It`s a Hip-Hop World - ELA

Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLC
It's a Hip-Hop World
Author(s): Jeff Chang
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Foreign Policy, No. 163 (Nov. - Dec., 2007), pp. 58-65
Published by: Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, LLC
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Rap musichas longbeenconsidered
a form
of resistance
against
authorify.
Boostedbythecommercialization
of
themusicindusty,that
messagehas
provenitsappeal tojouthall
aroundtheworld.Now, from
ShanghaitoNairobi toSao Paulo,
intoa truTh
hip-hopisevolving
globalartofcommunication.
By Jeff Chang
IT'SAHip-Ho
J
nside the steamingwalls of a nightclubin theother fornot speaking properMandarin. His
theheartof one of theworld'smost dynam
opponent fromHong Kong snaps back to thebeat
ic cities,you can hear the sounds of the in a trilingualtorrentof Cantonese, English, and
future.
Hundreds of people gyrate rhyth Mandarin, dissing theBeijing rapperfornot repre
mically as a DJ spinshot beats.On stage,a pair of
sentingthepeople. The crowd goes wild, raucously
rappersfaceoff,microphones inhand, tradingvers
voicingdelightand dismay.
es of improvisedrhyme.They look liketypicalhip
This annual rap battle,called the IronMic, isn't
in
hop artists,dressed
baggy pants and baseball
takingplace inNew York or Los Angeles, but in
caps. But listenclosely and you notice something Shanghai,where itsfounder,
32-year-old
Dana Burton,
unusual:They'reperforminginChinese.One rapper has unexpectedly
foundfameand fortune.
The Detroit
spitsoutwords ina distinctive
Beijingaccent,scolding nativearrivedinChina in1999 to takea job teaching
English.During his first
week in town,hewent to a
JeffChang is editor of Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics
nightclubthatadvertisedhip-hopmusic.But theclos
of Hip-Hop (New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2007) and
est thingto hip-hopwas a Michael Jackson imper
author of Can't Stop,Won't Stop: A History of theHip-Hop
sonator.So,Burtonembarkedon a missiontobringthe
Generation (New York: St. Martin's Press, 200.5), which
real thingto the
Middle Kingdom. "I thoughtabout
won the 2005 American Book Award.
what I could offer
China," he says."Itwas hip-hop."
58
FOR IC;N PO[LICY
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Burtonbegan tomoonlightas a rapperand developed
a following.
He not onlyperformedhimselfbut also
helpedothers-foreigners
andChinese-get theirown
acts off theground by hostingpartiesand hip-hop
nightssuchas IronMic. Admirerscalledhim "thegod
fatherofChinese hip-hop."
Burton soon began topromote toursforfamous
hip-hopartistsvisitingfromtheUnited States.Today,
multinational corporations includingIntel,Coca
Cola, andAdidas turnto himwhen theywant help
inmarketingtheirconsumergoods toChina's boom
ingyouthmarket.Burton thentaps intohis pool of
L more than300 Chinese rappers,DJs, dancers, and
n:
cr
graffiti
artists.
C)
In a recent campaign forWyborowa vodka,
Burton took his crew on the road, presenting150
shows in40 Chinese cities.His artistsperformeda
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mini historyof hip-hop, from itsurbanAmerican
beginningsto itsChineseapotheosis.Itwas theperfect
brew-an African-American
entrepreneur
promoting
a Polish vodka owned by a French corporation
usingChinese performers
practicinganAfro-Latin
influencedart form that originated in the inner
cities of theUnited States.Welcome to hip-hop's
newworld.
X
A SERIOUS
BUSINESS
To theuninitiated,hip-hop hardly looks or sounds
like a brave, new art form.It'smore like a sonic
jackhammer,a visual eyesore, and a conceptual
nuisance. Critics often call hip-hopmaterialistic,
misogynistic,
homophobic,racist,vulgar,and violent.
It'sa hotmess, the roarof totalchaos.
NOVEMBER
IDECEMBER
2007
59
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It's a Hip-Hop World
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madetheir
own.
urban
youth
have
hip-hop
that
China's
ofAmerican-style
elements
art:Graffiti
isoneoftheoriginal
Asian
Some of thatis true.But rapmusic isonly a part
of themovement, and ifyou look beyond stereo
types,it'sclear thathip-hopculturehas become one
of themost far-reachingartsmovements of the
past threedecades. The best artistssharea desire to
breakdown boundariesbetween"high" and "low"
art-to make urgent,truth-telling
work thatreflects
the lives, loves,histories,hopes, and fearsof their
generation.Hip-hop is about rebellion,yes,but it's
also about transformation.
