Hip Hop Culture
An ethnomusicological look at rap music
and the culture that surrounds it
In 2003 I was invited by radio host Bobby Hill to join him in developing and teaching a new undergraduate lecture course for the Art and Visual Technology and African American Studies departments at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Hip Hop Culture has been a hugely popular course and paved the way for my appointment to an assistant professorship in 2005. I always address my students at the beginning of the term with a two-part disclaimer: 1) I'm a bit too old to own hip hop music or its culture in the way that they do; and 2) unlike many of my generation, I'm less concerned with the social implications of hip hop's controversial content than with its creative arc as an extension of the great tradition of African American music. For me the problem with hip hop is not that it's offensive, but rather that in recent years it has become boring, even stagnant. I firmly believe that making hip hop that is more provocative, not less, will take care of the bitches and hoes problem on its own. It's no accident that the artists that are still pursuing this form with creative urgency (e.g., The Roots, Immortal Technique, or Prefuse 73) don't need to resort to misogyny to hold the attention of their listeners. I have spoken about hip hop to many different kinds of groups including middle school students in Leesburg, Virginia, attendees of the National Council of Negro Women' Black Family Reunion on the Mall, and various forums on Mason's campus. Each audience provided an opportunity for approaching the subject of rap music and its place in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries from a unique vantage point, always with an ear towards the imperative of musical advancement.
