Hip-Hop Studies Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Hip-hop in South Africa has been on a
roller coaster ride since its emergence as
a protest tool among non-white youths
against apartheid in the early 1980s.
Although the collapse of apartheid in
the early 1990s opened up an era of
commercialisation which ultimately
suppressed its “protest” feature, it has again
resurfaced reflecting the social hills of the
post-apartheid era, such as class struggles
and imbalances, corruption, HIV, violence,
racism and poverty.

- by Itunu Bodunrin
- •
- Social Media, Minority Studies, Hip-Hop/Rap, Graffiti

“Old Town Road” holds the record for the most weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Lil Nas X, the artist behind it, gained popularity in a matter of months. He came out as gay on Twitter on June 30, 2019 and has addressed his sexuality several times since. He has appeared at public events dressed in outlandish clothes, and his outfits at the 2020 Grammy Awards ceremony attracted both admiration and criticism. Among the latter, the rant by rapper Pastor Troy about Nas X sporting loud pink garments as something that undermines Black masculinity reveals the persistent inconsistencies in the ways this masculinity is defined.

- by Yannick M Blec
- •
- Gender Studies, Queer Theory, Hip-Hop/Rap, Hip-Hop Studies

During the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West famously interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for "Best Female Video." A year later both performers returned to the VMAs with songs that responded directly to the original incident. In the meantime, the U.S. media and record-buying public had come to interpret the original incident using the stock scripts and characters of what Linda Williams has called “U.S. racial melodrama,” the fact of which both performers seemed aware. In this way, the Swift-West “incident” had come to reflect and mimic larger racial tensions, especially between black men and white women, as they had specifically come to be understood and portrayed during the Obama presidency, which many commentators have hastily and incorrectly identified as a symptom of “post-racialism.” This essay discusses how Kanye West and Taylor Swift reflect on and revise the tropes of racial melodrama, in the latter case to reinforce what Charles Mills calls "the epistemology of ignorance" when it comes to racism in America, and in the former case to challenge it.

The essay that launched Afrofuturism. Introductory essay, in which the term is coined and theorized in depth, followed by interviews exploring the idea with leading African-American cultural theorists. From the collection FLAME WARS,... more

- by Mark Dery
- •
- Popular Culture, African American History, African American Studies, Cybercultures

Displaying anonymous, nude black female bodies has a long history in Western societies, from the exhibition of enslaved women on the auction block to representations of black female bodies in contemporary hip-hop music videos. The purpose of this chapter is to (1) discuss six sexual scripts that are commonly found in hip-hop culture and music videos; (2) examine possible consequences associated with exposure to hop-hop scripts for black girls; and (3) make suggestions for intervention.

- by Carolyn West
- •
- Media Studies, African American Studies, Hip-Hop Studies
- by Lori Ann Laster
- •
- Dramaturgy, Theatre, Hip-Hop Studies, Hip Hop Culture

In presented article the modern hip hop culture is viewed as an effective and innovative education mechanism in Russia. Also some actual Russian hip hop educational projects are reviewed and investigated.
Статья посвящена изучению современной российской хип хоп культуры - как образовательной системы, которая может эффективно использоваться для внедрения новых инновационных подходов в отечественном образовании. В тексте дается краткий обзор актуальных хип хоп проектов, направленных на развитие образовательной деятельности в России.

- by Sergey Ivanov
- •
- Cultural Studies, Russian Studies, Education, Popular Culture
- by Anna Wolanin
- •
- Tibetan Studies, Hip-Hop/Rap, Hip-Hop Studies

This essay analyses black female American gangsta rap as a radically
historically specific phenomenon arising in the urban milieu of the early
nineties in the US. It takes into account lyrics, performances and visuals
(music videos) of female gangstas, not as singular component parts, but
as patterns of interference that are cross-linked and thus shape up as
provisional, never finished female gangsta body The femininity of this
amorphous body will be described as made by inappropriate/cl others
appearing within gangs.ta rap, namely ventriloquists, tricksters and
cyborgs. Subjects of analysis are Bo$$ and her album Born Gangstaz
( 1992), Mia X and her album Unlady Like (1997), Lady of Rage and
her album Necessary Roughness (1997), and Lil' Kim and her album
Notorious K.I.M. (2000). Since the notion of inappropriate/cl femininities
allows for acknowledging the mutual pervasion of (gendered/stereotyped) borderlines, it offers a reading of gangsta femininities' critical potential that contests both current interpretations of female emancipation as oppositional stance towards men, and of gangsta rap as a male dominated domain.

