50 Years of Hip-Hop

Once thought of as a fleeting local fad set against the backdrop of New York’s decaying 1970s cityscape, Hip-hop has since grown into a global phenomenon. After strong-arming a place at the center of American popular culture, Hip-hop quickly found an international resonance that allowed it to be adapted and (re)mixed around the world.

This two-semester course, 50 Years of Hip-Hop, offers a cultural history of Hip-hop music in America. It begins in Hip-hop’s earliest days when a small number of local DJs borrowed from transnational music technologies to provide the soundscape for park jams in the South Bronx. It then traces, the subsequent emergence of graffiti artists, breakers and b-boys, and the eventual rise of the MC as the central, iconic figure of the genre. Taking students on a trip through the music, the course will scrutinize lyrics, interrogate the art of beat-making, and highlight important cultural turns in the music’s history. We will examine the contours of key representative careers, canonical albums, pivotal debates, and unpack the histories of key institutions (including, important nightclubs, sound studios, record labels, and radio stations). In addition, we will also discuss Hip-hop’s influence on fashion, sports and other sectors of the global economy.

Over the course of the semester students will engage with a wide array of traditional and multimedia sources, including articles, books, interviews, magazines, music (individual songs & full albums), films, music videos, lyrics, and photography. By the end of the course students will walk away with a working knowledge of the shifting sound, vocabulary and aesthetics of Hip-hop music as it has developed across America. In addition, students will also gain valuable historical insights into the ways Hip-hop has shaped, challenged and transformed America’s racial, cultural and political landscapes over the course of the last 50 years.

Student Voices

Ashley Thompson, Class of 2021

“The hip-hop class was an amazing experience that helped us to learn about the origins of a lot of the music we hear today. Taking that class changed how I engage with songs and artists and gave me a great opportunity to learn from my peers as well as my professors.”

Taylor Smith, Class of 2020

“Hip-hop has become a global phenomenon so ubiquitous that its rich cultural history is less and less known by its average listeners. In the Hip-Hop course, I gained greater insight into the institutions, technologies, and transnational connections that made hip-hop culture possible. Additionally, the class was a place for me to integrate the skills I had learned during my undergraduate work - textual and visual analysis, historical methodology, and performance theory. It was one of my favorite WashU classes; I hope more students get this experience!”

Efua Osei, Class of 2021

“I had an amazing experience taking the hip-hop class! Taking this class helped immensely with my research and furthered my interest in music journalism—the field I work in today.”

How to Apply

The application process for first-year programs and seminars opens in mid-May. You will need your WUSTL Key to apply, so please be sure to sign up for your WUSTL Key at least 24 hours in advance to activate. There will be a link to the application webform on the First-Year Programs homepage during this time for you to sign up. A statement of interest (no more than 500 words) is required when you submit your application online.

First-Year Program Homepage

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I get out of this program?

While focused primarily on Hip-hop music, this course offers a cultural history of America through the engagement of a range of sources. Alongside the deep engagement with the music students will critically interrogate film and photography, close-read lyrics, book chapters and articles that pair with the music, and examine various cultural artifacts. In this respect, course material will be informed by methods in cultural studies, African-American Studies and American Studies, and all cultural production will be considered for the ways it reflects and produces broader notions of cultural meaning. 

Students will develop:

  • The ability to move from the concrete to the abstract (and vice versa) in ways that showcase critical, integrative thinking and intellectual dexterity around complex questions, concepts, sounds and texts.
  • The ability to employ a series of interdisciplinary methods emanating from a range of fields, including African and African-American Studies, American Studies, History, Literature, Visual Studies, Film & Media Studies, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Musicology.
  • The ability to engage with various kinds of sources and move seamlessly through various modes of literacy, including multi-media, narrative, visual and digital. 
  • Experience using library resources, oral history and ethnographic methods
  • Analytical writing skills that connect theory, history and music
  • Thoughtful communication and presentation skills that account for the intercultural competency needed in a diverse learning environment
  • The ability to conceptualize, develop and undertake original research
  • A greater understanding of the historical context, social environment, political conditions, and economic dynamics that fostered and shaped Hip-Hop’s first 50 years.

Will there be activities outside of the classroom?

Although the classroom will be our primary site for learning, we will visit supplemental learning sites within the broader Saint Louis community. Supplemental sites include places like the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Saint Louis’ Flood Wall, which features 2 miles of graffiti art from local and nationally renowned artists.

The highlight of this program is an educational trip to New York City. The trip will include visits to important historical sites, museums, and memorials.

Contact
 

For more information or to have any questions answered please contact Zachary Manditch-Prottas at zmanditch-prottas@wustl.edu or Jonathan Fenderson at jfender@wustl.edu.

Contact The Program