Rap and hip hop culture
By: Fernando Orejuela
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 254
ISBN-13: 9780199987733
Copyright date: 2015
Subjects: Rap (Music); Popular music; Textbooks; Analysis, appreciation; History and criticism; Social aspects; Music; Hip-hop; African influences
Description: Rap and Hip Hop Culture traces the ideological, social, historical, and cultural influences on a musical genre that first came to prominence in the mid-1970s in one of New York's toughest neighborhoods, the South Bronx. Orejuela describes how the arts of DJing, MCing, breakin' [b-boying], and graffiti developed as a way for this community's struggle to find its own voice. He addresses rap's early successes on the pop charts; its spread to mainstream culture; the growth of "gangsta rap" and mainstream society's reaction to it; and the commercial success of rap music from the '90s through today. Throughout, this enlightening text highlights key performers, producers, and voices in the rap and hip hop movements, using their stories to illuminate the underlying issues of racism, poverty, prejudice, and artistic freedom that are part of rap and hip hop's ongoing legacy [Publisher description]
Notes: "Glossary": pages 214-228.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-238) and index.
Table of contents: title: What is hip hop? What is rap? A few definitions to guide our study ; The key players (The DJ; The MC; Breaking (b-boys/b-girls)) ; Hip hop chronology ; Hip hop's roots ; Chapter summary ; Study questions ; Key terms; title: Hip hop's ground zero : the South Bronx and urban America. The South Bronx : where hip hop was born ; The lure of the gang lifestyle ; The gang leader ; From street gangs to social clubs ; Chapter summary ; Study questions ; Key terms; title: Graffiti art and breaking. Graffiti art ; The emerging youth graffiti scene ; The second generation ; The end of the graffiti era ; B-boying and breaking ; African American roots of breakdancing ; Listening guide : listening to James Brown "Give it up or turnit a loose" ; Listening guide : listening to Jimmy Castor Bunch "It's just begun" ; B-boying as performance spectacle ; West Coast style ; Chapter summary ; Study questions ; Key terms; title: Rap's African and African-American cultural roots. Rap's pop culture roots ; African roots of rap as oral expression : the jeli tradition ; Storytelling genres ; Toasting ; African American girl culture ; MC battles ; Chapter summary ; Study questions ; Key terms; title: Old school DJs and MCs. The first wave : DJs and early party scene ; DJ Kool Herc ; Competition and the ensuing DJ battle culture ; Afrika Bambaata ; Grandmaster Flash ; The founding fathers' contributions ; The role of the DJ ; The DJ needs an MC ; The hip hop name ; The second wave : "Rapper's delight" changes everything ; Listening guide : listening to Sugarhill Gang "Rapper's delight" ; The new guard : early commercial old-school rap ; Listening guide : listening to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five "The adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the wheels of steel" ; Crossing over : the new wave connection ; New technologies and new experimentation ; Chapter summary ; Study questions ; Key terms; title: The golden era. From old school to new school : concept of rappin' ; Second generation rappers ; New-school innovations ; A survey of new-school styles and themes (1980s-1990s) ; Listening guide : listening to Run-D.M.C. "Rock box" ; Listening guide : listening to LL Cool J "I need love" ; Listening guide : listening to Queen Latifah "Ladies first" ; Listening guide : listening to Nayobe "Please don't go" ; Rap : is it just a fad? ; Chapter summary ; Study questions ; Key terms; title: Hardcore : "message rap" and "gangsta rap." Hardcore rap ; Flashback : "the message" that almost didn't happen ; Lyrical referencing : Sister Souljah ; Visual references and message rap ; Political empowerment : Public Enemy ; Listening guide : listening to Public Enemy "Burn Hollywood burn" ; From cultural movement to political movement to popular movement ; Hardcore, too : from gangsta style to gangsta rap ; The L.A. gangsta rap scene ; Listening guide : listening to Ice-T "Rhyme pays" ; Listening guide : listening to N.W.A. "Straight outta Compton" ; Rap music as a conduit for political culture ; Consideration of Black nationalism and rap music : wasn't old school also "message rap"? ; Gangstas and stock characters from folklore : two types of hustlers ; Popular culture media images in gangsta and X-rated rap : blaxploitation and gangster films ; Chapter summary ; Study questions ; Key terms; title: Hardcore II : gangsta in the '90s and responses from within the rap community. Keeping it real? Issues underscoring the representation and exploitation of rap ; Harsh messages of gangsta and X-rated rappers ; X-rated rap /Miami bass ; Controversy with gangsta and X-rated rap ; The emergence of G-funk ; Followers of G-funk ; Pop rap goes hardcore ; East Coast-West Coast rivalry : not just Biggie and 2Pac ; Responding to gangsta rap's domination ; Spiritual themes ; Lauryn Hill ; Listening guide : listening to Lauryn Hill "Doo wop (that thing)" ; Christian rap ; Rap and Judaism ; Jazz-rap fusion ; Listening guide : listening to Us3 "Cantaloop (Flip fantasia)" ; Listening guide : listening to A Tribe Called Quest "Excursions" ; Women in hip hop and rap ; White rappers in the 1990s ; Chapter summary ; Study questions ; Key terms; title: Hip hop culture and rap music in the second millennium. Hip hop : into the new millennium (1995-today) ; What is underground hip hop? ; The South ; Southern hip hop styles ; Listening guide : listening to David Banner, featuring Lil' Flip "Like a pimp" ; Listening guide : listening to Three 6 Mafia, featuring UGK and Project Pat "Sippin' on some syrup" ; Underground rap as independent or alternative rap music ; The millennials (or the millennial generation) ; Young innovators ; Listening guide : listening to Kanye West, featuring Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, and Bon Iver "Monster" ; Chapter summary ; Study questions ; Key terms; title: Conclusion. What is hip hop? Round two ; Chapter summary ; Key terms.