Hip Hop
for Youth Leaders
Hip-Hop
• A Black thing?
• An urban thing?
• A commercial thing?
• A white thing?
• A Global thing?
Studying Hip-Hop:
Documentaries
• “Style Wars”
1980s
• “Straight out of the Streets”
1990s
• “Hip-Hop: Beyond the Beats”
2006
• Christian Critique: Ex Ministries
“The Truth Behind Hip-Hop”
Studying Hip-Hop:
Movies
• “Beat Street” 1984
• “Wild Style”
1980s
• “Brown Sugar” 2002
Studying Hip-Hop:
Books
• Tricia Rose (1994) Black Noise: Rap Music and Black
Culture in Contemporary America
• Adam Sexton (1995) Rap on Rap: Straight-Up Talk on
Hip-Hop Culture
• Nelson George (1998) Hip-Hop America
• Bakari Kitwana (2002) The Hip-Hop Generation: Young
Blacks and the Crisis of African-American Culture
• Murray Forman & Mark Anthony Neal eds. (2004)
That’s the Joint: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader 628pp
Definition of Hip Hop
Broader than Rap; Rap is a part of Hip Hop
You will hear the term used in different ways
depending on who is talking, where, and
in regards to music, fashion, or cultural style
Hip Hop originally referred to three urban art
forms:
rap music (including dj-ing and scratching),
break dancing, and graffiti.
Bakari Kitwana’s Description
… hip-hop culture, the youth-oriented lifestyle
(of those born between 1965 and 1984)
that birthed rap music. Certainly, the
commercialization of rap music expanded the
definition of hip-hop culture beyond the four
elements (graffiti, break dancing, dj-ing, rap
music) to include verbal language, body language,
attitude, style, and fashion….
KRS-One: Essence of HIP-HOP
… we are advocating that hip-hop is not,
just a music, it is an attitude, it is an
awareness,it is a way to view the world. So,
rap music, is something we do, but HIP-HOP,
is something we live. And we look at hip-hop,
in its 9 elements; which is breaking, emceeing,
graffiti art, deejaying, beatboxing, street
fashion, street language and knowledge, and
street entrepreneurialism--trade and business…
(from “HipHop Knowledge”)
Discussing the Origins of Hip Hop
What examples of rap, dancing, and graffiti
can you mention throughout human history?
What do you see as the general backgrounds
of these art forms?
What specific factors might have produced
hip hop in South Bronx of NYC and LA
during the 1970s?
Roots & History of Hip-Hop
• Graffiti goes back to the cavemen. Music
and dance are also from the beginning.
• The roots of rap can be traced back to
Africa and the love young Africans have
for verbal challenge, rhyme and rhythm.
• African-American history includes rich
examples of verbal banter, musical
improvisations (musical & preaching style
with its litanies & response. Note the
impact of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation
and discrimination.
Spirituals and Gospel Music
of the Black Church
• Inspired American pop music: jazz, rhythm
and blues and hip-hop.
• Study Tommy Dorsey especially--the jazz
musician, the death of whose wife led to his
“Take My Hand, Precious Lord.”
“Dorsey combined the good news of gospel with the
bad news of blues in a form worldly singers called
gospel blues.”--and many church folks resisted.
• Note intermingling of worldly and church
music throughout history.
Historical Background
• Rap slowly emerged as a reaction against
disco, using African/Caribbean beats and
the power of poetic call and response
chants.
• West coast trio, The Watts Prophets,
formed in late 60s, produced “Rappin,
Black in a White World” in 1971.
• The Bongo Band produced “Bongo Rock”
in 1972, “The Return of the Incredible
Bongo Band” in 1974.
Historical Setting
• The South Bronx, impoverished further
by Robert Moses’ Bronx Expressway
which cut up the community.
• Hunger for dance and artistic
expression.
• Coming together of musical styles and
innovations with other local art forms.
Early Rap
Afrika Bambaataa (Asim) and his Zulu Nation
(a collection of DJs, breakers, graffiti artists,
and homeboys--new pride and respect)
Kool Herc (Clive Campbell, the pioneer)
Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Sadler), Herc’s
helper, and Grand Wizard Theodore developed
mixing, the break and scratching, .
Rap was being developed in LA as well as NYC.
Run DMC
• Takes Old School Rap to Golden Age
• Called “the Beatles of rap music”
• “Rap began in the Bronx, but was
perfected in Queens.”
• Noted for their loose Adidas-brand
shoes, thumpin’ beats, and high energy
shows, the first rap group to go
platinum, to receive an Emmy.
• Neighborhood friends: Jam Master Jay
(Jason Mizell), Run (Joseph Simmons), &
DMC (Darryl McDaniels). Sadly, Jam
Master Jay was shot to death, 2Oct02.
Stages of Hip-Hop
Old School Hip-Hop (1970-1986)
DJ Kool Herc and others just mentioned
Golden Age of Hip-Hop (1986-1993)
Run-DMC, Public Enemy
Rap spreads globally (globality)
Modern Era of Gangsta Rap
(1993-present)
Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, Busta Rhymes, et al.
Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G.