- by Elisabeth Engel
- •
- Gender Studies, Hip-Hop Studies, African American Cultures

"Antes de tocar la tierra hay que pedir permiso, porque la tierra es un lugar sagrado, donde existen millones de especies, unas que vemos y otras que no, ahí están los espíritus de los hermanos animales y los tíos árboles, la chagra es un lugar sagrado donde hay vida, por eso hay que respetarlo, sanearlo, protegerlo y multiplicarlo. Antes de ir a sembrar, tabaqueese mijo pa´ que no muerda culebra, pa´ que no pique sancudo, pa´que no se corte con el machete, pa´que no le pase nada. Ahora, chupe ambil y mambee, porque pa´ eso es la coca y el tabaco…para trabajar" (Mambeos con Uzuma F+ruya Buinaima)

- by Join Red
- •
- Sociology of Culture, Culture, Hip-Hop Studies, Hip Hop and politics

The fourth meeting of the European Hiphop Studies Network is organized in collaboration with La Place: Centre for Hip-Hop Culture, and La Philharmonie de Paris. The two-day, bilingual English and French Network meeting will lead into a two-day French-language conference on the creation, legitimization, and patrimonialization of hip-hop cultures (28-29 January 2022). Both the Network meeting and conference complement the museum exhibition "Hip-Hop 360" at La Philharmonie, centred on the history of hip-hop and its arrival in France. As such, we welcome all participants to plan their stay in Paris from 26 to 29 January 2022 to take full advantage of the conferences, the museum exhibit, and a series of hip-hop events in the city.

- by Sina A. Nitzsche and +1
- •
- History, Musicology, Museum Studies, Ethnomusicology
- by Theodore Ransaw
- •
- Hip-Hop/Rap, Hip-Hop Studies, Hip hop, Hip Hop Culture
- by Tommy J Curry
- •
- Black Studies Or African American Studies, Aesthetics, Ethics, Applied Ethics
- by Meghan Drury
- •
- Popular Music, Hip-Hop Studies, Copyright Law
- by Tracy McMullen
- •
- Hip-Hop Studies

The purpose of this report is to document and synthesize the process and outcomes of three Hip-Hop Education Think Tank convenings that occurred over a three-year period from (2010-2013). This longitudinal study was conducted by the Hip-Hop Education Center to increase the understanding of the challenges, needs, and potential of the field of hip-hop education. A key objective of the research is to identify best practices and models that can be adopted by the field. Our goal is to professionalize the field of hip-hop education by establishing a framework for teaching and learning standards. Our objective is to guide and advise teaching artists, educators, scholars, administrators, policymakers and funders on how to best use resources, improve outcomes, and scale and/or replicate best models and practices. This white paper provides recommendations for next steps and ideas on ways to create tools for the field. Our approach is to work with the community of stakeholders to build the field from within, at the grassroots level, while simultaneously engaging emerging and senior educators, policy makers and other interested parties as we inform the education field at-large. The analysis and viewpoints conveyed herein are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of supporters and the entire field of hip-hop
education.

- by Martha Diaz and +1
- •
- Hip-Hop/Rap, Teachers' professional development, Educational reform, Hip-Hop Studies
- by Amanda Lockwood
- •
- Dance Studies, Dance, Hip-Hop Studies, Hip Hop Culture

In the mid-to-late 1980s, rap music became the soundtrack of Americanization. Along with breakdance, graffiti, and deejaying, rap inspired young people all over the world to create and practice their own versions of this popular culture. In my essay, I examine how hiphop pervaded the Iron Curtain. More specifically, I analyze the conditions under which hiphop culture became known and accepted in the GDR. Focusing on the interaction between representatives of the Socialist regime and young hiphop practitioners, I scrutinize their cultural transfers of hiphop and the different meanings both sides attributed to its practice. I flesh out the discrepancy between the hegemonic discourse on popular culture, which tried to recode hiphop into a desirable Socialist practice, and the youth cultural practice of hiphop, which deviated from this discourse. Paradoxically, young breakdancers, rappers, DJs, and graffiti artists hardly had to fear any consequences stemming from their practice. With my paper, I contribute to historical research on youth culture, the GDR's final years, and Americanization as one of the driving forces behind its disintegration.

- by Leonard Schmieding
- •
- Cultural Studies, German Studies, American Studies, Popular Culture
- by Carolyn West
- •
- Body Image, Black feminism, African American Studies, Femininity And Hip Hop
- by Luis Gimenez Amoros
- •
- Ethnomusicology, Applied Ethnomusicology, Hip-Hop Studies

Resenha do livro "Hip Hop Genealogia 2", Ed Piskor (Veneta e Sumário de Rua).

