THE BLOCK IS HOT: DEVASTATION SPREADS LIKE WILDEFIRE COMMUNITY VIOLENCE ARSON INCREASES GANG VIOLENCE INCREASES SUBSTANCE ABUSE INCREASES Trauma Poverty urban decay Government Unstable housing neglect Violence RACISM DEATH Systems Theory
BRONX RESIDENTS WERE BEING HIT ON EVERY LEVEL -Poor Governmental Policy -Failing local insitutions -Volatile Community Dynamics. HipHip HopHop isis BornBorn The 5 Elements of Hip Hop
1. MC'ing (rapping) 2. Scratching (music production) 3. B-boying (breakdance) 4. Graffiti 5. Knowledge The Art of Freestyle The Neuroanatomy of Freestyle Rap WHAT THIS WHAT WAS MEANS THE SET UP FOUND
A study conducted by the The scans showed Turning “down” some control NIDCD in 2012 invited a activation of certain activities in your brain actually dozen rappers to come to parts of the brain’s accompanies turning “up” the functions thought to be a lab and spit rhymes prefrontal cortex that associated with creativity and while laying down in an are responsible for spontaneity and eliciting more fMRI machine. The artists organization and functionality within the Default performed in two motivation, and Mode Network, a special network conditions: in the improv interestingly, it showed in the brain thought to play a condition, they freestyled deactivation of brain significant role in individuals to a beat track, and then areas responsible for experiencing intense depression for comparison, they executive functions like and anxiety recited pre-memorized self-monitoring and (Liu et al., 2012) lyrics to the same track. conscious control. Therapeutic Connections THE BAR EXAM
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The bar exam is an opportunity for us to listen to a rap song, identify the themes and emotions expressed within the song, and analyze the lyrics
What to listen for
VIBE THEME REFLECT
Articulate how you felt while What emotional theme's Consider instances when you listening to the song. presented themselves within the felt similar emotions discussed song? in the song. How did you go about coping with the emotions you felt? FEATURED ARTIST #1
Lil Baby The Bigger Picture TRADE MY 4X4 FOR A G63, AIN'T NO MORE FREE LIL STEVE THE BIGGER PICTURE I GAVE 'EM CHANCE AND CHANCE AND CHANCE AGAIN, I EVEN DONE TOLD THEM PLEASE I FIND IT CRAZY THE POLICE'LL SHOOT YOU FUCKED UP, THE WAY THAT WE LIVIN' IS NOT GETTIN' AND KNOW THAT YOU DEAD, BUT STILL TELL BETTER, YOU GOTTA KNOW HOW TO SURVIVE YOU TO FREEZE CRAZY, I HAD TO TELL ALL OF MY LOVED ONES TO CARRY FUCKED UP, I SEEN WHAT I SEEN A GUN WHEN THEY GOIN' OUTSIDE I GUESS THAT MEAN HOLD HIM DOWN IF HE STARE IN THE MIRROR WHENEVER YOU DRIVE SAY HE CAN'T BREATHE OVERPROTECTIVE, GO CRAZY FOR MINE IT'S TOO MANY MOTHERS THAT'S GRIEVIN' YOU GOTTA PAY ATTENTION TO THE SIGNS THEY KILLIN' US FOR NO REASON SEEM LIKE THE BLIND FOLLOWIN' THE BLIND THINKIN' 'BOUT EVERYTHIN' THAT'S GOIN' ON I BOOST SECURITY UP AT MY HOME I'M WITH MY KIND IF THEY RIGHT OR THEY WRONG I CALL HIM NOW, HE'LL PICK UP THE PHONE WE JUST SOME PRODUCTS OF OUR ENVIRONMENT AND IT'S FIVE IN THE MORNIN', HE WAKIN' UP ON IT HOW THE FUCK THEY GON' BLAME US? TELL 'EM WHEREVER I'M AT, THEN THEY COMIN' YOU CAN'T FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE I KNOW, BUT AT I SEE BLUE LIGHTS, I GET SCARED AND START RUNNIN' LEAST WE CAN TURN UP THE FLAMES SOME THAT SHIT BE CRAZY, THEY 'POSED TO PROTECT US EVERY COLORED PERSON AIN'T DUMB AND ALL THROW US IN HANDCUFFS AND ARREST US WHITES NOT RACIST WHILE THEY GO HOME AT NIGHT, THAT SHIT MESSED UP I BE JUDGIN' BY THE MIND AND HEART, I AIN'T REALLY INTO FACES FEATURED ARTIST #2
