[Noriko Manabe]

Hi all,

Thanks to Walt and Brad for getting the conversation started.

1.I think in a course on African American music, it is important to include the voices of Black scholars. Here are a few, keeping analysis in mind:

Shelley, Braxton D. 2019. “Analyzing Gospel.” Journal of the American Musicological Society 72 (1): 181–243. https://doi.org/10.1525/jams.2019.72.1.181.

Keyes, Cheryl Lynette. 2004. Rap Music and Street Consciousness. University of Illinois Press.

Rivers, Patrick, and Will Fulton. 2018. “Noise Reconsidered.” The Oxford Handbook of Hip Hop Music, August. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190281090.013.56.

Gaunt, Kyra D. 2006. The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop. New York: New York University Press. (Some chapters of this book draw parallels between hip hop and girls’ verbal games.)

2. For such a course, I also think it’s important to include some writing that addresses sociopolitical context. Here are a few recommendations for hip hop.

Rose, Tricia. 1994. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan.

Kelley, Robin D. G. 1996. Race Rebels : Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class. New York, NY: Distributed by Simon & Schuster.

3. These works, by music studies scholars, balance context with musical writing:

Kajikawa, Loren. 2015.  Sounding Race in Rap Songs. University of California Press. (I particularly like the chapter on LA in the 1990s/Dr. Dre here)

Katz, Mark. 2012. Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ. New York: Oxford University Press.

Williams, Justin A. 2013. Rhymin’ and Stealin’ : Musical Borrowing in Hip-Hop. Ann Arbor, Mich: University of Michigan Press.

Schloss, Joseph G. 2004. Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop. Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan.

Butler, Mark J. 2006. Unlocking the Groove: Rhythm, Meter, and Musical Design in Electronic Dance Music. Profiles in Popular Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press Bloomington, IN.

I’d also encourage readers to look at the forum on Kendrick Lamar on Music Theory Online, which includes bibliographies.

Best,

Noriko Manabe, Ph.D.

Temple University

https://norikomanabe.academia.edu/

[Noriko Manabe]

Hi, I have updates I’d like to make to the bibliography, but I can’t make it to SMT this year—it conflicts with SEM, where I’m a board member. Is it possible for me to edit the document, or should I email someone my suggestions?

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