Music 256 - Hip Hop Music and Culture
Hip Hop Music and Culture
Fall
2025
01
4.00
Lauron Kehrer
W 1:20 PM - 2:35 PM; M 1:40 PM - 2:55 PM
Smith College
MUS-256-01-202601
Sage 215
lkehrer@smith.edu
In the last five decades, hip hop has become a dominant force in American and global popular music. Originating in the street culture of the Bronx in the 1970s, hip hop is a multifaceted cultural movement that has influenced almost all aspects of American culture. This course explores the musical expressions of hip hop, especially rap, within their cultural and historical contexts. Taking a largely chronological approach, this course focuses on the development and major trends in rap as they intersect with social and political movements at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The course examines important topics in rap and hip hop music, including issues surrounding race, gender, sexuality, disability, and geopolitics. Prerequisites: MUS 102 or MUS 202.