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Articles on Hip hop lyrics

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Puerto Rican singer Residente performs in Havana in 2010. His back reads, ‘We receive flowers and bullets in the very same heart.’ STR/AFP via Getty Images

Street scrolls: The beats, rhymes and spirituality of Latin hip-hop

Latino artists have been forging their own paths in hip-hop for decades, giving voice to young peoples’ pain, faith and demands for change.
Numerous rap songs criticize the Reagan administration for its complicity in the illicit drug trade. Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Rap artists have penned plenty of lyrics about US presidents – this course examines what they say about Reagan and the 1980s

Ronald Reagan may have been known as ‘The Great Communicator,’ but rap artists don’t view his legacy through such rose-colored glasses. A professor of Black studies and history takes a closer look.
Kanye West provoked criticism recently when he compared reading to eating Brussels sprouts. Gotham via Getty Images

Kanye may not like books, but hip-hop fosters a love of literature

A hip-hop artist and scholar says that while rap stresses the oral tradition, the music is also rife with references to a rich range of literature that spans the globe.
Hip-hop has always criticized America’s education system. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Hip-hop’s love-hate relationship with education

The world of rap music has no shortage of artists who turned their backs on formal education only to become some of education’s biggest benefactors.
Hip-hop has a long history in referencing space exploration. Taylor Hill/Getty Images for The Meadows Music & Arts Festival

10 hip-hop songs to take you on a voyage into space

Rappers have been taking listeners on lyrical journeys to outer space for decades. A hip-hop scholar says their music helps inspire more students to pursue careers among the stars.
Hip-hop officially became the most popular music genre in 2018 and continued its reign in 2019, according to Nielsen Music. Lev Radin/Shutterstock.com

Why hip-hop belongs in today’s classrooms

For the second year in a row, hip-hop music is the most popular form of music in the US. So why isn’t it in more of America’s classrooms? A hip-hop scholar weighs in.

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