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.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Rap music
Displaying 1 - 20 of 25 articles
Controversial South African band Die Antwoord illustrates the power relations that make cultural appropriation and blackface so damaging.
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.
Since rap music emerged in mainstream culture in the late 1980s, conservatives have derided its lyrics and imagery as violent. But hip-hop artists argue those images reflect urban realities.
In recognition of National Hip Hop History Month, The Conversation presents four articles that deal with how educators and rappers are taking hip-hop from concerts to classrooms.
The police, the media and politicians have long objected Chief Keef’s ties to gang violence. But the rapper wrote the playbook for using social media to make a career out of music.
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.
Recent polemical debates over French rappers Youssoupha and Médine show that rap is still not accepted by the political mainstream.
With Congress designating Aug. 11, 2021, as Hip-Hop Celebration Day, a scholar and performer of the art form makes the case for hip-hop to become more prominent in American academe.
In 1970, Gil Scott-Heron penned a spoken word song called ‘Whitey on the Moon’ that criticized the 1969 Moon landing. A hip-hop scholar explains why the song still reverberates today.
Can college professors rap their way into academic publishing? One professor makes an album to prove they can.
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.
The meeting of canvas and rubber that began in the 1830s still inspires crowds to queue for the latest pair. Sneakers are now big business and high fashion.
Rapper Jamal Knox was convicted of making terroristic threats against two Pittsburgh police officers in a rap song. Now his case is before the Supreme Court, with serious implications for free speech.
The Beastie Boys’ Ill Communication closed out hip-hop’s Golden Age with a kaleidoscope of jazz-infused beats, bratty punk interludes and a deeper appreciation for storytelling.
Hip hop often gets a bad rap but for therapists and teachers it can be a transformative tool.
The story of African-American music is a story of eclipsing expectations and subverting norms.
Tupac’s sensitivity, intelligence and creativity confronted the hostile forces that antagonized black youth across the country in the 1970s and 1980s.
It might seem crazy to believe the world is flat. But for some people it reinforces a narrative that gives their lives meaning.
Taking a lyrical swing at another rapper is part and parcel of the genre. So why the profound backlash when Meek Mill accused Drake of not writing his own lyrics?
Top contributors
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Assistant Professor of Hip-Hop, University of Virginia
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Assistant Professor of Practice, Mills College
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Head of Urbanism and Associate Professor of Urban Studies, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and Education; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland
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Head of School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University
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Senior Lecturer in Human Geography and Urban Studies, Western Sydney University
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Professor of Law, The Ohio State University
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Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and Musicology, University of Oregon
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Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, The University of Queensland
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Postdoctoral researcher, The University of Queensland
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Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology, Bucknell University
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Brechner Eminent Scholar in Mass Communication, University of Florida
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Music Therapy, The University of Melbourne
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Assistant Professor, Hong Kong Baptist University
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Honorary Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney
