Hip Hop Education Sweeps the Nation

There is a new teaching technique that has been sweeping the nation- it’s called hip hop education. There has been an urgent need to bring life into our classrooms, empowering the students to help create their education and want to participate. The aim of this new approach is to teach students in a new way, that they can easily understand, and retain interest in. Using pedagogical practices along with hip hop it is possible to learn and have students learn more about society and themselves. Changing the interpretive framework our schools use is a great start to realizing our full potential- it is the foundation for critical thinking and the beginning of the development of a critical pedagogy. Morrell (2004) said “hip-hop texts are rich in imagery and metaphor and can be used to teach irony, tone, diction, and point of view. Hip-hop texts can also be analyzed for theme, motif, plot, and character development.  It can teach us about social justice while still fighting for it.

There have been claims that hip hop is too violent, uses too many swears, or is degrading to women but this is only one type of hip hop. Many people do not understand the other side, the social justice side, of hip hop. This side is worthy of learning, discussing, and interacting with. You should not discriminate against hip hop because you do not fully understand it! Hip hop is not only one single thing, it is a culture and way of life, and there are pedagogical underpinnings! Even that being said, there is still so much to learn from the ‘bad’ side of hip hop. Pough (2004) stated “the fact is, some of the most humanizing and accurate accounts of life in impoverished ghettos come from rap songs and not the network news.”  Beneath the commercial success of rap lies an entire history and culture that provides access to the sub-dominant culture, and an element of critical pedagogy.  We must fight the system of logic for a more diverse and encompassing one. Youth today are too disconnected from the teacher and the teacher is too disconnected from the student. By showing teachers that students want to learn they can use the self fulfilling prophecy to then become the best student they can truly be. Students do want to learn. They are constantly learning outside of school, and it is time that something relevant to their lives is brought into schools.  There is something in hip hop for everyone- whether it be sports, politics, fashion, or music. We live in a democracy where everyone can and should speak their mind. Allowing hip hop education in schools provides an equal playing field. Those inner city students who cannot afford textbooks can listen to the music of their generation and discuss what is relevant to them in todays ever changing world. By providing this resource we can work on closing the achievement gap, after all we are educating the entirety of us not just the educational side. In his book Hill (2009) discusses the impact of not being able to leave his house and how listening to rap allowed him to see a world that was once unavailable to him. He states, “in many ways, hip hop became my window into a world that was at once familiar and foreign.” He continues, “the more I tried to assimilate into the culture of the school…the less I felt accepted in my own neighborhood.”  It is important for us to remember there is not one single way of doing something, there is not one single person or book that knows everything, and that every culture will always continue to change.

Want to see for yourself? Here at UMass Amherst there is a course being offered for the Fall 2012 semester! Hip hop learning at UMass Participatory Communication: Hip Hop for Social Change.

Watch this:

Still not convinced? Here are some hip hop programs that are in place today!

Hip Hop Genius http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLMdkGk5Ofo

Hip Hop Education http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWyomuTmHm4&feature=relmfu

The Periodic Table Rap http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDp9hUf_SV8&feature=related

References

Hill, M. L. (2009). Beats, rhymes, and classroom life: Hip-hop pedagogy and the politics of identity. New York: Teachers College Press. (Pt.1) Preface, Chapter 1-3. p.xv-64

Morrell, E. (2004). Linking literacy and popular culture. Norwood: Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc. Chapter 4 Pp.57-71

Pough, G. (2004). Check it while I wreck it: Black womanhood, Hip-Hop culture, and the public sphere. p. 4-40.

Hip & Politics

Unique View on Hip-hop Politics

Currently missing voice over:

Here is what should be said:

The combination of hip hop & politics has been around since the early days of KRS – One and Public Enemy. More recently Sean “Diddy” Combs led the Vote or Die campaign in 2000’s. However Lupe Fiasco has taken a unique hip hop stance on the current political stance. Known for his thought inducing flows, Lupe sparked controversy in one of his late songs “Words I never Said” Here is the aforementioned clip along with subsequent interviews by Fiasco.

