What Makes a Play Hip Hop?

What Makes a Play Hip Hop?

by | Aug 5, 2021 | Blog

Can a Play Be Hip Hop?

 

In the past I’ve talked about hip hop musicals – particularly about what makes them good, or at least makes them the kind of work that Rhymes Over Beats wants to produce.

“Frankie and Annette rap at the beach” is not what we want to do. We believe in the value of hip hop music as an art form and as a method of social change. This is also true for hip hop musicals.

But what of works of theater that do not include music? Can a play be hip hop?

We believe it can be.

 

What Is a Hip Hop Play?

 

Hip hop is a response to a culture of oppression. The response can be defiant, as is in the case of graffiti. It can be a call to action, like most of the songs of Public Enemy.

Hip hop theater has as its themes the many different types of responses to a culture of oppression.

If you are a member of an oppressed group, what can you do? What should you do? The exploration of these themes, which is about how different people respond to oppression, is what makes each play unique.

Almost twenty years ago I produced a play called The Exonerated. It documents the true stories of six innocent individuals who were convicted and sentenced to death because they were poor, and or black. They were later exonerated because their response was to never give up. They persisted.

To me, this is what makes The Exonerated a true hip hop play. The response to oppression was to never give up.

What plays do you think are hip hop? What plays do you think should be produced by Rhymes Over Beats?

Let me know. Or better yet – write one yourself and send it to me.

 

Stories from History

Stories from History

by | Jul 28, 2021 | Blog

History Repeats

 

I was once working on writing a short play in which Mark Twain was a character. I only wanted the character Mark Twain to say things the actual Mark Twain said, or were attributed to him.

I got a book of Mark Twain quotes as part of the research. The play went nowhere, but one quote has stuck with me. “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” This is a hip hop sentiment if ever there was one.

Now that I’m spending more time in San Francisco I’ve started to look into the city’s history.

One story, one that would make a great hip hop musical, is the life of Emperor Norton I. He was a real estate guy who, through his own bad judgement, lost everything.

He sued to regain his previous prominence, but lost in court repeatedly. In September 1859 he declared himself ‘Emperor of the United States.’

While most of the country ignored his claims, some people treated him seriously. When he died in 1880, ten thousand people attended his funeral, out of a population of two hundred  thousand.

 

Sound Familiar?

 

I’ll leave it up to you to decide if this story from the 1800s has any parallel in our current political situation,

if in other words, history is repeating itself.

I don’t. But I do think it rhymes.

Your Vote Counts

Your Vote Counts

by | Jul 19, 2021 | Blog

Best Songwriter/Rapper?

 

The last few blogs I’ve talked about how hip hop works best in musical theater, and why someone who creates hip hop should write for musical theater. This blog is about the who.

Which hip hop artist would make a good writer of theater songs?

I’m not going to suggest any particular artist, but rather instead I’d like to talk about what a songwriter/rapper needs in order to be good and  successful as a musical theater songwriter.

A good hip hop lyric should rhyme. Natural, multiple word, rhymes are the best. So are rhymes that are rare, unusual, unique. No “spoon under the moon with June.” They should also float smoothly on top of the beat.

Second, a good theater song should move the story along or reveal the character. The latter is where hip hop excels. A good hip hop song tells a story about a person, what happens to them and how they deal with it. It reveals character.

Finally, it takes real talent. Writing a song is difficult, but writing a hip hop song is even more so. Writing a hip hop song that fits seamlessly into an existing work is the most difficult. Not many artists can do this.

 

Who Would YOU Vote For?

 

As a theater company we intend to reach out to any artist who believes they can write hip hop musical theater. We already have reached out to some, and are now actively working with them. Unfortunately there is a LOT of talent out there that we don’t know, so please help us out.

Who do you think fits the bill? Drop us a line in the comments section below and introduce us!

 

In Development

In Development

by | Jul 7, 2021 | Blog

Developing Musicals

 

A work of theater is never done, especially for a musical.

The process is the same for every show. First, the creative artists create something. It gets read by a group of actors around a table, who discuss it afterwards. Changes are made based off of the discussion, and then another staged reading (or multiple staged readings) are done in front of an audience made up of potential investors. More changes follow, and the musical goes into rehearsal for an actual production with additional changes. At long last the musical starts preview performances, where final changes are made until the show is locked down on Opening Night.

After the show has opened fewer changes are allowed, usually because the work is being revived under a new group of producers. The show is never complete, finished, perfect. 

 

Continue the Work

 

I started thinking about this because this is the week of our, American Independence.  The day when we began the production that is the United States – when we began to try to create a more perfect union.

A work of theater seems to me to be an excellent metaphor for this country, the United States. In the past it was not bad, just not as developed. In the present or the future, it is and will not be great.

It will be just more developed than it was in the past.

This 4th we should celebrate what we have done and dedicate ourselves to continuing the work.

Musical Theatre Raps

Musical Theatre Raps

by | Jun 28, 2021 | Blog

Songs in Musicals

 

My blog posts for the last two weeks discussed reasons why those artists who write rhymes and beats should write for theater. This week’s blog is how I think hip hop songs are best used in musical  theatre.

A musical tells a story.

  1. It has a beginning where the hero (and the hero’s needs) gets introduced with the world the hero inhabits.
  2. It has a middle where challenges to the hero’s needs are presented, and
  3. An end where the challenges are met (or not).

Each of these sections are musicalized most successfully in different ways.

The opening requires lots of information to be conveyed quickly and efficiently. The middle shows the conflict. The end bring about the resolution, either joyful or bittersweet.

 

Look at the Structure

 

Musical structure is similar to a roller coaster. A ride that is most interesting is one that goes up, down, as well as on the level. The style of a song performs this function in a musical.

What this means is that not all the songs in a hip hop musical should be raps. A rap style works best when information needs to be given to the audience.

The opening, which requires that we learn who the hero is and what the world of the musical is, is the perfect place for rap to be used.

At least this is what we think.

What do you think?

Let us know if you agree or not.