The First Time I Heard

Black Feminist Approaches to Hip Hop Methodologies

Bibliographic Data

ID2409211
AuthorsP J Seth (0000-0002-4865-7699)
Year2023
Volume23
Issue5
Pages427-436
Publication date2023-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCulture Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1532-7086 • E-ISSN: 1552-356X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/15327086231186593
OpenAlexW4384829079
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited32

Pulse and rhythm are found in our heartbeats, our breaths, and our physical movements. Pitch and tone give our voices distinct expressive and communicative qualities that serve as articulations of our relationship to space and time. Sound constantly surrounds us, embeds us, and embraces us. Yet, in the academy, conversations on Hip Hop as a field of study tend to focus almost exclusively on lyrical analyses. We do not have to completely abandon this mode of engagement, but we seem to forget that Hip Hop is not simply about empirics or measurement. And so, this paper seeks to re-think, re-consider, and re-articulate how we theorize Hip Hop-its politics, its culture, and its ways of being-by attending to the vibrations in the air, nonlexical expressions, and the practices of looking and listening. Drawing from Black feminist studies as well as the methods of ethnography, autobiography, and social and oral history, I discuss the interiority of sound, the contexts of reception, and the sets of relations that exist between sonic phenomena. I argue that these creative approaches not only compel us to ask better questions about cultural moments but are foundational to understanding that Hip Hop is not just rap music; it is a practice, process, and lived experience

Active listening · Aesthetics · Art · Ethnography · Sociology · Anthropology · Music History and Culture · Race, History, and American Society · Theater, Performance, and Music History · Communication

Tools

Open DOI