Units & Assignments
History of Hip Hop
Reading:
Imani Perry, Prophets of the Hood: Chapter 1
songs:
“Rappers Delight” The Sugarhill Gang
“The Bridge Is Over” Boogie Down Productions
“Ain’t No Half-Steppin” Big Daddy Kane
Welcome to the Hip Hop Matrix
Reading:
Craig S. Watkins, Hip Hop Matters: Introduction
songs:
“Welcome to the Terrordome" Public Enemy
"History" Mos Def f/Talib Kweli
“Mass Appeal” Gang Starr
“Hip Hop” Dead Prez
Make it New: Sampling & Authorship
songs:
“Smash Your Head” Girl Talk
“Gold Digger" Kanye West
Make it Matter: language, politics, and purpose
Race & Identity: What we do when we don't belong
STorytelling
Readings:
Craig S. Watkins, Hip Hop Matters: Chapter 5 Move the Crowd
songs:
“Fuck Tha Police” N.W.A
“Rebel Without A Pause” Public Enemy
“Fight The Power” Public Enemy
“The Message” Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
“Hard As They Come” Cunninlynguists
Reading:
Adam Bradley, The Poetics of Hip Hop: Storytelling
songs:
“Dance With the Devil” Immortal Technique
“I Used to Love H.E.R.” Common
“Rewind” Nas
“Children’s Story” Slick Rick
"Da Art of Storytelling" Outkast
“Stan” Eminem
Reading:
“Race…and Other Four-Letter Words: Eminem and the Cultural Politics of Authenticity” by Gilbert B. Rodman
"Django, The N-Word, and How We Talk About Race" Rembert Browne
songs:
"White America" Eminem
"N*ggas In Poorest" Yassin Bey
Welcome to the hood: the importance of Location, culture, & totems
Reading:
"'Represent': Race, Space and Place in Rap Music" by Murray Foreman
songs:
“Game Theory” The Roots
“The Corner” Common
“Straight Outta Compton” N.W.A
What's Diss Got to do with it: Writing with a purpose
Readings:
Adam Bradley, The Poetics of Hip Hop: Signifying
songs:
"Jack the Ripper" LL Cool J
“Hit ‘Em Up” Tupac
“Ether” Nas
Backpack Rap & other subcultures
Mc Stylists
Lyrically, You can't see me: analyzing what we say & why we say it
Reading:
Adam Bradley, The Poetics of the Hip Hop: Wordplay
songs:
“The Rape Over” Mos Def
“Lyte As a Rock” MC Lyte
"Water" The Roots
"High Explosives" Killah Priest
Readings:
Adam Bradley, The Poetics of Hip Hop: Style
songs:
“My Name Is” Eminem
“Elevators (Me & You)” Outkast
“If You Must” Del Tha Funkee Homosapien
"C.R.E.A.M" Wu-Tang Clan
Readings:
"The Trouble With Backpack Rap" by XXL Staff
"If It Doesn't Spread, It's Dead" by Henry Jenkins
songs:
"Waves" Joey Bada$$
"Wonton Soup" Lil B
"Bath Salts" A$AP Mob f/ Flatbush ZOMBIES
"Yonkers" Tyler, The Creator
Who's a sellout: Going mainstream & writing for an Audience
songs:
"Regrets" Jay-Z
"Big Pimpin'" Jay-Z
"You Owe Me" Nas f/ Genuine
Hip hop & america: violence & values
Beyond the Words: Production, tone, images, videos, & technology
songs:
“Triumph” Wu-Tang Clan (video)
“99 Problems” Jay-Z (video)
“Paid in Full” Eric B. & Rakim
“Boyz-N-The-Hood” Eazy-E
Reading:
"How Hip Hop Holds Blacks Back" John McWorter
songs:
“Dorian” Brother Ali
“Definition” Black Star (video)
Gender Identity & Sexuality
The Total product: looking at an album as a whole
Reading:
Born to Use Mics: Forward by Common
“Time is Illmatic: A Song for my Father, A Letter to my Son” by Buthrie P. Ramsey Jr
songs:
Illmatic by Nas (whole album)
Reading:
"My beautiful, Dark, Twisted Affair with Misogyny, Hip-Hop, and Post-Feminism” by Melissa Sexton
songs:
“Cha Cha Cha” MC Lyte
“Doo Wop (That Thing)” Lauryn Hill
“My Mic Sounds Nice” Salt N Peppa
Radical Revisions & adaptations
songs:
“Encore” Jay-z original
“Encore” Jay-z unplugged
“Encore” Danger Mouse, Grey Album
“Encore” Jay-Z and Linkin Park Remix