At thecore of hip-hop is thenotionof something
called the"cipher."Partlyforcompetitionand partly
forcommunity,the cipher is the circle of partici
pants and onlookers that closes around battling
rappersor dancers as theyimproviseforeach other.
Ifyou have theguts to step into thecipherand tell
your storyand, above all, demonstrateyourunique
ness, you might be accepted into the community.
Here iswhere reputationsaremade and riskedand
stylistic
change is fostered.
That thiscommunitarian
honoring of merit-whether it's called "style,"
"hotness,"orwhatever thelatestslang foritis-can
For
More
Online
i
at
WatchtwoChinesehip-hop
dobaftle
performers
ForeignPolicy.com/extras/hiphop.
60
FOREIGN POLICY
I
transcendgeography,culture,and even skin color
remainship-hop'scentralpromise.
Today, themessage of hip-hop is even tran
scendingborders.From xi ha inChina to "hip-life"
inGhana, hip-hop is a lingua franca that binds
youngpeople all around theworld, allwhile giving
themthechance to alter itwith theirown national
flavor.It is thefoundationforglobal dance compe
titions,themeeting ground for local progressive
activism,even thesubjectof studyatHarvard and
theLondon School of Economics.
But one thingabout hip-hophas remainedcon
sistentacrosscultures:a vitalprogressiveagenda that
challenges thestatusquo. Thousands of organizers
fromCape Town toParis use hip-hop in theircom
munities to address environmentaljustice,policing
and prisons,media justice,and education.InGothen
burg,Sweden,nongovernmental
organizations(NGOs)
incorporategraffiti
and dance to engage disaffected
immigrant
andworking-classyouths.And indigenous
youngpeople inplaces as disparateas Chile, Indone
sia,New Zealand, andNorway use hip-hop topush
theirgeneration'sviews intothe localconversation.
Hip-hop is also a serious business.More than
59 million rap albumswere sold in theUnited States
alone last year.But thatnumber representsonly
a small part of hip-hop's influence.It sells an esti
u)
IL
0
a
a
z
1
UP
mated $10 billionworth of trend-setting
luxuryand RISING
consumer goods everyyear-not just inmovies, With itshumbleorigins,no one could have foreseen
shoes, and clothingbut in everythingfromsnack
theglobal phenomenonthathip-hopwould become.
crackers and soda drinks to cars and computers. Thirtyyears ago,New York City bore littleresem
This "urban aspirationallifestyle"
market isexpect
blance to theglittering
metropolisof today,particu
ed to continue togrow exponentially.
larlytheembattledstreetsof theBronx. Race riots,
According to
a 2006 reportby business researchcompanyPack
urban renewal,arson,and government
neglectwiped
out educationaland social serviceprograms,eviscer
aged Facts, thepotential purchasingpower avail
able to thismarket in theUnited States alone is ated housing stock, acceleratedwhite flightand
worth $780 billion.
job loss, and created
American rapper 50
an internationalsym
Cent is one of the
bol of urban despair.
many savvy busi
Meanwhile, the
nessmen in hip-hop
poor youth of the
who's fullygrasped
Bronx foundways to
this potential. In
pass thetime:rapping
2004, he agreed to
in a style adapted
endorse flavoredbev
fromJamaicanreggae
erage VitaminWater
withBronx slangover
for a small stake in
funky Afro-Latin
Glaceau, thecompa
influenced
grooves,
ny thatproduced it.
dancingwildly to the
In June,Coca-Cola
percussive breaks,
purchased Glaceau
spray-painting their
for $4.1 billion.
nicknames on walls,
When thedeal closed,
buses, and subway
50 Centwalked away
trains.
Thesewere hip
with a rumored$100
hop's original "four
million overnight,just
elements
"-MCing,
for lendinghis name
DJing, b-boying (or
to a drink.
