Underutilized and Undervalued: Hip Hop Practitioners in the Academe

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 2:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Increasing Practitioner Involvement to Promote Authenticity in Hip Hop Studies

Abstract

Hip Hop is considered an emerging culture and field. The engagement with practitioners is vital to the preservation and continuation of this culture. A focus on music production in higher education excludes practitioners from other elements from being included and considered as content experts. Underutilization also occurs due to a lack of cultural competency and authentic cultural engagement (Low, 2010). Some Hip Hop practitioners also serve as gatekeepers between the academe and the culture (Forman, 2004); these gatekeepers often discredit those who contradict their master narrative.

As Hip Hop looks back to look forward, scholars should due their diligence to invite Hip Hop practitioners from all elements into their classroom, especially if employing culturally sustaining pedagogies or when teaching about the culture of Hip Hop. In addition, valuing Hip Hop practitioners includes considering their contributions across disciplines as canon. “As hip-hop increasingly permeates the highest levels of the academy, its effectiveness as curriculum continues to gain credibility” (Daudi, 2009, para. 1). This presentation argues for a sense of urgency in preserving, creating space for, and valuing the voices and contributions of Hip Hop practitioners in academia.

Author

• Tasha Iglesias, Utah State University