Now a global and transnational phenomenon, hip hop culture continues to affect and be affected by the institutional, cultural, religious, social, economic and political landscape of American society and beyond. Over the past two decades, numerous disciplines have taken up hip hop culture for its intellectual weight and contributions to the cultural life and self-understanding of the United States. More recently, the academic study of religion has given hip hop culture closer and more critical attention, yet this conversation is often limited to discussions of hip hop and traditional understandings of religion and a methodological hyper-focus on lyrical and textual analyses. Religion in Hip Hop: Mapping the Terrain provides an important step in advancing and mapping this new field of Religion and Hip Hop Studies. The volume features 14 original contributions representative of this new terrain within three sections representing major thematic issues over the past two decades. The Preface is written by one of the most prolific and founding scholars of this area of study, Michael Eric Dyson, and the inclusion of and collaboration with Bernard 'Bun B' Freeman fosters a perspective internal to Hip Hop and encourages conversation between artists and academics.

Born To Kwaito considers the meaning of kwaito music now. ‘Now’ not only as in ‘after 1994’ or the Truth Commission but as a place in the psyche of black people in post-apartheid South Africa.

This collection of essays tackles the changing meaning of the genre after its decline and its ever-contested relevance. Through rigorous historical analysis as well as threads of narrative journalism Born To Kwaito interrogates issues of artistic autonomy, the politics of language in the music, and whether the music is part of a strand within the larger feminist movement in South Africa. Candid and insightful interviews from the genre’s foremost innovators and torchbearers, such as Mandla Spikiri, Arthur Mafokate, Robbie Malinga and Lance Stehr, provide unique historical context to kwaito music’s greatest highs, most captivating hits and most devastating lows. Born To Kwaito offers up a history of the genre from below by having conversations not only with musicians but with fans, engineers, photographers and filmmakers who bore witness to a revolution.

Living in a place between criticism and biography, Born To Kwaito merges academic theories and rigorous journalism to offer a new understanding into how the genre influenced other art forms such as fashion, TV and film. The book also reflects on how some of the music’s best hits have found new life through the mouths of local hip-hop’s current kingmakers and opened kwaito up to a new generation.

The book does not pretend to be an exhaustive history of the genre but rather a present-active analysis of that history as it settles and finds its meaning.

A stunning social history of British rap and grime - from the artists and communities who created and were shaped by the music, to the listeners who found a sense of identity and home within it - by one of the nation's foremost cultural chroniclers. 'A landmark work that will undoubtedly shape conversations about not just UK rap and grime, but British music for years to come.' YOMI ADEGOKE, author of The List 'The book I've been waiting to read . . . illuminating and intimate. Ekpoudom's prose is rhythmic and deft but also crackles with joy. I know I'll be reading it for years to come.' CALEB AZUMAH NELSON, author of Small Worlds *** I met people who never quite fit in where they were supposed to, who found solace, salvation and meaning in these sounds, these words. Something is happening in Britain, trembling the tracks as it unfolds. Recent years have borne witness to underground genres leaking out from the inner cities, going on to become some of the most popular music in the nation. In this groundbreaking social history, journalist Aniefiok Ekpoudom travels the country to paint a compelling portrait of the dawn, boom and subsequent blossoming of UK rap and grime. Taking us from the heart of south London to the West Midlands and South Wales, he explores how a history of migration and an enduring spirit of resistance have shaped the current realities of these linked communities and the music they produce. These sounds have become vessels for the marginalised, carrying Black and working-class stories into the light. Vividly depicted and compassionately told, Where We Come From weaves together intimate stories of resilience, courage and loss, as well as a shared music culture that gave refuge and purpose to those in search of belonging. Ekpoudom offers a rich chronicle of rap, identity, place and, above all, the social and human condition in modern Britain. *** 'A rousing, inspiring, often breathtaking history that reads with the flow of a magnificent novel. Ekpoudom is one of the very finest chroniclers of black British culture.' MUSA OKWONGA 'Essential . . . a book from the nation's frontline, where poverty and hardship and exclusion meet poetry and beauty and a higher voice. The writing achieves a lyrical, hypnotic power all of its own.' SAM KNIGHT, author of The Premonitions Bureau

Song & Social Change in Latin America offers seven essays from a diverse group of scholars on the topic of music as a reflection of the many social-political upheavals throughout Latin America from the 20th century to the present. Topics covered include: the Tropicalia movement in Brazil, the Nueva Cancion in Central America, Rock in Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Peru, the Vallenato in Colombia, Trova in Cuba, and urban music of Puerto Rico in the mid-20th century. The collection also includes five interviews from prominent and up-and-coming musicians -Ruben Blades, Roy Brown, Habana Abierta, Ana Tijoux, and Mare- representing a variety of musical genres and political issues in Central America, the Caribbean, South America, and Mexico.

