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The inclusion of music in education and higher education has a long history and spans places, peoples and times. Her one genre of music has seemed to gain mainstream attention over the past few decades, and it’s gaining even more momentum in academia. Its genre is hip hop. Hip-hop as a musical genre and culture has played a major role in defining the current American and global musical landscape. Interest in studying the phenomenon of hip-hop creation and how people are intimately connected to it also continues to grow.
Among those called upon to research, explore and educate hip hop is Dr. Langston Wilkins, an assistant professor recently inducted into the UW Madison System. As a professor teaching in both folklore and African American studies, Wilkins’ field and work aligns with his interest in hip-hop music. A passion that began as a boy growing up in Houston, Texas.
“This started when I was collecting every CD and every recording I could get my hands on to soak up all the knowledge,” Wilkins told Madison365. ), I got my degree in English, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do with it, but I knew I wanted to learn hip-hop in some way.African American Graduate School of Indiana University I applied and got into the Department of American and African Diaspora, after which I learned about folklore and ethnomusicology, and learned that I could concentrate and focus on hip-hop, that’s what I chose.
“In 2011, I moved back to Houston to study hip hop and started doing fieldwork working with hip hop artists. I will,” he continued. “Why do they so closely identify with the streets, the city itself, the apartments, the neighborhoods, and all these things? Do you hear me there?”
Right now, hip-hop’s most visible and audible element is the musical form itself, but a focus on places and people allows Dr. Wilkins to look deep into where sounds come from.
Efforts to re-expand how hip-hop is seen, heard and understood bring culture and concepts back to the communities that created them.
“We see hip-hop culture as its own identifiable and independent genre of music and culture,” Wilkins explains. “At the same time, I feel it’s also a marker or aggregate of Black people’s lived experience. All of this comes together in one musical and cultural genre.That’s how I see hip-hop.Artist or not, we all live hip-hop.Hip-hop culture. It is our social activities that foster
Dr. Wilkins’ upcoming book Welcome 2 Houston: Hustle Town’s Hip Hop Heritage explores these topics surrounding Hip Hop in his hometown. By participating in the community and paying homage to the community’s history, hip-hop productions often offer valuable insights beyond what just listening to popular music offers. Listening to stories and experiences is an important part of bringing stories back into the hands of living people, and the classroom is no exception.
“At least what I learned this semester is that students actually know more than I thought,” says Wilkins. “I went to certain classes and tried to explain different things, and they were like, ‘Okay, yeah, we know this stuff.’ But I think what I’m trying to bring to the table is to center Black scholars, Black thinkers, and Black people. I’m trying to find a way, because I think what’s usually missing is that cultural background.
Knowing history is one of exploring black folk life and culture, but the nuances of considering the individuals who experienced it themselves are far more left to ponder. These translate into modern times as they use subtle reflections of the present to better understand it. A large part of it is deconstructing simplistic views of race by exploring the diversity and complexity of black life through hip-hop.
“We need to talk about how black women have been treated and characterized in hip-hop, and how hip-hop treats the black queer community,” Wilkins said. . “This semester class also allowed us to explore different communities in Black America, not to emphasize divisions, but to show the different nuances of Black life. I think we are taught to think of ourselves as one peculiar people when we exist in different ways and are affected by things in different ways.
Black lives across hip-hop and folklife more generally sees an exciting expansion in both scope and depth as researchers continue to push into unexplored territory. Dr. Wilkins not only did his part to reveal more of hip-hop’s history and bring more voices to the table, but he also expressed the importance of inspiring others. Educational institutions can be challenging places, but they can also be important platforms where people can explore, document and share their stories and experiences.
“My life has always been navigating the climates and interactions of different races,” said Wilkins. With the diversity training I had to do after, the need to recognize my own power and how to use that power for a better life, everyone here in Wisconsin. I think it’s been something I’ve been thinking about ever since I came to , you’re an assistant professor, you’re on the tenure track, you have a little bit of power here, use it, be bold, a space where students can be bold. and allow students to bring out their personal backgrounds to further enrich the space.Use relative privilege here.That’s how I see it.
Dr. Wilkins’s time at UW-Madison so far has proven inspiring, and he has also expressed plans to get involved in Midwestern hip-hop and explore other areas of Midwestern black life. More information about Dr. Langston Wilkins can be found here. Check out his UW profile here.
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