Week 2: The Art of Hip Hop

This week's readings were exceptionally interesting, and I am not sure that I will be able to pick just one idea that I had to write my entire entry about. So I think I will develop a few ideas that we could talk about or just reflect on...:

1. In Puerto Rocks, Flores points to the bilingual or Spanish raps in the African American community. Specifically on page 80, Flores quotes a member of the Latin Empire (I think) who was paraphrasing some of the African Americans on the early hip hop scene reactions. After hearing some Spanish rap, one person said "that sounds dope!... yo, I don't understand it, man, but I know it was rhyming and I hear the last word, man, that's bad"

This made me curious: does the flyness of hip hop songs transcend language? Is there something aesthetically that can be appreciated about a rap that does not necessarily require meaning? I thought that was amazing. I think this is also part of the idea that it is difficult a clear definition of what hip hop is and isn't because of its diverse heritage, but when they hear it, it is very clear what is dope and what is wack.

2."In historical perspective of Black and Puerto Rican interaction, rap is thus a lesson in cultural negotiation and transcation" (Flores 85). I thought that this was a really interesting conclusion. Perhaps it is best to understand hip hop as a medium that allows people to communicate an experience that is truly authentic. There are not the restrictions of knowing how to play an instrument on the MC; an MC can tell there story, be real, and represent without formal training. I thought a final line from this section was great: The Puerto Rican influence on hip hop "shows how creatively a people can adopt and adapt what would seem a "foreign" tradition and make it... its own." (85)

3. Blackburn's piece frustrated me. To be fair, I think that she made some excellent points about how hip hop has been manipulated by capitalist forces to perpetuate racist stereotypes and commodification/neutralization of a dissident culture. The commodification of "Blackness" should not be ignored and the disparity between rap icons and the African American community is a gross hypocrisy. But I do not think that she gives enough credit to the depth of the hip hop community, nor does she emphasize that hip hop has cultural currency as an art form. I felt like she focused on how hip hop was failing to ask political questions and mobilize youth to action, and did not address the fact that hip hop is also about making people laugh, dance, smile, and utilize their own personal creativity. I think Kelley's argument that African American expressions of hip hop are not exclusively coping mechanisms, but also expressions of aesthetics and creativity fit well against Blackburn.

Also, I felt that it was unfair to look exclusively as the mainstream popular culture version of hip hop to determine what hip hop is or means. Of course artist that are played on the radio or in clubs will reflect the hyper-capitalist mantra, the A&R teams and media conglomerates that own those airwaves like those messages. It is important to remember that within the last 10 years, hip hop has a lot more positive voices competing to its heart (i.e. Talib Kweli, Common, Immortal Technique, Sollilaquists of Sound, Lupe Fiasco, Pigeon John, Jurassic 5, etc.).

4. Finally, I know I've gone on way too long, but I wanted to say I loved the way that Kelley's pieces addressed the idea of "the dozens." I hope we get a chance to talk about this.

That was too long, but thanks for reading anyway!!

Week 1: Hip Hop's Veterans and Nay Sayers

I am glad to be hooking into the Hip Hop Nation and I am looking forward to this blog.


I have been a hip hop head since I was 13 and in a lot of hip hop music there is some mythology about the origins of the music style and culture. The best part of the reading for me was how it really gave a clear, historical sense of how hip hop came into existence. Obviously the music and culture have changed greatly over the last few decades, but understanding where it all came from gives me a richer context for evaluating contemporary hip hop. It is a common theme with artists like Public Enemy or Immortal Technique to talk about how hip hop was born out of urban frustration and political resistance. This is true, especially when we hear the voice of Afrika Bambaataa and his active construction of a Zulu Nation and unified black communities. However, it is equally valid to understand that early hip hop was all about the party. Kool DJ AJ said that "I didn't go to a party really to concentrate on [Kool DJ Herc] that much--I went to a party to party" (Ahearn and Fricke 35). I think that it is really easy to get caught up in the idea that people formed this music consciously to subvert white cultural dominance, but we cannot forget that originally hip hop was also about having fun with a community of friends. It is absolutely true that hip hop is as much about rejecting sociopolitical norms and maneuvering within the confines of white supremacy as it is about gettin' down. These competing terms of identity add to the complexity and richness of hip hop that make hip hop studies so compelling.

I really enjoyed hearing the voices of Kool DJ Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, and Grandmaster Flash because these are three people who have very familiar names in modern hip hop, but I never really understood there significance until now. It was also impressive to learn about the diverse musical backgrounds and knowledge that people like Afrika Bambaataa used in the early days. Today, a good DJ knows lots of types of music to get the best breaks and samples, and that characteristic seems to be modeled off of these early innovators. One question I was asking was I wonder to what extent similar sorts of proto-hip hop breakthroughs (no pun intended) were happening in other regions of the country, like the West Coast or even places like Chicago.

Finally, I was surprised in Dyson's introduction by how much negativity towards hip hop studies classes and programs exists within the academic community. As a person who grew up loving hip hop, and seeing its influences on literally every aspect of culture today, it is difficult to defend ignorance towards or rejection of hip hop.