Anthony Douglas '17 makes a point during his HIS 240 class, the History and Politics of Hip Hop, which examines the movement and its cultural, social, and political history, using vehicles like music, dance, visual art, performance, and protest to explore its aesthetic and political foundations.
P.J. Mays '19 searches for the day's featured songs.
Myles Johnson '19 listens to a selection of music.
Lavelle Hughes '18 smiles while listening to a song selection.
Assistant Visiting Professor of English Marshall answers a question from Parker Redelman '18 (center).
Patrick Jahnke '18 (center, in red) listens to Marshall at The Den theater in Chicago prior to seeing the play 'How We Got On.'
Thacarion Payton '17 and Douglas ponder a point made during a Q&A session.
This Q&A panel included (from left) rap artists Adam 'Defcee' Levin, Prob Cause, and Ric Wilson, as well as dancer Maya Odim, and Marshall.
Douglas chats with Prob Cause following the 'How We Got On' Q&A sesssion.
A group photo on the set of 'How We Got On.'
Class members stroll down Chicago's Milwaukee Avenue.
Rapper Andre 'Add-2' Daniels talks with the guys at Haven Studio on Chicago's South Side. He told the class, 'Every once in a while you’ll mumble something until you find the right words. Search for the feeling first. Everything starts with the beat.'
Dajon Thomas '18 and Parker Redelman '18 (middle) respond to one of Daniels' questions.
Marshall (right) told the class that 'when I was younger, I used to rhyme to the turn signal, so I’d leave it on. I was just building my skills.'
(from left) Jaleel Grandberry '19, Douglas, and Thomas listen intently to Daniels and his discussion on being a rap artist. He mentioned, 'The biggest hurdle to writing good hooks is over thinking.'
Hughes addresses the group.
Here Hughes takes his turn freestyling in the cypher. As Daniels said, 'It’s all love in the circle. Cypher is fun. Don’t feel like you have to be perfect or at your best. I feel like the best moments happen when guys are laughing.'
Mays (center, rear) enjoys the cypher. Daniels told the group, 'Don’t limit yourself to rap, you’ll only be one dimensional. Know what’s out there.'
Awaiting his turn in the cypher, Thomas, and others at rear, listen to Hughes freestyle.
Sometimes, you just have to take an L in the circle.
Daniels and the group pose for a photo before departing Haven Studio.
Jordan Hansen '18 (center) and Austin Jamison '17 share a laugh with Marshall outside of Haven Studio.
The group passed the Harold Washington Cultural Center on a neighborhood tour.
Marshall explains the cultual relevance of this mural created by local artists.
It’s impossible to escape the beats. As the classroom door opens, music pours from the speakers in that familiar 4/4 time with a pulsating bass line and the perfect rhyme to match.
Heads bob, the music draws knowing smiles, and a quick glance around the room tells you that these 19 guys are plugged in to what’s going on, not because it’s a distraction to the subject at hand, but specifically because it is the subject at hand.
Assistant Professor of History Sabrina Thomas and Assistant Visiting Professor of English Nathaniel Marshall co-teach HIS 240: The History and Politics of Hip Hop, a class that examines the movement and its cultural, social, and political history, using vehicles like music, dance, visual art, performance, and protest to explore its aesthetic and political foundations.
When the music pauses briefly as class begins, the first order of business is citations. While hip-hop might be intimately familiar to every member of class, when writing for class – even a hip-hop class – Wabash always cites.
“When you talk about music, you still need to cite,” Marshall explains. “You should be taking notes. If you articulate a notion, follow it through.”
As the music returned, the conversation shifted to breaks, bars, meters, onomatopoeia, and lines of poetry as a preface before diving into deeper discussions about the music that included women, objectionable language, whiteness, geography, crime, cultural references, and changes across time.
Based on the quality of exchange, it’s obvious that these guys come prepared, because they have to be. It’s not simply about sharing playlists, this class features two required and four supplemental texts, a variety of films to watch, and music to listen to for every class.
“This is a history class, first and foremost,” says Thomas, “and not something based solely on individual experiences. We wanted this to be analytical and creative, as well as a legitimate area of study. We may have overwhelmed them at times, but they are definitely engaged.”
It’s seen in the way students connect lyrics and meaning, while also linking to what’s going on in the world around them.
“I thought it would be a different take on the subject, to learn the history about something I enjoy,” says Jaleel Grandberry ’19. “I like the content of the things we’ve been reading, watching, and listening to and the take on it has been really good. It’s been a lot of work, but it’s a nice and different spin to education.”
The class also experienced a two-day trip to Chicago, where the group was immersed in the Windy City brand of hip-hop, exposed to all its facets. The visit included presentations and Q&A sessions with dancers and rap artists, an introduction to Chicago’s artistic and political climate, and a neighborhood graffiti tour. The group also saw, “How We Got On,” a stylish and bombastic play written by Idris Goodwin about young people in search of their voice.
Added together, these experiences have served as a bit of a reality check.
“I only knew hip hop from what I listened to, not what I researched,” says Darrien Dartis ’18. “Now that I’ve learned the historical background of the culture, it’s more than just a cool song on the radio, it’s how impactful hip-hop culture has been on America. To some, it might only be a musical genre, but it’s really an influential movement of politics, rhythm, and music. It’s a whole bunch of different things.”
Much like the themes in “How We Got On,” this racially diverse group of students is leaning on each other through elements essential to hip-hop, like Each One, Teach One (the idea of actively sharing your knowledge with someone else), to find their own voice. One of the assignments brought them full circle during a stop at Chicago’s Haven Studio. Each student was asked to write his own rhyme and share it with the group accompanied by a beat.
In many ways, this class exemplifies the spirit-body-voice ethos that permeates hip-hop culture in that it both challenges and supports these students along their journey to be more thoughtful, more aware, and more willing to share in the experience.
“It’s fun and interesting to challenge whether they feel comfortable with it,” Marshall says. “You are a fan of music, but that doesn’t advance your thinking. I want them to slow down and take a second look. I ask, ‘is that what you’re hearing?’ The hope is to broaden the experience. When you move out of this space – whether it be a chemistry, religion, or classics class – I ask ‘how can I cultivate skills for the things that move me?’ That’s where life happens.”