Emerson College Library: Hip-Hop: Home

Emerson's MLK Celebration

MLK Celebration: Valerie Stephens Presents ‘Nina Simone and Hip-Hop’
On January 19th at 7pm EST, The Hip Hop Society @Emerson, Emerson Intercultural, EBONI @ Emerson and the Division of Student Affairs are cosponsoring this performance by Valerie Stephens. Learn more and register by clicking on the eventbrite in the event description on Emerson Today.
Valerie Stephens
For more than 30 years, Bostonians have best known the multi-talented singer, storyteller, and actress for her use of arts to present strong images of African American women.
Valerie creates most of her work through the Valerie Stephens Group & is a well-known attraction at local venues & festivals

Nina Simone

Nina Simone was born in 1933, and became one of the most important musicians of the Civil Rights Era. A talented pianist, Simone was influential in several musical genres, including hip-hop, jazz, protest music and the blues. Simone's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement included benefit concerts, donations, and directly addressing injustice in her music. One of her most famous protest songs was "Mississippi Goddam", written after the murder of Medgar Evers, a field secretary for NAACP.
Simone died at the age of 70, leaving behind both a musical and cultural legacy that continues to inspire people worldwide.
(Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2022).

Read

Princess Noire
Tapping into newly unearthed material on Simone's family and career, Nadine Cohodas paints a luminous portrait of the singer, highlighting her tumultuous life, her innovative compositions, and the prodigious talent that matched her ambition.

Listen

Mood Indigo
This is a 2 disc CD set featuring a compilation of songs sung by Nina Simone, including songs she wrote and arranged, such as 'Young, Gifted & Black".
Amazing Nina Simone
She was left out of Civil Rights history, erased by jazz critics, and forgotten by most Americans because no one knew how to categorize her greatness. Now, a new documentary reveals the real Nina Simone through over 50 intimate interviews with those who best knew the artistry and intentions of one America's true musical geniuses. With new insights into her journey from Classical Music and the segregated American South, Nina's legacy is chartered all the way to the South of France where she finally found freedom.
Nina Simone Performance, 1961
Nina Simone sings and plays piano. On several selections she is backed up by her combo: Alvin Shackman, Robert White, Christopher Hamilton. Selections include: Sunday in Savannah, I'll Look Around, When I was in my Prime, Zungo (African language song, taught her by Olatunji), For All We Know, a jazz improvisation, and a portion of Breaking Rocks on the Chain Gang.

Watch

What happened, Miss Simone?
A documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the "High Priestess of Soul."
American Masters, How It Feels to Be Free
How It Feels to Be Free takes an unprecedented look at the intersection of African American women artists, politics and entertainment and tells the story of how six trailblazing performers—Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Diahann Carroll, Nina Simone, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier— changed American culture through their films, fashion, music and politics.

The History of Socially Conscious Hip-Hop

The Birth of Socially Conscious Hip-Hop

The Rise of Socially Conscious Hip-Hop Music
In this article, Jay Quan details and explores the history of early socially conscious hip-hop, including The Message, which was released 40 years ago and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
"The Message" at 40
This article explores the history, impact and cultural importance of "The Message", one of the most popular and influential rap records created.

Archives, Research Groups and More

Hip-Hop Education Center
The Hip-Hop Education Center is a world renowned cultural institution dedicated to centralizing the field of Hip-Hop education and catalyzing equity through transnational research, programming, leadership development and the creation of a living repository of Hip-Hop resources and archives.
Hiphop Archives & Research Institute
Since the early 1970s, Hiphop has become the most influential artistic, educational and social movement for youth and young adults. From The Hiphop Archive and Research Institute's inception in 2002 under the direction of Professor Marcyliena Morgan, students, faculty, artists, staff and other participants in Hiphop culture have been committed to supporting and establishing a new type of research and scholarship devoted to the knowledge, art, culture, materials, organizations, movements and institutions of Hiphop. In response to this exciting and growing intellectual movement The Hiphop Archive and Research Institute serves to organize and develop collections, initiate and participate in research activities, sponsor events and acquire material culture associated with Hiphop in the U.S. and throughout the world.
Music Origins Project
This project is geolocating the history and future of music. Map markers identify cultural regions, historic locations and venues where musical art forms originated and were incubated. Music Origins Project aims to remove the chronological and geographic barriers faced by music aficionados, students and travelers seeking to learn about the origins of various musical genre.
Universal Hip Hop Museum
The Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx celebrates and preserves the history of local and global Hip Hop music and culture to inspire, empower, and promote understanding. Anchored in the birthplace of the culture, the Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx will provide a space for audiences, artists, and technology to converge, creating unparalleled educational and entertainment experiences around the Hip Hop culture of the past, present, and future.

