Reading Schedule

Be sure to read the texts BEFORE taking the weekly quizzes. 

Week 1- 8/19 to 8/25- What is Hip Hop? What is poetry? 

• Watch The Birth of Hip Hop

• Watch What makes a poem...a poem

• Read "'We gon be alright:' containment, creativity, and the birth of hip hop"  

Week 2- 8/26 to 9/1- What is Hip Hop? What is poetry? 

• Watch Rapping, deconstructed: The best rhymers of all time

• Watch Kendrick Lamar's "That Part (Black Hippy Remix)" Verse | Check The Rhyme

• Watch 'Poetic Devices' rap by Testament

• Read "Between the Lines..." (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 3- 9/2 to 9/8- East Coast Hip Hop (70's)

• Watch The Sugarhill Gang "Rapper's Delight" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch The Last Poets "When The Revolution Comes" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message AND Read its lyrics

• Read "The Social Significance of Rap & Hip-Hop Culture" (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 4- 9/9 to 9/15- East Coast Hip Hop (80's) 

• Watch Kurtis Blow "Breaks" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Public Enemy "Fight The Power" AND Read its lyrics OPTIONAL: Watch Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing

• Watch Brother D "How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch James Brown & Afrika Bambaataa "Unity" AND Read its lyrics

• Read "Verbal Art Performance In Rap Music: The Conversation of the 80's"  (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 5- 9/16 to 9/22- East Coast Hip Hop (90's)

• Watch KRS-One - Sound of da Police AND Read its lyrics

• Watch The Notorious B.I.G. - Juicy AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Eric B. & Rakim - In The Ghetto AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Nas - Life's a Bitch ft. AZ, Olu Dara AND Read its lyrics

• Read "Evolution of the Usage of the N-word in Popular American Rap Music (1990-2019)" (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 6- 9/23 to 9/29- East Coast Hip Hop (00's)

• Watch Jay Z - 99 Problems AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Young Jeezy - My President ft. Nas AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Talib Kweli - Get By AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M. AND Read its lyrics

• Read "Letter To My Son" (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 7- 9/30 to 10/6 - West Coast Hip Hop (70's and 80's)

• Watch The Watts Prophets "What is a Man" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Captain Rapp - Bad Times (I Can't Stand It) AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Ice T - 6 in the morning AND Read its lyrics

• Watch N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton AND Read its lyrics

• Read "Brotherly Love: Homosociality and Black Masculinity in Gangsta Rap Music" (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 8- 10/7 to 10/13- West Coast Hip Hop (90's)

• Watch 2Pac "Brenda's Got A Baby" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch N.W.A., King Tee, Ice-T, MC Hammer, Tone-Loc, etc. - We're All In The Same Gang AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Paris "The Devil Made Me Do It" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Compton’s Most Wanted – Growin’ Up In The Hood AND Read its lyrics

• Read "Conscious versus Gangster: An Evolving Relationship in Hip-Hop Activism" (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 9- 10/14 to 10/20- West Coast Hip Hop (00's)

• Watch Kendrick Lamar "Alright" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Nipsey Hussle "Picture Me Rollin" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch YG & Nipsey Hussle "FDT" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Prophets of Rage - Unfuck The World AND Read its lyrics

• Read The Modern Athlete, Hip-Hop, and Popular Perceptions of Black Masculinity (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 10-10/21 to 10/27- Hip Hop Artists From Other Parts of the Country

• Watch Eminem "White America" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch J. Cole - G.O.M.D AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Lil Wayne - God Bless Amerika AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Kanye West -New Slave AND Read its lyrics

• Read "From the margins to mainstream: the political power of hip-hop" (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 11-10/28 to 11/3- The Women of Hip Hop (70's)

• Watch The First Female Rappers No One Talk About: a history of women in hip hop

• Watch MC Sha-Rock of the Funky 4+1 "Rappin and Rocking the House" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Mercedes Ladies (No lyrics available)

• Watch The Sequence - "Funk You Up" AND Read its lyrics

• Read "Afrocentrism, Hip-Hop, and the “Black Queen”: Utilizing Hip-Hop Feminist Methods to Challenge Controlling Images of Black Women" (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 12-11/4 to 11/10- The Women of Hip Hop (80's)

• Watch Roxanne Shante - "Roxanne's Revenge" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch MC Lyte - "Paper Thin" AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Queen Latifah - Ladies First (feat. Monie Love) AND Read its lyrics

• Watch J.J. Fad - "Supersonic" AND Read its lyrics

• Read "Oppositional consciousness within an oppositional realm: the case of feminism and womanism in rap and Hip Hop, 1976-2004" (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 13-11/11 to 11/17- The Women of Hip Hop (90's)

• Watch Lauryn Hill - Doo-Wop (That Thing) AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Bahamadia - I Confess AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Yo Yo-You Can't Play With My Yo-Yo AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Lil' Kim ft. Missy Elliott, Da Brat, Left Eye, Angie Martinez - Not Tonight (Ladies Night Remix) AND Read its lyrics

• Read "Subjects and objects: linguistic performances of sexuality in the lyrics of black female hip-hop artists" (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 14-11/18 to 11/24- The Women of Hip Hop (00's) 

• Watch Beyoncé - Formation AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Nicki Minaj "Monster" verse AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Cardi B - WAP feat. Megan Thee Stallion AND Read its lyrics

• Watch Tierra Whack – Unemployed AND Read its lyrics

• Read "The Cardi B–Beyoncé complex: Ratchet respectability and Black adolescent girlhood" (OPTIONAL Reading)

Week 15- 11/25 to 12/1- Thanksgiving Break- NO Readings or Assignments

Week 16- 12/2 to 12/8- Global Hip Hop

• Watch Hip Hop in the Holy Land Documentary 

Week 17-12/9 to 12/15- Spoken Word Poetry

• Watch Sojourner Truth Speech of 1851, "Ain't I a Woman"

• Watch Amanda Gorman's 'The Hill We Climb'

• Watch Amiri Baraka "Somebody Blew Up America"

• Watch Jamila Lyiscott "How Hip Hop taught my students to think critically"

Week 18- 12/16 (last day of the semester)