An Analysis of Dave's "Clash" featuring Stormzy

Research/Analysis Paper: 6 pages double-spaced (12 pt Times New Roman font or similar.
Works Cited page does not count towards the 6-page minimum limit.)
Song list:
Dave - “Clash” (ft Stormzy) (2021)
Your paper must include:
•A well-structured introduction, conclusion, and supporting body paragraphs.
(Remember that your introduction should introduce the paper, not necessarily the song/
artist. Conclusions should summarize and synthesize your analysis findings.)
•Some biographical research on artist/song
•Detailed analysis of:
•Lyrical content/technique: Like the short paper, when discussing lyrics for the final
paper you must engage with Imani Perry’s lyrical tropes from the assigned reading from
week 4. This engagement should be beyond a simple surface-level recognition. (For
example, if you claim your rapper uses Perry’s tropes of “battle” and “realism,” you must
provide specific examples of how these techniques are working.)
•Sounds: think like a producer. Include information to the best of your ability on
instrumentation, form, samples used if any, general vibe, etc., and why these decisions
might have been made
•Social context: what sorts of social-cultural themes does this song address? We’ve
considered many of these: partying, dealing drugs, descriptions of ones real-life local conditions, endemic racism within the US state, conscientious hip hop, etc. Be mindful that
songs can address multiple themes.
•Can you draw larger meaning(s) from the song through your above
analysis? How are the lyrics and sounds working together within the song/artists’s
general context? How do lyrics and sounds relate with a music video, if available? Can you
locate contradictions/tensions within the song? What’s particularly unique or compelling
about the song?
•*Include a Works Cited page (as with the short paper, use this source for help with
citations)
*Aside from the Imani Perry reading, you must use and properly cite 4 other sources. At
least one of these sources must come from required course readings, and at
least one source must come from outside the course. Sources outside the course
should be from established media channels (whether newspapers, magazines, scholarly
articles, web publications, etc. Web pages like wikipedia, genius, and whosampled will not
count towards this requirement. Use sources from outlets with clearly-identified authors (such
as thesource.com, xxlmag.com, pitchfork.com).
A strong paper will engage with main themes from the course. For example, this
might include (but isn’t limited to) “signifying” both through lyrics and sampling (Perry,
Gates, Rose), the ways hip hop/rap addresses Black cultural priorities (Rose), positions on
state violence (Davis), issues of sexism and misogyny (Crenshaw, hampton), tensions between
a hip hop revolutionary potential and its integration within global “hypercapitalism” (Tate),
and so on. Use sources to help you! Try and engage meaningfully with these texts.
Make sure you center the song and work outwards from the song itself (in
other words, don’t bog your paper down in biographical information. That information is
important, but the bulk of the paper should address the song itself). And as noted above,
make sure your paper relates to what we’ve learned in class!
Lastly, a few writing tips for the Final Paper: most style guides recognize the
capitalization of “Black” for racial, ethnic, or cultural contexts. Punctuation should go inside
quotation marks, not outside (So, “Like this.” Not “Like that”.). Albums should be italicized,
while song names go inside quotations.