Prep

• TBD
• Audio: TBD
• Video: TBD

In Class

• Attendance
• Q&A: Is cultural appropriation always a bad thing?
• Reading Notes for Next Time

For Next Time

• TBD

Prep

• William Jelani Cobb, ‘Asphalt Chronicles: Hip Hop and the Storytelling Tradition’, in Cobb, To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic (NYU Press, 2007)
• Audio: Choose one song from among the ones discussed in the Ghostface ‘Brackets’ video below and listen to it carefully (it could be a song you’ve never heard before or one you’re already familiar with). How does it illustrate (or otherwise connect to) an idea in the assigned reading by William Jelani Cobb? Post a brief paragraph in our #discography channel on Discord the night before class and be as specific as possible (which, naturally, also entails citing ‘chapter and verse’ in the assigned reading).
• Video: ‘Ghostface Killah Crowns Best Storytelling Rap Song | Complex Brackets’, Complex (20 October 2021)

In Class

• Attendance
• Q&A: Are today’s rappers simply modern-day griots?
• Reading Notes for Next Time

For Next Time

• Adam Bradley, ‘Storytelling’, in Book of Rhymes (Basic Books, 2009)
• Audio: TBD
• Video: TBD

CLASSES FOLLOW A FRIDAY SCHEDULE.

Prep

• Gilbert B. Rodman, ‘Race … and Other Four-Letter Words: Eminem and the Cultural Politics of Authenticity’(password-protected PDF), in Forman and Neal (2012)
• Audio: Eminem, ‘Stan’ (2000)
• Video: Adam Neely, ‘Scotch Snaps in Hip-Hop’ (11 March 2019)

In Class

1. Attendance
2. Q&A: Is cultural appropriation always a bad thing?
3. Reading Notes for Next Time

For Next Time

• William Jelani Cobb, ‘Asphalt Chronicles: Hip Hop and the Storytelling Tradition’, in Cobb, To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic (NYU Press, 2007)
• Audio: TBD
• Video: ‘Ghostface Killah Crowns Best Storytelling Rap Song | Complex Brackets’, Complex (20 October 2021)

Prep

• Andrew Nosnitsky, ‘Gray Matters’, Pitchfork (4 March 2013). On the legacy of Houston’s DJ Screw—possibly the most influential hip-hop DJ of this century—and how his impact goes way beyond simply slowing things down.
• Video: ‘DJ Screw and Suc Freestyle’, ScrewdUPClickV2 (14 October 2009)
• Audio: ‘Big Floyd and the Rise of Houston Chopped N Screwed Music’, Switched on Pop (9 June 2020)

In Class

1. Attendance
2. Q&A: Theme
3. Reading Notes for Next Time

For Next Time

• Gilbert B. Rodman, ‘Race … and Other Four-Letter Words: Eminem and the Cultural Politics of Authenticity’(password-protected PDF), in Forman and Neal (2012)
• Audio: TBD
• Video: Adam Neely, ‘Scotch Snaps in Hip-Hop’ (11 March 2019)

Prep

• Matt Miller, ‘Rap’s Dirty South: From Subculture to Pop Culture’, (password-protected PDF) in Forman and Neal (2012)
• Audio: Tommy Wright III feat. La Chat and Playa Fly, ‘Gangsta Forever’ (1996). Justin Hunte mentions this track in ‘How the triplet flow took over rap’ as one of the first examples of the sustained use of double-time triplet flow. It also features an opening verse from the underappreciated La Chat, one of at least two great female MCs from that era of Memphis rap (the other is Gangsta Boo of Three Six Mafia). Note: The Boss DR-660, a very budget drum machine, was a staple of early Memphis rap production, particularly in the years 1993-1995; I’ll bring in the unit that I’ve been borrowing the last few weeks. The main sample for ‘Gangsta Forever’ is apparently taken from the Psycho II soundtrack, however, so that suggests that Wright had upgraded his equipment by then (the only samples available on the DR-660 were factory presets). Check out ‘Meet Yo Maker’ from his 1994 album Ashes 2 Ashes, Dust 2 Dust to hear him produce an entire beat on the DR-660. Since this drum machine did not feature a sampler, Memphis producers would take the stock 808 cowbell sound and pitch it at different frequencies to create melodies.
• Video: ‘How the triplet flow took over rap’, Vox (15 September 2017)