What Mr. Fiasco failed to mention is the alternatives to the two party system. In the most recent campaign, Green Party candidate, Cynthia McKinney, ran with a familiar, but unique platform. Armed with a self acclaimed Hip-Hop activist as her VP candidate, McKinney called for many of the changes, Lupe hopes to see. A correspondent reached to his publicist hoping to enlighten Lupe about the smaller parties, but received no comment.

The Underground Hip-Hop Movement

Hip-Hop. The voice of the people, and in particular the youth and underprivileged. When Hip-Hop was created in the South Bronx it gave a voice to the voiceless to speak up and convey the problems of the reality of living in urban cities.

In the 1960s DJ Kool Herc, who is considered the founding father of Hip-Hop, created this form of music through the scratch and turning of funk records on turn table. He emphasized the breakbeat, drum beat and switch back and forth and between songs. His rhyme and rhythm of words that he spoke with or gave announcements in over his music became known as rapping. His creation gave an alternative to violent gang activities in urban areas and allowed communities to gather together for neighborhood parties.

DJ Kool Herc’s style was recognized and eventually taken up by names such as Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa where it continued to spread, grow evolve and become stronger.

Instead of just being seen as an alternative to gang violence, Hip-Hop began to be used as not only a voice of the people, but a way to interact with the people and inform their own communities about what is going on and what should be done about it. Hip-Hop artists such as Grandmaster Flash and Queen Latifah began to create music to speak to the urban community with hit songs such as “The Message” (1982) and “U.N.I.T.Y” (1994).

Public Enemy stands out as one of the most PRO-revolution and outspoken group that has ever existed. They created songs such as “Fight the Power” “Don’t believe the Hype” and “911 is a Joke”

No one knows how or exactly when Hip-Hop began to change, but it did. Little by little Hip-Hop became less associated with the political activism and more focused on fame, profit, sex, and violence. Hip-Hop changed in its voice, view, and expectations. However, not every artists decided to culturally change… and artists who did not want to adapt to the new materialistic Hip-Hop went to the underground.

                                          

Underground Hip-Hop is a term used to describe artists or songs by artists who are not with mainstream labels but in contrast are unsigned or with independent labels. The primary source of people learning about underground hip-hop music is through usually self-produced and released mixtapes. Underground artists are known to have more individual freedom because they are not associated with big label names or contracts and as a results are often more socially conscious and politically themed.

Why is it that Political hip-hop is not on mainstream radio?

Political Hip hop was inspired in the 1970s and began in the 1980s. Big artists began to use hip-hop to show their political consciousness and inform many of their community that was not aware. Hip-hop was a driving force for political involvement and awareness. Where has this hip-hop gone?

Before the 2000’s mainstream Hip-Hop included the political awareness and social consciousness however in the year 2012 this hip hop does not exist in the mainstream media or radio. This music is found underground.

Hip Hop artists such as Little Brother and Lupe Fiasco embrace their freedom in underground music by saying political driven comments and commonly censored ideas and opinions.

                

 

Underground music has become the movement and source for Hip-Hop artists to express themselves with complete freedom. Because of this many artists and true fans of Hip-Hop refer to the Underground to educate themselves on different issues and reconnect with culture that inspires them and defines them on a day to day basis.

The U- Play for Pay

From their beginning in 1985 in Miami, Florida 2 Live Crew has been challenged by white America and the media about their music and image. Songs like “As Nasty As They Wana Be” and “We Want Some Pussy” created an uproar throughout the nation. Luther Campbell’s affiliation with the Miami Hurricanes football team increased White America’s fear of young black men and the hip hop movement.

Coral Gables was one of the first planned communities, and prefigured the development of the gated community and the homeowners association. It is famous for its strict zoning regulations. It is also the home of Miami University. The ethnic makeup of the city was 47.7% White (Non Hispanic), 46.6% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 3.3% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 1.7% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.5% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. It was also an extremely affluent area.

These are some pictures of what Coral Gables looks like.

