Hip Hop Research Articles

The Conceive of Community Marketing to Activate the Chinese Hip-hop Music Market: The Case of the Woken Day Label

Currently, the academic research in China mainly focuses on the cultural connotations and dissemination of hip-hop music and hip-hop culture. The research on the marketing value and strategies management of the large and cohesive fan community of hip-hop music is not the majority, and even the marketing activities of the entire Chinese hip-hop music market are not very active. Against this background, to investigate the superiority and feasibility of community marketing in the hip-hop music market, this study utilizes the research method of case analysis. By examining the building and growth of the existing Chinese hip-hop music community, this paper find that community marketing is of great significance for the hip-hop artists and labels, effectively expanding public opinion influence and market reputation while engaging in positive interaction with fans. In the end, this study fulfills the research objective of assisting hip-hop artists and labels in formulating new marketing strategies, thereby providing reference for marketing research in the subculture field.

Have we sold our souls to the drum machine? A historical analysis of tempo stability in Western music recordings

Musicians have long sought technology to facilitate and develop their abilities to maintain stable tempos. The rise of inherently tempo-stable instruments and performance technologies in the late 20th century—for example, turntables, sequencers, drum machines, click tracks, and post-production quantization—has fed an increasing trend toward tempo stability in Western popular music. However, the exact progression of this historical change has not been systematically documented. In this article, we report a historical analysis of tempo stability in recordings of Western Classical and Anglo-American popular music released between 1920 and 2020, in particular testing the hypothesis that tempo in certain popular genres became significantly more stable in the period 1980–2000. We distinguish between gradual changes of tempo that are not perceived as discontinuities ( tempo drift) and abrupt changes of tempo ( tempo shifts), and seek to quantify both types of tempo instability. Using the Spotify web API, we sampled measure-by-measure tempo estimates from over 45,000 tracks in seven genres: Blues, Classical, Country, Electronic Dance Music (EDM), Hip hop, Jazz, and Rock. Our analyses reveal significant changes in tempo stability in Rock, Country, and Blues music, consistent with our hypothesis. We next propose, compare, and evaluate several approaches to identifying artificially tempo-stable tracks from their tempo estimates, using the opposition between Classical and Hip hop as a faux ground truth. Data, analyses, and interactive visualizations are available for inspection on our website https://ccml.music.gatech.edu/TempoStability .

Young adult peer crowds, e-cigarette advertising exposure, and e-cigarette use: Test of a mediation model

BackgroundYoung people often make lifestyle choices or engage in behaviors, including tobacco product use, based on the norms of peer crowds they affiliate with. Peer crowds are defined as reputation-based peer groups centered around lifestyle norms (e.g., Hipster, Surfer, Hip Hop). This study examined the effects of peer crowd affiliation on e-cigarette use via increased exposure to e-cigarette advertising and increased social network e-cigarette use. MethodData were collected from 1398 ethnically diverse young adults (Mean age = 22.3; SD = 3.2; 62% women) in six-month intervals over one year. Path analyses were used to test a mediation model in which advertising exposure and social network e-cigarette use at six-month follow-up were specified to mediate the effects of baseline peer crowd affiliation on current e-cigarette use at one-year follow-up. ResultsAffiliations with Popular-Social and Alternative peer crowds at baseline were associated with higher e-cigarette advertising exposure at six-month follow-up. Affiliation with Popular-Social peer crowd at baseline was associated with increased social network e-cigarette use at six-month follow-up. Affiliation with Popular-Social peer crowds at baseline was found to have a statistically significant indirect effect on increased e-cigarette use at one-year follow-up via increased e-cigarette advertising exposure at six-month follow-up. ConclusionsBetter understanding Popular-Social peer crowds may be highly relevant for development of tailored media and other interventions for e-cigarette use prevention among young adults.

Polish Hip Hop at Home and Abroad

Taco Hemingway is one of Poland’s most popular rappers, becoming the first Polish artist to be streamed a billion times on Spotify. Often described as a fresh voice in the Polish hip hop scene, Hemingway also offers a new perspective due to his status as a return migrant, having lived in the United Kingdom. As such, this article positions Hemingway’s output in the context of migration studies and, specifically, the impact migration has on sending countries. Through Hemingway’s music, the article examines the various stages of migration, from experiences abroad to return and circular migration, while also appraising Hemingway’s work within the context of social remittances—the impact that return migrants have on stayers. It also posits that Hemingway’s oeuvre represents the failure of the “Grand Narrative” of Polish migration, as well as the dissatisfaction that return migrants can feel upon return, choosing ultimately to go back to the country to which they emigrated.

