Synopses & Reviews
This is the first book to discuss in detail how rap music is put together musically. Whereas a great deal of popular music scholarship dismisses music analysis as irrelevant or of limited value, the present book argues that it can be crucial to cultural theory. It is unique for bringing together perspectives from music theory, musicology, cultural studies, critical theory, and communications. It is also the first scholarly book to discuss rap music in Holland, and the rap of Cree Natives in Canada, in addition to such mainstream artists as Ice Cube.
Review
"...students and scholars who accept the academic importance of the rap idiom (an idealization of rap is already taking place in the works of young composers -- Gregory Walker, for example) will appreciate this contribution to the literature on contemporary music." Choice
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-209), discography (p. 210-211), and index.
Table of Contents
Introduction: music theory, musical poetics, rap music; 1. Analyzing rap music; 2. A genre system for rap music; 3. The musical poetics of a 'revolutionary' identity; 4. Rap geography and soul food; 5. Two cases of localized (and globalized) musical poetics; Bibliography; Discography.