What is the Mixtape of Your Life?

I heard a great talk yesterday at the Rutgers Camden Urban Youth Symposium (http://childhood.camden.rutgers.edu/urban_youth/schedule.php). The talk was led by English Professor James Peterson of Bucknell University. He writes and teaches in the areas of Africana Studies, Hip Hop Culture, Popular Culture, Media, African American Literature and Sociolinguistics. He talked about the influence of hip hop culture, and the significance of hip hop culture as something separate and distinct from other forms of culture. The hip hop aesthetic! He talked extensively about the literary potential of hip hop as a way of reading and interpreting culture, and he suggested that if Rutgers Camden had its own mixtape... a mixtape made up of 5 songs that tell the story of the school and perhaps more importantly the city of Camden... the 5 songs would be:

1. Lupe Fiasco – Put You on Game

2. Immortal Technique – Dance With the Devil

3. Jay Z - Meet the Parents

4. Grand Master Flash – The Message

5. Common - The Corner

I would have probably added Ghetto Bastard by Naughty, but you get the concept right?

If you take the time to listen to these songs, they paint a grim picture of Camden. I may have added a song that conveyed a stronger sense of hope and resilience, but maybe people do really perceive Camden as being devoid of hope. Peterson and his students, who are all outsiders to Camden, came up with this particular list. I wonder what songs would have been chosen by Camden natives?

Well, this all got me to thinking... If you had to construct a mixtape of 5 songs that told the story of your life... that if people listened to the tape and deconstructed the literary context of the lyrics, they would have a deeper sense and understanding of who you are... WHAT 5 SONGS WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

Written by Frederick A Hanna