From poor disadvantaged streets, to mainstream America. From the bottom of the barrel, to one of the most popular genres of music. And from being taught in the streets to being taught in college classrooms.

This is where the hip-hop culture is now. A culture that is now being taught in schools and has made its way to Fresno State in the form of a class. It is listed under the Africana and American Indian studies department.

Hip-hop̢۪s manifestation comes from various forms of past music genres such as blues, funk, rhythm and blues and reggae. Hip-hop music has a way of being more than just music; it can be a representation of people. This is examined in the class here at Fresno State.

Teaching all of the underlying aspects that make up hip-hop can sometimes be challenging when commercial radio often dictates what one hears.

“I want to push students away from commercial-based notions of rap music toward the cultural and historical roots of it in the communities it sprang from and the communities with which it identifies,â€Â Dr. Talib Hasan Johnson, a Fresno State hip-hop instructor said.


Johnson has taught the class for the last two semesters. The class is broken into four sections: DJing, break-dancing, graffiti art and MCing. And in each section, Johnson links all of the parts together through various films and guest speakers.

Hip-hop has changed in many different ways over the years, and for those people who have lived with it the change has been evident.

“Years ago I would’ve described hip-hop as a form of music, but growing up with it (and watching it grow), I now understand it as a way of engaging the world, replete with its own set of philosophical and value-based perspectives about the world,â€Â Johnson said.

With that being said, some may still question the importance and relevance of teaching a class such as this hip-hop course.

“African-American culture has dialectal dimensions and hip hop is just one of many. Hip-hop reflects some essential contradictions in the social conditions of African-Americans,â€Â Dr. Simba, an Africana and American Indian studies instructor said. “It is important to study how this music form parallels the social relationships within the African-American community.â€Â

“I think most people confuse it with what they hear on the radio, and then wonder why on earth someone would want to teach a class on it in a college setting. However, if you explore the histories and influences on hip-hop culture, you’d find that much of it traverses a wide variety of fields of study,â€Â Johnson said.

Sean Johnson, a student double majoring in biology and psychology said, “I feel that the hip hop culture itself has made its way into American culture so vividly that it reflects on who we are. Which in return would be a significant thing to study at a university level.â€Â

Fresno State is among the few universities to take in hip-hop culture as a course of study. But is in very good company with UC Berkeley and the University of Southern California who also offer hip-hop courses. But with the hip- hop culture continuing to grow; other institutions may soon pick up on this trend.