Hip-Hop and Music Education

Abstract

Educational institutions such as schools and universities began engaging with Hip-Hop as early as the 1980s. This led to the development of educational practices relat- ing to Hip-Hop by the 1990s. Today, these practices are often collectively called "Hip-Hop education." While some pedagogical areas, such as teaching literature, have seen consid- erable progress in the institutionalization of Hip-Hop, music education has only recently started engaging more intensively with the genre in both research and practice. In this chapter, we will trace this evolution, explaining why it started late and is still unfolding slowly. We will also discuss the resulting tasks for music educators in research and prac- tice, asking in particular whether an institutionalization of Hip-Hop can succeed that is sustainable, self-reflective, and ethically responsible, and what role dialogue and collab- oration between artists and educators can play in this.