Ashanti: Princess of Hip Hop
Ashanti has graced the cover of nearly every major magazine and won numerous awards for writing and performing her own music. She has certainly come a long way since performing in the living room in front of her family. Take a ride with us as we explore the life of Ashanti-how she found music, and how music found her.
Hip Hop, Volume 1
Join Dana Foglia as she thoroughly breaks down her exciting street dance moves in this video made for beginners dancers at any age to learn how to dance. She will slowly demonstrate many different isolations needed for this funky style of hip hop dance, as well as perform them for you. You will get to see the choreography in angles that mirror a class environment so that you feel as if you are right there with her and her dancers.
Hip Hop, Volume 2
This is the sister DVD to Hip Hop Volume I. Continue to work with Dana Foglia and her dancers as they teach you innovative street dance moves created for beginner dancers at any age. As they demonstrate different grooves needed for this funky style of hip hop dance, you will be adding new steps to your repertoire. You will view the choreography in angles that mirror a class environment so that you feel as if you are right there with Dana and her dancers.
Hip Hop, Volume 3
Learn the a great WARM-UP, then FANCY FOOTWORK , HOUSE GROOVES and REGGAE GROOVES, all combinations from Hip Hop Volume III with Dana Foglia. Continue to work with Dana and her dancers as they teach you more advanced innovative street dance moves created for beginner dancers at any age. As they demonstrate different grooves needed for this funky style of hip hop dance, you will be adding new steps to your repertoire. You will view the choreography in angles that mirror a class environment so that you feel as if you are right there with Dana and her dancers. Anybody can dance! It's fun and exciting, so get ready to move like the pros!
Hip Hop Revolution
This visually stimulating film, pumping with the sound of unreleased classics and rare footage of the legendary BASE, the first hip hop club in South Africa, explores the 25 year journey of hip hop in South Africa. Interviews with Prophets of da City and Shamiel X, the first-generation pioneers of hip hop, explain how the African American art form mirrored their experiences and gave '80s youth a medium to express themselves and incite black pride at a time when it was most needed.
History and Concept of Hip Hop
This exciting documentary explores the history and scope of the Hip-Hop dance style. The movement is also studied as a global marketing phenomenon: despite its popularity, Hip-Hop struggles to define its historical lineage, concept, origins, aesthetics, and generational acceptance. This video illuminates these issues by featuring opinions from Hip-Hop dance pioneers, such as the renowned Rennie Harris. History and Concept of Hip-Hop Dance: The Street Culture That Became a Global Expression delves into the world-renowned dance style. Discover how it was first introduced to mainstream America in the early 1970s as breakdancing (or b-boying); learn how Hip-Hop has evolved and where it’s headed.
Safi Thomas: The History and Structure of Hip Hop
Safi Thomas speaks about the founding purpose and mission of the Hip Hop Dance Conservatory, unearths the parallel structures of ballet, modern and hip hop, and the discusses the importance of hip hop’s history in its future progress.

African Underground Democracy in Dakar
A ground-breaking documentary film about hip-hop, youth and politics in Dakar Senegal. The film follows rappers, DJs, journalists, professors and people on the street at the time before, during, and after the controversial 2007 presidential election in Senegal and examines hip-hop's role on the political process. Originally shot as a seven-part documentary mini-series released via the internet, the documentary bridges the gap between hip-hop activism, video journalism and documentary film and explores and explores the role of youth and musical activism on the political process.
Beat Street
The story of Kenny, a young hip-hop artist living in the rough slums of the Bronx with his younger brother Lee and their mother Cora.
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes
A look at the conceptualization of masculinity in hip-hop culture. Includes interviews with prominent rappers, music industry executives, and social critics.
Inventos: Hip Hop Cubano
Inventos: Hip Hop Cubano provides unique insights into the Hip-Hop scene in Cuba and the reality of contemporary Cuban politics. The film follows the innovators of this musical movement to their homes, the stage, and as they travel abroad for the first time. Inventos embodies the true spirit of Hip Hop, which is to create something powerful and useful out of what is seemingly impossible. Cuban Hip Hop demonstrates the creative and indestructible spirit of the island and its people despite the hardships of the U.S. embargo on Cuba
Say My Name
In a hip-hop and r&b world dominated by men and noted for misogyny, the unstoppable female lyricists of SAY MY NAME speak candidly about class, race, and gender in pursuing their passions as female emcees. This worldwide documentary takes viewers on [a] vibrant tour of urban culture[s] and musical movement[s], from hip hop's birthplace in the Bronx, to grime on London's Eastside and all points Philly, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, and L.A. in between. From emerging artists filled with new creativity, to true pioneers like MC Lyte, Roxanne Shante, and Monie Love, these are women turning adversity into art
Scratch
Here are some of the world's best DJs, those famous for solo scratching, competing in international DJ battles, playing for rap artists, or just rocking parties with the most insane records ever dug up.