Breaking new ground in the field of Sound Studies, this book provides an in-depth study of the culture and physicality of dancehall reggae music. The reggae sound system has exerted a major influence on music and popular culture. Every night, on the streets of inner city Kingston, Jamaica, Dancehall sessions stage a visceral, immersive and immensely pleasurable experience of sonic dominance for the participating crowd. "Sonic Bodies" concentrates on the skilled performance of the crewmembers responsible for this signature of Jamaican music: the audio engineers designing, building and fine-tuning the hugely powerful "set" of equipment; the selectors choosing the music tracks played; and, MCs (DJs) on the mic hyping up the crowd. Julian Henriques proposes that these dancehall "vibes" are taken literally as the periodic movement of vibrations, and offers an analysis of how a sound system operates - not only at auditory, but also at corporeal and sociocultural frequencies. "Sonic Bodies" formulates a fascinating auditory critique of visual dominance and the dualities inherent in ideas of image, text or discourse. This innovative book questions the assumptions that reason resides only in the mind, that communication is an exchange of information and that meaning is only ever representation.

Turn on any classic rock station and you'll soon hear a song that Ken Scott worked on. As one of the preeminent recording engineers and producers of the 20th century, Ken has garnered gold, platinum, and diamond record sales awards; multiple Grammy nominations; and even a Clio award (for his recording of the classic Coke ad "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing"). Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust shares Ken Scott's intimate memories of working with some of the most important artists of the 20th century while crafting a sound that influenced generations of music makers.

Ken's work has left an indelible mark on hundreds of millions of fans with his skilled contributions to Magical Mystery Tour and The White Album. As producer and/or engineer of six David Bowie albums (including the groundbreaking Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) as well as other timeless classics, the sound Ken crafted has influenced several generations of music makers that continues to this day. Ken captured the sonic signatures of a who's-who of classic rock and jazz acts, including Elton John, Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck, Duran Duran, The Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, America, Devo, Kansas, The Tubes, Missing Persons, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, Dixie Dregs, and Stanley Clarke.

This is his story, complete with funny, provocative, and oh-so-honest tales of the studio, stage, and even an infamous swimming pool incident. Never-before-seen photographs and technical details make this book a must-have for every music fan.
"This is easily the best book of its sort I've ever read, and it works on so many levels?it's got great stories that give us insights into some of the biggest names in music; it offers a history of recording technology and techniques from the late '60s to the present; and coursing through it all is an unflinching and often self-deprecating biography of our hero as he negotiates the perils, pitfalls and triumphs of a life in the m

(Book). This book is perfect for the aspiring rock singer that needs improvement, but cannot or will not take lessons. It is a thorough, yet easy-to-understand presentation of the basic elements of singing, including vocal production, training, breathing, posture and diet. Written in a down-to-earth style, the author addresses such relevant topics as overcoming nervousness, dealing with emotions, and the true consequences of coffee, alcohol & smoking. Includes useful illustrations and diagrams.

Philosophy and Hip-Hop: Ruminations on Postmodern Cultural Form opens up the philosophical life force that informs the construction of Hip-hop by turning the gaze of the philosopher upon those blind spots that exist within existing scholarship. Traditional Departments of Philosophy will find this book a solid companion in Contemporary Philosophy or Aesthetic Theory. Inside these pages is a project that parallels the themes of existential angst, corporate elitism, social consciousness, male privilege and masculinity. This book illustrates the abundance of philosophical meaning in the textual and graphic elements of Hip-hop, and thus places Hip-hop within the philosophical canon.

