Box of delight

Let’s start this post out clarifying what it is not.

This isn’t about why to teach with hip-hop. It’s also not about how to teach with hip-hop. Nor is it a political statement, an endorsement of controversial language and themes, or something you can just play for your students on a whim with no preparation. If you “hate rap music”–and your classroom is all about you–then don’t read any further. This post won’t change your mind.

If you’re still reading, here’s the idea, in short: the evolution of hip-hop, as both an art form, a critical cultural voice, and medium to reach the youth is an authentic, complex, and hugely “human” concept. While hip-hop is increasingly present in pop music “top 100” lists, its roots lie in 1970s New York City, and has since diversified from street corner cyphers to a nuanced and regional musical form of its own, including southern and west coast forms to add to the east coast origins.

If you were to ask me “What is jazz?” I wouldn’t presume to know the answer, and I’m not sure any single composition exists to which one could point to as an ideal type. Maybe the only thing I’m certain of when it comes to jazz is---to quote Wallace Stevens---“it must change.”