Books @ Emerson

And It Don't Stop
And It Don't Stop, edited by the award winning journalist Raquel Cepeda, with a foreword from Nelson George is a collection of the best articles the hip-hop generation has produced. It captures the indelible moments in hip-hop's history since 1979 and will be the centerpiece of the twenty-fifth-anniversary celebration.
The Big Payback
On this four-decade-long journey from the studios where the first rap records were made to the boardrooms where the big deals were inked, "The Big Payback" tallies the list of who lost and who won along the 40-year road to hip-hop's dominance.
Can't Stop Won't Stop by Jeff Chang
Can't Stop Won't Stop is a powerful cultural and social history of the end of the American century, and a provocative look into the new world that the hip-hop generation created. Forged in the fires of the Bronx and Kingston, Jamaica, hip-hop became the Esperanto of youth rebellion and a generation-defining movement. In a post-civil rights era defined by deindustrialization and globalization, hip-hop crystallized a multiracial, polycultural generation's worldview, and transformed American politics and culture.
Dirty South
Acting as both investigative journalist and irreverent critic, Ben Westhoff journeys across the southern United States in a small Hyundai to document the phenomenon of southern hip-hop.
Groove Music
In Groove Music, Katz (an amateur DJ himself) delves into the fascinating world of the DJ, tracing the art of the turntable from its humble beginnings in the Bronx in the 1970s to its meteoric rise to global phenomenon today.
Hip Hop America
From the award-winning author of The Death of Rhythm and Blues comes Hip Hop America, the history of hip hop from its roots in the late 1970s to its emergence as the cultural force that today influences everything from movies to fashion, advertising to sports.
The History of Gangster Rap
Filled with interviews with key players such as Snoop Dogg, Ice-T, and dozens more, as well as sidebars, breakout bios of notorious characters, lists, charts, and more, The History of Gangster Rap is the be-all-end-all book that contextualizes the importance of gangster rap as a cultural phenomenon.

Black Noise by Tricia Rose
In Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America, Tricia Rose, described by the New York Times as a "hip hop theorist," takes a comprehensive look at the lyrics, music, cultures, themes, and styles of this highly rhythmic, rhymed storytelling and grapples with the most salient issues and debates that surround it.
Hip-Hop Revolution
In this groundbreaking book, Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar celebrates hip-hop and confronts the cult of authenticity that defines its essential character--that dictates how performers walk, talk, and express themselves artistically and also influences the consumer market.
Hip Hop on Film
Early hip hop film musicals have either been expunged from cinema history or excoriated in brief passages by critics and other writers. Hip Hop on Film reclaims and reexamines productions such as Breakin' (1984), Beat Street (1984), and Krush Groove (1985) in order to illuminate Hollywood's fascinating efforts to incorporate this nascent urban culture into conventional narrative forms.
The Hip Hop Wars
Hip-hop is in crisis. For the past dozen years, the most commercially successful hip-hop has become increasingly saturated with caricatures of black gangstas, thugs, pimps, and 'hos. The controversy surrounding hip-hop is worth attending to and examining with a critical eye because, as scholar and cultural critic Tricia Rose argues, hip-hop has become a primary means by which we talk about race in the United States.
It's Bigger Than Hip Hop
It's Bigger Than Hip Hop takes a bold look at the rise of a generation that sees beyond the smoke and mirrors of corporate-manufactured rap and is building a movement that will change not only the face of pop culture, but the world.
Prophets of the Hood
At once the most lucrative, popular, and culturally oppositional musical force in the United States, hip hop demands the kind of interpretation Imani Perry provides here: criticism engaged with this vibrant musical form on its own terms. A scholar and a fan, Perry considers the art, politics, and culture of hip hop through an analysis of song lyrics, the words of the prophets of the hood.
That's the Joint! by Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal (Editor)
This newly expanded and revised second edition of That's the Joint! brings together the most important and up-to-date hip-hop scholarship in one comprehensive volume. With pedagogical features including author biographies, headnotes summarizing key points of articles, and discussion questions, That's the Joint! is essential reading for anyone seeking deeper understanding of the profound impact of hip-hop as an intellectual, aesthetic, and cultural movement.
Total Chaos
Jeff Chang, author of the acclaimed Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation , assembles some of the most innovative and provocative voices in hip-hop to assess the most important cultural movement of our time. "Total Chaos" is an incisive look at hip-hop arts in the voices of the pioneers, innovators, and mavericks.