"breakdancing"),and
Of all therappers
graffiti. The street
out there,
mogul and
culture
was aliveto the
renaissance man
eccentricities of the
Shawn Carter, better
politicallyabandoned
known as Jay-Z, is
neighborhoodand
themost successful Can'tstop:ASouthKoreanb-boytearsupSeoulwithhisacrobaticmoves.
thechildrenwho still
exampleof thegrow
populated it.And the
ingpower of hip-hop.When he took overUniver
innocent leisurechoices of teens, taken together,
sal Records' Def Jamunit in2004, Jay-Zwas put
represented
theearlymakingsof an artistic
vanguard.
incharge of a billion-dollarbusiness. Some indus
In 1973, two Jamaican-American immigrant
tryinsidersbelieve that today,Def Jam'soverseas
teenagersdecided to throwa back-to-schoolparty.
business outpaces its domestic business. Jay-Z's CindyCampbell and herbrotherClive, betterknown
own albumshave sold 33 million copiesworldwide,
in theneighborhoodas DJKool Herc, organized the
and his latestalbum, released lastNovember, sold
dance in the recreationroom of theirgovernment
680,000 copies in theUnited States alone during subsidized apartmentbuilding at thenow famous
thefirst
week. He runspopular nightclubs inNew
addressof 1520 SedgwickAvenue.They had exquisite
York and Atlantic City-with plans to openmore
timing.
Afteryearsof gang violence,teensin thearea
nextyear inLas Vegas, Tokyo, andMacau. The for were growingweary and lookingfora new way to
mer drug dealer who grew up in poverty in the expressthemselves.
"When Iwent to [the]party,itwas
housing projectsofBrooklyn isnow worth an esti
likesteppingintoanotheruniverse.The vibewas so
mated $500 million.
strong,"saysTony Tone, a gangmemberwho later
NOVEMBER
IDECEMBER
2007
61
[
It's a Hip-Hop World
became part of thepioneeringrap group theCold
dancers,artists,and DJSon thefirst
hip-hoptourout
Crush Brothers. The Campbells' Bronx parties
side theUnited States.Bambaataa saw suchvisitsas
became so popular theysoon had tomove themout
a keyway to expandUniversalZulu Nation and to
doors to a nearby park. Crowds flocked to them. espousewhat he considered thecore values of hip
Insteadof gettinginto troubleon thestreets,teens hop: peace, unity,love,and having fun.Everywhere
now had a place to expend theirpent-up energy. hewent, he planted theseeds forthehip-hopmove
"Hip-hop saved a lot of lives," recallsTone.
ment inEurope,Africa,and Asia.
One such life
France, inpartic
saver was a gang
ular,caught thehip
leadernamedAfrika
hop virus. In the
Bambaataa. Inspired
1990s, MC Solaar
byDJKool Herc, he
became thefirst
non
too began hosting
American rap super
hip-hop parties.
star.Solaarwas born
Aftera soul-altering
inSenegal toparents
visit to Africa, he
fromChad, and dis
vowed to use hip
coveredZulu Nation
hop to draw poor,
and themusic of
angry kids out of
Afrika Bambaataa
gangs,and formeda
as a young teenager
streetorganization
in Paris. His multi
called Universal
culturalbackground
roots:
Senegalesehip-hop
artiststacklethemes
ofpoverty
andoppression. appealed to youths
Zulu Nation tohelp Revisiting
spread hismessage.
throughout
theFran
Soon, New York underground journalistswere
cophone world, which quickly developed into the
writing thatBambaataa was "stopping bullets
largestnon-English-speaking
rapmarket.
with two turntables." With thismessage of
The emergingpopularityof cable and satellite
empowerment, rap updated African-American
televisionthroughouttheworld inthelate1980s fur
poetic traditions,and bore witness to the joyful, ther spread the seeds of hip-hop. In 1988, MTV
soulful,and sometimesangrystoriesof lifein their debutedan experimental
pilotprogramin theUnited
America.
forgotten
States called Yo! MTV Raps, which aired hip-hop
videos once a week inan after-hours
slot.Soon, the
show grew so popular itwas broadcast six days a
PLANET HIP-HOP
week. African-American
and Latino urban style
was
Less than a decade after theCampbells' famous instantlyaccessible tomillions of youths,and not
party,hip-hop began to seep outside theUnited
just in theUnited States.Yo! MTV Raps became one
States. In 1982, Afrika Bambaataa and his group of thenetwork'sfirst
globallytelevisedshows-airing
indozens of countries,first
onMTV
Europe, and thenonMTV Asia and
MTV Latino a fewyears later.
