Representin’: the rise of the hip-hop generation.

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Derek Shealey (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Noelle Morrissette

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to define and document some of the issues and identifications commonly linked to the hip-hop generation. This particular faction of the African-American population is classified in the introduction as a group with unique values and cultural perspectives, as well as a host of generational mentalities (productive and pernicious) firmly embedded in the primary cultural movement of their era: hip-hop. Rap music is the greatest artistic achievement of this generation. Its popularity transcends economic, racial, and geographic boundaries. The lyrics of rap artists, from select periods of the hip-hop era, will be the major objects of critical analysis in this thesis.

The hip-hop generation is alternately referred to as the post civil rights generation. Thus, the latter term provides a framework for locating the cultural and socioeconomic experiences of these African-Americans. The aftermath of the civil rights/ black power movement was characterized by many visible signs of social progress: desegregated public facilities, an increase in black elected officials, and a steadily growing black middle class. However the onset of globalization and the steep decline of American manufacturing jobs throughout the 1980s and 1990s contributed to the presence of a troubled urban minority underclass. Despite its crucial role in defining and producing contemporary hip-hop culture, this same minority underclass has been substantially disenfranchised and marginalized in the broader national sphere. The implications of this cultural paradox are at the heart of “Representin’.”

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2010
Keywords
black nationalism, cultural studies, feminism, hip-hop, urban communities, youth culture
Subjects
Rap (Music) $x Social aspects.
African Americans $x Social conditions $x History.
Urban African Americans $x History.
Hip-hop $z United States $x Influence.
Clothing and dress $x Social aspects.

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