Hip-hop has become such a hulking presence in American popular culture that it is as much a political force as a style of music and dance. There is a hip-hop vernacular, a hip-hop generation, a hip-hop aesthetic and a hip-hop landscape. And on Oct. 6, right here at Princeton, there will be a Hip-Hop Symposium. The symposium will emphasize the relevance of hip-hop to current political milestones: the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the five year anniversary of Sept. 11, the 219th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. It will feature a panel of illustrious politicians, performers and scholars, including Cornel West, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and the critically acclaimed rapper Talib Kweli.
Famous speakers are nothing new to the University; political, intellectual and Hollywood celebrities seem to be as eager to visit Princeton as the University is to post their names on the homepage. But the Hip-Hop Symposium isn't just another panel discussion. It has piqued the interest of the Center for American Progress, an influential think tank in Washington, and media outlets as diverse as MTV and The New York Times have shown interest in covering it. The source of curiosity about the event us undoubtedly its inherent irony.
The essence of hip-hop, says Hip-Hop: Art & Life founder Dwight Draughon '08, has its roots in the urban, impoverished community of the South Bronx. "Princeton University, is the complete opposite of that environment," Draughon added.
Kevin Block '08, one of the Symposium's organizers, admits that some might find it "strange and awkward" for the luminaries of hip-hop culture to come to Princeton. The seeming contradiction, he says, is not just because the campus has a suburban as opposed to a metropolitan setting. After all, the Berkeley is a bastion of the hip-hop community, though it's not located in an urban center. Stanford, situated in a comparably affluent area to Princeton, is home to the National Hip-Hop Archives. No, the irony of discussing hip-hop at Princeton, according to Block, has far more to do with the school's reputation for social and political conservatism.
The Hip-Hop Symposium may be the clearest indication yet that the Princeton community is poised to overcome its reputation for preppy homogeny. Mike Rudoy '07, who spearheaded the effort to bring the symposium to the University, intends to make it an annual academic event. He is excited about what the new tradition could do for Princeton's reputation, not to mention its campus climate.
"As a University that prides itself on being one of the premier progressive institutions in the world," he says, "I think it's time that Princeton look at the hip-hop generation, the hip-hop movement, hip-hop music, as something more than hip-hop in its commercial sense ... That the hip-hop community will come to Princeton to discuss political issues [on a yearly basis] is an ambition that everyone who is working on this has."
Rudoy has no doubt about either hip-hop's relevance or its academic viability. He talks about hip-hop as a vehicle for the expression of our culture's anxieties, with a capacity to serve as a reflection of a modern, consumerist society. Good hip-hop music doesn't have to be political, Rudoy says, but a lot of it is. Kweli, he added, is deeply invested in political issues; the rapper's goal as a musician extends beyond drawing a crowd. Hip-hop artists have arguably the only centralized political voice in music today, and that goes a long way toward explaining why hip-hop resonates with even the most stereotypical Princetonians.
"Hip-hop has been not only the CNN of black America, but a subversive CNN to all young America," wrote Simon Rodberg, who completed his Yale thesis on hip-hop in 1999 for Salon Magazine. "Hip-hop battles America's economic and political structures on a cultural front. It offers both an alternative vision of how America is and a new vision of how America could be, in an age when MSNBC and The New York Times make it easy to believe that we all live in the luxury of Wall Street and Silicon Valley."
Rudoy and Block, who are both white, are impressed not only with the hip-hop community's power but with its acceptance. They acknowledge that hip-hop originally articulated a message of black empowerment, but they argue that has broadened into a universal message of personal empowerment. When asked to identify the goal of contemporary hip-hop, Rudoy said, "One person could say business, one could say politics, another could say empowerment ... It's become such a massive force that you can identify with hip-hop in any way you want. It can't be looked at in a purely racial way anymore."
"The beauty of hip-hop is its ability to cross racial and economic lines," Draughon, who is black, agreed. "The humanity of hip-hop makes it possible for it to be embraced and understood by all people willing to listen."
Block believes that hip-hop's African-American cultural roots should not and could not be ignored. However, what he appreciates about hip-hop is that it is an "inherently inclusive community."
It is precisely that inclusivity, Block said, that gives hip-hop its power. "[Hip-hop artists] are such prominent people in the eyes of so many young people," he says. "When they say or do something it has an effect, more so than — I hate to say — a lot of public officials, who have a more technical political platform."
Hip-hop is so prevalent in popular culture that its potential to be an effective political force and to enact political change is indisputable. When Jay-Z wanted to discuss clean water, the United Nations listened. When Kanye West spoke out about Katrina, famously saying, "George Bush doesn't care about black people," all of America listened... and YouTubed... and listened again. In a political era in which pundits and politicians struggle to engage the American youth, hip-hop has extraordinary power.
"Hip-hop is an important thing," says Rudoy. "It affects too many young people in America not to be taken seriously."
The Hip-Hop symposium will take place on Friday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. in McCosh 50.
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