common letter to the free

Read this Billboard interview where Common talks about Letter to the Free, political hip hop and contemporary American society. Use the article and the notes we have made in lessons (also available above) to answer the following questions on the social, cultural and genre contexts for Letter to the Free.

1) What other projects has Common been involved in over recent years?

common has been working in other projects as well to do the same thing like he wrote lyrics for all glory to us by john legend.

2) What is the 13th Amendment of the American Constitution?

3) What were the Black Codes?

The black codes were laws which were passed against black people to work for minim wages.

4) Why do people suggest that the legacy of slavery is still a crucial aspect to American culture 150 years after it was abolished by the 13th Amendment?

This is because to make sure that everyone is aware about what the black people had to go through.

5) Why was Ava DuVernay inspired to make the Netflix documentary 13th?

This is because slavery is a very important that they need to show the world about how traumatising the american  culture was for the black people.

6) Focusing on genre, what was the most significant time period for the rise in political hip hop?

80's and 90's because this was the time when a lot of black people used racism as a genre in their music.

7) Common talks about other current artists that have a political or protest element to their music. Who are they? Are there any other hip hop artists that you are aware of that have a strong political element to their work?

he thinks Kendrick Lamar and  chance the rapper 

8) What album is Letter to the Free taken from? What was the critical reception for this album? You'll need to research this - the Wikipedia entry for the album is a good place to start.

black american is the album which the song comes from.

Close-textual analysis and representation

Re-watch the music video several times to complete the following tasks in specific detail:

1) How does the Letter to the Free music video use cinematography to create meanings for the audience? (Camera shots and movement).

camera shots-the tracking shot at the start to show prison
long shots to show the characters
no close ups
This is to ensure that people are understanding the message for black people is something very serious and how they don't have freedom in doing other things as there are no shots which are taken outside. 

2) What is the significance of the constantly moving camera?

This is to show that everything is moving but the black people are still not getting their freedom.

3) Why is the video in black and white?

This is because this shows that how serious the topic is and also shows that it is very factual.

4) How is mise-en-scene used to construct meaning for the audience - prison setting, costume, props, lighting, actor placement?

setting-The prison is portraying the stereotypes of black people being a criminal and being in jail 

lighting-

costume-no stereotypical costumes used like a hip hop video as common is seen to be wearing casual clothes which is a black sweater and trousers to show how normal black people dress.

props-The props were the African drums which showed the culture but the main props used is the black brick which is shown from the start of the video till the end to show that the black people are seen as objects like the black brick shown in the video.

actor placement

5) Focusing on the track, what are the key lyrics that suggest the political message of the song?


6) What is the significance of the floating black square motif? Discuss your own interpretations alongside Common's explanation of it in the Billboard feature linked above.

The black square mortifies that the way they are showing the black square in the shots is showing how black people are treated like objects shwon by the prsion shot in the cell and then shown outside at the end to show how black people are looking for freedom.

The significant of this is that it was representing black people.

7) How does the video reference racism, slavery and the oppression of black culture? Make reference to specific shots, scenes or moments in the video.

8) How can Gilroy's idea of black diasporic identity be applied to Common's Letter to the Free?

his idea can be linked to show 9) What other theories of race and ethnicity can be applied to this video? E.g. Hall, Rose or Dyson.

10) What current events in America and worldwide are referenced in the song and video?

donald trump is being mentioned