You will choose one of three different social issues or suggest an alternative issue that you would prefer to write about. In considering the issue, you will propose an intervention or solution to this question by drawing on your historical knowledge of hip hop as a culture and artistic practice. You will balance different perspectives on this issue in deciding how to act, considering multiple consequences and implications of your actions, as well as those of others involved or implicated.
In short, you will write an opinion piece (800-1000 words) in which you:
summarize a debate or issue related to hip hop music.
take a position on the issue at hand while acknowledging counterarguments.
use knowledge from this course to support your position, including direct citations.
Social Issue 1 – Copyright and Sample Clearance
Question: should artists have to pay for permission to use samples before making music?
Re-watch the documentary film Copyright Criminals and consider how copyright law has been applied to sample-based hip hop. Based on your knowledge of hip hop history and the artistic practices of sample-based producers, explain the problems you see with existing practices and argue for a solution.
Some questions to consider:
Why do sample-based producers work the way they do? (in other words, how are their approaches to making music informed by a cultural history of loop-based groove music?)
How is the meaning and nature of creativity defined and debated? What are some contrasting opinions and examples from the film?
How has copyright law been applied to hip hop music and sampling?
How has the history of hip hop music been shaped by sampling and copyright law?
Additional resources:
Dan Charnas, “It’s Time to Legalize Sampling”
Social Issue 2 – Rap Lyrics on Trial
Question: Should rap lyrics be admissible as evidence in courtrooms in the United States, especially in cases where Black men are being prosecuted in criminal proceedings?
Read the following article and watch the following short documentary video:
Lorne Manly, “Legal Debate on Using Boastful Rap Lyrics as a Smoking Gun,” New York Times 26 March 2014.
PBS News Hour, “Should Rap Lyrics Be Used As Evidence in Criminal Trials”
Drawing on class lectures, readings, and listening examples, write an opinion piece that summarizes the debate about using rap lyrics as evidence in criminal prosecutions and takes a position for or against this practice.
Some questions to consider:
What assumptions do prosecutors make about the music and its meaning? How might these assumptions differ from those of fans?
How has the creativity of hip hop musicians been misunderstood in other cases, such as in debates about sampling?
When discussing violent lyrics, what cultural, political, and/or historical issues might be important to consider?
What is missing when prosecutors ask a police officer or detective to read violent rap lyrics as evidence in court?
How does understanding hip hop music as a historical, cultural, and artistic practice—something we emphasize in CMUS 2110—help us to develop an informed opinion about the usefulness of rap lyrics as legal evidence?
This is not a class on the law, and I do not expect you to make a sound legal argument. Instead, I expect you to put forward a well-reasoned opinion based on what you know about hip hop and rap music as a culture and artistic practice.
Issue 3 – Propose Your Own Topic
Propose your own prompt, similar to the three above on any issue of civic concern related to hip hop music, and email it to me. I will approve your proposed topic and/or give you feedback about how you might revise it to make it acceptable for this assignment.
