Professor Val

I am currently attempting to develop a research agenda focused on what I call hip-hop epistemology and in June presented a paper entitled Engaging Hip-Hop Leadership: Diversity, Counter-Hegemony and Glorified Misogyny. I had the opportunity to interact with scholars from the Netherlands, Finland, Malta, the UK, Scotland and the U.S., and my research was enthusiastically embraced by the younger scholars, and while some of my arguments were challenged, I learned a lot. I have been designing/developing/writing a multi-media module on ethics and hip-hop culture most recently, where I attempt to explore the ethical implications of the misogyny and sexism in "commercial" rap music and challenge the younger generation (i.e. middle/high schoolers) to deconstruct the imagery and think about its impact. So I have been immersed in old skool/new skool socially conscious music/lyrics/documentaries/interviews, but have been left wondering if the battle has been lost. Ironically, I think many teenagers, particularly those of African and Latino descent, get the point, it is the young adults and "commercial" artists who may be missing the point. Ethically, the question becomes "what is it that I refuse to do, regardless of how much money I'm offered?" Chuck D. made this point in Byron Hurt's "Beyond Beats, and Rhymes" I think. So the current commercialization of Hip-Hop music and its video images are not in fact counter-hegemony, they are hegemony ala sexism, patriarchy and capitalism.