Strangely enough, there’s some relation between modern hip-hop and a play written around 400 years ago. Macbeth can relate to hip-hop today, take Lil Peep for example. Gustav Åhr, aka Lil Peep, combines rap with emo-rock on his song “The Way I See Things”. In the song, Peep sings about how his life will be cut short. He sings about the girl that left him, but says he’ll wait for her. He also mentions his path to insanity. All three of the things Peep sings about in his song “The Way I See Things” are portrayed in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
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Lil Peep knew that he wouldn’t live long, he lived a drug-ridden life. The depressing style of his music is what appealed to millions of his fans. Peep foreshadows his own death in “The Way I See Things”: “I got a feelin’ that I’m not gonna be here for next year”. The comparison can be made between Shakespeare’s foreshadowing of his future with Peep’s. Peep resisted his depression through using drugs. When the Three Witches visit Macbeth and Banquo for the first time, they tell Macbeth he will be king, and Banquo that he will father many kings to come. Macbeth was shook by these prophecies, but his power-hungriness distracted him. Macbeth’s power-hungriness is comparable to Peep’s use of drugs; Peep used drugs just as Macbeth became powerful. They both play the role of the distractor and the resistor. Macbeth is so blinded by his power-hungriness that he forgets about other things, like when Peep used drugs to divert himself from his depression. “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff! / Beware the thane of Fife!” (IV, i). Peep and Macbeth both used certain strategies to blind themselves from their impending deaths.
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| https://tinyurl.com/yaqrw4ma |
Part of the reason that Peep’s music is so captivating is because he sang about relatable issues. Peep is a voice of the outspoken, the depressed, and the heartbroken. In “The Way I See Things”, Peep sings about his own broken heart. “She don’t love me, but she’s singin’ my songs Oh no”. In this line, Peep sings that his lover doesn’t love him anymore, but she sings his songs. She sings his songs because she still wants to be attributed to his fame. There are times in Macbeth that Lady Macbeth sees more importance in getting power than loving her husband. “Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be / What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; / It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness” (V, i). Lady Macbeth continues to criticize Macbeth’s manhood over not wanting to kill King Duncan. Later in the song, Peep sings the hook: “Runnin’ away from me, but I’m not givin’ up on you … Take her away from me, but I’m not givin’ up on you, no” in these closing lines, Peep sings about the girl who left him. Peep sings that he won’t let go, he’ll wait until his girl returns. Peep sings that although she’s gone temporarily, she’ll be in his heart. Likewise, when Lady Macbeth kills herself, Macbeth virtually denies her death. “She should have died hereafter; / There would have been a time for such a word.” (V, v). Macbeth wishes that she could have died when he could have mourned her. For the rest of the play, there is a chip on his shoulder because of her death. He keeps Lady Macbeth on his mind, just as Peep kept his ex on his mind.
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| https://tinyurl.com/y9w2o8j5 |
Both Macbeth and Peep struggled with their mental health. The combination of drug-addiction and depression resulted in Peep slowly going insane. Strangely enough, Peep recognized his insanity before his death. In “The Way I See Things” Peep sings, “I’m clinically insane, Walkin’ home alone, I see faces in the rain”. Peep seeing faces in the rain means he sees people entering and exiting his life because he doesn’t fit with any of them. He’s clinically insane because he sees them but he can’t do anything about it. Macbeth also goes insane, but not for the same reasons. As pointed out earlier, Macbeth and Peep use certain things to distract themselves from their impending deaths. Peep’s addiction to drugs ended up in him going ‘clinically insane’, Macbeth’s thirst for power resulted in him turning insane. Macbeth’s road to insanity begins when he kills King Duncan. “I conjure you, by that which you profess / (Howe’er you come to know it), answer me.” (IV, i). The Witches’ ability to foretell slowly teases Macbeth. As shown, Macbeth gets driven crazy by the idea of his future, and he’s greedy to want to know how much power he’ll have. Macbeth also imagines a bloody knife and Banquo. Macbeth and Peep both struggle mentally because of the things they used to distract themselves from their impending deaths.
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Although both dead, Peep and Macbeth still have lasting effects. Peeps music is a remedy for the depressed and the heartbroken, while Shakespeare’s writing remains a clear pillar in modern literature. Even though they have different impacts, the fact remains that there are clear correlations between Macbeth and Lil Peep’s song “The Way I See Things”. Not only do the translations of the lyrics tie into Macbeth, but Peep and Macbeth also have similarities. As shown, they both go insane, get their hearts broken, and realize they’re going to die. Peep’s depressing, lyrical flow with the addition of slow guitar ballads makes his music sound like it’s straight out of Shakespeare’s journal. Peep’s final lines, “It’s just the way I be / It’s just the way I see things” reflect onto Peep and Macbeth. They both have the same mindset; they become addicted and want more, and they aren’t willing to let go. These two factors result in insanity. As shown, Macbeth and Lil Peep’s song “The Way I See Things” both reflect the same ideas.
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