It’s Shakespeare vs hip hop! A quick pop quiz for you – do you think the quotes below are words from a hip hop track or Shakespeare play? Answers are at the bottom of this post… and may surprise you!

“To destroy the beauty from which one came”
“Maybe it’s hatred I spew, maybe it’s food for the spirit”
“Men would rather use their broken records than their bare hands”
“I was not born under a rhyming planet”
“The most benevolent king communicates through your dreams”
“Socrates, philosophy and hypotheses can’t define me”

The examples are taken from the extraordinary talk MOBO award-winning Akala from the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company gives to TedTalk. In the gripping 20 minute talk Akala talks iambic pentameter, gives sonnet 18 – “shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” – a hip hop makeover and explores the connections between Shakespeare and hip hop.

Pop quiz answers:

Hip hop: Jay-Zee
Hip hop: Eminem
Shakespeare: Othello
Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing
Hip hop: Wu-Tang Clan
Hip hop: Wu-Tang Clan

Hip hop Shakespeare

Is It Hip Hop Or Shakespeare?

“To destroy the beauty from which one came”

“Maybe it’s hatred I spew, maybe it’s food for the spirit”

“Men would rather use their broken records than their bare hands”

“I was not born under a rhyming planet”

“The most benevolent king communicates through your dreams”

“Socrates, philosophy and hypotheses can’t define me”