Unit 1
(3 Sessions) |
Introduction and Overview |
Read:
- Perkins, William Eric. "The Rap Attacks: An Introduction." In Droppin' Science. Pp. 1-45.
- Chapters 1 and 2 in Black Noise. Pp. 1-61.
- Hall, Stuart. "What is this 'Black' in Black Popular Culture?" In Black Popular Culture. Edited by Michele Dent. Seattle: Bay Press, 1992. Pp. 21-33.
View:
- Wild Style. In-Class. (Session 3)
Supplementary
Read:
- "Introduction." In Spectacular Vernaculars. Pp. 1-23.
- Krims, Adam. "Music Analysis and Rap Music." In Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Pp. 17-45.
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Unit 2
(2 Sessions) |
Dance |
View:
- Everybody Dance Now. PBS Documentary, 1991. On website.
Read:
- DeFrantz. "The Black Beat Made Visible."
- Hazzard-Donald, Katrina. "Dance in Hip Hop Culture." In Droppin' Science. Pp. 220-235.
- Thompson, Robert F. "Hip Hop 101." In Droppin' Science. Pp. 211-219.
Supplementary
Read:
- Gilroy, Paul. "Exer(or)cising Power; Black Bodies in the Black Public Sphere." In Dance In The City. Edited by Helen Thomas. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. Pp. 21-34.
- Banes, Sally. "Breaking." In Fresh: Hip Hop Don't Stop. Pp. 79-112.
Key Questions:
How is dance "central" to hip hop culture? How is it marginalized? What kinds of dances do hedz do? How have hip hop dances changed over time? Where are the sources of dance in hip hop? A consideration of capoiera and early African American dance forms.
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Unit 3
(2 Sessions) |
Graffiti, Fashion, and Visual Culture |
View:
- Silver, Tony, and Harry Chalfant. Style Wars. 1983.
- Spirer, David, dir. Rhyme and Reason. 1997.
Read:
- Romanowski, Patti, and Susan Flinker. "Graffiti." In Fresh: Hip Hop Don't Stop by Nelson George, with Sally Banes, Susan Flinker, Patty Romanowski. New York: Random House, 1984. Pp. 29-54.
- Flinker, Susan. "Fashion." In Fresh: Hip Hop Don't Stop. Pp. 55-78.
- Specter, Michael. "I Am Fashion: Puff Daddy Packages His World." The New Yorker. (September 9, 2002): 116-127.
Supplementary
Read:
- Ferrell, Jeff, and Eugene Stewart-Huidobro. Crimes of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of Criminality. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1996, chapters 2 and 4. Pp. 21-56 and 159-207.
Key Questions:
How have fashion and graffiti been important to hip hop style? How did graffiti grow up? How did baggy pants and dookie chains become popular? Has flossing always been a part of hip hop? Are there boundaries to gender representations in hip hop fashion or visual culture?
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Unit 4
(2 Sessions) |
Sex and Sexuality |
Listen:
- Lil' Kim. Hard Core. 1996.
[See Discography in the Info/Media section of the site to hear tracks.]
- Meshell Ndegeocello. Cookie. 2002.
[Click on "Albums" link to hear sample tracks from one of Meshell's albums.]
Read:
- Hampton, Dream. "Confessions of a Hip Hop Critic." In Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Pop, and Rap. Edited by Evelyn McDonnell, and Ann Powers. New York: Cooper Square Press, 1999. Pp. 455-458.
- Rose, Tricia. "One Queen, One Tribe, One Destiny." In Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Pop, and Rap. Edited by Evelyn McDonnell and Ann Powers. New York: Cooper Square Press, 1999. Pp. 312-317.
Key Questions:
Is hip hop obsessed with depictions of sex and sexuality? What kinds of depictions are most prevalent? What depictions are resisted by hedz, and why? How do sex and sexuality feed hip hop into world markets?
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Unit 5
(2 Sessions) |
Misogyny |
Listen:
- Notorious B.I.G. Ready to Die. 1994.
[Click on "Multimedia Section" to hear sample tracks. RealPlayer™ required.]
Read:
- Boyd, Todd. "A Small Introduction to the 'G' Funk Era: Gangsta Rap and Black Masculinity in Contemporary Los Angeles." In Am I Black Enough For You? Popular Culture from the 'Hood and Beyond. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1997. Pp. 60-81.
Supplementary
Read:
- Ro, Ronin. Gangsta: Merchandising the Rhymes of Violence.
Key Questions:
Why does misogyny occupy such a large part of the hip hop imaginary? How might sexual role-playing be healthy or hurtful to young people in various contexts? Is misogyny inevitable in the construction of popular culture? Is misogyny inseparable from hip hop?
