Hip-Hop?! In the General Music Setting? YES!

• Ashley Porter
• Posted 11/2/20
• 1 comments

In today’s music, it’s easy to feel like we are always behind the times. However, to connect with our students, we must embrace current music, specifically hip-hop.  Hip-hop is exceptionally musical—from the MC-ing to the expressiveness of the beats and lyrics, to the sampling.   

When the Beat was Born 

When the Beat was Born, traces the history of Clive Campbell, credited as a pioneer of hip-hop.  Born in Jamaica, Clive moved to the Bronx, where he became known as DJ Kool Herc. He would plug in his two turntables and create a new musical art form calling out to his friends over the beat and MC the party from his basement. The music he made will later define a culture and transform our world. (Hill, 2013)  

The Historical Roots of  Hip-Hop  

Lyrics in hip-hop are an essential factor in expressivity. The lyrics in Tupac’s “Dear Mama” express intense emotion, similar to those found in African American Spirituals.  Africans stolen from their homes,  forced into slavery, forbidden from speaking in their native tongues,  communicate their longing for home and freedom through song.   

Beats, the instrumentals in hip-hop, also find their roots in history.  West African tribes use different drum beats to communicate with other tribes. Questlove (Ahmir Thompson), the drummer for The Roots on The Tonight Show, compares drum beats to speaking. He explained playing a “simple drum beat with an exclamation point at the end of the sentence” to a friend in 1987.  The beat, while instrumental, also expresses the emotion of the song. 

The final major piece to hip-hop is sampling. Sampling is the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording from another recording.  These melodies, rhythm, speech, and drum breaks are manipulated and twisted into a new song. Questlove put it best, “Hip-hop is audio pop art—just a collage of other ideas.” (Thompson, 2005). 

A Glimpse into History  

 “The musicians resumed with a different song, this one with no words. It’s simple repeated melody at first sounded dissonant to Sloane. Still, after a few minutes, he and his companions became entranced by the rolling rhythm of the dancers and clappers, the counterpoint of the gourd beaters, and the repetitious melody, all locked together. Time flew by until this piece came to its end.“ (Rich, 1993)   

This scene took place in 1688 on a Jamaican plantation. Doesn’t this sound like hip-hop? Is it any surprise that this rich musical history influenced Clive Campbell – aka –  DJ Kool Herc, 300 years later?  More amazing to me is that this kind of music has been around since the time of Bach? 

When we remember our purpose, it will keep our actions in line.   

Franklin J. Willis says it best – “Be the D.J. of their lives, of their music, not yours!” (Willis, 2020) We are music teachers because we want to impact the lives of our students. Incorporating hip-hop into our classrooms is a tangible way to make authentic connections with our students.  
 

Where to Begin? 

• Talk to people. I have learned more about hip-hop, just talking to other adults and looking up the tracks they loved as a kid.   
• Ask your students. They’ll tell you what they like!  
•  Listen. Create a Q.R. code linking to a Google Form so students can add their favorite songs to a Spotify playlist for you.  
• Start small—give yourself grace!!  

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Incorporating Hip-Hop in General Music 

Here are six ideas on how to integrate hip-hop into your general music classroom.  Each of these ideas relates directly to the four domains of the 2014 General Music National Standards. 

CREATE

• Parodies  – To teach my students about wearing masks, I wrote a parody this summer. They loved it! I used “7 Rings” by Ariana Grande, but named it “7 Masks.” We learned rapping, singing, and dancing for a music video.  

I divided my 5th graders got into small groups.  Each student was assigned a role, including; performers, lyricists, choreographers, videographers, and directors (Connect). Each group wrote their raps! Now we have a jumping-off point for future parody! 

• Songwriting— I start this process by asking my students about topics they have opinions about, for example, Fall.   

Next, the students identify what activities they do in the Fall and write their ideas down.  Then I play an instrumental beat from YouTube and have students attempt to rap their words. Do not be fooled—rapping is hard!  

I ask the students what they should use for the hook (aka- the chorus).  Students then share their ideas and then translate their ideas to an instrument or dictate the board’s notes. The hook is the busiest point in the song.  It is typically 8 bars long and is usually repeated three to four times throughout the song.   

Eventually, students can each write their own. During this creating process is when you hope your administrator walks in! 

For more information about the Song Structure of Rap – Here is a short explanation. 

PERFORM 

• Play Alongs— First, find a simple sampled melody. Next, transcribe the tune for your students. Then, teach them how to play it on an Orff instrument.  Finally, play a recording of the original piece and have the students and play along.  The sampled melody is similar to the color part!  A great song to try this activity with is Panini by Lil Nas X. 
• Drum Alongs — I use this activity with my older kids. First, ensure the song you choose is clean or only play the instrumental version. Next, compose two simple rhythms that go with the beat. Play rhythm one during the chorus (hook), and rhythm two during the verse.   

RESPOND 

• Movement — I use this activity regularly with my K-2 students.  The game’s full description is in GamePlan K.   The game is called “Color Movement Game.” My friend, Deborah Bryson from Mindful Musicking, created a great free resource I use to accompany this game (Picture).  

First, the teacher calls out different colors or post them visually on the board. Red is stop (I say Pose!), Green is go, Yellow is go slow.  There are many different colors, and I assign each to represent a different movement.  

The teacher becomes the  DJ while the students move to the beat. With my older kids, grades 3-5, I play all kinds of music from a Spotify Playlist. When the music stops, the students’ pair-share about a prompt written on the board. 

CONNECT   

• Virtual Bitmoji Classroom — To engage my students, I made a hip-hop themed room this year (pictured)!  The room includes a sound recording studio background with links to the Alphabet Rap, a sampling machine, a Beginner Breakdancing video, and a Read Aloud of “The Story of Rap”. 

Teachers are always looking for new ways to connect with their students.  In my experience, hip-hop speaks profoundly to my students. However, my rural upbringing completely ignored the entire hip-hop culture, so I found myself unable to relate.   Throughout my education, the unintentional message, “Western music is better” than anything else prevailed.   

Unfortunately, schools across America are still propagating this message.  Hip-hop is a part of many students’ cultures –  hip-hop is a culture, not just a genre. 

We tell our students they have to learn “school music.” The message we are sending our students is that “their” music isn’t good enough.   

Stop for a minute. 

Think about that.  

Representing and developing a love for music is my why.  This is why I became a music teacher. I have chosen to expose my vulnerability. I have decided to face my lack of knowledge about hip-hop: the result – a deeper connection with my students.   

I hope you will consider diving into the hip-hop culture and reaping the benefits of connecting with your students in a new way! 

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References

Goldman, H. (2007, January 22) Clive/DJ Kool Herc Campbell (1955- ). Retrieved from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/campbell-clive-dj-kool-herc-1955/ 

Hill, L. (2013) When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop (T. Taylor, III, Illus.). Roaring Brook Press. 

Rath, Rich. (1993). African Music in Seventeenth-Century Jamaica: Cultural Transit and Transition. The William and Mary Quarterly. 50. 10.2307/2947472.  

Thompson, A., (Guest). (2005, September 2). Ahmir Thompson, AKA Questlove. [Audio Podcast]. Gross, T. (Host). Fresh Air.  https://www.npr.org/2005/09/02/4829788/ahmir-thompson-aka-questlove. 

Willis, F. (Guest). (2020, June 29). F.I.N.D. Your Brilliance — Interview with Franklin J. Willis. [Audio Podcast]. Jimenez, E. And McLean, J. (Hosts). The Score. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-36-f-i-n-d-your-brilliance-interview-franklin-j-willis/id1475442249?i=1000480265054