“My Pen Rides the Paper” breaks down some of Nas’s music. He refers to the pen and its power in a lot of his lyrics. He also refers to himself in his lyrics, sometimes as the pen. Some of his music reflects his belief in the power of the author. “Protest Song of the Day: ‘Chris Columbus’ by Head-Roc” describes the song “Chris Columbus”. It states that the song is about Christopher Columbus, but from the perspective of the people he has oppressed. He is making a point about how history is taught in the U.S. When listening to the song, it was pretty direct about its implication that Christoper Columbus discovering America led to many atrocities against the Native Americans. The purpose of this song is to emphasize how bad these atrocities were. The song “First Nations” is about the indigenous groups in North America. It goes over adaptation, hunting, agriculture and beliefs. It also goes into how they slowly disappeared over time. It ends with a plea – “Welcome to my home, don’t take it away.” I think the main point of this song was to educate the audience on how many tribes existed in America and the diversity of their lifestyles before the land was colonized. “The Last Emperor Secret Wars” talks about different superheros and famous characters fighting against each other.
I don’t have much experience listening to rap music or using it in education. In my experience using rap music in high school it was either analyzing rap music or creating our own, it was never about listening to rap music and incorporating it into the curriculum. I definitely think, especially after listening to “Chris Columbus” and “First Nations”, that rap music can be used to make learning engaging. The lyrics “Death is the decision when they on a mission. What we talking about? Imperialism” stuck out to me from “Chris Columbus”; they really made me feel the intensity of the decisons colonizers made when they came to America. In “First Nations” the lyric “Do you know how American began?” also stuck out to me because it is a very pointed question that is repeated multiple times throughout the song. I think both of these songs used in a history class would bring in more emotional understanding that reading from a textbook can’t.
Question: Did you ever use rap or other types of music in your K-12 education? Was it effective?
Siri's EDU 185 Blog 
I agree with what you say about how rap can make learning engaging for students. When reading from textbooks about history, students tend to get bored or just passively read for the purpose of passing a class. However, many students can closely relate to music ,since it is the one thing that everyone listens to, so by using it as a medium to gain knowledge then I think students will be more inclined to learn.
In response to your question, from what I remember my school didn’t use rap or music in general. The only manner we would listen to music was when we would be working indecently or it. Was quiet time but never for a learning purpose. However, I think it would have been effective to have music in my education because I would have been interested in what we learning.
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Hi Siri, I had a similar reaction to the Chris Columbus and First Nations rap songs. Those repetitive lyrics stuck with me too. I’m more of a visual and kinesthetic learner so the First Nations video which combined music and a visual element left a stronger impression on me. I think both would be useful in the classroom. Rap music and videos would be engaging to students. It make aspects of history more interesting to young students and easier to absorb as opposed to or in addition to text.
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