- by Leonardo Nascimento da Silva
- •
- African Diaspora Studies, Comics Studies, Comics, Hip-Hop/Rap

As one of the most influential and popular genres of the last three decades, rap has cultivated a mainstream audience and become a multimillion-dollar industry by promoting highly visible and often controversial representations of blackness. Sounding Race in Rap Songs argues that rap music allows us not only to see but also to hear how mass-mediated culture engenders new understandings of race. The book traces the changing sounds of race across some of the best-known rap songs of the past thirty-five years, combining song-level analysis with historical contextualization to show how these representations of identity depend on specific artistic decisions, such as those related to how producers make beats. Each chapter explores the process behind the production of hit songs by musicians including Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Sugarhill Gang, Run-D.M.C., Public Enemy, N.W.A., Dr. Dre, and Eminem. This series of case studies highlights stylistic differences in sound, lyrics, and imagery, with musical examples and illustrations that help answer the core question: can we hear race in rap songs? Integrating theory from interdisciplinary areas, this book will resonate with students and scholars of popular music, race relations, urban culture, ethnomusicology, sound studies, and beyond.

- by Loren Kajikawa
- •
- Musicology, Popular Music Studies, Popular Music, Ethnomusicology
- by Thomas Turner
- •
- American History, Cultural Studies, American Studies, Fashion Theory

Shakespeare’s presence in contemporary culture is ubiquitous, yet his works seem to be tangled up in a sort of elitist, highbrow veneer, which teachers may struggle to brush off. As a consequence, educational practitioners often resort to rewritings, adaptations and appropriations of Shakespeare’s works in an attempt to reach their young audience. YouTube and other file-sharing platforms, such as Tumblr, Daily Motion and TED Talks, however, may prove extremely useful for designing new approaches to Shakespeare that rely on the manifold connections between the Bard and music. Accordingly, this essay proposes some teaching strategies drawing on hip-hop, rap and contemporary music to introduce Shakespeare's sonnets and plays in the classroom. Although it does not aim to provide an actual lesson plan, this essay explores some of the connections between the Bard and music that teachers may exploit. This may be done through warm-up, lead-in and wind-down activities, or through student-centred tasks. These affinities are investigated in both directions, from Shakespeare’s texts and contexts to music, and vice versa, paying specific attention to the work of the American poet Erik Didriksen and the British rapper Akala before dwelling on the role of music in "The Merchant of Venice".

- by Marco Canani
- •
- Theatre Studies, Teaching English as a Second Language, Literature, Didactics
- by Cristina Aliagas
- •
- Hip-Hop/Rap, Hip-Hop Studies, Vernacular Literacy, Hip-Hop Education
- by Norbert Schläbitz
- •
- Music, Music Education, Musicology, Popular Music

Le gangsta rap, ce sous-genre de la musique rap s’inspirant d’un style de vie de gangster violent et hors-la-loi, alimenté par le goût de l’argent, du sexe et de la drogue, déplaît bien souvent à l’opinion publique en raison de son obscénité et de sa vulgarité. Pourtant, au milieu des années 1980, à travers ce qu’ils nommaient alors le reality rap, certains rappeurs de Los Angeles cherchaient à décrire leur situation sociale et à montrer les conditions de vie difficiles dans leurs quartiers. C’est à la fin des années 1980, au contact de l’industrie musicale, que le reality rap deviendra le gangsta rap et qu’il obtiendra un franc succès commercial aux États-Unis. Comment expliquer le succès et la popularité du gangsta rap, alors que les valeurs qu’il véhicule semblent transgresser celles de la société états-unienne ? Regard sur les conditions sociohistoriques de production et de marchandisation du gangsta rap.

- by Clément Decault
- •
- Cultural Studies, Popular Music, Popular Culture, Postcolonial Studies

“The Message” (1982), hip-hop’s first anthem, ushered in a political aspect to hip-hop that remains in the genre’s DNA. Responding to the political and social realities that eviscerated black and Latino communities in the Bronx during the 1970s, “The Message” is widely recognized for its searing poetic rendition of ghetto life. Yet, the song renders the ghetto in two distinct ways. The first part is a lyric, which displays a powerful poetic vision of the speaker’s experience “in the ghetto living second-rate”; the second part is the outro, a convention that has been used in many rap songs but rarely with such philosophical force. Dialectically opposed, the lyric presents the ghetto in a theater of sincerity; the outro re-presents it in the theater of the absurd. Taken together, this dialectical representation of the ghetto forges a trenchant ethical response to intractable social absurdities.

