Rap is the music of Hip Hop, which

includes the elements of the DJ and

Emcee (plus Production and Beat Box).
Hip Hop is the overlying culture out of
which rap music grew, and includes
several other creative elements and
cultural forms drawing from
reformulations of African/Black
aesthetics of expression (improvisation,
syncopated rhythms, etc.)

 Graffiti

Visual Art
Breakdance
(BBoy/BGirl)
DJing
Emceeing
Knowledge

Social Climate:
Post-Civil Rights
Movement in 1960s:
assassination of Malcolm
X & Martin Luther King, Jr.
Riots in Watts 65, and
Detroit 67
Racial tension in urban
areas caused much of
the white population to
move out to the suburbs,
leaving the inner-cities
predominantly Black and
Latino populated

America changing from an industrial to a

technological economy
Increased unemployment among the
undertrained working class
Working class falls into poverty, rich get
richer and the poor get poorer
New business class moves to suburbs,
leaving the cities poor and mostly people
of color.
Tax Base changes, money leaves the city to
suburbs
Budget cuts in education removes arts
programs from city schools

Despite poverty, post-Civil Rights optimism

remains in the urban underclass.
Urban areas increasingly cut off from rest of
society due to increasing poverty and
poverty-related societal ills.
Inner-cities seen as cultural wastelands
Urban residents lack a legitimate voice
There is virtually no viable means of selfexpression speaking to the needs of innercity communities

As a result of extreme social conditions, city

youth form a highly expressive underground
culture utilizing the few resources available
as a social outlet.
Musicianship replaced by the DJ
(instruments not available in schools) who
innovates the record player and uses IT as
an instrument
Innovations in music (the invention of the
break) creates innovations in dance
(breakdancing), along with creative
innovations in visual arts (graffiti)

 The Last Poets and Gil Scott Heron:

Black Revolutionary poets from the

late 1960s revitalized black oral
traditions of poetics and storytelling
about life conditions, experiences
and worldview.
DJ Kool Herc: Father of Hip Hop,
from Jamaica, first DJ to create
breakbeats by looping the
instrumental break of popular
songs, led to the birth of hip hop
music
Afrika Bambaataa: Godfather of
Hip Hop, created the Universal Zulu
Nation which defined the four
creative elements of hip hop as an
alternative to violence in the
streets.

Ronald Reagan elected

President in 1980
His economic policy was
known as the Trickle Down
Effect
Many social service
programs that assisted the
poor are cut.
Created pre-conditions for
the drug explosion that
would take over inner cities

Gang culture is the dominant

underground culture on the West
Coast
Introduction of crack-cocaine into
inner cities in the mid-80s strengthens
Drug Culture in U.S. inner-cities

 Public

Enemy releases Fear of a Black

Planet
N.W.A. releases Straight Outta
Compton
First groups to forcefully address
problems in the ghetto

1996 Telecom Act Deregulates ownership

restrictions on media outlets
Radio stations are owned by
fewer companies
Fewer corporations have
more control over what
public hears
Smaller playlists, less diversity
on the radio that tends to
perpetuate stereotypes
Rise of other musical outlets,
especially internet, and MP3

Beyond the mainstream, Hip hop culture

resurges and opens into new innovative
styles.
The community of Hip hop begins to
organize through the formation of nonprofit organizations like Hip Hop
Congress.
Hip hop has become a global cultural
force recontextualized amongst people
around the world.
Hip Hop continues to give voice to
marginalized people. (e.g. North
Africans in France, Palestinians, etc.)

A powerful example of the power of Hip

Hop Culture in the lives of young people.

Breaks Kru @ Standing Rock

Reservation

Cross-Cultural Exploration
through Hip Hop

Hip Hop is blending and

fusing with existing cultures
around the world.
Technology is facilitating
extensive global
communication in Hip
Hop.
Hip Hop is becoming a
common point of
understanding.
Marginalized communities
are using Hip Hop to
connect local grassroots
social movements with
other efforts to empower
people around the world.

Facilitating the Hip

Hop Movement

Cultivating a Grassroots Network

Hip Hop Congress (HHC) is an International

Grassroots Network that educates,
empowers, and unites individuals. HHC
preserves and evolves Hip-Hop by inspiring
social action and cultural creativity within the
community.
The goal of the HHC is to create a viable
forum for people to learn, express themselves,
interact with diverse ideas and cultures, and
gain the tools they need to facilitate their
own goals. HHC uses the culture of Hip-Hop
to inspire young people to get involved in
social action, civic service, and cultural
creativity.

