Here's a useful review of a selection of the recent academic literature on hip-hop culture - not as irrelevant as you'd think, given the amount of media consciousness that hip-hop has had from the very earliest days (count the amount of communications studies graduates there are among leading rappers and DJ's. For all this and more context, see Davey D's newsblog). This is a very useful line on hip-hop - one that begins to explain the harshness of the 'playa' culture:
"Organizing the Hip-Hop Generation" by Angela Ards uncovers the possibilities of using hip-hop as a tool for black youth political mobilization while recognizing the ironies of using such a commodified art form as a vehicle for social change. Ards writes "whereas blues embraced pain to transcend it, hip-hop builds walls to shield against further injury. So getting to a place where music might once again speak of individual frailty and collective strength is a difficult task."
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