Zachary Merson paid homage to his girlfriend and his chocolate Labrador retriever Tuesday night through a performance that would have raised the eyebrows of Tupac and Biggie Smalls alike.
“My bitch is brown,” he rapped, “but my lady is white.”
Merson was one of 10 performers at Hip Hop Live & In Full Effect, a showcase of the final projects of the political science students enrolled in Hip Hop and Western Political Thought.
The class aims to explore the political undertones of hip-hop, a concept professor Michelle Smith described as an incredible force.
“Hip-hop becomes this kind of creative force,” said Smith, who teaches the course.
But when she’s in the classroom, relaying the themes from this international music scene to her students, she also goes by MC Professor Smith.
A disc jockey stationed in the corner of the room laid down the beats to a crowd of about 60 as students spit out rhymes about soldiers overseas, the degradation of women in the hip-hop scene, love and, of course, Labrador retrievers.
Josh Albert, who performed a series of songs with an R&B flavor, said his decision to perform in the showcase was a reflection of his passion for music, the same passion that piqued his interest in the course.
“Sometimes when I’m down, singing helps me release emotion,” the political science junior said.
Student art projects lined the wall, each inspired by a hip-hop theme. From a graffiti-splattered brick wall to a painting depicting the female stereotype of the culture, each visual was accompanied by a paper explaining the message of the piece.
And through whatever medium chosen, Smith encouraged students to represent.
“Many rap songs start with an artist saying ‘Represent, represent,’” Smith said. “It occurred to me that they mean a lot of different things when they say it.”
This observation ties back to the course, where students learn the implications of this concept.
“Representation is an incredibly important concept in Western political thought and the ways in which we think about government,” Smith said.
In accordance with the class, the performances paralleled this theme.
“It’s kind of like representing your community, your culture, yourself,” Albert said.
Josh Kelly, a political science senior, supported his classmates from his seat in the audience.
While the long-time hip-hop fan wasn’t ready for his freestyle debut, he said the class has helped him appreciate the culture behind this genre.
“When most people think about hip-hop they only think about rappers,” Kelly said. “We spent a lot of time learning about different artists, from different regions, from different cultures.”