A Sonic Biography of an Afterlife: The Expelled Liberation Leader Uria Simango in Mozambican Rap

This article focuses on two interlinked trends in public memory in Mozambique: the rise of alternative heroes and parallel invocations of seemingly incompatible heroes, particularly as they relate to invocations of Frelimo’s ousted Vice President, Uria Simango, in Mozambican rap. The empirical material was produced by listening to rap music, attending shows, and through interviews and conversations with hip hop musicians in Beira, Chimoio and Maputo. This material is examined in relation to historical documents and situated alongside other types of public and private remembering. I argue that critical rap music allows insightful examinations of the links between young peoples’ perspectives on liberation history, present experiences and visions of the future. Rap performances also help to examine how the hegemony of official memory is weakening in Mozambique. These performances are a potentially generative source of alternative history; because they are deeply intertwined in public discussions as well as social activism, I argue that they potentially disrupt and transcend state-sanctioned historiographical frameworks. Taking an ambiguous stance towards historical figures, rap also differs from the opposition meta-narrative, which tends to simply reverse the official canon of heroes and traitors. I find that rappers use a variety of techniques to intervene in disputes around history in creative ways. Regional variations in performed histories draw upon both the local and global wisdoms of hip hop communities, improving their accessibility to the public.

Manifest Technique: Hip Hop, Empire and Visionary Filipino American Culture, Mark R. Villegas (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2021)

Manifest Technique: Hip Hop, Empire and Visionary Filipino American Culture, Mark R. Villegas (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2021)

Hip hop, representation disputes and the affirmation of periphery as social grouping

Resumo: A categoria de “periferia” passou a ser mobilizada por rappers brasileiros associados ao hip-hop a partir dos anos 1990, crescendo significativamente na segunda metade da década. Este artigo aborda as condições de sua afirmação, buscando investigar a intervenção dos rappers nas disputas de representação das divisões sociais urbanas. Desenvolve-se a hipótese da agência rapper, articulando a interlocução entre diferentes quebradas, na construção de um agrupamento social, em meio ao confronto com outras representações e à violência contra territórios populares e majoritariamente negros. Por meio do cotejo entre suas elaborações e discursos outros que circulavam sobre periferia, busca-se abordar as operações simbólicas em tensão e antagonismo que parecem contribuir para a afirmação de novos recortes sociais no Brasil contemporâneo.

:Networking the Black Church: Digital Black Christians and Hip Hop

:<i>Networking the Black Church: Digital Black Christians and Hip Hop</i>

For the Culture: Hip-Hop and the Fight for Social Justice ed. by Lakeyta M. Bonnette-Bailey and Adolphus G. Belk Jr., and: Queer Voices in Hip Hop: Cultures, Communities, and Contemporary Performance by Lauron J. Kehrer (review)

For the Culture: Hip-Hop and the Fight for Social Justice ed. by Lakeyta M. Bonnette-Bailey and Adolphus G. Belk Jr., and: Queer Voices in Hip Hop: Cultures, Communities, and Contemporary Performance by Lauron J. Kehrer (review)

The Evaluation of a Hip Hop and School Counselor Education Course

The Evaluation of a Hip Hop and School Counselor Education Course

Copyright and the Production of Hip Hop Music

Copyright and the Production of Hip Hop Music

THESE GIRLS (STRIP) FOR THE CLOUT: EXPLORING ASPIRATIONAL, EMOTIONAL AND EROTIC LABOR OF BLACK WOMEN HIP-HOP ARTISTS ON ONLYFANS

In the digital age, OnlyFans is suggested to be a new form of sexual empowerment, financial autonomy and social agency for Black women working as strippers, backup dancers and video models, particularly those ancillaries to the rap music industry. Through interviews and participant observation, I examine the everyday labor of Black women who work as sexually explicit content creators on OnlyFans while also building a public persona as artists in Hip-Hop culture. Findings suggested that despite financial opportunities, respondents felt ambivalent by the monetization opportunities afforded by this digital space. Even so, respondents enjoyed the affordances of promoting their OnlyFans content on social media to gain digital clout - a form of Hip-Hop influenced cultural capital that follows the logic of likes, followers, and re-shares of one’s social media content. Ultimately, this study introduces insights on the evolution of Hip-Hop culture’s relationship with sex work, digital Black feminism and the attention economy.