White America was appalled by Luther Campbell and 2 Live Crew. So much so The American Family Association (AFA) did not think the presence of a “Parental Advisory” sticker was enough to adequately warn listeners of what was inside the case so they met with Florida Governor Bob Martinez and convinced him to look into the album to see if it met the legal classification of obscene. In response, Luther Campbell maintained that people should focus on issues relating to hunger and poverty which were pressing issues in Miami at the time rather than on the lyrical content of their music. The oppression of the black population in Miami would ultimately lead Luther Campbell straight into Coral Gables and alongside the Miami Football team.

Here is 2 Live Crew sporting Miami gear and 2 of their album covers that show the image they wanted to portray.

Coach Howard Schnellenberger in the late 70’s and early 80’s was the first Florida football coach to recruit primarily out of Florida. He was sick of seeing Florida’s top athletes leave the state to play around the nation. This led to the Miami Hurricane becoming the first predominantly black team in the nation. These young men stuck out in their environment because they were from the “hood” and Coral Gables was the polar opposite.  Luther Campbell stepped in and offered the players a play for pay policy that allowed players to win money for making big hits or scoring touchdowns so they could afford to eat and buy clothes. This association with the team led to people seeing these men as convicts instead of human beings and associating hip hop with crime, drugs, and obscenity. The president of the school believed that students attended Miami for is education and not because of its football team. He refused to acknowledge the success the black players had on the school and the community due to their image and association with Luther Campbell. White America hated the Miami football team because they were breaking all the rules and beating everybody.

Above are pictures of players during this era and also of their mascot Sebastian getting arrested by police.

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhnMuiTd5i0

This link is an excerpt of the documentary 3o for 30 The U directed by Billy Corben.

Graduates of Miami Football went on to do great things and many became extremely successful. This could be because of Luther Campbell and his influence over the young black men on the Miami Football team. These guys were coming from poverty stricken areas and it seemed like the government wanted nothing to do with them. His music was considered to be obscene but perhaps that was his way of getting the attention needed to help these poor areas of Miami.  Miami is undoubtedly one of the best football programs of all time and don’t get enough credit because early in their program they were seen as savages and associated with crime, drugs, and the explicit rap group 2 Live Crew because they were white America’s biggest fear.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Michael Irving, Warren Sapp, and Bennie Blades are just some of the graduates that became successful individuals.

Works Cited

•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Live_Crew. Retrieved April, 23, 2012.

•

•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_Gables,_Florida. Retrieved April 23, 2012.

•

•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Hurricanes_football. Retrieved April 23, 2012.

•

•Producer, Bill. Simmons. , Director, Billy. Corben. Dec. 12, 2009. 30 for 30 The U. United States: ESPN.

Socially “Conscious” Fashion in Hip-Hop

Socially conscious hip hop started in the late 1970s and early 1980s with influences like spoken word poet, Gil Scott-Heron, evolving into songs such as The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, talking about inner city violence, poverty, and drugs. Since then, hip-hop artists have been channeling social and political issues through both the messages in their songs, and through their fashion.

There are many fashion statements in hip-hop that represent much more than what’s presented on the surface. Artists are wearing controversial cultural and religious symbols that have little or nothing to do with their music.

Take for example, the keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress that symbolizes Palestinian nationalism. This symbol of resistance dates back to the 1930s, where during the Arab revolt against British mandate in Palestine, it was worn only by males of a certain age in solidarity to deter officials from finding the root of an uprising, (Shabi, 2008). Over the years, it was popularized by leaders such as Yassir Arafat, and then turned into a symbol for anti-war activists in Palestine to wear.

Seen here, Yassir Arafat wearing the traditional headdress:

Image taken from: (The keffiyeh, 2009).

Even more recently, it has become very trendy to wear a keffiyeh. They are sold now for very cheap, and can be found almost anywhere. The trendy store aimed at young hipsters, Urban Outfitters, had a line of these “scarves” that were later pulled due to controversial complaints about them, (Shabi, 2008). Most wearers now do not know the lengthy political and social history behind the keffiyeh, rather, they may see it simply as another trend. Western hip-hop culture has adopted the keffiyeh as a popular fashion trend for artists and fans alike.

