ABSTRACT

That's the Joint: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader brings together the best-known and most influential writings on rap and hip-hop from its beginnings to today. Spanning nearly 25 years of scholarship, criticism, and journalism, this unprecedented anthology showcases the evolution and continuing influence of one of the most creative and contested elements of global popular culture since its advent in the late 1970s.

That's the Joint presents the most important hip-hop scholarship in one comprehensive volume, addressing hip-hop as both a musical and a cultural practice. Think of it as "Hip-Hop 101."

chapter |9 pages

Introduction

part |4 pages

Part I: Hip-Hop Ya Don’t Stop: Hip-Hop History and Historiography

chapter 1|9 pages

Breaking

chapter 2|11 pages

The Politics of Graffiti

chapter 3|12 pages

Breaking: The History

part |4 pages

Part II: No Time for Fake Niggas: Hip-Hop Culture and the Authenticity Debates

part |5 pages

Part III: Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City: Hip-Hop, Space, and Place

part |4 pages

Part IV: I’ll Be Nina Simone Defecating on Your Microphone: Hip-Hop and Gender

part |4 pages

Part V: The Message: Rap, Politics, and Resistance

part |5 pages

Part VI: Looking for the Perfect Beat: Hip-Hop Aesthetics and Technologies of Production

part |5 pages

Part VII: I Used to Love H.E.R.: Hip-Hop in/and the Culture Industries