 Education
Diversity and Intercultural
Understanding

Youth Leadership and

Development
Commitment to Urban
Arts, Culture and Music
Social Justice and
Human Rights

PROGRAMS & INITIATIVES

1. Chapter Program

College Chapter
Community Chapter
High School Chapter
Regional Development
Culture Program
Artist Correspondence Program
Workshops and Training Programs

PROGRAMS & INITIATIVES

2. Education
Initiative
3. Programming
4. Womens
Project
5. Political
Initiative

The HHC Chapter Program develops chapters

at universities, high schools and in communities.
Promote hip hop culture on their campuses or in their

communities.
Produce or sponsor hundreds of events annually,
including panels, speeches, element
exhibitions/battles (emcee/bboy/dj/graffiti),
awareness festivals, screenings, etc.
Organize in ways that best serve its campus and
regional concerns with a national network to reach
out to for building and organizing a large scale
grassroots movement.
Expand the growing and energized grassroots
movement for social justice and creative expression.

The HHC urban arts education and outreach

program offers the following components:

Hip Hop Education

Classes and workshops on Hip Hop history as well as the
social and political importance of hip hop to youth of color
and urban communities.
Media Literacy training
Classes on critical media analyses; educators teach youth
to be more critical consumers of media.
Performances and Interactive workshops - Hip Hop

Elements

Through artistic expressions, youth will learn to express

themselves creatively and constructively through positive
outlets.

Community Activism
HHC members serve as mentors to youth promoting
community activism and involvement in social and political
issues affecting their lives.
Urban Teacher Network

HHC is working to organize and support an

Urban Teacher Network (UTN) where
educators of youth in urban communities
can form networks to share ideas,
curriculum, and build after-school
extracurricular and mentor programs for
the youth they teach.

Build alliances and power in educators

wanting to connect and build a
movement to enrich the lives of urban
youth inside and outside of the classroom.

http://www.natiyouthcenter.org/

Increase in classes available throughout the

country on campuses utilizing Hip Hop for
sociology, ethnic studies, music theory, linguistics,
etc. (Over 100 Hip Hop classes throughout the
country)

Stanford Hip Hop Archive

Howard, University of Indiana

Bloomington, Colorado, Irvine
UCLA, etc.
Increase in application as a co-curricular tool through
departments and student organizations to address
diversity, culture and social/civic engagement

Increase in speakers available to the lecture

circuit: Bakari Kitwana, Jeff Chang, Adisa Banjoko,
Ernie Panicolli, Kevin Powell

The Socio-historical Perspective of Hip Hop

Culture in American Society
Hip Hop 101

Teaches the history of the global youth phenomenon known as Hip Hop.
Course Topics:
basic concepts of what comprises hip hop culture
dimensions of what we define as hip hop
historic benchmarks that define the various eras
critical ideological arguments for and against hip hop culture
critique race, class, gender issues that affect hip hop and society
Required Texts:

Jeff Chang
Cant Stop Wont Stop: A History of the Hip-hop Generation
Bikari Kitwana
The hip hop generation: Young blacks and the crisis of African
American culture

Hip-Hop used to teach another

subject
Hip-Hop as advocacy and
networking tool to provide
institutional change
Hip-Hop in College
Hip-Hop and Education Events

What subjects are being taught?

Math
Vocabulary and Literacy
Environmental Studies
History
Life Skills
Poetry
Health

Lead Teaching
Organizations (Cross Curriculum):

Hip Hop Matters(D.C.)

Empowerment Through Hip Hop(Southern California)
Flocabulary (New York/Bay Area)
Urban Word - Hip Hop and the Classics (New York, NY)

Where is Hip-Hop Education being used?

a. Youth Centers
b. K-12
c. Colleges
d. Workshops, Seminars and Conferences

How is this being used to provide

institutional change?
Networking professors, teachers, student
teachers, students, youth services workers,
community activists and artists
Increasing capacity

Lead Organizations
Hip-Hop Association
Hip Hop Congress
Hip Hop Caucus

Hip Hop Congress

Join or start a chapter

http://hiphopcongress.com/

Education Initiative
Urban Arts Outreach Programs
Urban Teacher Network (UTN)