Fight the Power
The leader of the rap band, Public Enemy, and a pioneer of the musical genre offers his views on such subjects as self-empowerment in the African-American community, the effect of rap lyrics on youth, and Hollywood's images of blacks.
Go Ahead in the Rain
How does one pay homage to A Tribe Called Quest? Poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib digs into the group's history and draws from his own experience to reflect on how its distinctive sound resonated among fans like himself.
Born to Use Mics
Released in 1994, Illmatic was hailed as an instant masterpiece and has proven one of the most influential albums in hip-hop history. In Born to Use Mics, Michael Eric Dyson and Sohail Daulatzai have brought together the best and brightest writers of the hip hop generation to confront Illmatic song by song, with each scholar assessing an individual track from the album. The result is a brilliant engagement with and commentary upon one of the most incisive sets of songs ever laid down on wax.
Tupac Shakur by Fred L. Johnson and Tayannah Lee McQuillar
In 1996 Tupac Shakur, one of the most talented artists of his time, was murdered by an unknown gunman. Fred L. Johnson and Tayannah Lee McQuillar examine the theories surrounding his death and the story of Tupac's lost legacy in this definitive biography.
Decoded by Jay-Z
Decoded is a book like no other: a collection of lyrics and their meanings that together tell the story of a culture, an art form, a moment in history, and one of the most provocative and successful artists of our time. In Decoded, Jay-Z writes a combination of autobiography and analysis of his own lyrics.

The Anthology of Rap by Adam Bradley and Andrew DuBois (Editor)
Rap has emerged as one of the most influential cultural forces of our time. In this work, the editors demonstrate that rap is also a wide reaching and vital poetic tradition born of beats and rhymes. This pioneering anthology brings together more than three hundred lyrics written over thirty years, from the "old school" to the "golden age" to the present day.
Book of Rhymes by Adam Bradley
Examining rap history's most memorable lyricists and their inimitable techniques, literary scholar Adam Bradley argues that we must understand rap as poetry or miss the vanguard of poetry today. Book of Rhymes explores America's least understood poets, unpacking their surprisingly complex craft, and according rap poetry the respect it deserves.
How to Rap
Examining the dynamics of hip-hop from different regions and forms - mainstream and underground, current and classic - this title discusses things that range from content and flow to rhythm and delivery in relation to the art and craft of rap.
How to Rap 2
In this sequel to How to Rap, techniques that have not previously been explainedsuch as triplets, flams, lazy tails, and breaking rhyme patternsare thoroughly broken down and examined, arming readers with additional tools for their rapping repertoire.
Rap Music and the Poetics of Identity by Adam Krims
This is the first book to discuss in detail how rap music is put together musically. Whereas a great deal of popular music scholarship dismisses music analysis as irrelevant or of limited value, the present book argues that it can be crucial to cultural theory. It is unique for bringing together perspectives from music theory, musicology, cultural studies, critical theory, and communications. It is also the first scholarly book to discuss rap music in Holland, and the rap of Cree Natives in Canada, in addition to such mainstream artists as Ice Cube.

Chicano Rap
Chicano Rap offers the first in-depth look at how Chicano/a youth have adopted and adapted rap music and hip hop culture to express their views on gender and violence, as well as on how Chicano/a youth fit into a globalizing world.
Global Noise
The thirteen essays that comprise Global Noise explore the hip hop scenes of Europe, Anglophone and Francophone Canada, Japan and Australia within their social, cultural and ethnic contexts. The essays reveal diasporic manifestations of international hip hop that are rarely acknowledged in the growing commentary on the genre in the US.
Hip Hop Beats, Indigenous Rhymes
Meeting at the nexus of hip hop studies, Indigenous studies, and critical ethnic studies, Hip Hop Beats, Indigenous Rhymes argues that Indigenous people use hip hop culture to assert their sovereignty and challenge settler colonialism.
Queer Voices in Hip Hop
In Queer Voices in Hip Hop, Lauron J. Kehrer turns our attention to openly queer and trans rappers and positions them within a longer Black queer musical lineage. By centering the performances of openly queer and trans artists of color, Queer Voices in Hip Hop reclaims their work as essential to the development and persistence of hip hop in the United States as it tells the story of hip hop's queer roots.