6.9: Communities of Practice- Hip-Hop’s Collective Responsibility

Communities of practice involves the intentional learning of cultural, spiritual, historical, and political hip-hop traditions to transfer the experiential, educational, and embodied knowledge with appreciation at the forefront of hip-hop cultural explorations. From the earliest hip-hop block parties in New York to North African rapping that disparaged the dictatorships in the Arab world, to progress our knowledge of hip-hop and other revolutions is marked by being able to identify communities of practice. To be hip is to be knowledgeable – so when sharing information, you are contributing to the culture, you are enriching the culture, you are living in community with a transformational societal force that impacts all individualized forms of communication using globally recognized aesthetics of art.

Figure 6.11. Hip-hop in Reims, France brings together a community of practice

(G.Garitan (1 September 2015). Danse Party Reims, in France. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Danse_block_party_reims_01485.JPG)

Intercultural communication is possible vis-à-vis hip-hop. This communicative possibility is implicit in all African diasporic rooted movement, and research conducted by the teachers and choreographers who share in this knowledge tap into the contexts that must be translated into movement (Mabingo, 2019; McCarthy-Brown & Carter, 2019). This movement can be shared in performances, where audiences are able to interpret the movement through their experiences and then share what they learned with those in their communities. These movement-based discussions provide open lines to new dialogue in social contexts.

The social contexts are rooted in cultural, historical, and/or spiritual practices that reflect moments valuable to those involved. Hip-hop movements are deeply rooted in African diasporic aesthetics of art, where it is synthesized as: Art is life and life is art (Thompson, 1979). The boundaries in Africa were not created by Africans, but by colonizers of the continent. These man-made divisions separated communities in ways that caused long-lasting negative impacts on various communities, though central to the evolution of communities of practice in hip-hop is cultural expressive forms that come from a region, not a nation; West Africa is inclusive of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Many hip-hop dance aesthetics can be traced to West Africa.

Afrobeats began circulating in Nigeria in the 1920s, which -- through migration -- would eventually influence communities of practices in American urban centers emerging as hip-hop. The Caribbean also provided a wealth of contributions to American hip-hop throughout its history, such as the sound system competition in Jamaicia, which was an inspiring agent of hip-hop, breeding a culture of competition in contemporary Black music (Allen, 2022). Transitional life moments such as engaging in hip-hop culture is a shared experience within a community. Participants see themselves reflected in the appreciation of specific knowledge/experiences.

If 21st century hip-hoppers the were to remember the transitional life moments that inspired the roots of their craft, and observe the hip-hop coming out of the Middle East to protest oppressive dictatorships, perhaps hip-hop can reclaim its role as an art form that serves a cultural function and meets a civic responsibility spelling out the grievances of the citizenry. Maybe through hip-hop, a younger generation can call for actionable legislative change to alleviate the burdens of today such as safety, crime, taxation, and inflation. Here in the United States, the unelected bureaucratic administrative state is weakening the freedoms that are supposed to be protected by the U.S. Constitution. Personal liberties are being compromised, the citizenry is being censored, surveilled, and unfairly criminalized. A reactivation of hip-hop could trend our culture back toward engaged citizenship as communities of practice re-engage to meet the original mission of the genre, giving a voice to the voiceless -- not just selling sex, cars, drugs and alcohol, making corporate elites richer -- we may be able to save our country.

Comprehension Questions

Directions: Refer to what you have read in this chapter to correctly respond to the questions and prompts below.

1. What three things did DJ Kool Herc do to advance the invention of hip-hop culture?
2. What is the birthday of hip-hop, and who give this cultural phenomenon it’s name?
3. Itemize the four original fundamental ingredients of hip-hop culture, then discuss the additional elements of hip-hop culture in the 21st century?
4. In what two ways does hip-hop serve to break gender barriers as much as it serves as a revolutionary act?
5. Name at least three individuals or crews who contributed to the popularization of hip-hop dance, detail what they innovated, and how they catapulted hip-hop culture into the mainstream.
6. The anonymous graffiti artist that uses a spray-paint can as a tool for political commentary has created works where and why in each instance?
7. If hip-hop originally gave a voice to the voiceless in New York, how/where is the genre now achieving this original mission in the 21st century? Explain the role of hip-hop as a tool for global engagement.
8. Did hip-hop sell out to mega global corporatism? Provide three examples of whether you believe this to be the case or not.
9. What role did hip-hop play in The Arab Spring? Discuss at least three artists in three nations that have harnessed hip-hop for political messaging.
10. How does hip-hop culture and communities of practice play a role in relation to the concept of citizenship?