Image taken from: (The keffiyeh, 2009).

Artists such as Jermaine Dupri and Chris Brown, shown above in a keffiyehs, have been fallen under criticism by the Arab community for wearing the symbolic headdress as a fashion statement.

Some artists, such as the female Palestinian political rapper, Shadia Mansour, take the mic and reclaim their culture. Shadia Mansour raps about why she wears the keffiyeh, what it means to her and her culture, and takes back the meaning of her cultural symbol.

“That’s why we rock the kuffiyeh, cuz it’s patriotic.

The kuffiyeh, the kuffiyeh is Arabic.

That’s why we rock the kuffiyeh, our essential identity.

The kuffiyeh, the kuffiyeh is Arabic.

Come on, throw up the kuffiyeh (throw that kuffiyeh up for me).

The kuffiyeh, the kuffiyeh is Arabic.

Throw it up! Come on, Greater Syria!.

The kuffiyeh is Arabic, and it will stay Arabic.”

-Shadia Mansour, Al Kufiyyeh 3arabeyyeh (lyrical translation)

View the music video here:

Keffiyehs are not the only misunderstood or misused trend in hip-hop fashion.

Che Guevara was a leader of the Cuban Revolution in the late 1950s and 1960s. In his 1967 speech, Message to the Tricontinental, Che openly criticized the United States military and their imperialist actions in Vietnam. He went on to speak about the US as “monopolist capitals” and how the US is creating “puppet governments.” He urged people to create “a second or a third Vietnam,” and the “destruction of imperialism,” (Guevara E.C., 1967).

More recently, in commercial rapper, Jay-Z’s song, Public Service Announcement, Jay claims “I’m like the Che Guevara with bling on, I’m complex,” (Just Blaze, 2003), and performed this song live many times while wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt, often paired with a giant, platinum cross necklace.

Seen here is Jay-Z performing Public Service Announcement live at MTV’s Unplugged, clad in a Che shirt:

Image taken from: (http://www.mumblur.com/media/news/1324474581_jay-z.jpg)

When Jay-Z was questioned and criticized about this, he responded with,

            “When someone asked me why I wore the Che T-shirt, I think I said something glib like, ‘I consider myself a revolutionary because I’m a self made millionaire in a racist society.’ But it was really that it just felt right to me…I also wasn’t a Marxist like Che – the platinum Jesus piece made that pretty clear. Later I would read more about Guevara and discover similarities in our lives. I related to him as a kid who had asthma and played sports. I related to the power of his image, too. Like a lot of people who stumble across the image with no context, I was still struck by its power and charisma.” – Jay-Z, November 2010 (Baron, 2010)

While it is recognizable that Jay-Z did do further research into Che Guevara after he was criticized for wearing this shirt and claiming to be “like Che Guevara,” he is still missing the deeper connections. To connect to a fiercely anti-American Cuban revolutionary, simply because he too had asthma and played sports as a child, does not really present the strongest argument or representation of understanding for who Che was and what he believed in.

So before you go to put on your keffiyeh and pair it with a freshly pressed Che t-shirt, take a minute to look further into the social and political messages behind the trends you choose to follow…or you could end up spending a lot of time defending yourself.

 

Citations

(2009). The keffiyeh – the Palestinian scarf has come to signify resistance against tyranny, land grab, water grab, Jewish Supremacy Retrieved from http://ziomania.com/images2009/keffiyeh/keffiyeh.htm

Baron, Z. Village Voice. (2010, Nov 4). How a Village Voice reporter helped write the second verse of Jay-z’s “Public Service Announcement.” Retrieved on 24, April 2012

Guevara, E.C. (1967, April). Message to the Tricontinental. Havana, Cuba. Retrieved on 24, April 2012 from http://www.marxists.org/archive/guevara/1967/04/16.htm

Just Blaze. (2003). Public Service Announcement. Recorded by Jay-Z. On The Black Album. New York: Roc-a-fella Records.

Shabi, R. (2008, Sept 22). Chequered History – The keffiyeh. Retrieved from http://ziomania.com/articles2008/Keffiyah.htm