One of the groups to get the
most airtimewas Public Enemy,a
Although
hip-hop
ismainstream
inmanyplaces
ofmostly
college-educated,
itisstillconsidered
a voicefortheoppressed. collective
today,
activist-mindedyoung men with
audacious ambitions and the out
Soulsonic Force released a single called "Planet
sizedtalenttomatch.Emergingfromthelargely
black
Rock," which borrowedmusicalmotifsfrom
German
innersuburbsofLong Island,New York, thegroup's
electropop,Britishrock,andAfrican-American
disco
lyricsdecriedpolice brutality,racial profiling,gang
rap. They blended the elements together,offering violence,and political apathy.Their riseconvinced
hip-hop as a new vision forglobal harmony.The many skepticsthathip-hopcould be a lasting,
poten
record stormed the chartsworldwide. That same
tiallylucrative,even socially importantart form.
year,Bambaataa ledNew York's leading rappers, Taking a page from
Bambaataa's book, PublicEnemy
62
FOREIGN POLICY
0
0I
z
C.D
embarkedon extendedworld tours.Its influence
was
fortheoppressed,and a provocationto thoseinpower.
When Public Enemy reachedBrazil's
In fact,theculturewars thathip-hopspawned in the
far-reaching.
shores in the late1980s, hip-hopexploded inLatin mid-1990s in theUnited States,with congressional
America. " [Their]song 'Don'tBelieve theHype' was
hearingsand CD-crushingcampaigns,have appeared
so important,"says legendary
Brazilian rapperEliefi inBritain,where nationaldebatesoverhip-hophave
of thehit singlethatchampionedblack power. "We
stood in fordeeperdiscussionsover thethornyissues
had neverseenblack folksinamilitantstancebefore." of race and immigration.In 2003, BritishCulture
Althoughhip-hophas becomemainstreaminmany Minister Kim Howells turnedhis bully pulpit on
partsof theworld today,it is stillconsidereda voice
"hatefullyricsthattheseboasting
macho idiotrappers
tosalsa,there
From
jazztorock
havebeenplenty
ofmusical
movements
that
havetraveled
around
the
world.
Buthip-hop's
cultural
andpolitical
resonance
ismaking
itthe
mostpowerful
artform
yet
Why
Hip-Hop
Is Like
No
Other
By S. Craig Watkins
0
C/
:
z
Boone to soften
rock-and-roll's
o youth
N
trend
ismorevisible
edges,rapmusic
aroundtheworldtodaythan
has remained,
by
Itis not,ofcourse,
hip-hop.
and large,
a defi
thefirst
musicalart
popular
musi
anty"black"
form
totranscend
geographical
borders.
calformr.
Thatdoes
Borninthelate1940s,rock-and-roll
not
meanthat
other
music spreadacross theAtlantic,
ethnicities and
theBritish
Invasion,
andpro
spawned
nationalities
have
videda soundtrack
youth
rebellions
for
notembraced
rap
inthe1960s.Likewise,
keepin'
it
worldwide
in
realsHip-hop'spowerlies initssocialmessage.
andfashioned
itto
thelate1950s,Brazil'sbossa nova
speaktotheir
own
themusicalsen
andsoldhip-hop
witha ferocity
thatis conditions.
beganto influence
Itdoes,however,
meanthat
sibilitiesofAmericanjazz artists, as boldand intense
as themovement authenticity
inhip
andparticipation
demonstrating
Andbecausehip-hop
thattheglobalflow itself.
isn'tjust hopare intimately
connected
to local
and influence
of cultural
creativitymusic-it'salsoattitude
andculture socialandpolitical
realities.
movesinmanydirections.
mediacompanies
theseglobal
partner
Hip-hop
matters,quitesimply,
ifanything,
Whatthen,
distinguishwithfashion
beverage
brands,
because
it
is
thevoiceof thestreets.
labels,
ofhip-hop
es theglobalizadon
the and sportsfranchises
from
to sella total Andthatremains
true
regardless
today,
In hip-hop
lifestle.
globalpassageofotherartforms?
ofwhether
it'sthepooryouthinthe
manyrespects,
rapmusicisa continu
Butthemost interesting
element suburbs
ofParisor indigenous
people
global
oftheglobal
joumey
that
popmusic driving
appealisitscul fighting
fortheir
aVon
hip-hop's
in
Colombia.
dignity
made throughout
the20thcentury, tural
andpolitcal
resonance.
has connected
withthepow
Yes,hip-hop Hip-hop
replete
withpercussive
beatsandsocial has beenan astonishing
erlessina waythatnoonecouldhave
moneymaker,
messages.
of butithas beenan equally
Butpart
oftheuniqueness
cancontrol.
astonishingpredicted
or,now,
presencecan be source
hip-hop'sgrowing
ofyouth
andempow
expression
attributed
totheriseofglobal
unlike
media erment.
