Hip-Hop and Music Education: Confronting the Concept of "Keepin' It Real"

• In Event: 46.064 - Music Education as Social Justice

Abstract

Including hip-hop cultures in school settings offers a wide variety of justice-oriented possibilities (Akom, 2009); however, the numerous and complex authenticity claims essential to hip-hop cultures could present formidable challenges for these efforts (Low, Tan & Celemencki, 2013). Conceptualizing authenticity as a condition or set of characteristics may impede the intentions of educators and does not reflect the complicated and contested nature of hip-hop authenticity. Viewing authenticity as an action might offer more nuanced and meaningful examinations of hip-hop cultures and provide discursive and performative spaces for students and teachers to experience the possibilities of hip-hop pedagogies. This paper demonstrates the complexity of hip-hop authenticity and offers ways forward for music educators interested in including hip-hop in school music settings.

Author

• Adam J Kruse, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign