fast, heavy music. This song can be compared to Public Enemy's "She Watch Channel Zero?!" Minor Threat is a straight edge band which means they don't partake in drugs, alcohol, cigarettes or promiscuous sex. This group chose a lifestyle different from the mainstream and expressed their views in their music. It would be interesting for students to compare the music of the 80s to that of the music today. I would ask students to bring in examples of current punk rock to compare. Some questions we could discuss include: How have the messages changed or stayed the same? How does the mainstream status of current punk rock affect its message? What kind of language is used to convey their message? What kind of sound do they use? How is punk rock different and/or similar to rap and reggaeton?