Othello through the lens of Jay Z (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

In 1603, Shakespeare concocted the tragedy that is Othello. The play centres the eponymous character named prior and details on how his imperfections combined with the looming and manipulative force that is Iago are instrumental in his downfall. 414 years later, Rapper Jay z releases his thirteenth studio album titled 4:44, the work rooted in and praised for its emotional and personal content, tackling familial and interpersonal relationships. In this essay I will propose the idea to you that although these projects vastly contrast each other due to an obvious plethora of reasons, there is a striking parallel between the two which becomes so jarringly blatant when viewed through a modern lens. 

From early in the play, it has been communicated by Shakespeare that Othello is a character that is perceived first by the colour of his skin, and anything other than that coming afterwards. Othello is well mannered, noble and ''Valiant" and yet still branded as "Moor" in the same breath. Through the eyes of those in his society, Othello's nature as a whole is almost paradoxical, he is clearly regarded with respect but still assigned a derogatory term. Shakespeare may have done this to reaffirm Othello's 'other-ness' in a predominantly white space and remind the audience he isn't a fully integrated member in Venetian society, however on the converse it can also be interpreted as a commentary on the concept of racial differences in this period, which according to scholar Dr Ambreen Dadabhoy, the English at the time of the play's release were familiar with. she describes their perception of others as 'Internalised', with the help of "scholars like Anthony Barthelemy speaking on black people in his book Black Face, Maligned Race, where the image of blackness, as associated with sin, with the devil.'' Rather than what blackness is at surface level, a variation in phenotype. From this we can see that Shakespeare has taken the concept of race and used it as a tool to navigate the social context of the play.

On the topic of general consensus in regards to black people I feel the need to foreground myself before introducing Jay Z into the essay.

In the music video to the song I plan to discuss, animator Titmouse uses traditional anti black imagery along side the lyrics of the song to again ground viewers into a space where those of dark complexion are oppressed (duh). The depicted slaves have comically large lips and exaggerated features, rather than individuals they are a homogenised collective, lacking of purpose and high regard despite how monumental the feat they might achieve. outside of slavery, the homogenised collective is only seen to indulge and consume but never actively challenge their current social political state . their fists raised pumping the air in unison, like that of a protest, but ironically in a place that traditionally takes root in minstrelsy. 

 this idea is reflected in the chorus of the song, Story of Oj ''Light nigga, dark nigga, faux nigga, real nigga rich nigga poor nigga house nigga field nigga , Still nigga, still nigga''