Tendencies of diversification, mixes
Rap: More Extreme & Revolutionary
Public Enemy (1980s), the X-Clan, and Poor
Righteous Teachers in the 1990s
Both the market and industry, along with society,
realized this was going too far, dangerous
Movement toward sexual nastiness, Naughty by
Nature, and extremes in personal wealth,
“bling-bling” in Manny Fresh of the Big Tymers,
a Cash Money act.
Gradual personalizing of anger and violence and
emergence of gangsta rap of 90s and beyond
Rap as Postmodern Art
o Deconstructs traditional musical rules
o Is a pastiche of many musical elements
o Copies, borrows, steals samples and uses them
in ironic ways
o Often mixes high and low artistic tastes
o Is immediate and for pleasure laying no claim to
ultimate artistic taste
o Represents a return to oral tradition
o Is often self-reverential in style and content
Angela McRobbie & Kobena Mercer (in Warren Kidd’s
Culture & Identity (2002) “Rap, and especially scratching,
represent a highly postmodern phenomenon and the ultimate
expression of postmodern values.”
Exegeting Rap
Positive aspects: creative artistry, dynamism,
showing real life & problems, expressing real
hurts, adapted into many cultures…
Note Ironies of Rap and its postmodern qualities
Negative critiques
• study its promotion of thug life
• understand its glorification of bad,
its idolatry of bling, sex,
bodyparts
• deal with its disrespect for
women, others, and self
Strongest Praise for Rap
• Its revelation of injustice and cry for justice>
• Its creative artistry
(poetic, rhythmic, musical, dance, etc.)
• Its cross-cultural/class communication
• Its success (entrepreneurial genius)
Strongest Critique for Rap
• Its undermining of womanhood and manhood.
• Its glorification of violence as manliness and
consequent violence toward sisters and killing of
brothers.
• Its loss of love and substitution of sex.
• Its selling out to commercialism and loss of
creativity.
Russell Simmons on Rap
2003?
I think the new rappers have grown up writing the
poetry, and they are more polished and witty. I
believe that many of them are stuck in creativity
when it comes to subject matter.
The main thing about rap is that the dialogue is honest.
I believe that honest rappers have all kinds of lifestyle,
social and political issues, and I believe that that
diversity is not as apparent in the body of work that's
being promoted in hip hop. It's not as apparent
as I'd like.
Kids on Hip-Hop
(attending Simmon’s Summit of ‘02)
• “The problem today is the lack of communication
between adults and youth… a Summit like this
can’t lose, because our voices will be hard and
adults will learn that we are much more than what
they see on the surface.”
Tim, 20
• “What the older generation must understand is
that we value and need their support… We want
them to know that we understand what being a
future leader is all about… even though we might
be into hip-hop… and won’t be able to get there
without their help and support.” Thandika, 17
More from Hip-Hop Youth
• “Hip-Hop is more than just videos about having
money, nice cars, and being surrounded by
beautiful women. Hip-Hop is a culture, a
message that represents the who, what, and
why of today. It does more than entertain, it
can educate.”
James, 17
• “My people [Native Americans] are longing for a
remedy…. Being on the reservation makes us
easy targets for more severe mental health and
substance abuse problems. It hurts me every
time I go back home and see the deal”
Anna, 18
Youth Speak Out to Adults
(cont.)
• “Parents have to consider that we are growing
up in a much more advanced society than they
did, you know with technology and all. The
pressures and anxieties we face are so
different from theirs. Learning to face them in
the right way is critical to our success.”
Tasha, 16
• “I’m ready to work with adults who have
respect for our opinions, and at least a little
respect for the positive side of Hip-Hop.”
Carlos, 15
Rap in Youth Ministry
Deal with it… the Player, OPP, Disrespect…
But do so, gradually, sensitively, positively first,
let youthful fans do the discovery and develop
their own negative critique.
Slowly, firmly, keep pushing them, encouraging them
Stretch them into other kinds of music.
Consider the use of rap in youth ministry…
in worship. (See Efrem Smith & Phil Jackson,
The Hip-Hop Church)
Holy Hip-Hop
Keep up on what’s happening
Christian rap, dancing and stepping,
the whole Christian hip-hop scene
Efrem Smith, senior pastor The Sanctuary
Covenant Church, Minneapolis, and Phil Jackson,
assoc. pastor The House (Covenant Church)
in Lawndale on Chicago’s West Side.
The Hip-Hop Church: Connecting with the
Movement Shaping Our Culture (2005)
Consider Holy Krumping
and Slamming
• See the movie/video “Rize” how Tommy
the Clown and others are creating
alternatives to gang banging--and
think/pray creatively.
• Watch the movie/video, “Slam” and
imagine poetry nights or clubs… or a part
of a worship service with Psalms,
readings or prayers in slam style.
For your careful consideration…
• Know Christian rappers and rap groups
• Consider all the reasons hip-hop began,
and why kids needed it, and the nature of
the Gospel and the Church
• Analyze affect on audiences/worshippers
• Understand need for lament, self-expression
and emotional praise
• Balance with other forms of music/worship,
and older generations
• Teach WORSHIP as much larger than music