Perhaps
anyotherform
Watkins
isprofessor
ofsociol
of S. Craig
culture
inrecent
conglomerates.
Thesize,scope,and popular
memory,
African-American
hip ogy,
studies,and
reach
mediacompanies
sim hophas becomethevoiceofchoice radio-television-film
oftoday's
at theUniversity
plydidn'texist
whenrock-and-roll
or foryoung
whofindthemselves ofTexas,
and
people
Austin, authorofHip
bossa novafirst
made themselves onthe
Whereasrecord
margns.
and
labels HopMatters:
PopCulture,
Politics,
suchas Uni inthe1950s,forexample,
heard.
Record
companies
usedper theStruggle
fortheSoulofaMovement
versal
MusicandSonyhavepackaged sonalitieslikeElvisPresleyandPat (Boston:
BeaconPress,2005).
NOVEMBER
IDECEMBER
2007
63
[
It's a Hip-Hop World
1
come up with." Hip-hop has come up against the African.Since then,theproportionof artistsfromthe
same resistanceinFrance.Two yearsago, angryrap continenthas risen,and thenetworksays ithopes to
made by thesonsofdisenfranchised
AfricanandArab
reach50 percent
inthenextyear.
Africanprogrammiing
But on theradio,hip-hopfromoverseasis increas
immigrants
servedas thesoundtrackto riots in the
Frenchbanlieues,and again inpostelectionriotsthis inglybecoming thenorm. Stations such as Britain's
past spring.Two hundredFrenchmembersofparlia
Capital FM and locallyowned KISS FM selladvertis
ment signeda petitionto curbhip-hop.The petition ingtomultinationalcorporationslike
Motorola and
failed,but theepisodewas anotherreminder
of how Nokia. They prefertoprogramAmericanartistssuch
hip-hop can clash with
thepowers thatbe.
ALL HIP-HOP
LOCAL
IS
As hip-hop grows ever
more popular,itbecomes
squeezed in the uneasy
space betweencommer
cial and economicglob
alizationfromabove and
borderless,
culturalgrass
rootsglobalizationfrom
below. Commercial rap
made in the United
States-with itsethicof
"get richor die tryin"'
is displacing local rap
Fightthepower:YoungPalestinianrappersgivevoice to theirgeneration'spoliticalfrustrations.
pers and musicians on
the radio and television
airwaves inAfrica,Asia, theCaribbean, and South as 50 Cent because such rap helps corporationssell
America,while servingas thesoundtrackforaggres
consumergoods. But local rappers,
whose music cri
sive,youth-oriented
consumergoodsmarketing.
tiquesgovernmentand poverty,dub American rap,
This rampantcommercialismisoftenat oddswith
ironically,
"white-boyoppressormusic," even though
hip-hop'soutsiderethos. InKenya, forinstance,two
theartistsare predominantly
AfricanAmerican.
differing
visions-one as a resistancecultureoriented
Nairobi nativeMichael Wanguhu, who created
towardsocial justice,theotheras a popular culture thedocumentaryfilrn
Hip-Hop Colony, saysthiskind
focusedon commoditycapitalism-may be increas of culturalhomogenizationand commercialsponsor
inglyheaded towarda reckoning.
For someKenyans, shiparebecoming
majorworries."It'screatingoppor
hip-hophas allowed a new generationofpostcolonial tunities
where there
were none before,"he says,"but
Africansto speakout.YoungKenyan rappers'lyrics
there'sno room formusic that is enlightenedand
in sheng,a creolized languagethat includesEnglish, empowerspeople." Still,he is bullishon hip-hop's
Swahili, and Kikuyu words-tackle the themesof expansion. "Hip-hop inAfrica is like thenew Pan
joblessness,poverty,and theolder generation'sfail Africanism,"he says."It'sdiffusing
all theborders
we
ures. Indeed,youngartistsare buildingcommunities have and creatingnew organizationsand expanding
thatactivelysupportthedevelopmentof culturalpol
thatwhole market."
iticsunique to thecontinent.