This book explores popular music in Eastern Europe during the period of state socialism, in countries such as Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, the GDR, Estonia and Albania. It discusses the policy concerning music, the greatest Eastern European stars, such as Karel Gott, Czeslaw Niemen and Omega, as well as DJs and the music press. By conducting original research, including interviews and examining archival material, the authors take issue with certain assumptions prevailing in the existing studies on popular music in Eastern Europe, namely that it was largely based on imitation of western music and that this music had a distinctly anti-communist flavour. Instead, they argue that self-colonisation was accompanied with creating an original idiom, and that the state not only fought the artists, but also supported them. The collection also draws attention to the foreign successes of Eastern European stars, both within the socialist bloc and outside of it. v>

Beneath the ever-changing and unstable political climate of Iran lies a rich youth culture centered around rock music. Reaching beyond a social, historical and political overview of music, Bronwen Robertson looks deeper and seeks to decipher how members of the underground scene invent and express different versions of 'being Iranian, ' through the production and distribution of their music. Robertson spent a year undercover in Tehran conducting research and interviews within this complex and fascinating culture. While the author explores each individual's relationship to their music, she also demonstrates how the underground scene as a whole becomes an expression of collective and anti-authoritarian identities. Robertson discusses concepts ranging from inspiration and ingenuity to the notion of being 'global, ' and how these musicians perceive their political and artistic impact. This illuminating work demonstrates that rock music, a global genre, gains significance as it is performed in a local context, disrupting pre-conceived notions of what it means to be 'Iranian.' >

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The astonishing run of albums unleashed upon an unsuspecting public within the span of five years created the legend of Alice Cooper that lives on to this day. But we're talking about the original Alice Cooper group here, a band called that with a lead singer also going by that name. In other words, the legend was built by Vincent "Alice Cooper" Furnier, Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton, Dennis Dunaway and "platinum god" Neal Smith. It is all of them working together - along with producer Bob Ezrin - that created the mystique of songs like "I'm Eighteen," "Is It My Body," "Desperado," "Under My Wheels," "Be My Lover," "Elected" and "No More Mr. Nice Guy." And it is all of them working together - along with crack management in Shep Gordon and Joe Greenberg-that created the shock rock buzz that kept the newspapers full of indignation about this band set out to destroy human civilization. Easy Action: The Original Alice Cooper Group tells the story in meticulous chronological detail, from the band's early days in Phoenix as The Spiders, through being broke on the Sunset Strip, followed by a career-reviving relocation to a notorious party house on the outskirts of Pontiac, Michigan. Corroborating the improbable sequence of events is a plethora of stories from the band themselves, who explain how the original Alice Cooper group went from politely ignored pariahs in Los Angeles to international Public Enemies No. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Listen to the guys and their good-natured explanations behind the mayhem, and it soon becomes apparent that the ghoulish makeup around the singer's eyes and the boa constrictor around his neck - not to mention the head-choppings, the hangings and the hard rock - were all served up in good fun. Now it's time for you, dear reader, to join in the fun and see why Alice Cooper was, for a golden moment in time fully 50 years ago now, the most feared and revered act in all of rock 'n' roll.

He takes my hand, pulls me to him. 'This is our dancing time.' A debut about love, loss, freedom and dub reggae, Fire Rush is an electrifying state-of-the-nation novel and an unforgettable portrait of Black womanhood Yamaye lives for the weekend, when she can go raving with her friends at The Crypt, an underground club in the industrial town on the outskirts of London where she was born and raised. A young woman unsure of her future, the sound is her guide - a chance to discover who she really is in the rhythms of those smoke-filled nights. In the dance-hall darkness, dub is the music of her soul, her friendships, her ancestry. But everything changes when she meets Moose, the man she falls deeply in love with, and who offers her the chance of freedom and escape. When their relationship is brutally cut short, Yamaye goes on a dramatic journey of transformation that takes her first to Bristol - where she is caught up in a criminal gang and the police riots sweeping the country - and then to Jamaica, where past and present collide with explosive consequences. 5* Reader Reviews 'I will be recommending it to everyone' 'A phenomenal debut novel' 'Yamaye is a fantastic central protagonist and narrator ... This novel takes you on an emotional and unforgettable journey' 'This book has it all ... You're immersed into something really special' 'A stunning debut novel... as relevant to today's racial climate as the 1970s... it felt musical, with dub music almost a secondary character in the novel'

