Music: Common-letter to the free

1) The 13th amendment is a law made by the United states that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude other then as a punishment for criminals.

2) The black codes were laws that governed the conduct of African Americans

3) People suggest that the legacy of slavery is still a crucial aspect of American culture as it seems to be deep rooted in American society in general. With current racist events that lead to people creating the Black Lives Matter movement.

4) Ava DuVernay was inspired to make the Netflix documentary called the 13th as a response to the current situation in America and as a way to give further support to the Black Lives Matter movement.

5) The most significant period of time for the rise in political hip-hop would mainly be around the 80s-90s.

6) Common talks about other current artists who have a political interest like Kendrick Lamar and Chance (the rapper). However it seems that right now we dont have a lot of black consciousness, love and awareness.

Factsheet

1) Letter to the free is described as a political protest song that uses rap along with other musical genres to communicate to the audience about how Americas history of slavery and the law have affected the black community (specifically about incarceration rates.) This song is in the album Black America Again.

2) Commons music usually consists of activism that goes against the mythology of the "American Dream". Letter to the free breaks down the lies and deception that this belief America has throughout the music video. ("Black bodies being lost in the American dream")

3) The factsheet uses Todorrovs theory of equilibrium and applies it to Letter to the Free's lyrics of the song. The Equilibrium: "Pride of the pilgrims affect lives of millions since slave days separating fathers from children" - The European settlers (Pilgrims) have affected the lives of African Americans by imposing they're superiority over them.

4) Regarding the Mise-en-scene the factsheet talks about how the music video was filmed in an empty prison with open doors and windows (creating a sense of irony since if they were people the doors and windows would be closed).The absence of the prisoners within the prison simply makes us think about them more and  this is one way the video connotes the theme of freedom. 

5) The pose of the artists/musicians can also be looked at in depth with the first artist we see in the music video having his back to us (oblivious to the audience) challenging the stereotype of a black artist simply being a performer. The female singers are positioned centrally giving off a more yearning for hope type of presence.

6) We can apply Paul Gilroy's ideas on diasporic identity and double consciousness as due to the liquidation of culture caused by slavery, African Americans don't have anywhere to call home and have been kept in a prison both mentally and physically in the past.

Close-textual analysis

1) Throughout the video the camera shots are mainly long shots/wide shots with a few medium shots. They purposefully subvert the conventions of normal music videos by removing the performance element by not having any close ups of the musicians. The camera movement also subverted normal music videos by having a far more slow paced experience letting the audience gaze at the empty prison halls and feeling of the hollow environment that African Americans were kept slaves in due to the 13th amendment.

2) The camera seems to be constantly moving around the performers whether it be towards, away or left and right. This could be a way for them to communicate to the audience how the problems caused in the past wont ever stop having an affect on present and future events.

3) Perhaps the reason why the video is in black and white is to display the gravity of the situation. The 13th amendment has removed freedom from African Americans by keeping them in prison and in a similar state of slavery.

4) Mise-en-Scene:

• Prison Setting: Simply a reminder of the fact that as the lyrics say, "institution isnt just a building" hinting to the fact that people are stuck in a  mental prison of the American Governments making.
• Lighting: Low key lighting used to add gravitas to the situation.
• Costume: Casual and dark clothes.
• Actor placement: Usually in the centre of an empty room staring away from the camera.
• Props: Instruments

5) The black square could be representing the black communities cultural identity. It never touches the environment or touches the ground eluding to it never being at rest or having a place to call home. It seems to reflect its environment and is always trapped in slavery whether it be physically in a prison or stuck outside in a cotton plantation. 

6) The video makes several references to topics throughout the video. They subtly talk about the connections between slavery and prisons through the lyrics and the setting ("Institution isnt just a building", outside the prison is simply a cotton plantation which is used by slaves). They also talk about political figures like Donald Trump and how they've not helped the black communities situation ("The same hate that they say will make america great again", "Shot with a ray gun and now you want to Trump me"