Big Sean Deep Reverence Deep Reverence And I got pressure on me Seven days a week, it's game seven on me Life'll test you out, you live through that, that's testimony Givin' 'em hell but how in the hell I got all these blessings on me? Lack of communication and wrong information from people DAMN, I REALIZE ALL MY SETBACKS WERE Fueled by the ego is like mixing flames INSIDE OF ME; IN HIGH SCHOOL I LEARNED with diesel CHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY BUT NOT HOW TO COPE WITH ANXIETY OR HOW I COULD FEEL Energy crazy, I realize that it's a two LIKE I'M BY MYSELF ON AN ISLAND WITH way street DEPRESSION ON ALL SIDES OF ME What's coming is going if it don't give (DAMN)WITH A GLOCK 17 RIGHT ON THE SIDE OF ME (HOLD UP)LOOK, I AIN'T THINK I you more, it drains you HAD THE THOUGHT OF SUICIDE IN ME UNTIL Should be a billionaire based on the LIFE SHOWED ME ALL THESE DIFFERENT time off I'm not taking SIDES OF ME TOO MANY TIMES I THOUGHT Probably why this shit with me get THE REAPER WAS OUTSIDE FOR ME crazy and we lost a baby FEATURED ARTIST #3
Jean Grae My Story SO I TRAVELED ALONE, YOUNG, SIXTEEN GOT IN THE MY STORY HABIT OF NOT STAYIN' AT HOME I KEPT IT BOTTLED UP; MY PARENT'S FOUND THE PILLS DOING THE SAD WALK LIKE SCREAMING GOD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? BILL BIXBY, A DOLLAR FIFTY CRIED TILL I SNOTTED BLOOD, THEN GOT A GUN TRIPS TO THE HOSPITAL SO THAT MEDICAID COULD FIX MY TEMPER RAN QUICK THO, FROM THE THOUGHT, THEN THE ME WORST I WAS CAUGHT IN THE SAME PLACE I COULDN'T EAT SH**. I FAINTED FREQUENT. ON COLD A YEAR LATER, FOR ME THAT'S WHEN HATRED STARTED FLOORS AND I PAUSE AND I MY FAITH MARTYRED, I'VE DATED A FATHER BUT FARTHER, THINK, KEEP IT THEN I MOVED ON I'M LOST, MY FOUR FRIENDS KNOW YEARS PAST, THE GUILT'S WORSE AND IT BUILDS TILL YOUR AND JUST F** AT THE BOYS' APARTMENTS FOR RENT, SO HEART' SMASHED I'M ALL WISHIN' THAT IT'S A DREAM ENDING SOON THEN I MISCARRIED 22 AGE, I WAS HEADED TO A BREAKDOWN I'VE ACTUALLY ERASED A LOT THAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH SWALLOWED UP SOME PILLS AND I LAID DOWN I WAS A FAILURE AT THAT TOO, BAILED FROM THE RAP THEN BUT FATE TOOK ME BACK IN
NOW ALL MY BITTER HOMIES SAYIN' THAT'S WHAT MEN DO SING IS A TATTOO MY FINGERS ATTACHED WITH FEELIN' RETARDED FOR SEEING PARTNER POTENTIAL TWENTY-SEVEN WITH THREE KIDS THAT I NEVER MET ON TOP OF THAT, THE DOCTORS TELLING ME A HEART WHAT IF I WAS CATHOLIC? WONDER IF THEY HATE ME? MURMUR THINKING HOW THEIR MOTHER COULD EVER MURDER? I CAN'T TAKE IT; I'M CONTEMPLATING A GLOCK BURNER, A WELL TAKE ME HELL - TO THE DEPTHS WHERE THE BRIMSTONE COP MURDERER CHOKES ME CONSTANTLY I CAN'T BE, THIS CAN'T BE I AM A MONSTER, SEE THE TEARS STREAMING AND I CAN'T SEE, THEY LANCE ME HOW COULD I POSSIBLY CORRESPOND WITH GOD WHEN I GAVE AND I'M PASSIN' OUT, AND THIS IS JUST FOR BLOOD THE AUTHORITY TO END THAT LIFE? THEY HAD TO COVER THE MASS AMOUNTS, I'VE HAD ENOUGH REVIEW THE MUSIC LYRIC ANALYZATION New music is produced Time must be spent in Take everyday which provides listening to various artisit an unlimited amount of and annotating verses to content to be discussed identify mental health Away's and dissected concepts within the music.
