Students at the George Washington University are stepping into the heartbeat of hip hop with Hip Hop History & Culture, a groundbreaking class where the legends themselves grace the classroom. Led by Loren Kajikawa and Ron Brown, aka DJ RBI, this dynamic duo brings hip hop culture alive with two distinct yet complementary perspectives.
While Kajikawa unpacks the academic nuances of hip hop from behind the podium, DJ RBI spins tales from behind the turntables, infusing every session with rhythm and history. Last week, students had the honor of hosting Master Gee of the Sugarhill Gang, pioneers of the iconic 'Rapper's Delight.' And this is just the beginning. With DJ RBI's connections, expect more exclusive encounters with hip hop luminaries, making this class not just educational, but an immersive journey through the very soul of hip hop.
If you would like more context on the course, please consider connecting with Prof. Kajikawa. He is chair of the music program at The George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts & Design. His main area of research and teaching is American music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with special attention to the dynamics of race and politics. Kajikawa’s writings have appeared in American Music, Black Music Research Journal, ECHO: a music-centered journal, Journal of the Society for American Music, and Popular Music and Society, among others. His book Sounding Race in Rap Songs (University of California Press, 2015) explores the relationship between rap music’s backing tracks and racial representation. In addition to his publications, Kajikawa is a former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Society for American Music (Vol. 12-13) and he currently serves as co-editor of “Tracking Pop,” the University of Michigan Press’s series of books about popular music.
If you would like to connect with Prof. Kajikawa, please contact GW Media Relations Specialists Tayah Frye at [email protected].
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