During my sabbatical, as I have reflected more on the influence of hip-hop music on my development and the progression of my scholarship since 2018, I have, in typical Justin fashion, been exploring potential connections across these two influential areas or domains of my life. Namely, that there are parallels between how different music elements are modified and combined and how different ideas and analytical frameworks or perspectives are brought to bear in (my) academic writing. And by “music” I am referring to the elements related to the (1) track itself, (2) lyrics and rhyming style (e.g., the use and combinations of words, ideas, etc.), and (3) synchronization of (1) and (2).

Through contrasting the perspectives of Matt and Frank, we gain a better understanding of what it means to remain within a system desperately needing change and what it means to opt out of that system altogether. Decisions that, taken together, clarify their respective orientations toward justice and others as Daredevil and the Punisher, while simultaneously encouraging us to reflect on the nature of our own lives as co-creators of our social existence.