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Ethnomusicology Commons

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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Ethnomusicology

Give The Drummer Some: A Dive Into Drum Breaks And Drum Break Production, Kyle Kaldhusdal May 2023

Give The Drummer Some: A Dive Into Drum Breaks And Drum Break Production, Kyle Kaldhusdal

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper traces the history of hip-hop culture through the evolution of the drum break, the original context of drum breaks in funk and soul music, their influence on DJ culture, and the subsequent impact of drum breaks on music and music production. It follows the development of breakbeat compilations in the 1970s and 1980s, parallel to the development of turntablism and sampling techniques. It also examines in detail how copyright litigation in the 1990s shaped the development of sample-based music genres and created a niche market for originally-recorded drum breaks over the subsequent decades.


Japanese Popular Culture Influences In Contemporary Black American Rap And Hip-Hop, Rodrianna Gaddy Apr 2021

Japanese Popular Culture Influences In Contemporary Black American Rap And Hip-Hop, Rodrianna Gaddy

Senior Theses

Since hip-hop’s emergence in New York during the early 1970s, there has been an increasing amount of Japanese popular cultural references in Black American rap and hip-hop. This increase is made possible through globalization and innovations in communication technology. Most previous research on the trend has focused primarily on the impact hip-hop has had on Japanese culture, and how Afro-Asian collaborations have shaped music produced in the East and West. However, this thesis focuses on the influence various forms of Japanese media and history have had on contemporary Black American rap and hip-hop. I evaluate how artists can display these …


The Shape Of You: Music's Impact On Identity, Codi Yhap Jul 2019

The Shape Of You: Music's Impact On Identity, Codi Yhap

Music Summer Fellows

Investigating the multiple functions of music, scholars from various fields have expressed that music can regulate moods and emotions while providing listeners a way to navigate their identity. Focusing primarily on the genre of rap, this research has placed the field of Music and Emotion in conversation with Hip-Hop studies. The field of Music and Emotion has thoroughly measured/examined listener thought processes, bodily response, and cultural influences when engaging with music. Despite the rise in scholarship addressing popular music and emotion, the field rarely includes popular music in its discussions unless, perhaps, the genre is jazz. Recognizing that there are …


"What Is An Mc If He Can't Rap?", Dominique Jimmerson May 2019

"What Is An Mc If He Can't Rap?", Dominique Jimmerson

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The goal of this paper is to tell about the history of hip-hop and the many lyricists who have come throughout the years and help the genre advance. The paper starts with the foundation of hip-hop and how the genre set itself apart from disco to become its own genre. It ranges from the late 70’s and ends in the mid 2000’s and describes how the landscape of rap is constantly changing and so are the lyricists who come out. Throughout the paper there will be examples of the lyrics and used and what made them revolutionary at the time. …


Selbstinszenierung Im Deutschrap: Konstruktion Von Identität Und Authentizität Im Subgenre Des Gangstaraps Am Beispiel Von Kollegah Und Xatar, Sladana Gnjatic Aug 2017

Selbstinszenierung Im Deutschrap: Konstruktion Von Identität Und Authentizität Im Subgenre Des Gangstaraps Am Beispiel Von Kollegah Und Xatar, Sladana Gnjatic

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the construction of identity in German Gangsta rap by taking a close look at the rappers Kollegah and Xatar, who are both using their music for self-portrayal. The selection of those two rappers can be justified by their commercial success in Germany and further by their differences as well as similarities in the construction of their images. The first chapter gives a historical overview of American and German rap. It also analyzes specific features and trends in German rap and describes the current status of research. The focus of the second chapter is on the rapper Kollegah, …


How Native American Rappers Communicate And Create A Modern Identity, Hannah J. Berge May 2017

How Native American Rappers Communicate And Create A Modern Identity, Hannah J. Berge

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Current research concerning identity and Native Americans is sparse outside the realm of expressly Native American scholarship. While most conversations about identity and Native Americans focuses on historical and political aspects, many sources do not explore alternative avenues of contemporary identity creation. This thesis uses Kenneth Burke’s pentad to analyze the lyrics for “AbOriginal” by Frank Waln. The pentad is used to analyze each line of the rap. A new term, alter-agent, is used to identify agents who the agent either associates with or who the agent views as hindering his progress. There is then a count of the number …


Kendrick Lamar And Hip-Hop As A Medium For Social Change, Diego A. Rocha Apr 2017

Kendrick Lamar And Hip-Hop As A Medium For Social Change, Diego A. Rocha

Student Publications

This paper provides a context and then analysis of Kendrick Lamar's albums as they relate to advocating and affecting social change. The purpose is to show through example how hip-hop (and music in general) can act as an avenue towards creating positive change for oppressed peoples.


“Ab-Soul’S Outro,” “Hiiipower,” And The Vernacular: Kendrick Lamar’S Rap As Literature, Tyler S. Bunzey Apr 2015

“Ab-Soul’S Outro,” “Hiiipower,” And The Vernacular: Kendrick Lamar’S Rap As Literature, Tyler S. Bunzey

Senior Honors Theses

Kendrick Lamar’s “Ab-Soul’s Outro” and “HiiiPower” employ complex patterns of Signifyin(g), testifyin’, and other classical African-American literary tropes in order to construct a nuanced style. Lamar creates a double-voiced text not only within his narrative, but also within the form itself. Lamar plays on rap's unique status in African-American literature as an oral text; it is an extension of the vernacular. Through this oral text, Lamar decentralizes the Eurocentric focus of classical interpretation and qualification of literature to a new Afrocentric perspective that privileges the oral text. These raps are complex, wrapped up in their current context along with a …


Sonic Jihad — Muslim Hip Hop In The Age Of Mass Incarceration, Spearit Jan 2015

Sonic Jihad — Muslim Hip Hop In The Age Of Mass Incarceration, Spearit

Articles

This essay examines hip hop music as a form of legal criticism. It focuses on the music as critical resistance and “new terrain” for understanding the law, and more specifically, focuses on what prisons mean to Muslim hip hop artists. Losing friends, family, and loved ones to the proverbial belly of the beast has inspired criticism of criminal justice from the earliest days of hip hop culture. In the music, prisons are known by a host of names like “pen,” “bing,” and “clink,” terms that are invoked throughout the lyrics. The most extreme expressions offer violent fantasies of revolution and …


Where Would Hip Hop Be Without Colleges And Universities?, Erik Nielson Apr 2013

Where Would Hip Hop Be Without Colleges And Universities?, Erik Nielson

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

Institutions of higher education have played a critical role in ensuring that hip hop music remains fluid and vibrant.


"Rapping About Authenticity": Exploring The Differences In Perceptions Of "Authenticity" In Rap Music By Consumers.", James L. Wright May 2010

"Rapping About Authenticity": Exploring The Differences In Perceptions Of "Authenticity" In Rap Music By Consumers.", James L. Wright

Doctoral Dissertations

Historically, social scientists have not only marginalized rap music as a viable unit of scholarly analysis, but failed at attempts to understand the thoughts and actions of rap music consumers. This study analyzes the connection between rap music’s (and the artists’) authenticity and how those perceptions of authenticity affect music consumers’ decision making process, thus providing a possible explanation as to why music fans purchase rap music. The goal of this research was to see if the reasons rap music fans provide explaining the rationale behind their purchases match the images and perceptions presumably held by the general public about …