This newly expanded and revised third edition brings together the most important and up-to-date hip-hop scholarship in one comprehensive volume. This intellectual mixtape is comprised of 47 readings that are organized into nine sections representing key concepts and themes: the history of hip-hop, authenticity debates, gender, the globalization of hip-hop, identities, disability, politics, hip-hop and academia, and hip-hop and the media. This new edition also includes greater coverage of gender, sexuality and racial diversity in hip-hop, hip-hop’s global influence, and hip-hop’s role in social movements and political activism. The pedagogical features include detailed critical introductions framing each section and brief chapter introductions to help readers place each piece in context and within a broader scholarly dialogue. This text is essential reading for anyone seeking deeper understanding of the profound impact of hip-hop as an intellectual, aesthetic, and cultural movement.

"Before That's the Joint I spent countless hours making photo-copies of essays and articles on hip hop for my students. When That's the Joint dropped it changed everything. It took hip hop studies to the next logical level and, hopefully, with the second edition Forman and Neal will take hip hop studies to an even higher level. That's the Joint , indeed, it is the sure shot " -- Reiland Rabaka, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA "That's the Joint stands as the seminal Hip Hop studies volume. It is comprehensive in scope, incorporating works from the leading scholars, journalists and practitioners in the genre. Moreover, it treats the subject in a rigorous academic manner, while making the readings accessible to a broader audience." -- Melina Abdullah, California State University, Los Angeles, USA That's the Joint : The Hip-Hop Studies Reader brings together the best-known and most influential writings on rap and hip-hop from its beginnings to today. Spanning more than 30 years of scholarship, criticism, and journalism, this unprecedented anthology showcases the evolution and continuing influence of one of the most creative and contested elements of global popular culture since its advent in the late 1970s. Think of it as "Hip-Hop 101." This newly expanded and revised second edition of That's the Joint brings together the most important and up-to-date hip-hop scholarship in one comprehensive volume. Presented thematically, the selections address the history of hip-hop, identity politics of the "hip-hop nation," debates of "street authenticity," gender, revolutionary politics, aesthetics, technologies of production, hip-hop as a cultural industry, and much more. The new edition includes expanded coverage of gender and racial diversity in hip-hop, and takes a look at hip-hop's role in politics, including the 2008 presidential election of Barack Obama. The new edition also includes expanded pedagogical fe

This newly expanded and revised third edition brings together the most important and up-to-date hip-hop scholarship in one comprehensive volume. This intellectual mixtape is comprised of 47 readings that are organized into nine sections representing key concepts and themes: the history of hip-hop, authenticity debates, gender, the globalization of hip-hop, identities, disability, politics, hip-hop and academia, and hip-hop and the media. This new edition also includes greater coverage of gender, sexuality and racial diversity in hip-hop, hip-hop’s global influence, and hip-hop’s role in social movements and political activism. The pedagogical features include detailed critical introductions framing each section and brief chapter introductions to help readers place each piece in context and within a broader scholarly dialogue. This text is essential reading for anyone seeking deeper understanding of the profound impact of hip-hop as an intellectual, aesthetic, and cultural movement.

"Before That's the Joint I spent countless hours making photo-copies of essays and articles on hip hop for my students. When That's the Joint dropped it changed everything. It took hip hop studies to the next logical level and, hopefully, with the second edition Forman and Neal will take hip hop studies to an even higher level. That's the Joint , indeed, it is the sure shot " -- Reiland Rabaka, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA "That's the Joint stands as the seminal Hip Hop studies volume. It is comprehensive in scope, incorporating works from the leading scholars, journalists and practitioners in the genre. Moreover, it treats the subject in a rigorous academic manner, while making the readings accessible to a broader audience." -- Melina Abdullah, California State University, Los Angeles, USA That's the Joint : The Hip-Hop Studies Reader brings together the best-known and most influential writings on rap and hip-hop from its beginnings to today. Spanning more than 30 years of scholarship, criticism, and journalism, this unprecedented anthology showcases the evolution and continuing influence of one of the most creative and contested elements of global popular culture since its advent in the late 1970s. Think of it as "Hip-Hop 101." This newly expanded and revised second edition of That's the Joint brings together the most important and up-to-date hip-hop scholarship in one comprehensive volume. Presented thematically, the selections address the history of hip-hop, identity politics of the "hip-hop nation," debates of "street authenticity," gender, revolutionary politics, aesthetics, technologies of production, hip-hop as a cultural industry, and much more. The new edition includes expanded coverage of gender and racial diversity in hip-hop, and takes a look at hip-hop's role in politics, including the 2008 presidential election of Barack Obama. The new edition also includes expanded pedagogical fe

