This semester truly flew by… I went into this course with so many expectations and I can proudly say that I am leaving this semester with more knowledge than I expected. I feel as though throughout this course my understanding for hip hop has evolved, which is obviously hoped for. I have learned much more about how big hip hop really is, it is more than rap. Hip hop is breaking, graffing, MC-ing, DJ-ing, and overall vibing. All of my quotes have to relate to how I discovered Hip Hop during this journey- very much to do with gender & sexuality (duh) and very much to do with race. Hip hop, to me is Black culture, so I definitely indulged in the learning we had with intersectionality of race and gender or even race and class.
Intersectionality is something that I feel like was focused a lot throughout the semester. In the hip hop world, intersectionality is a must if you are not a cis man. We looked into the work of queer graffiti grrl crews, black hip hop artists that identified as cis or queer, and we looked at beauty standards of society’s tied into how they are battled by hip hop artists.
For me, I really resonate with the feminist perspective of hip hop in relation to my space within in. As a Black woman, I can now say I look at hip hop differently, I appreciate ALL forms that it comes in. I have become aware of the space that I take up as a consumer, and the power I have to further evolve what hip hop may become in the future. I would have to say that I am the most focused on building an environment within hip hop that benefits and supports the evolution of EVERY womyn hip hop artist that comes into the game. I hope that in 2020, because that is a close enough year, womyn have more freedom and influence on our society than our society on them. I hope that hip hop transforms into a less misogynistic environment that is more welcoming to womyn, specifically, of color.
Most of the quotes that really resonated with me correlated to the space that womyn, black people, and black womyn take up within the realm of hip hop. The idea of black bodies oversexualized, dehumanized, ignored, and/or used by white labels for profit was heavily on my mind during this semester. Seeing brown and black people creating a community of their own within their hoods surrounding a common love for the culture of hip hop was really inspiring. Seeing b-girls breaking together and the graff-grrlz crews tagging together, while both were teaching younger generations that they can do it too was the most influential portion of the semester for me. I am going to further cherish womyn, black womyn, black bodies, queer artists, etc within a culture that is not always supportive of them even more than I did before. This class was really a great one and I hope to be able to take what I learned and pass it on, as well as, evolve it.
