Rapping in the Light: American Africanism and Rap Minstrelsy

Abstract

This article re-reads critiques of mainstream HipHop as minstrel reprise through the lens of Toni Morrison's concept of American Africanism. Synthesizing insights from Richard Iton and KRS-One, the author argues for the disentanglement of Hip Hop culture and rap culture to focalize the political antagonisms inherent in popular culture as a terrain of hegemonic struggle. Exposing how American Africanism works through rap culture offers a broader vantage to examine the context in which Black artists participate in modern minstrelsy by emphasizing causal factors beyond individual cultural producers and towards systemic representations of the national imaginary.