Spirituality
Jennifer Perez
English 111-08
22 September 2014
Inspiration and Motivation: A Spiritual Hip-Hop Artist
“Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit––such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony––which bring happiness to both self and others”(22). In Ethics of the New Millennium, Dalai Lama conveys his standpoint on spirituality characteristics through this quote. He later comments, “The unifying characteristics of the qualities I have described as ‘spiritual’ may be said to be some level of concern for others’ well-being”(23). By this, he implies that the people who attain characteristics from the ones listed above, are focusing on others first, as opposed to themselves. When having been asked to write about someone in my life who I believe is the most spiritual, it was challenging to think of a person other than a family member. Nonetheless, I found the perfect person who I felt best exemplifies many, if not all the attributes Dalai Lama mentions, my favorite hip-hop artist Marco “Phora” Archer. Marco is a person who inspires and motivates others to find their happiness even in the darkest of times, with the help of the stories behind his profound music.
All of Marco’s songs are based off past occurrences in his own life or those around him and what they’ve done to overcome specific circumstances. He acknowledges that he was a troubled kid both in and out of his home environment while growing up. His struggles consisted of being abused in his home by his stepfather, not doing well in school (which let to his later dropping out), hanging out with the wrong people, a few of his close friends dying due to gang affiliation, and one of the more serious, having almost been killed himself, at the age of 15. Given his background, he has slowly grown in the aspects of having love and compassion for others, as he was not always that way. Through his music,
English 111-08
22 September 2014
Inspiration and Motivation: A Spiritual Hip-Hop Artist
“Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit––such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony––which bring happiness to both self and others”(22). In Ethics of the New Millennium, Dalai Lama conveys his standpoint on spirituality characteristics through this quote. He later comments, “The unifying characteristics of the qualities I have described as ‘spiritual’ may be said to be some level of concern for others’ well-being”(23). By this, he implies that the people who attain characteristics from the ones listed above, are focusing on others first, as opposed to themselves. When having been asked to write about someone in my life who I believe is the most spiritual, it was challenging to think of a person other than a family member. Nonetheless, I found the perfect person who I felt best exemplifies many, if not all the attributes Dalai Lama mentions, my favorite hip-hop artist Marco “Phora” Archer. Marco is a person who inspires and motivates others to find their happiness even in the darkest of times, with the help of the stories behind his profound music.
All of Marco’s songs are based off past occurrences in his own life or those around him and what they’ve done to overcome specific circumstances. He acknowledges that he was a troubled kid both in and out of his home environment while growing up. His struggles consisted of being abused in his home by his stepfather, not doing well in school (which let to his later dropping out), hanging out with the wrong people, a few of his close friends dying due to gang affiliation, and one of the more serious, having almost been killed himself, at the age of 15. Given his background, he has slowly grown in the aspects of having love and compassion for others, as he was not always that way. Through his music,