This first critical appreciation of T Bone Burnett reveals how the proponent of Americana music and producer of artists ranging from Robert Plant and Alison Krauss to B. B. King and Elvis Costello has profoundly influenced American music and culture. T Bone Burnett is a unique, astonishingly prolific music producer, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and soundtrack visionary. Renowned as a studio maven with a Midas touch, Burnett is known for lifting artists to their greatest heights, as he did with Raising Sand, the multiple Grammy Award-winning album by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, as well as acclaimed albums by Los Lobos, the Wallflowers, B. B. King, and Elvis Costello. Burnett virtually invented "Americana" with his hugely successful roots-based soundtrack for the Coen Brothers film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? Outspoken in his contempt for the entertainment industry, Burnett has nevertheless received many of its highest honors, including Grammy Awards and an Academy Award. T Bone Burnett offers the first critical appreciation of Burnett's wide-ranging contributions to American music, his passionate advocacy for analog sound, and the striking contradictions that define his maverick artistry. Lloyd Sachs highlights all the important aspects of Burnett's musical pursuits, from his early days as a member of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue and his collaboration with the playwright Sam Shepard to the music he recently composed for the TV shows Nashville and True Detective and his production of the all-star album Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes. Sachs also underscores Burnett's brilliance as a singer-songwriter in his own right. Going well beyond the labels "legendary" or "visionary" that usually accompany his name, T Bone Burnett reveals how this consummate music maker has exerted a powerful influence on American music and culture across four decades.

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. One of the music world’s pre-eminent critics takes a fresh and much-needed look at the day Dylan “went electric” at the Newport Folk Festival.

On the evening of July 25, 1965, Bob Dylan took the stage at Newport Folk Festival, backed by an electric band, and roared into his new rock hit, Like a Rolling Stone. The audience of committed folk purists and political activists who had hailed him as their acoustic prophet reacted with a mix of shock, booing, and scattered cheers. It was the shot heard round the world—Dylan’s declaration of musical independence, the end of the folk revival, and the birth of rock as the voice of a generation—and one of the defining moments in twentieth-century music.

In Dylan Goes Electric!, Elijah Wald explores the cultural, political and historical context of this seminal event that embodies the transformative decade that was the sixties. Wald delves deep into the folk revival, the rise of rock, and the tensions between traditional and groundbreaking music to provide new insights into Dylan’s artistic evolution, his special affinity to blues, his complex relationship to the folk establishment and his sometime mentor Pete Seeger, and the ways he reshaped popular music forever. Breaking new ground on a story we think we know, Dylan Goes Electric! is a thoughtful, sharp appraisal of the controversial event at Newport and a nuanced, provocative, analysis of why it matters.

It is common to hear heavy metal music fans and musicians talk about the "metal community". This concept, which is widely used when referencing this musical genre, encompasses multiple complex aspects that are seldom addressed in traditional academic endeavors including shared aesthetics, musical practices, geographies, and narratives. The idea of a "metal community" recognizes that fans and musicians frequently identify as part of a collective group, larger than any particular individual. Still, when examined in detail, the idea raises more questions than answers. What criteria are used to define groups of people as part of the community? How are metal communities formed and maintained through time? How do metal communities interact with local cultures throughout the world? How will metal communities change over the lifespan of their members? Are metal communities even possible in light of the importance placed on individualism in this musical genre? These are just some of the questions that arise when the concept of "community" is used in relation to heavy metal music. And yet in the face of all these complexities, heavy metal fans continue to think of themselves as a unified collective entity. This book addresses this notion of "metal community" via the experiences of authors and fans through theoretical reflections and empirical research. Their contributions focus on how metal communities are conceptualized, created, shaped, maintained, interact with their context, and address internal tensions. The book provides scholars, and other interested in the field of metal music studies, with a state of the art reflection on how metal communities are constituted, while also addressing their limits and future challenges.

