The Growing Need for Hip Hop in Music Education

There are many reasons that music educators might have for wanting to include Hip Hop in their teaching. These might include more surface-level approaches like including Hip Hop songs in the repertoire of a school ensemble or analyzing the rhythm of a rap cadence using Western notation. Deeper explorations might seek to engage in culturally responsive pedagogy, create curricular offerings that reflect the reality of contemporary musical practices and interests, or even disrupt school music’s Eurocentric traditions and assumptions. There is undoubtedly growing interest around Hip Hop in the field of music education, and it is worth pausing to consider the various intentions and possibilities surrounding this interest.

Perhaps the first reason that some in music education are motivated to engage with Hip Hop culture is its undeniable popularity. Hip Hop is the most popular music in the United States (Nielsen Music, 2020) and has become a culturally dominant force in nearly every corner of the world. This may be reason enough for music educators to pay attention to Hip Hop, but its potential in school spaces may go well beyond broad student interest. From its origins in the South Bronx neighborhood of New York City in the 1970s to its global influence decades later, Hip Hop’s foundations and essence have centered on Black American experiences and perspectives (Chang, 2005; Rose, 1994). That is not to say that Hip Hop is singularly Black, nor singularly American (Abe, 2009; Fraley, 2009; Love, 2016; Rodriquez, 2006), but American Blackness is and has been the centerpiece of Hip Hop culture. For music educators seeking greater representation of Black American musicians and aiming to acknowledge the indisputable global influence of Black American music, Hip Hop offers powerful examples of both.

In conjunction with who is speaking and creating in Hip Hop culture, what is being said—the message in the music—provides plentiful opportunities for exploring complex social, cultural, and political issues; understanding historical and contemporary oppression; and developing a critical consciousness. As the culture has moved and evolved for almost half a century, oppressed groups in countless contexts have adapted Hip Hop’s spirit of resistance to tell their stories and speak back to their surroundings. Chaney (2018) described this as offering “resilience through resistance” (p. 81) and added that

as social commentators, Hip Hop artists simultaneously acknowledge their historical and contemporary struggle and motivate members of a socially marginalized group to use effective coping strategies to face adversity . . . Hip Hop artists encourage their listeners to draw strength from themselves and one another, while at the same time striving to eradicate racism by advocating and taking action for social justice and equality. (p. 94)

Examining existing Hip Hop examples as well as creating original Hip Hop music can offer music students opportunities for greater understanding of the world, often with an emphasis on seeing and hearing society’s most underprivileged. Hip Hop creation and performance might also provide avenues for student self-expression (Hein, 2020) and navigating social identities (Evans, 2020; Millares, 2019).

While the relationship cannot be assumed, Hip Hop pedagogies also have strong potential for connections with culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 2018). Recent empirical studies published in music education venues have provided examples of Hip Hop music engagement yielding results in line with tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy such as success in traditional academic learning (Crooke & Almeida, 2017; Evans 2020), development of cross cultural understandings (Crooke & Almeida, 2017; Kruse, 2020a), and Hip Hop serving as a critical lens to see and respond to the world (Evans, 2020; Hess 2018a). I (Adam) (Kruse, 2020b) also published a recent study considering the possibility of Hip Hop engagement contributing to decentering Whiteness in music education. In this study, I examined how three different White music teachers engaged with Hip Hop in their teaching. Results showed that commitments to considering race and decentering Whiteness were not at all inherent in engaging with Hip Hop. Treating Hip Hop as just another music genre appeared insufficient toward these ends and connecting more deeply with Hip Hop as a culture emerged as perhaps a necessary disposition for music educators interested in decentering Whiteness.

All of the positive potential of engaging with Hip Hop in music education notwithstanding, none of the elements of affirmative representation, resistance to oppression, cultural relevance, or racial justice can be assumed just because students sample a breakbeat, a Hip Hop classic spins on a turntable, or a Tupac poster hangs in the classroom. Just like Hip Hop itself, Hip Hop pedagogies are laced with contradictions and assumptions. As the authors of this chapter, we share an enthusiasm for Hip Hop and the power it brings to school music spaces. However, that enthusiasm is tempered by trepidation over opportunities to alienate young people; perpetuate racist, classist, and gendered stereotypes; and reduce a culture of resistance, ingenuity, and contextual meanings into discrete musical concepts and a standard method book style approach to creation and performance. This is the line we walk writing a chapter such as this. We hope that as a reader, you will consider the same balancing act in your application of the ideas herein.