Why We Talk about Hip Hop
// "Hip hop reflects the truth, and the problem is that hip-hop exposes a lot of the negative truth that society tries to conceal. It's a platform where we could offer information, but it's also an escape." Busta Rhymes
The Hip Hop Matrix
Hip hop and hip hop Culture is everywhere and for the first time the line between dominant pop culture and hip hop is becoming blurry.
Many of today's students have never lived in a world without hip hop, without hip hop on the radio, in the movies, in their parent's music collection.
At its best, art is a reflection of society. And music is in many ways the greatest time capsule we have. This is hip hop's moment, a genre that is new enough for rapid evolution, one that escapes and slips out of definition--yet is distinct and distinguishable enough that we know it when we hear it.
Evaluating and Understanding Texts
Almost everything we encounter is a text with an identifiable purpose and audience: the graffiti on a bathroom stall, the commercials on TV, the books, newspapers, blogs, magazines we read, and of course the music we hear.
Even when we're not paying attention and these texts fall to the background like the music played at the grocery store, they still have influence. Understanding these texts means understanding the world we live in and how to better live, influence, and communicate in it.
Hip hop is changing the way we think and talk and listen. It is a microcosm of our society and all the good and bad that comes in it.