One KenyanNGO,Words
and Pictures,has been travelingtoGhana, Senegal,
CIPHER
SouthAfrica,and Tanzania topromotenetworking THE GLOBAL
among local hip-hoppioneers.The recentarrivalof EveryOctober inBraunschweig,Germany, 8,500
MTV Base Africamay accelerate these trends.The
hip-hop fansfromaround theworld gather towit
network
was launchedinSouthAfricaat thebeginning ness thebiggestglobal hip-hop dance competition,
of 2005 with a playlistthatwas roughlyone third theBattle of theYear. First organized byGerman
64
FOREIGN POLICY
Cr
IL
b-boy Thomas Hergenrother 16 years ago as a
tinyshowcase fora handful of dance crews from
Germany and Hungary, the event has expanded
intonothing less than theWorld Cup of hip-hop
dance. Elimination competitions are held in 20
countries, including Albania, China, Estonia,
Malaysia, New Zealand, Serbia, and SouthAfrica.
At the finals, twentyteams featuringabout 200
dancers representtheirrespectivecountrieson the
main stage of Braunschweig'sVolkswagen Halle.
Film directorBenson Lee captured the 2005
competitionforhis documentary,Planet B-Boy. In
telling the storyof one year in the contest, Lee
reveals the diversityof hip-hop's global partici
pants-working-class immigrants rejecting the
hopelessnessof theParisian suburbs,youths trying
to spring themselves from the homogeneity of
Tokyo's urban retailscapes, even conscripts from
theSouth Korean army."These kids aren't thugs.
They are artists," says Lee. "The main essence of
hip-hop is community."
Hip-hop events such as theBattle of theYear
create spaces fora globalization fromthebottom,
bringingpeople togetheracross thebarriersof geog
raphy,language,and race.Lee'smovie revealstensions
betweentheAmericanand Frenchteams,whichboth
performwith aggressive,bold attitudes.Everyone
fearstheupstartSouthKoreans, a teamof superbly
[Want
synchronizedunderdogs sportingpatrioticwhite,
red, and aqua-colored hooded track suits. "What
Germany or France did in 15 years,"Hergenrother
sayswith awe, "theymanaged in five."
In one scene, theGerman team-whose crew
features
AfricanandArab immigrants
prominently
choreographsa humorousAladdin's magic carpet
sequence, taking a pointed jab at the country's
wars. "So many different
continuing immigration
people came togetherunder thename of hip-hop,
thathip-hop changedmusic, artscompletely,"says
a German b-boywho goes by thename "Storm."
But the essence of hip-hop is thecipher,born
in theBronx, where competition and community
feed each other. It is here that hip-hop always
returns.In thefinalroundofBattle of theYear, the
crews lineup and verballyattack each other,either
one-on-one or "commando style," all at once. It
is always a nightof riotousexplosion of bodies, as
dancers burst to the breakbeats. The climax of
thebattle, themost thrilling
part, is itselfthedeep
est kind of communication. "It happens in an
exchange," says Storm. "He's givingme some
thingthat I can relate to and I have to answerwith
somethingthathe can relateto so thatwe can con
tinue thisbattle." It's the kind of exchange that
happens daily, among millions, in almost every
corner of theworld. m;
to Know
More?]1
influence o fhip-hop inCan't Stop, Won't Stop: A History of
JeffChang explores the sociocultural
Generation
theHip-Hop
(New York: St. Martin'Is Press, 2005). Chang also edited an anthology
on the hip-hop arts movement, Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics ofHip-Hop
(New York: Basic
Civitas Books, 2007).
Tricia Rose
inaugurated
hip-hop
studies with her highly readable Black Noise:
Rap Music
and
Black Culture in ContemporaryAmerica (Hanover: UniversityPress ofNew England, 1994).
Raquel
Cepeda
presents
a bracing
selection
from hip-hop's
best writers
inAnd
It Don't
Stop:
The BestAmericanHip-Hop joumnalismof theLast 25 Years (NewYork: Faber& Faber, 2004).
Tha Global Cipha: Hip- Hop Culture and Consciousness,byJamesG. Spady,H. SamyAlim, and
SamirMeghelli (Philadelphia:BlackHistoryMuseum Press,2006), capturestheenergyof theglobal
in the artists' own voices. To see how hip-hop has taken hold of Kenya, watch
hip-hop movement
Michael Wanguhu's
filmHip-Hop
chronicles a year in an
Colony. The documentary Planet B-Bo
a
on
For
how
international breakdancing competition.
lushly photographed essay
hip-hop has mani
festeditself
aroundtheworld, seeJames
McBride's "Hip-HopPlanet" (NationalGeographic,April2007).
>)For
links to relevant Web
sites, access
to the liP Archive,
FOREIGN POLICY articles,go toForeignPolicy.com.
and a comprehensive
index of related
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IDECEMBER
2007
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