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Hip-Hop authenticity and music education: Confronting the concept of keeping it real
- Source: Journal of Popular Music Education, Volume 2, Issue 1-2, Aug 2018, p. 149 - 164
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- 01 Aug 2018
Abstract
The growing area of Hip-Hop pedagogy scholarship contains many meaningful implications and possibilities for music education. However, Hip-Hop’s fervent emphasis on authenticity (i.e. keeping it real) may cause music educators and students alike to view inclusions of Hip-Hop in school settings with a healthy dose of scepticism. Is a music classroom capable of keeping it real? Conceptualizing authenticity as a static condition or set of characteristics may impede the intentions of educators and does not reflect the complicated and contested nature of Hip-Hop authenticity. Viewing authenticity as an action offers more nuanced and meaningful examinations of Hip-Hop cultures and provides discursive and performative spaces for students and teachers to experience the possibilities of Hip-Hop pedagogies. In this article, the author demonstrates the complexity of Hip-Hop authenticity and offers ways forward for music educators interested in including Hip-Hop in school music settings.