The Power of Gospel in the Black Arts Movement: A Conversation with Claudrena N. Harold

ABSTRACT This interview focuses on gospel music, which is a foundational element of soul music. Combining insights, at times, from her family background, but mostly from research in her book When Sunday Comes: Gospel Music in the Soul and Hip Hop Eras (2020), which borrows its title from Donald Lawrence and the Tri-City Singers hit recording “When Sunday Comes” (1995), Claudrena N. Harold offers an historian’s perspective on gospel music in the late 1960s. Harold discusses gospel artists who appear in Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s film Summer of Soul, contextualizes gospel artists in Questlove’s film within the history of gospel music itself, and draws connections between sacred and secular forms of Black music, that is, gospel, soul, and funk. Of particular significance, Harold argues that gospel music was part of the Black Arts Movement. Harold therefore offers a unique perspective on gospel, Summer of Soul, and the Black Arts Movement.

Talking back: linguistic exploration of female artistes’ ‘responses’ to patriarchy and stereotypes in Nigerian hip-hop

ABSTRACT Patriarchal tendencies are normative in hip-hop culture, necessitating contemporary calls for gender equality and wholesome gender representations. These have encouraged a ‘talking back’ where the marginalised re-appropriate established norms and consciously recreate their identities. Interrogating lyrics and videos of popular female Nigerian hip-hop artistes, we explore female agency and discuss how these artistes combat patriarchy and achieve linguistic reclamation of feminine identities. The Multimodal Social Semiotic Analysis framework is complemented with Womanism – an Africa-rooted strand of the feminist movement. The ‘talking and taking back’ were catalogued under four classifications: reactions and responses to female denigration and assault; combating patriarchy through challenging and reinventing gender roles; re-appropriation of pejoratives and assertion of stereotypes; and the use of sexual expressions, slurs, and slang in the renegotiation of female agency. These findings are important in a strongly patriarchal Nigerian society where female voices do not enjoy significant propagation. The re-creations and ‘responses’ assert female agency and consolidate the advocacies for equality and equity in gender relations.

A Collective Case Study of Elementary Music Teachers Integrating Modern Band into the Curriculum

The purpose of this collective case study was to examine how four elementary music teachers (from different U.S. regions) integrated modern band into their curricula. Data included semi-structured interviews, videos, emails, and a researcher journal. Teachers integrated modern band to improve student “buy-in” and to gain instruments. All started modern band with older students in Grades 4 to 6 or 3 to 5, with some expanding to younger grades. Instruments were accumulated over time through various forms of funding, with repertoire selection coming primarily from students. All participants used approximation and multiple access points for making music when teaching modern band. Challenges were teachers’ lack of knowledge and skills (playing modern band instruments and teaching rap and hip hop) and overcoming personal biases of popular music. Facilitating factors included access to training and resources and administrative funding and support. Implications include considerations for music teachers and music teacher educators.

APCP CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS: 2023

APCP CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS: 2023

The intersection of hip hop and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) in school counseling to create and sustain homeplace

ABSTRACT bell hooks described homeplace as a space for love, belonging and connection that actively resists the dominant narratives within white supremacy. This article highlights how hip hop culture and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) led by school counselors can be used as a homeplace in schools, a space where students can speak on their experiences with issues in schools in a way they value most. This article details 2 ways hip hop and YPAR were combined to develop homeplaces. The authors describe the experiences of the students in the hip hop and YPAR process.

Sampling, Biting, and the Postmodern Subversion of Hip Hop by Jim Vernon (Book)

Sampling, Biting, and the Postmodern Subversion of Hip Hop by Jim Vernon (Book)

Queer Voices in Hip Hop: Cultures, Communities, and Contemporary Performance by Lauron J. Kehrer (review)

Queer Voices in Hip Hop: Cultures, Communities, and Contemporary Performance by Lauron J. Kehrer (review)

The Shift

Gonza is a highly regarded bboy in Thailand and across the globe. Belonging to one of Thailand’s most prominent crews, 99Flava, he has established a legacy across the Asia-Pacific. He is also a tattoo artist by trade and has recently stepped into a coaching role for breakers who will compete at the upcoming South East Asian (SEA) Games. In this short reflection, Gonza decodes his artwork The Shift (featured on the cover of this special issue of Global Hip Hop Studies: ‘Breaking and the Olympics 2’), by bringing breaking's past, present and future as an art-form and sport into question.