discussion: hip hop wars

To begin our discussion this week, I’d like you to think critically about how each of the authors (Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Tricia Rose) approaches writing the history of hip hop and answer the following questions.

*What historical facts do they rely upon to write this history?

*What are the political stakes of hip hop, according to each author?

*What do the two pieces share in common?

Both of our authors are professors, so after you’ve named them initially, you can either call them Dr. Gates, Jr. or Dr. Rose (or Professor instead of Dr.) Also, I am not asking you to pit these two writers against one another or to declare one easier to read than the other, etc. It’s not necessarily a compare and contrast (though a little bit of that is fine). I’m asking you to be observant of their writing styles and each professor’s overall approach to chronicling the history of hip hop.

Also, please incorporate your thoughts on the Google debate in at least one your posts this week. It doesn’t have to be the first post that’s due Wednesday. If you’d like, you may address the readings in your first post and the Google debate at some point later in the week and in your response to someone else. The link for the debate is here: http://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/versus-hip-hop/

(you may need to cut and paste link into new window)