Flipping the misogynist script: Gender, agency, Hip Hop, and music education

Tobias, E. S. (2014). Flipping the misogynist script: Gender, agency, Hip Hop, and music education. Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education, 13(2), 49-84.

In my article Flipping the misogynist script: Gender, agency, Hip Hop, and music education I make a case for including Hip Hop in music programs through a critical media literacy framework and providing students diverse opportunities to address socio-cultural and musical issues through related musical engagement. In particular I address issues of gender and agency as they might pertain to music teaching and learning in the context of Hip Hop and musical engagement. The article’s abstract is below:

Excluding Hip Hop culture and rap music from music education misses opportunities for addressing key aspects of popular culture, society, and students’ lives. This article addresses intersections of Hip Hop, gender, and music education to forward potential Hip Hop praxis. After tracing related scholarship, I discuss and problematize representations of women in Hip Hop, including patriarchal, hetero-normative, and essentialized notions of Hip Hop that objectify and marginalize women. Through musicking, critical media literacy, and critical pedagogy young people might analyze and engage critically with Hip Hop and issues of identity, meaning making, representation, and agency in music education.

The article is a revised and updated version of a paper I presented at the 2008 conference: Musica Ficta / Lived Realities: A Conference on Exclusions and Engagements in Music, Education and the Arts.

The article is available to all since the journal Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education is open access.

Consider listening to some of the Hip Hop Artists mentioned in the article:

FM Supreme (Jessica Disu)

Medusa

Nitty Scott MC

Snow tha Product

 Resources not included in the article:

The following resources that are not included in the article might provide a starting point or springboard for expanding our awareness and knowledge of women in hip hop along with related educational organizations. I’ve learned a lot from the critical analysis of people like Jay Smooth and Rosa Clemente and if you are new to Hip Hop, do yourself a favor and, besides listening expansively, take a look at Jeff Chang’s Can’t Stop Won’t Stop. For a sense of academic scholarship related to Hip Hop, That’s the Joint: The Hip Hop Studies Reader is a good start as well. If you are an active Twitter user, you might be interested in #hiphoped for dialogue related to Hip Hop in education. The #hiphoped twitter group meets on Tuesdays. Amil Cook maintains an archive of the discussions.

Davey D’s list of 500 Female Emcees everyone should know

Also consider listening to some additional women MC’s. I’ve deliberately included mostly musicians on this playlist who tend to be denied attention from mainstream media (Note: I am not suggesting that all of the following music should be played in music programs but rather providing some examples of women MCs who may not be known to music educators. Spotify is also limited in its representation of women MCs!):