Elvis Presley's television debut in January 1956 is often cited as the moment when popular music and television came together. Murray Forman challenges that contention, revealing popular music as crucial to television years before Presley's sensational small-screen performances. Drawing on trade and popular journalism, internal television and music industry documents, and records of audience feedback, Forman provides a detailed history of the incorporation of musical performances into TV programming during the medium's formative years, from 1948 to 1955. He examines how executives in the music and television industries understood and responded to the convergence of the two media; how celebrity musicians such as Vaughn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and Fred Waring struggled to adjust to television; and how relative unknowns with an intuitive feel for the medium were sometimes catapulted to stardom. Forman argues that early television production influenced the aesthetics of musical performance in the 1940s and 1950s, particularly those of emerging musical styles such as rock and roll. At the same time, popular music helped to shape the nascent medium of television--its technologies, program formats, and industry structures. Popular music performances were essential to the allure and success of TV in its early years.

This book focuses on the culture and politics involved in building hip-hop archives. It addresses practical aspects, including methods of accumulation, curation, preservation, and digitization and critically analyzes institutional power, community engagement, urban economics, public access, and the ideological implications associated with hip-hop culture’s enduring tensions with dominant social values. The collection of essays are divided into four sections; Doing the Knowledge, Challenging Archival Forms, Beyond the Nation and Institutional Alignments: Interviews and Reflections. The book covers a range of official, unofficial, DIY and community archives and collections and features chapters by scholar practitioners, educators and curators. A wide swath of hip-hop culture is featured in the book, including a focus on dance, graffiti, clothing, and battle rap. The range of authors and their topics span countries in Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and North America.

We Still Here maps the edges of hip-hop culture and makes sense of the rich and diverse ways people create and engage with hip-hop music within Canadian borders. Contributors to the collection explore the power of institutions, mainstream hegemonies, and the processes of historical formation in the evolution of hip-hop culture. Throughout, the volume foregrounds the generative issues of gender, identity, and power, in particular in relation to the Black diaspora and Indigenous cultures. The contributions of artists in the scene are front and centre in this collection, exposing the distinct inner mechanics of Canadian hip hop from a variety of perspectives. By amplifying rarely heard voices within hip-hop culture, We Still Here argues for its power to disrupt national formations and highlights the people and communities who make hip hop happen.

The 'Hood Comes First looks at the increasingly specific emphasis on real neighborhoods and streets in rap music and hip hop culture as an urgent response to the cultural and geographical ghettoization of black urban communities. Examining rap music, along with ancillary hip hop media including radio, music videos, rap press and the cinematic 'hood genre, Murray Forman analyzes hip hop culture's varying articulations of the terms "ghetto," "inner-city," and "the 'hood," and how these spaces, both real and imaginary, are used to define individual and collective identity.
Negotiating academic, corporate, and "street" discourses, Forman assesses the dynamics between race, social space and youth. Race, class and national identification are recast and revised within rap's spatial discourse, concluding with the construction of "the 'hood," a social and geographic symbol that has become central to concepts of hip hop authenticity. Additionally, the book analyzes the processes within the music and culture industries through which hip hop has been amplified and disseminated from the 'hood to international audiences.