PHOTO ESSAY BY: BLAKE ALCON 4/26/15

INTRODUCTION/THESIS STATEMENT Creating an identity for yourself is something that everyone strives to accomplish. People want to live great life and achieve goals so they can create a name for themselves. Everything around us has an impact on how we create our name. The movies we watch and even the music we listen to all have an influence on how we create our self. When we have an interest for something we enjoy, it’s easy to start taking parts from it and putting it into our lives. Music is a perfect example. The Underachievers are a rap duo who’s music can influence people by their lyrics and style of music. Lyrics have the most influential part in music but it’s on the listener to get the message.

Music has a big part in our lives. It’s a source for entertainment and connection. The girl in the picture is enjoying what she is listening to. The lyrics of a song are the important part because that’s where influence comes from.

Music can influence someone's way of thought, their attitude, or even the way they dress. In a lot of rap songs, the brand Gucci is talked about. When someone hears their favorite rapper rap about something like this belt, they will want it as well. It gives off the symbolism of wealth.

Issa Gold (left) and Ak (Right) form The Underachievers. These two rappers are from Flatbush, New York. Together the two influence people by their style of music. The lyrics are to inspire and motivate the youth and that can be achieved through making music. Unlike other rap artist the underachievers lyrics contain spiritual messages.

Watching an interview will help to understand The Underachievers and their music. During this interview the two discuss the meaning behind the music and how people can be influenced by them. The songs created contain spiritual and motivational lyrics that people can take and morph it into their lives.

The picture is one of The Underachievers albums. This album cover gives a detail about the rappers interest and what their music could contain. The pyramid in the back connects to spirituality just like the title “INDIGOISM”.

Spirituality is something that is discussed in The Underachievers music. This subject can split up into other little subjects like in the picture above. This can influence someone's way of thinking and what they believe in. Spirituality can connect with the attitude towards each other and how we see each other. Changing the way we think changes our identity in a way.

This picture helps to represent the Third Eye. The Underachievers rap about third eye consciousness and that can be a power influence if someone allows it. Third Eye can be connected with spirituality and positivity.

This picture is straight forward to represent knowledge. AK and Issa Gold promote knowledge and self awareness in their songs. Knowledge can help achieve greatness and understanding. In an interview Issa Gold gave a list of books to read. A fan could have done it and been influenced by the books message.

This picture contains lyrics as well as The Underachievers. The lyrics give an idea of the influence people can take from the song. Being positive and going for goals is an identity changer. Sometimes people look up the lyrics and from that they can understand it better.

In the picture Issa Gold is looking down at an angle at a concert. Issa talks to the crowd at a point during the concert to motivate them. Having an icon encourage individuals can impact each one of them.

Issa Gold and Ak are standing with a group of people behind them. This picture shows that their music has gotten peoples attention. The people in the back in someway have been touched by the music that is made by The Underachievers. Music be used to create yourself and help build the type of person you want to be. The people in the back are using this music to express their self.

CONCLUSION People use music to identify themselves just as much as to enjoy it. The music that is loved by an individual may influence their personality or even the way they dress. Rap music is a popular genre in music and even though profanity is contained in the lyrics there are the few artist that seek to influence people with deeper meaning. The Underachievers use rap to influence young generations into being knowledgeable and to achieve their dreams. Lyrics can motivate people and even change the way people think. A lot of rap today contain violent lyrics and in a way show off wealth and fame. The Underachievers rap about knowledge and spirituality. People can be impacted in a bad way by music but this duo means to influence. Listeners use music to express themselves and help form the kind of person they are. When artist seek to influence the masses there will be a greater impact on peoples identity.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Bennett, D. (2010, May 2). Guiding Lights: How Soap Operas Can Save the World. Signs of Life in the USA Bedford/St. Martin’s. Retrieved April 20, 2015 from Signs of Life in the USA ( ) Soap operas have an influence on the people that watch it from actions to way of thinking. Bennett discusses how people can model themselves and take after characters that they love. Soap operas have done just that in certain areas of the world. I can use this to help factor in that people mold themselves after characters they like. Cooper, B. (2013, December 6). The Surprising Science Behind What Music Does To Our Brains. Retrieved April 20, 2015, from science-behind-what-music-does-to-our-brains This Article helps explain how music impacts the brain and our emotions. Different music has an impact on how we act. Some of music has to do with our personality. Cooper gives different examples for how music can affect us. Some don’t really have to do with my topic but I can use a little bit of information.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Hickey, A. (2012, December 18). Interview: The Underachievers - ACCLAIM. Retrieved April 20, 2015, from Andrew Hickey does an interview with The Underachievers and from this, information about their songs and style are given. The Underachievers seek to inspire the youth and the younger generations. The music they create influences and is to impact the people listening. I will be using their ideology to discuss how their music influences people’s identity. Isenberg, D. (2013, February 20). Who Are The Underachievers? Retrieved April 22, 2015, from This is an interview but also a background story about The Underachievers. This information helps to understand who this musical group is and their ideology. The interview part helps understand some of the songs and their lives. This will help to explain the purpose of the songs and my topic.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Jackson, N. (2015, January 27). What Influence and Effects Does Rap Music Have on Teens Today? Retrieved April 22, 2015, from teens-today/ Nakia Jackson gives a few examples of how rap influences teens from violence to sexual behavior. The lyrics are a big part of what impacts the listener. Sexual lyrics may be a cause for sexual behaviors of young people. This article will help me discuss in what ways teens are influenced by music. Kochmer, C. (n.d.). What is the Third Eye? - Exploring Your Vision. Retrieved April 22, 2015, from The third eye is a sense that everyone possess. The article discusses just what the third eye is and how it can help. The third eye can impact how we look at life and ourselves. This concept is rapped about by the underachievers and is promoted by them. I will use this to explain how it can influence people and how it has to do with race, gender, and sexuality.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Stigall, R. (2010, March 31). How Does Music Influence the Individual? SparkNet. Retrieved April 20, 2015, from Rebecca Stigall explains how music can influence an individual and the different theories about identities. Some people change how they act and look based on the artist. One important thing Stigall said was that it’s unclear if music is designed to influence people or if it is the listeners themselves. Both ideas will be used in my project to help explain the lyrical impact on people’s identities.

IMAGE SOURCES Woman headphones listening music.Music teenager girl dancing against isolated white background [Online image].Retrieved April 25, 2015 from background.html background.html Gucci Belt. Retrieved April 25, 2015 from The Underachievers [Online image]. Retrieved April 25, 2015 from freestyle/ freestyle/ Grotto, V. ( 2013, February 25). The Underachievers - A Short Documentary by Verena Stefanie Grotto. Retrieved April 25, 2015 from Indigoism Album cover [Online image]. Retrieved April 25, 2015 from Spirituality [Online image]. Retrieved April 25, 2015 from

IMAGE SOURCES Third Eye [Online image]. Retrieved April 26, 2015 from Knowledge on books as staircases [Online image]. Retrieved April 25, 2015 from knowledge-books-as-staircase-image http:// knowledge-books-as-staircase-image Issa Gold [Online image]. Retrieved April 25, 2015 from The underachievers lyrics. [Online image]. Retrieved April 25, 2015 from The Underachievers with crowd behind them [Online image]. Retrieved April 25, 2015 from underachievers-amorphous-portugal-the-man-music-video/#sthash.8qQ6868r.dpbshttp://thissongissick.com/blog/2015/the- underachievers-amorphous-portugal-the-man-music-video/#sthash.8qQ6868r.dpbs