Cambridge Companion to Hip-Hop

Introduction

It has been more than thirty-five years since the first commercial recordings of hip-hop music were made. This Companion, written by renowned scholars and industry professionals, reflects the passion and scholarly activity occurring in the new generation of hip-hop studies.

Scope of the Book

It covers a diverse range of case studies from Nerdcore hip-hop to instrumental hip-hop to the role of rappers in the Obama campaign and from countries including Senegal, Japan, Germany, Cuba, and the UK.

Chapter Content

Chapters provide an overview of the four elements of hip-hop - MCing, DJing, break dancing (or breakin'), and graffiti - in addition to key topics such as religion, theatre, film, gender, and politics.

Intended Audience and Methodology

Intended for students, scholars, and the most serious of hip-hop heads, this collection incorporates methods in studying hip-hop flow, as well as the music analysis of hip-hop and methods from linguistics, political science, gender, and film studies to provide exciting new perspectives on this rapidly developing field.