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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   

The future of hip hop

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