Album essay
MUSC 420m (Hip-Hop Music and Culture) Essay #2 Guideline
The first essay is due on April 13, 2016 (by 1 p.m.). The essay should contain between 1000 and 1200 words (include the word count at the end of your essay), and it should compare and reflect on the musical, lyrical, and/or visual content of the assigned materials. PLEASE SEND THE ESSAY (12 point font, DOUBLE-SPACED, DOCX Format) VIA EMAIL TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESSES: seannye@usc.edu and willrowley@sbcglobal.net.
Please include the following in your subject line: “MUSC420 Essay 2.”
For this essay, I do not want you to just recount factual information such as who produced, performed on, or inspired the recordings (in other words, it should not read like a Wikipedia entry). Instead, you should focus on interpreting the assigned materials. Please carefully analyze and describe what you hear and/or see, with information gleaned from Jeff Chang’s Can’t Stop Won’t Stop and the assigned readings/viewings. Websites that post lyrics (Genius) should also be reviewed. You are free to focus on specific tracks from the album or scenes from the film.
Attributes to consider may include:
– Beats / samples / instrumental sounds
– Lyrical content
– Performance style
– Plot and narrative approach
– Cultural and historical context
– Your aesthetic assessment of the album or film
Essay #1:
Due Date: 13 April 2016, Choice 1: Album
M.I.A., Arular (2005) Choice 2: Album
Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012) Choice 3: Album
Dr. Dre, Compton (2015)
???
Grade Rubric
Essays will be graded on twenty point scale:
“18-20” will be assigned to essays that do all of the following:
• contain at least 1000 words
• demonstrate that you have thoroughly analyzed the assigned material
• make interesting, accurate, and subtle observations about what you hear/see
• show that you have a sense of stylistic/cultural progression and continuity
“16-17” will be assigned to essays that do all of the following:
• contain at least 1000 words
• demonstrate familiarity with the assigned material
• make appropriate observations about what you hear/see
• show that you have a basic sense of the style and culture from the period
“12-15” will be assigned to essays that do any of the following:
• do not meet the minimum length of 1000 words
• fail to show that you have listened attentively to the assigned album or watched the film
• contain substantial historical, artistic, or cultural inaccuracies
• are poorly written
“1-11” grade will be assigned to essays that are incomplete, contain serious mistakes, or fail to address the assigned material.
A “0” will be assigned if the essay is not turned in.

Album essay
MUSC 420m (Hip-Hop Music and Culture) Essay #2 Guideline
The first essay is due on April 13, 2016 (by 1 p.m.). The essay should contain between 1000 and 1200 words (include the word count at the end of your essay), and it should compare and reflect on the musical, lyrical, and/or visual content of the assigned materials. PLEASE SEND THE ESSAY (12 point font, DOUBLE-SPACED, DOCX Format) VIA EMAIL TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESSES: seannye@usc.edu and willrowley@sbcglobal.net.
Please include the following in your subject line: “MUSC420 Essay 2.”
For this essay, I do not want you to just recount factual information such as who produced, performed on, or inspired the recordings (in other words, it should not read like a Wikipedia entry). Instead, you should focus on interpreting the assigned materials. Please carefully analyze and describe what you hear and/or see, with information gleaned from Jeff Chang’s Can’t Stop Won’t Stop and the assigned readings/viewings. Websites that post lyrics (Genius) should also be reviewed. You are free to focus on specific tracks from the album or scenes from the film.
Attributes to consider may include:
– Beats / samples / instrumental sounds
– Lyrical content
– Performance style
– Plot and narrative approach
– Cultural and historical context
– Your aesthetic assessment of the album or film
Essay #1:
Due Date: 13 April 2016, Choice 1: Album
M.I.A., Arular (2005) Choice 2: Album
Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012) Choice 3: Album
Dr. Dre, Compton (2015)
???
Grade Rubric
Essays will be graded on twenty point scale:
“18-20” will be assigned to essays that do all of the following:
• contain at least 1000 words
• demonstrate that you have thoroughly analyzed the assigned material
• make interesting, accurate, and subtle observations about what you hear/see
• show that you have a sense of stylistic/cultural progression and continuity
“16-17” will be assigned to essays that do all of the following:
• contain at least 1000 words
• demonstrate familiarity with the assigned material
• make appropriate observations about what you hear/see
• show that you have a basic sense of the style and culture from the period
“12-15” will be assigned to essays that do any of the following:
• do not meet the minimum length of 1000 words
• fail to show that you have listened attentively to the assigned album or watched the film
• contain substantial historical, artistic, or cultural inaccuracies
• are poorly written
“1-11” grade will be assigned to essays that are incomplete, contain serious mistakes, or fail to address the assigned material.
A “0” will be assigned if the essay is not turned in.