Fleetwood, Hip Hop Culture Syllabus, 1
American Studies 01:050:300:B1 Hip Hop Culture and History Summer Session I Mon, Wed 10:45-2:45 ARH 100
Professor Nicole Fleetwood Phone: 732-932-9962 Office: 205-F RAB Email: [email protected] Office Hours: by appointment Dept Office: 024 RAB, phone: 2-9174
COURSE DESCRIPTION Since its emergence in the 1970s as a localized community formation in New York, hip hop has developed into a billion-dollar, transnational industry with a broad array of cultural legacies and commercial products. This course examines the historical, social, political and aesthetic roots of hip hop culture and music. We will look at its beginnings in urban black and Latino youth cultures, its aesthetic contributions to popular music and cultural expression, the vexed representations of women in hip hop, and its place in a larger global commercial exchange. In addition to analyzing hip hop music, the course will look at hip hop’s influence on advertising, fashion, cinema, music video, and digital media.
REQUIRED READINGS Forman, Murray and Mark Anthony Neal. That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. New York: Routledge, 2004. Sakai articles Online sources Class handouts Recommended: Tricia Rose, The Hip Hop Wars. New York: Basic Books, 2008.
REQUIREMENTS Participation: 15% Given that this course is a summer intensive, attendance is required at all class sessions. Unexcused absences will lower your final grade. More than three unexcused absences will result in failure of the course.
In addition to attending, all students are expected to participate and come to class prepared. Moderating discussion for one session is a component of the final participation grade.
Analytical Paper (4-5 pages): 40% Students are required to write one analytical paper that critically engages with issues raised in the course. Paper should apply concepts and theories of the course to a specific component of hip hop culture (magazines, TV shows, advertising, fashion…). Paper must demonstrate a depth and range that shows sufficient engagement with course materials. More details will be provided in class.
Final Exam: 45%
Fleetwood, Hip Hop Culture Syllabus, 2
The final exam will be cumulative. A firm grasp of the material covered throughout the semester will be vital to your success. The exam will consist of multiple-choice, short response questions, and an essay component.
Extra Credit Assignment: 5% Students may choose to write a 3-4 page synopsis and review of Tricia Rose’s The Hip Hop Wars as an extra credit assignment for the course.
All assignments must be completed in order to pass the class. Late assignments will be penalized one letter grade per day late. All papers must be double-spaced, typeset with Times or Times New Roman 12pt font, and have page numbers and one-inch margins. Format of papers should adhere to the Modern Language Association Style Manual (see attached handout on formatting papers).
Plagiarism of any sort will not be tolerated. Plagiarism includes copying classmates’ answers and improper citation of any text in the course or otherwise. Ignorance of university policy is not an excuse.
SCHEDULE
WEEK 1 2 JUNE: HIP-HOP CULTURE & HISTORY OVERVIEW Introductions. Course overview. Screening: Wild Style, Dir. Charlie Ahearn. 1983.
WEEK 2 7 JUNE: HIP-HOP CULTURE & HISTORY OVERVIEW Ford, Jr. “B-Beats Bombarding Bronx,” pp. 41-42 [TTJ] Ford, Jr. “Jive Talking N.Y. DJs Rapping Away in Black Discos,” pp. 43-44 [TTJ] Castleman. “The Politics of Graffiti,” 21-28 [TTJ] Flores. “Puerto Rocks: Rap, Roots, and Amnesia,” pp. 69-85 [TTJ] Screening: Style Wars
9 JUNE: FROM SUBCULTURE TO COMMERCIAL CULTURE/ HIP HOP AS INDUSTRY 9/22: Blair. “Commercialization of the Rap Music Youth Subculture,” pp.497-504 [TTJ] Holman. “Breaking: The History,” Hebdige. “Subculture” [SAKAI] Kelley. “Looking to Get Paid” [SAKAI] Screening: Breakin’; The Show
WEEK 3 14 JUNE: THE GOLDEN ERA Dery. “Public Enemy Confrontation,” pp. 407-420 [TTJ] George. “Sample This,” pp. 437-442 [TTJ]
Fleetwood, Hip Hop Culture Syllabus, 3
Vincent. “Hip-Hop and Black Noise: Raising Hell,” pp. 481-492 [TTJ] Music: Eric B & Rakim, MC Lyte, EPMD, Public Enemy, KRS One, Queen Latifah
16 JUNE: GANGSTA RAP & THE POLITICS OF SPACE Kelley, Robin. “Kickin’ Reality, Kickin’ Ballistics” [[SAKAI] Quinn. Ch 1. Nuthin but a “G” Thang [[SAKAI] PAPER DUE!
WEEK 4 21 JUNE: HIP HOP & THE MUSIC INDUSTRY Negus. “The Business of Rap: Between the Street and the Executive Suite” [TTJ] Smith, Christopher Holmes. “’I Don’t Like to Dream about Getting Paid’: Representations of Social Mobility and the Emergence of the Hip-Hop Mogul” [SAKAI] [SAKAI] Screening: The Industry, Dir. Kwame Amoaku. Image Entertainment, 2005.
23 JUNE: HOOD CINEMA & THE HOLLYWOODIZATION OF HIP HOP Watkins. “Producing Ghetto Pictures” [SAKAI] Beltran. “The New Hollywood Racelessness: Only the Fast, Furious, (and Multiracial) Will Survive” [SAKAI] Clips: Do the Right Thing, Boyz N the Hood, and Menace II Society,The Fast and the Furious, 8 Mile
WEEK 5 28 JUNE: HIP HOP, FASHION & ADVERTISING Fleetwood. “Hip-Hop Fashion.” [SAKAI] Specter. “I am Fashion” [SAKAI] Online sources
30 JUNE: HIP HOP & GLOBALIZATION TBA Maira. “Henna and Hip Hop” [SAKAI] Osumare. “Global Hip-Hop and the African Diaspora” [SAKAI] Clips: L’Haine
WEEK 6 5 JULY: CRITICAL VOICES Morgan. “Hip-Hop Feminist,” pp. 277-282 [TTJ] Selection of Tricia Rose’s The Hip Hop Wars [SAKAI] West, Tim’m. “Keepin’ it Real: Disidentification and its Discontents [SAKAI] Screening: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, Dir. Byron Hurt EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT DUE!
7 JULY: NO MEETING FINAL EXAM SUBMITTED THROUGH SAKAI. DUE BY 2:45PM.