July 21, 2011

Prezi: The globalization of rap and hip and hop

One of the cool things about taking a Communication minor at SFU is that I get to learn about interesting stuff. Don’t get me wrong — marketing and business concepts can be interesting, but they can also be draining and stale sometimes.

Right now, I’m taking one of my fave Communication classes ever! CMNS 321 is about popular music, and I totally love it. The course starts a little heavy (featuring concepts and readings from Adorno), but it eventually gets fun, especially once it gets to globalization, authenticity, and politics. Music is such a fascinating thing!

Below, check out a presentation I gave with a partner this week about the globalization of rap and hip hop. I didn’t know too much about the subject, but thankfully I found a great article that provides a brief history and my partner was knowledgeable about it, too.

Hip hop is a big industry now, but it’s really fascinating to learn about its humble origins in New York. Honestly I think there’s too much hip hop junk on the airwaves right now — do we seriously need another rap song about grinding in a club? No? I didn’t think so. — so it’s good to be reminded of how this type of music started and what it is really all about.

Rap & Hip hop — Globalization on Prezi

Photo credit: orianomada on Flickr