- by Tim Wood
- •
- Poetry, Poetics, Émmanuel Lévinas, Levinas
- by Karl Swinehart
- •
- Discourse Analysis, Semiotics, Cultural Studies, Latin American Studies
- by Sara Grewal
- •
- Translation Studies, Translation theory, Hip-Hop/Rap, Hip-Hop Studies

Drawing on the ongoing dialogue between current music video
scholarship and a cultural turn to affect, this article argues for an
approach to affective aesthetics that focuses on both the aesthetically
and theoretically generative work of affects within the music videos’
audiovisual forms and their performative mechanisms. Through a close
analysis of ‘National Anthem’ by Lana Del Rey (dir. A. Mandler, 2012)
and Baauer’s ‘Day Ones’ (dir. H. Murai, 2016), it examines anachronistic
strategies through which contemporary music video performs
political history, encompassing both past events and their mediation.
While Mandler’s video generates nostalgia through the combination
of archival media materiality, trip-hop tunes, and the narrative loop,
mutually reshaping Kennedy’s 1960s and the Obama era, Murai’s
piece plays out the ironic reenactment that actualizes the remote past
through the affective perspective of anger enacted by the existential
lyrics, dark beats, and anachronistic imagery of violence, merging the
American Revolutionary War with suburban hip-hop reality. Opening
up past events to the contemporary affects that shape audiovisual
forms and trigger a transhistorical experience, both videos compel us
to rethink the force of music video affects as neither emotional, nor
representational, but rather performative.

- by Tomáš Jirsa
- •
- Cultural Studies, Music, Aesthetics, Media Studies

This thesis examines Hip Hop as a genre of oral literature. To begin this study, I examine a wide range of scholarship on orality, including what is considered the canonical work, Orality and Literature, by Walter Ong. This theorist’s conclusion draws a binary opposition between orality and writing. Hip Hop music encourages a broader definition of orality that approaches what African author Ngugi wa Thiong’o calls orature. I use Hip Hop to push back on Ong’s conclusions, and demonstrate how orality and writing can coexist in a culture. I found that there were three categories of Hip Hop songs that demonstrated the link between orality and writing. First, there are two types of Hip Hop songs that that form an intertextual relation with other songs through sampling. The first kind features a DJ that samples words and phrases to make it appear as if they are speaking over the beat. The second kind, reinterprets what the original speaker’s message was by sampling their music in a new song. Second, there is a group of Hip Hop songs that feature unique vocal styles that demonstrate how the artist intends to give an oral performance, even though they wrote the lyrics before performing them. Through these examples, my thesis examines how Hip Hop acts as orature, and broadens the definition of orality. Third, there are certain Hip Hop songs that play off of the traditional storytelling form of Western culture, demonstrating how oral culture can influence written and oral styles of storytelling.

- by Ally Adnan
- •
- Music, Race and Racism, Hip-Hop/Rap, Cinema
- by Eric Charry
- •
- Ethnomusicology, Hip-Hop/Rap, Hip-Hop Studies, Africana Studies
- by Tami Blumenfield
- •
- Visual Anthropology, Anthropology of China, China and Africa, Hip-Hop Studies
- by Tommy J Curry
- •
- Cultural Studies, Popular Culture, Critical Race Theory, Hip-Hop/Rap
- by Rodrigo Duarte
- •
- Critical Theory, Pragmatist Aesthetics, Frankfurt School, Hip-Hop Studies

This thesis will explore the work of performance poet, Kate Tempest, and the status of her poetry as an empowering mode of Foucauldian counter-conduct. It will outline the urban, impoverished demographic Tempest speaks for and its implications for the motifs of alienation, apathy and frustration in her work, and how certain traits of her poetry attempt to offset these negative phenomena of modern consciousness. Firstly, Tempest’s particular brand of hip hop will be considered in relation to Jonathan Bate’s theory of ecopoetics, the poetic creation of a dwelling place. This consideration will be assessed alongside her other form of poiesis, the creation of myth, and the way these two modes work in conjunction to create an empowering discursive space for her audience to authenticate and ground themselves. Finally, this thesis will discuss the ways in which Tempest’s oral context fundamentally enriches the democratic, communalising and dissident elements discussed above.

- by Tilly Alexander-Hallworth
- •
- Youth Culture, Empowerment, Ecopoetics, Hip-Hop Studies
- by Karl Swinehart
- •
- Education, Globalization, Youth Studies, Multi- & Bilingualism & Biliteracy