PSYCHO-EDUCATION CREATING SAFE IN CONTEXT SPACE There must be an ongoing Increasing our effort to increase one's understanding of Hip-Hop awareness about the culture assists clincians in context of the music and creating safe space with its connection to mental our client population health
REFERENCES
Bryant-Davis, T., Adams, T., Alejandre, A., & Gray, A. A. (2017). The trauma lens of police violence against racial and ethnic minorities. Journal of Social Issues, 73 (4), 852-871. Crawford, M. R., Grant, N. S., & Crews, D. A. (2016). Relationships and rap: Using ecomaps to explore the stories of youth who rap. The British Journal of Social Work, 46(1), 239-256. Elligan, D. (2012). Contextualizing rap music as a means of incorporating into psychotherapy. In S. Hadley & G. Yancy (Eds.) Therapeutic uses of rap and hip hop. (pp. 69- 80). Routledge. Estreet, A. T., Archibald, P., Goodman, S., & Cudjoe, T. (2017). Using a client-centered approach to guide the development of a culturally-specific hip-hop intervention for African American adolescent substance users. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, 23(4), 48-66. Fletcher, J. S. (2018). Rap in music therapy with Appalachian youth with adverse childhood experiences. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 18(4).
Heath, T., & Arroyo, P. (2014). ‘I gracefully grab a pen and embrace it‘: Hip-hop lyrics as a means for re-authoring and therapeutic change. International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, (3), 31-38. Kobin, C., & Tyson, E. (2006). Thematic analysis of hip-hop music: Can hip-hop in therapy facilitate empathic connections when working with clients in urban settings? Arts in Psychotherapy, 33(4), 343-356. Koivisto, M. O. (2018). “I know you think I’m crazy”: Post-horrorcore rap approaches to disability, violence, and psychotherapy. Disability Studies Quarterly, 38(2) REFERENCES (CONT.)
Levy, I. P., & Adjapong, E. S. (2020). Toward culturally competent school counseling environments: Hip-hop studio construction . The Professional Counselor (Greensboro, NC), 10(2), 266-284. Liu, S., Chow, H. M., Xu, Y., Erkkinen, M. G., Swett, K. E., Eagle, M. W. ... Braun, A. R. (2012). Neural correlates of lyrical improvisation: An fMRI study of freestyle rap . Scientific Reports, 2(1), 834. Richards, A., Hoskin, N. M., Maddox, R. P., II, & Cornelius-White, J. H. D. (2019). A qualitative study of group therapy incorporating rap music with incarcerated individuals . Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 14(4), 478. Sule, A., & Inkster, B. (2014). A hip-hop state of mind . The Lancet. Psychiatry, 1(7), 494-495. Travis, R., & Deepak, A. (2011). Empowerment in context: Lessons from hip-hop culture for social work practice. Journal of ethnic & cultural diversity in social work, 20(3), 203-222 Travis, R. (2013). Rap music and the empowerment of Today’s youth: Evidence in everyday music listening, music therapy, and commercial rap music . Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 30(2), 139-167. Washington, A. R. (2018). Integrating hip-hop culture and rap music into social justice counseling with black males. Journal of Counseling & Development, 96(1), 97-105. Contact me for questions
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