Hip-Hop authenticity and music education: Confronting the concept of keeping it real

Abstract

Abstract The growing area of Hip-Hop pedagogy scholarship contains many meaningful implications and possibilities for music education. However, Hip-Hop’s fervent emphasis on authenticity (i.e. keeping it real) may cause music educators and students alike to view inclusions of Hip-Hop in school settings with a healthy dose of scepticism. Is a music classroom capable of keeping it real? Conceptualizing authenticity as a static condition or set of characteristics may impede the intentions of educators and does not reflect the complicated and contested nature of Hip-Hop authenticity. Viewing authenticity as an action offers more nuanced and meaningful examinations of Hip-Hop cultures and provides discursive and performative spaces for students and teachers to experience the possibilities of Hip-Hop pedagogies. In this article, the author demonstrates the complexity of Hip-Hop authenticity and offers ways forward for music educators interested in including Hip-Hop in school music settings.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 18 citations exist upstream.