Weekly Blog Post 5

As mentioned in earlier posts, Scroob and Dan have worked hard to make their listeners question the manner of everything about their world through contrasting word and message. This use of logos can is even more readily apparent within the filming of the "Thou Shalt Always Kill" video. The contrast of message and filming starts fresh from the beginning, as Pip walks down an English street, past a children's park and down a tight and dirty alleyway, all the while rapping his list of rules to those nearby. Now, as his speech invokes the image of a preacher on a soapbox, professing his beliefs to the masses about him, congregated of their own accord, the viewer will notice that Scroobius Pip is, instead, walking his message to his audience, those both listening willingly and those (like the boy reading the magazine) not so much. Logically, we expect him to be a central character, staying in a well-traversed area, but not where the majority of the populace could merely drive by, say somewhere like a town square, whereas we find him here, on an over-populated and busy street corner, walking so fast that even the few who might hear him and wish to listen further are passed up before they could truly recognize what they had just experienced.
This is followed quickly by a series of lyrical and visual disconnects. As he recites, "Thou shalt not attend an open mic and leave as soon as you've done your s---ty little song or poem, you self-righteous prick," we see Scroobius standing in the limelight of a stage barren, save the lone microphone. The next line, "Thou shalt not return to the same club or bar, week-in, week-out, just 'cuz you once saw a girl there you fancied that you're never going to f**king talk to," finds him sitting in a dim-lit club, beside what could very well be the kind of man he intends to hear these words. Then that fateful line I've quoted many times before, "Thou shalt not put musicians and recording artists on ridiculous pedestals, no matter how great they are or were," and where is Mr. Pip at this crucial moment? Standing on a white stone pillar, right where any passer-by could see him, of course!
Juxtaposing these elements brings them to the forefront and makes them the obvious central messages of the video. Because, as fun as the lines about pheonix/phoenix and "When I say..." are to watch, they do not linger in the viewer's mind to the same degree as these strange disjunctions.

Weekly Blog Post 4

In mixing a track that hopes to inspire and motivate its listeners, Dan le Sac and Scroobius Pip had to employ all manner of rhetorical appeal. The most obvious, and possibly the most significant of these, resides in the ethos of the title. "Thou Shalt Always Kill" evokes in the listener an image of the Ten Commandments. This ancient biblical document frames much of our culture, and, being part of the foundation of the religions of a vast majority of the world, it also informs much of our government, the judicial systems, specifically. By titling their song thus, the duo is gambling that their words will hold a similar weight among the masses which hear them. As stated before, though, this causes the reader to question just how important each of the "laws" they set down are. Lines like, "Thou shalt not use poetry, art or music to get into girls pants... use it to get into their heads" and "Thou shalt think for yourselves" easily hold such lofty goals as the source material, for today's world, but others do not.
"Thou shalt not Pimp My Ride.
Thou shalt not scream if you wanna go faster.
Thou shalt not move to the sound of the wickedness.
Thou shalt not make some noise for Detroit.
When I say 'Hey', thou shalt not say 'Ho'
When I say 'Hip", thou shalt not say 'Hop'
When I say, he say, she say, we say; 'Make some noise.', kill me."
Honestly, not the most enlightening words to ever grace the airwaves, but perhaps they still need said.
So then, how do we, as listeners, interpret the final line, title, and thus, the entire piece? "Thou shalt always kill"? It seems as if this would completely undermine the parallel Scroob and Dan worked so hard to establish. After a little more research, though, the two explained in an interview what the line means. "It's just you're typical type of hip-hop. Like, you say 'You killed it' or 'That killed.'" All in all, they're making a critique of their own art, by setting down rules that reverberate with much of their audience.