In Class

1. Attendance
2. Q&A: What exactly is ‘dirty’ about the ‘Dirty South’?
3. Reading Notes for Next Time

For Next Time

• Andrew Nosnitsky, ‘Gray Matters’, Pitchfork (4 March 2013). On the legacy of Houston’s DJ Screw—possibly the most influential hip-hop DJ of this century—and how his impact goes way beyond simply slowing things down.
• Video: ‘DJ Screw and Suc Freestyle’, ScrewdUPClickV2 (14 October 2009)
• Audio: ‘Big Floyd and the Rise of Houston Chopped N Screwed Music’, Switched on Pop (9 June 2020)

Prep

• Davarian Baldwin, ‘Black Empires, White Desires: The Spatial Politics of Identity in the Age of Hip-Hop’, (password-protected PDF) in Forman and Neal (2012)

In Class

1. Attendance
2. Q&A: Was gangsta rap the real conscious rap?
3. Reading Notes for Next Time

For Next Time

• Murray Forman, ‘Represent: Race, Space, and Place in Rap Music’, (password-protected PDF) in Forman and Neal (2012) 

11/11 Happy Corduroy Day!

Prep

• Mychal Denzel Smith, ‘Confessions of a Conscious Rap Fan’, Pitchfork (28 June 2022)
• Audio: ‘Kendrick Lamar’s Anxiety Era’, Popcast (24 May 2022)
• Video: ‘Do the Knowledge’, Hip-Hop Evolution S2E3 (2018). This is optional, since some folks might not have Netflix.

In Class

1. Attendance
2. Q&A: If hip-hop is protest music, why is there so much gaybashing?
3. Reading Notes for Next Time

For Next Time

• Davarian Baldwin, ‘Black Empires, White Desires: The Spatial Politics of Identity in the Age of Hip-Hop’, (password-protected PDF) in Forman and Neal (2012)

• Tricia Rose, ‘Never Trust a Big Butt and a Smile’, in Forman and Neal (2004), pp. 291-306
• Audio: ‘Saweetie, City Girls, and the Female Rapper Renaissance’, Popcast (29 November 2020)
• Video: ‘Why Women Are Running Hip Hop Now’, Signified B Sides (26 February 2024)

In Class

1. Attendance
2. Q&A: What do feminists hear when they listen to hip-hop?
3. Reading Notes for Next Time

For Next Time

• Mychal Denzel Smith, ‘Confessions of a Conscious Rap Fan’, Pitchfork (28 June 2022)
• Audio: ‘Kendrick Lamar’s Anxiety Era’, Popcast (24 May 2022)
• Video: ‘Do the Knowledge’, Hip-Hop Evolution S2E3 (2018)

• Paul Gilroy, ‘It’s a Family Affair’ (password-protected PDF), in Neal and Forman (2012)
• Audio: ‘Allah B of the Nation of Gods and Earths’, The Cipher Show 151 (18 April 2016). Peace! We trace the history of the Nation of Gods and Earths – and its influence on hip-hop – with one of its earliest members.
• Video: An Overview of Afrocentricity with Dr Molefi Kete Asante, AfricentricTV (4 July 2021)

In Class

1. Attendance
2. Q&A: If hip-hop is protest music, why did so many conscious rappers support the patriarchy?
3. Reading Notes for Next Time

For Next Time

• Tricia Rose, ‘Never Trust a Big Butt and a Smile’, in Forman and Neal (2004), pp. 291-306
• Audio: ‘Saweetie, City Girls, and the Female Rapper Renaissance’, Popcast (29 November 2020)
• Video: ‘Why Women Are Running Hip Hop Now’, Signified B Sides (26 February 2024)