Hip Hop Cultural Values

We cannot possibly provide an exhaustive description of all of Hip Hop’s cultural values, but some worth considering for music educators, include realness, originality, limitless influence, truth-telling, and freshness. Our descriptions of these concepts are informed by both academic and “real world” influences, and our understandings are ever evolving. Therefore, we encourage dedicated music educators to take the following as starting points for exploration, rather than codified definitions.

Realness. There is perhaps no more important, no more contested, and no more misunderstood concept in Hip Hop culture than realness (Kruse, 2018a). If music educators conceive of realness as a fixed definition (perhaps limited by demographic identities), they may think there is no way for some teachers and students to meaningfully engage with Hip Hop. As we have argued previously, acknowledging Hip Hop’s foundations and our relationships to the culture is vital. However, this presents a conundrum for a field that is disproportionately White and female (Elpus, 2015), and presumably middle-class. To say that only Black individuals from the South Bronx who perform a particular type of “hard” heterosexual masculinity can participate in Hip Hop culture is simply inaccurate but glossing over the demographic foundations of the culture opens some incredibly problematic cans of worms. What then are music educators to do about realness?

Instead of seeing realness as a condition that one has or does not have, consider realness as McLeod (2012) suggested, as a “floating signifier” that moves and changes over time and in various spaces. This is not to eschew the importance of demographic identities, but rather to highlight the importance of realness as sincerity, honesty, and transparency. Speaking to and about one’s local context and lived experiences, acknowledging one’s identities and privilege, and drawing inspiration from personally meaningful cultural touchstones are strategies of invoking realness in Hip Hop in which all music educators and students can participate. Employing affected Black American vernacular and mannerisms, evoking stereotypical imagery of a Black urban life that is not yours, and otherwise wearing Hip Hop as a costume would be egregious examples of being insincere, dishonest, and ultimately fake. For some in music education, walking this line might be challenging, but it is perhaps the most important consideration we face.

Originality. Whether we refer to sampling already existing music for original compositions, reimagining current spaces as performance and presentation venues, rethinking music curricula to suit the needs of a new classroom context, or any form of repurposing extant material into new works, the notion that Hip Hop is built on practices of “taking things and transforming things” (Petchauer, 2012, p. 77) rings true for us. Hip Hop culture was born in spaces of limited material resources, and ingenuity in the face of these limitations is a vital part of its history (Chang, 2005). Many music educators in public school settings can likely identify with the importance of working with what you have, but this creative resourcefulness in Hip Hop goes beyond making due in less-than-ideal situations. Hip Hop culture has an imperative that artists each develop an original style that simultaneously honors predecessors while paving new paths of innovative work.

Exploring the style and identity development of Hip Hop artists, Millares (2019) offered that “the creative processes through which they [Hip Hop artists] learn and practice their art forms encourage an originality rooted in what each person brings to their point of entry into, and to their interactions with, hip-hop culture” (p. 437). Millares also suggested that “Those who wish to express artistically through Hip-hop must take the bits of technique, knowledge and advice they have gathered and put it all together in a way that no one else has” (p. 442). These positions on originality invite everyone to the Hip Hop table regardless of their background, but also lay forth an expectation to innovate. Music educators and their students can answer these calls by embracing their own influences—Hip Hop or otherwise—and generating original material outside the limitations of any perceived mold. On this point, we concur with Hein (2020), who argued that “When we teach hip-hop, let us make it our goal to use it as a tool for fostering authentic student self- expression” (p. 23).

Limitless Influence. Holding hands with the values of realness and originality, Hip Hop draws on and provides limitless influences. In contrast to some music education traditions that are built on the preservation of styles and practices, Hip Hop culture encourages continuously drawing influence from new sources. Whether it is the venerated DJing practice of “crate digging” for unheard musical examples or the celebrated obscurity and obfuscation of rare samples in beat production, Hip Hop values novel ideas.

The culture’s originators drew influence from material from disco, funk, soul, and R&B—and current artists still do the same—but the world of inspirational and influential material is now much wider for Hip Hop artists. At this point, there is no tradition too far removed, or genre boundary too solid, that Hip Hop artists cannot traverse (Schloss, 2014). Likewise, the influence of Hip Hop on the rest of popular culture is as widespread as any other contemporary tradition. All of this provides an endless field of exploration and discovery for music educators and their students. There is a universe of educational possibilities involved in tracing the lines of influence to and from Hip Hop culture through listening and analysis, as well as drawing new lines through original creation and performance.

Truth-Telling. As mentioned earlier, Hip Hop’s foundations in resistance to oppression are incredibly important. If nothing else, Hip Hop tells the truth. This truth is not always easy to hear from privileged or uninformed points of view. However, these truths matter and often privilege marginalized voices (Alim, 2007). It is imperative for music educators to understand this if they have any hope of exploring meanings in existing examples from Hip Hop culture. There is an understandable and sometimes practical discomfort from many music educators we have encountered in workshop and conference spaces where individuals raise concerns over what they perceive as inappropriate language or themes in Hip Hop music.

We cannot provide a one-size-fits-all solution for music educators to deal with the language in Hip Hop music, but we do hope that teachers will recognize at least these two points:

1. The perception of appropriateness is context-dependent and always a reflection of who holds power in a space. It is worth considering and reconsidering why certain language is deemed inappropriate, who is making that decision, and who any attempt to censor language is serving.

2. Hip Hop tells hard truths, often from marginalized perspectives. If Hip Hop’s penchant for truth telling makes us uncomfortable, are we willing to critically interrogate why? What does this discomfort say about us and our experiences compared to those we encounter in Hip Hop? Who might benefit from a realistic dialogue about the truths told in Hip Hop, and who benefits from avoiding these topics?

Freshness. Part of why Hip Hop culture has remained popular and relevant for so long is that the culture is constantly shifting and changing. This value of freshness functions almost as the outcome of the previous values we have discussed. If artists are asked to reflect their own experiences and contexts, if they are expected to provide original and innovative contributions, if they can draw influence from anywhere and everywhere, and if they consistently tell challenging truths, how can Hip Hop not stay compelling and fresh? It is arguably the adaptation—and not the adoption—of Hip Hop around the world that has led to the culture’s rapid evolution and persistent popularity. Artists everywhere are invited to take part in the culture, but they are expected to constantly bring something new to the table.

The simultaneously invigorating and overwhelming result of this rapid growth and change is that music educators will never catch up nor keep up with all there is to know in Hip Hop. Luckily, the most important arbiters of what is fresh in Hip Hop are young people. Music educators might attend professional development opportunities and helpful workshops (we might even be leading them ourselves), but it is their own students who can likely teach them what is most important to know about what is fresh in Hip Hop right now. Centering youth knowledge should be high on music educators’ priority lists along with the reminder that we have both had to tell each other on countless occasions: Their Hip Hop is not your Hip Hop. Even if a music educator grew up as a Hip Hop musician, is a Hip Hop head from way back, or (claims to have) attended Kool Herc’s Back to School Jam at 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in 1973, the Hip Hop that students enjoy will inevitably be different and should remain central in music curricula.