My Commonplace books served as a journal to dive deeper into the most meaningful songs in my repertoire of rap, soul, and pop music. Indeed, the task at hand was to analyze, deconstruct, and reflect on any piece of literary art, whether that meant a tweet or a book quote. I tend always to find myself gravitated towards music which is what I used to focus on the majority of my reflections. As I scrolled through my Commonplace posts, I noticed a recurring theme among many song choices: I chose rap songs. This genre of music tends to have a bad reputation, with many connecting the genre strictly to drugs, sex, and alcohol. While acknowledging that the songs I chose often featured all three taboos, I prioritized the more twisted, more profound message behind the lyrics and melodies. For example, “4 Your Eyez Only” by J. Cole illustrates the difficulties and pain that living in a world of mass incarceration and gang wars entails and further describes the need to escape this life.
Furthermore, I chose songs on the other side of the genre spectrum, such as Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Along the same lines of equality, Dylan touched on the struggles and importance of the Civil Rights Movement, underscoring how dire and apparent it was to achieve racial equality as if it was “blowin’ in the wind.” Commonplace taught me how to look at music another way, consider different perspectives on lyrics and connect it to the rhythm and beat of the song.