When noted rapper Eminem commanded his audience's attention in his 2000 megahit release "The Real Slim Shady" and queried in the lyrics, "Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?," the authors took the question seriously and began to search for the "real slim shady" among the fabric of contemporary capitalism. The result of this research is this book, which explores how a dominant culture incorporates some dimensions of a subculture--in this case hip hop--and uses it to perpetuate dimensions of social stratification within a society. Essentially, this book critically examines how the values of a dominant culture and the controlling images it reproduces, impact issues of racial diversity, class distinctions, and gender stereotypes. Authors Dave Ramsaran and Simona Hill are two sociologists who have sought to understand the contradictory nature of contemporary social phenomenon. Hip hop that is brought into the mainstream by contemporary media serves several purposes. First, it greatly enhances corporate profits. Second, it repackages old dimensions of inequality, including racial stereotyping and the sexist contempt for women. Third, the glorification of violence, the idealization of excessive consumption, and the promotion of hypersexual black masculinity serve to reinforce the privilege of dominant groups. Hip hop that challenges these stereotypes and cultural notions is pushed into the underground. The intent of the book is to uncover this process of moving from cultural questioning to cultural appropriation and reinforcement of structural inequality. Despite the existence of other works on hip hop in fields such as ethnomusicology, anthropology, political science, communications studies and Black Studies, there is a dearth in the contributions from a sociological perspective. Studies have been done which look at the emergence of hip hop from its roots in the African-American community, as well as on the contributions of some of the major artists in the field. However, little work has been done on trying to locate the emergence of hip hop and hip hop culture within the context of capitalist development in the United States. The book shows how racial, gender, and ethnic stereotypes are reformulated through different media. The book critically analyzes two prominent archetypal images of the gangsta male and the wanksta feminist who can be either male or female. The analysis shows that hip hop outside of mainstream media has remained true to its radical traditions. Moreover, as hip hop has gone beyond the confines of the United States, that same radical tradition remains a key component in the hip hop diaspora and in hip hop's cross-cultural expressions. Hip Hop and Inequality: Searching for the "Real" Slim Shady is an important book for understanding how systems of inequality work and how they are perpetuated. It will be of immense value to professors and students in sociology, anthropology, political science, women's studies, popular culture, and media studies. Written in an accessible language, it will also appeal to an audience outside academia and will certainly speak to those who may or may not realize that hip hop has a profound impact on modern society.

What are the interactions between transnational communication and national cultures? This work attempts to answer this critical question in the study of culture and communication. It takes as its vehicle of study the music industry and music making in 13 different cultures, presenting an insider's view of a global cultural experience. Of interest to musicologists and sociologists alike, plus anyone fascinated by distant cultures and how they are affected by external as well as internal communication systems.

The chapters are a collection of research findings produced for the International Communications and Youth Cultures Consortium (ICYC), an informal group of international scholars in many disciplines who are committed to understanding the economic and social factors that influence cultures and youth. Their point of view in this work is their individual country and the tensions that arise from the development of international communication systems. Each view is from inside the country; external influences are not subjects of study in themselves but are viewed as part of a complex scene along with other variables operating in various national situations.

For more than two decades, le hip hop has shown France's "other" face: danced by minorities associated with immigration and the suburbs, it has channeled rage against racism and unequal opportunity and offered a movement vocabulary for the expression of the multicultural difference that challenges the universalist discourse of the Republic. French hip-hoppers subscribe to black U.S. culture to articulate their own difference but their mouv' developed differently, championed by a Socialist cultural policy as part of the patrimoine culturel, instituted as a pedagogy and supported as an art of the banlieue. In the multicultural mix of "Arabic" North African, African and Asian forms circulating with classical and contemporary dance performance in France, if hip hop is positioned as a civic discourse, and hip hop dancer as legitimate employment, it is because beyond this political recuperation, it is a figural language in which dancers express themselves differently, figure themselves as something or someone else. French hip hop develops into concert dance not through the familiar model of a culture industry, but within a Republic of Culture; it nuances an "Anglo-Saxon" model of identity politics with a "francophone" post-colonial identity poetics and grants its dancers the statut civil of artists, technicians who develop and transmit body-based knowledge. This book- the first in English to introduce readers to the French mouv' -analyzes the choreographic development of hip hop into la danse urbaine, touring on national and international stages, as hip hoppeurs move beyond the banlieue, figuring new forms within the mobility brought by new media and global migration.

Music, magic and myth are elements essential to the identities of New Orleans musicians. The city's singular contributions to popular music around the world have been unrivaled; performing this music authentically requires collective improvisation, taking performers on sonorous sojourns in unanticipated, 'magical' moments; and membership in the city's musical community entails participation in the myth of New Orleans, breathing new life into its storied traditions. On the basis of 56 open-ended interviews with those in the city's musical community, Michael Urban discovers that, indeed, community is what it is all about. In their own words, informants explain that commercial concerns are eclipsed by the pleasure of playing in 'one big band' that disassembles daily into smaller performing units whose rosters are fluid, such that, over time, 'everybody plays with everybody'. Although Hurricane Katrina nearly terminated the city, New Orleans and its music-in no small part due to the sacrifices and labors of its musicians-have come back even stronger. Dancing to their own drum, New Orleanians again prove themselves to be admirably out of step with the rest of America.