What is Hip Hop Theater?
Take a look at these lines from a play.
Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand,
And the youth, mistook by me,
Pleading for a lover’s fee.
Shall we their fond pageant see
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
They are from Shakespeare’s Midsummers Night’s Dream, Act 3, Scene 2.
If you put a beat under the words would they be hip hop? If not, why not?
I’ve been thinking about what determines that “something” in hip hop in theater. I’m purposefully ignoring the suggestion that anything written before August, 11, 1973 should not count.
I don’t have a definitive answer yet, but I do have some speculations.
What a Hip Hop Theater Song Needs
First, the lines have to rhyme, which these do. But they don’t have to have a particular pattern of rhythm or rhyme scheme. Any would be acceptable. Under this criteria, it would be hip hop.
This passage also maintains the rhythm and rhyme scheme throughout the work. All the lines would have beats under them. Is this necessary? If the answer is yes, then Hamilton would be disqualified as a work of hip hop theater, and I don’t think anyone would claim that.
But think about the subject matter. Hip hop came into existence as a political art. It was a way of expressing resistance to a politically oppressive culture. Some of Shakespeare’s plays do this. They are about subjects of social or political importance. But this one? No.
Is This Hip Hop?
If I were forced to answer the question, “Is this play hip hop or not,” then I would respond with a firm maybe.
What do you think? How would you define Hip Hop Theater? Post your thoughts in the comments section below, or email us at info@rhymesoverbeats.com.