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Final Paper Proposals Due |
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Unit 6
(2 Sessions) |
Feminist Hip Hop |
Listen:
- Lauryn Hill. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. 1998.
Read:
- Guevara, Nancy. "Women Writin' Rappin' Breakin'." In Droppin' Science. Pp. 49-62.
- Chapter 5 in Black Noise. Pp. 146-182.
View:
- Raimist, Rachel. Nobody Knows My Name. 1999.
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Unit 7
(2 Sessions) |
DJ'ing, Musicality, Live Performance |
Listen:
Read:
- "Transmaterializing the Breakbeat," and "Virtualizing the Breakbeat." In More Brilliant than the Sun. Pp. 013-025 and 67-77.
Supplementary
Read:
- Early, Gerald. "The Midwest as Musical Mecca and the rise of Rhythm and Blues." In One Nation Under A Groove: Motown and American Culture. Hopewell, NJ: Ecco Press, 1995. Pp. 67-105.
Explore:
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Unit 8
(2 Sessions) |
Electronica, Technology, Mediated Performance |
Listen:
- Missy Elliot. Da Real World. 1999.
[Click on linked tracks for music samples.]
Read:
- Chapter 3 in Black Noise. Pp. 62-98.
- "Motion Capture." In More Brilliant Than the Sun. Pp. 175-193.
Key Questions:
What are the implications of mediated artifacts on the musical world of hip hop? What genres of electronic music does hip hop embrace? How does science fiction figure into the hip hop "real?" What effects do technology inspire in hip hop? A consideration of Afro-futurism.
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Unit 9
(2 Sessions) |
Anarchy and Activism |
Listen:
- Busta Rhymes. E.L.E. 1998.
[Click on video icons to launch video player.]
- Dead Prez. Let's Get Free. 2000.
[Click on track titles to listen to samples.]
Read:
- Allen, Ernest, Jr. "Making the Strong Survive: The Contours and Contradictions of "Message Rap"." In Droppin Science. Pp. 159-191.
Key Questions:
Hip Hop has long been figured as the "CNN of the Streets," able to incite action and progressive change. But gangsta strains of hip hop seem to incite anarchy as much as activism. Are activism and anarchy two sides of the same coin? Can they be successfully combined in popular music for progressive social action?
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Unit 10
(2 Sessions) |
Consumerism, Commodity Fetishism, Globalization |
Read:
- Lipsitz, George. "Diasporic Noise: History, Hip Hop, and the Post-colonial Politics of Sound." In Dangerous Crossroads. New York: Verso, 1994. Pp. 23-48.
- Austin, Regina. "'A Nation of Thieves': Consumption, Commerce, and the Black Public Sphere." In The Black Public Sphere. Edited by the Black Public Sphere Collective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. Pp. 229-252.
Supplementary
Read:
- Yúdice, George. "The Funkification of Rio." In Microphone Fiends. Pp. 193-217.
- Condry, Ian. "A History of Japanese Hip-Hop: Street Dance, Club Scene, Pop Market." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA. Edited by Tony Mitchell. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2001. Pp. 222-247.
Key Questions:
How important is consumption to hip hop culture? How is the global reach of hip hop related to commodities and exchange? How has hip hop changed as it has attracted a global audience and inspired a global marketplace?
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Unit 11
(1 Session) |
Whiteness and Hip Hop |
Read:
- Ross, Andrew. "Hip, and the Long Front of Color." In No Respect: Intellectuals and Popular Culture. New York: Routledge, 1989. Pp. 65-101.
Listen:
- Eminem. The Slim Shady LP. 1999.
Supplementary
Read:
- Hoare, Ian. "Mighty, Mighty Spade and Whitey: Black Lyrics and Soul's Interaction with White Culture." In The Soul Book. Edited by Ian Hoare. London: Methuen, 1975. Pp. 117-168.
View:
- Black and White. 2000.
- Bullworth. 1998.
Key Questions:
Within an American context, what are some of the ways that white youth respond to hip hop? How is "whiteness" embedded in the construction of hip hop? What are the particularly American wages of racial segregation in terms of popular culture, and especially hip hop?
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Unit 12
(2 Sessions) |
Journalism, Criticism, Autobiography, "Realness" |
Listen:
Read:
- "Black Owned" (pp. 56-75), "Where My Eyes Can See" (pp. 97-113), "Capitalist Tool" (pp. 154-175), "Too Live" (pp. 178-192), and "Da Joint" (pp. 208-210). In Hip Hop America.
Key Questions:
The hip hop "real" has long been constructed by journalists reporting on artists for a voracious public. How do criticism and journalism feed hip hop? Is the relationship between journalists and artists necessarily parasitic? How important is autobiography to the construction of popular mythologies?
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| Final Session |
For Further Study — Wrap Up and Review |
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