The Hip Hop Wars

 

To begin our discussion this week, I'd like you to think critically about how the authors (Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Tricia Rose) approach writing the history of hip hop. Please 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 refer to them in your writing as 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 writer's overall approach to chronicling the history of hip hop.