Hip-hop music shook the walls of Douglass Hall this past weekend at the 2nd Annual Hip-Hop Studies Conference, where enthusiasts and scholars of all backgrounds convened to share their love and support of the culture.
The event, held from Nov. 15-17, was hosted in collaboration with SiriusXM, which sponsors the new hip-hop studies minor program that will be introduced in the spring of 2025. They also hosted Saturday’s hip-hop concert headlined by Lady London, featuring student and local artists at Cramton Auditorium.
Jasmine Young, director of the Warner Music Blavatnik Center for Music Business and one of this year’s conference committee members has long fought for the culture to be recognized as an area of scholarship and research.
“It took a group of like-minded people such as Dr. Clark and the team who have been working on this minor for years. With the concepts and ideology of our center, all of these things have culminated to this peak and it is about time,” Young said.
Various Howard academic departments and the Warner Music Blavatnik Center for Music Business were also collaborators.
The idea for a Hip–Hop Studies Conference began in 1991 with Howard’s first Hip-Hop Symposium. Last year, that concept was revitalized, celebrating hip-hop as a culture and paying homage to its 50th anniversary. This year’s theme, “Hip-Hop at a Crossroads,” explored the many ways hip-hop is being pushed to new audiences such as academia.
Roughly 40 people, some sporting baseball caps and Jordans and others wearing business attire, piled into room 105 of Douglass Hall on Saturday to listen to opening remarks given by Timothy Jones (B.A. ‘91), whose speech flowed in a rhythmic cadence and gave subtle reference to hip-hop songs. He then opened the floor for discussion where people shared their testimony about what hip-hop means to them.
“When this conference began in 1991 we were told that it would be bigger if we named it African American Music not hip-hop. We fought diligently with everyone in power to make sure that hip-hop was recognized for more than a trend but as an art form,” Jones said.
Jones, an adjunct professor of the Chadwick Boseman School of Fine Arts, has worked since 2019 to make a hip-hop studies minor reality.
“What people said was a fad is now a scholarship, and we are immensely proud of the work that we have done to get our culture recognized as a minor,” Jones said.
Following introductions, the group scattered throughout Douglass Hall to listen to and engage in panels on topics such as the Criminalization of Hip-Hop, Femininity, Love and Queerness in Hip-Hop.
W. Maclane Hull, a graduate student studying public history at the University of South Carolina, presented via Zoom on the criminalization of hip-hop with a focus on Northern California in the 1990s.
“Metal music was perceived to be a threat to the individual, however, rap music and rappers such as KRS-One were seen to be a threat to the bedrock of American society,” Hull said.
His comment was followed with resounding “hms” and “ahs” and head nods symbolizing agreement at his statement.
During the lunch break, guests followed the sounds of creative mixes between old and new hip-hop by DJ RBI back to room 105 where they could browse a diverse selection of vinyl records, movies and tapes for sale by The Crate Collection. Attendees could also purchase “Freedom Moves: Hip-Hop, Knowledge, Pedagogies, and Futures,” sold by Sankofa Video Books and Cafe.
DJ Dub, a mixtape DJ and affiliate of The Crate Convention from Buffalo, New York, spoke to the importance of contributing to the Hip-Hop Studies Conference as an archivist and lover of the culture.
“With any situation pushing the culture forward is our goal. Even if I am not in the classroom myself, we [Crate Convention] can show people these artifacts and what they mean,” DJ Dub said.
After lunch, the conference reconvened to watch a special screening of “In the Hour of Chaos: Hip Hop Art & Activism with Public Enemy’s Chuck D.” The film highlighted UCLA’s new hip-hop initiative series, “Rap, Race, and Reality with Public Enemy’s Chuck D,” that studies the intersection of art, activism and academia, as it relates to hip-hop during its 50th anniversary in 2023.
Following the screening, a panel discussion began, featuring UCLA faculty involved in the program, including H. Samy Alim, faculty director of the Hip-Hop Initiative, along with Scot Brown, PhD and Tabia Shawel.
Saturday night closed in Cramton Auditorium with performances from Howard students Zuri!, Jay Mills, Jus Josh, and Liyala along with alumnae Jamila Hogan and rapper Lady London (B.S. ‘16).
Music acts performed songs with themes ranging from Black empowerment to upbeat anthems. The crowd rose to their feet and gathered around the stage to express their support for the acts that showcased a range of rap styles.
London, who received her degree in sports medicine and chemistry and then completed her master’s in global medicine and international health policy at the University of Southern California, shared her own perspective on the duality of hip-hop and education.
“Hip-hop began as a message. This was a genre created because we didn’t have a voice and it was about our frustration with the state of America. While hip-hop has veered some from its original message, it is my trajectory to show that there are women who are college educated and fly and can still be in this industry,” London said.
London expressed her joy at performing at Cramton. “Being back home at Howard is always amazing. I just left for homecoming and it was beautiful. I’m always happy to be at Howard and to perform for my baby bison is just dope,” she said.
Joshua “J1” Raiford, a Morehouse alumnus who serves as the vice president of Music Programming at Pandora, shared his perspective on the importance of corporations like SiriusXM partnering with historically Black colleges and universities.
“I think it’s important because HBCUs are such a valuable resource for the next generation of Black talent. I am a product of an HBCU, and I don’t know where I would be today if I didn’t have that experience,” Raiford said.
On Sunday morning, students from Howard and Temple University led an interactive conversation focused on hip-hop’s socio-political impact and influence. Students and other participants shared their varying perspectives on the industry’s role of storytelling through modern-day lyricism, mentioning artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Kendrick Lamar, and Childish Gambino.
Shameika Ansley, a hardware engineer and HBCU alumna, participated in the conversation, explaining how positive representation has influenced her own perception of what is possible.
“On a human level, we all respond to music. It’s how we express ourselves. I think there are important messages behind the lyrics. When I attended Prairie View A&M University, I remember one of the big artists at the time was Plies. I began to really like him when I found out he had a PhD in chemical engineering. It made me think ‘Wow! If he can be successful as an engineer, I can do that too,’” Ansley said.
The conference ended with a closing panel from the faculty and advisors involved with the hip-hop studies minor at the university. Panelists included the minor’s Inaugural Director Msia Kibona Clark, PhD, Timothy Jones, Roger Caruth, JD, PhD, Tammy L. Brown, PhD, and Elka Stevens, PhD. These faculty represented the College of Arts and Sciences, Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, and the Cathy Hughes School of Communications.
Closing words were delivered from P. Thandi Hicks Harper, PhD, a Howard alumna who wrote the world’s first master’s degree thesis on hip-hop in 1983. She commanded the room, dressed in cowgirl boots and a black pantsuit accessorized by gold and colorfully beaded bracelets.
Harper presented a rainstick, a tool symbolic in West African culture of blessings coming down, as she wished good fortune upon the new program set to launch in the spring of 2025.
“We want to see this hip-hop studies program manifest into the greatest program, onto a level no one has seen. I began this journey at Howard University and I take it upon myself to anoint and bless all that you are doing here,” Harper said.
Copy edited by Anijah Franklin
