About this item
Highlights
- A fascinating look at hip hop, the world's most popular music, and what it means to young people all over the globe, written by an acclaimed pop-culture critic.
- 146 Pages
- Music, Genres & Styles
- Series Name: Groundwork Guides
Description
About the Book
In "Hip Hop World, " Dalton Higgins comprehensively examines the hip hop scene as it exists throughout the world. The book reveals the form's musical inspirations from Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica, African American sex satirists, comedians, civil rights-fuelled funk musicians, spoken word luminaries, and dub and Nuyorican poetry. Author Higgins examines hip hop's racial, multicultural, and multilingual listening audiences, the development of global rap slanguage and its influence on standard English lexicons, and hip hop herstory and cultural taboos around sexuality. He highlights the burgeoning Aboriginal hip hop scenes in Canada and Australia, and movements in colleges across North America and Europe that use hip hop lyrics and artistry to help engage students in learning. Critical of hip hopsters' use of language, the cult of bling, violence, and money, this book takes readers beyond a superficial look and delves into all the issues surrounding this form. Higgins taps into his own powers of pop culture prognostication to predict the future of the genre and the youth culture that spawned it, as this irresistible musical and cultural form spreads literally to the furthest reaches of humanity.Book Synopsis
A fascinating look at hip hop, the world's most popular music, and what it means to young people all over the globe, written by an acclaimed pop-culture critic. An excellent introduction to hip hop for young adults.
Hip hop is arguably the predominant global youth subculture of this generation. In this book Dalton Higgins takes vivid snapshots of the hip hop scenes in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and more.
American hip hop has gone through growing pains, and is questioned for being too commercialized to articulate the hopes, concerns and dreams of marginal youth and community members. Outside the US, hip hop culture is often a political tool to mobilize disenfranchised communities around hard issues, with little support from mainstream corporations or sponsors.
Higgins taps into his own powers of pop culture prognostication to predict the future of the genre and the youth culture that spawned it, as hip hop spreads its tentacles to the furthest reaches of humanity.
"[The Groundwork Guides] are excellent books, mandatory for school libraries and the increasing body of young people prepared to take ownership of the situations and problems previous generations have left them." -- Globe and Mail
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.2
Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3
Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6
Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.
Review Quotes
...a fresh take on hip-hop's controversies and accomplishments.-- "Sway Magazine"
...a good primer on the genre's history and canon, from Chuck D to Cool Kids.-- "EYE Weekly"
...a thoughtful examination of the globalization of hip hop...excellent...--Matthew Moffett "School Library Journal"
A refreshingly intelligent history and examination of that much maligned and...truly global phenomenon.--Lesley Little "Resource Links"
A solid addition to the Groundwork Guide series, this overview of hip-hop covers an impressive amount of ground and spans the landscape of the art form's global origins and modern existence...the pithy, unapologetically political narrative that results is sure to engage readers.-- "Kirkus Reviews"
It's a totally readable guide to the genre with a global breadth rarely seen.-- "Toro"
The validity of hip-hop culture has been entrenched by reams of critical analysis and Dalton Higgins' book Hip Hop World adds a fresh voice by interrogating many of the ingrained tenets of hip-hop culture, hopscotching across the world to incorporate a global perspective. When discussing the culture's origins, he takes great care to expand the sphere of analysis beyond the South Bronx...Add to the mix Higgins' provocative critical analysis on hip-hop culture's racial aspects and social responsibility and Hip Hop World represents a clarion call for hip-hop culture to fully seize its power and influence for progressive goals in the future.-- "Exclaim Magazine"
The Canada-born writer of Jamaican parentage takes a uniquely intelligent look at the multiculturalism of hip hop...-- "Jamaica Gleaner"
This highly readable, well-researched series of essays...certainly covers a lot of ground, but it's Higgins's panoramic scope and panoply of references that makes the book so engaging. With its solid chapter on hip-hop history, it's also suitable for impressionable young heads just getting into the music.-- "NOW Magazine"