Intro

Addressing a large audience at the University of Pennsylvania’s conference on “Islam and the Globalization of Hip Hop,” James Peterson (2001) off ered critical insight into one of Hip Hop’s central speech events, tha cipha, an organic, highly charged, fl uid circular arrangement of rhymers wherein participants exchange verses: “Th e use of the term cipha in the Hip Hop vernacular is important. Ciphas are marvelous speech events. Th ey are inviting and also very challenging. Th ey have become a litmus test for modern day griots. Ciphas are the innovative formats for battles (the ritual of rhyming is informed by the physical arrangement of Hip Hop).” Peterson continued by further noting that the concept of the cipha “is essential to Hip Hop Culture and to its vernacular,” not only because it is the height of linguistic creativity and competition in the Hip Hop Nation, but also because it “indicates an epistemology that is non-linear.”