Getting Hip to Hip-Hop

Anthony Ratcliff (photo by Donna Cote)

These days the biggest problem facing Anthony Ratcliff, visiting instructor in African American and African studies, is that his spring semester 300-level course on hip-hop culture is already oversubscribed and more students than he can accommodate are clamoring to enroll. He has emphasized to students that the class won’t be “just chilling and putting their feet up and listening to music. We’re going to be doing a lot of reading and a lot of writing. I am bringing in music theory, cultural criticism, deconstruction, and other ways of analyzing hip-hop culture.”

Ratcliff describes hip-hop as “an amalgamation of history, art, literature, and music into one art form.” His course will trace the history of hip-hop from its 1970s origins in the Bronx to its spread across the country and around the world. According to Ratcliff, hip-hop began in the early 1970s, when older urban areas were beginning to experience deindustrialization. “Hip-hop became an outlet for African Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Latinos in the Bronx. It was a form of entertainment, but also a form of release and expression of woe and angst at a time when there were no jobs for people. It was a response to how the state deals with the urban poor.”

Ratcliff explained there is a lot more nuance and breadth to hip-hop than the commercialized version projected by Hollywood and 'gangsta rap' megastars like 50 Cent and Eminem. “Hip-hop is complex and fluid. There are lots of people on the grass-roots level involved in the culture. It’s a way of life, not just a musical style. Hip-hop performers can spread important messages, like ‘Get out and vote.’ ” He believes that while underground hip-hop will never supplant its highly commodified counterpart, it is more creative in terms of language and music.

In addition to listening, reading, and writing, Ratcliff plans to bring in different hip-hop artists, including emcees and deejays, to the classroom. He also hopes to collaborate with the hip-hop dance class that will be taught by Jennifer Webber this spring. He looks forward to teaching a course about a male-oriented culture to a predominantly female group. “Women have an important role in hip-hop. They are often critical of the misogynist expressions of some hip-hop artists.”

Having grown up in Long Beach, California, Ratcliff recalled that in Los Angeles for several years in the 1980s gang violence virtually disappeared, eclipsed by the new phenomenon of break dancing that is part of hip-hop culture. He sees hip-hop as having the potential to bring people together across race, gender, and class divisions. “It’s transformative,” he said. “Hip-hop is not “just a black thing, although it is rooted in the music of the African diaspora.” He wants students to explore how hip-hop is both a part of our culture and at the same time a critique of our culture and values.

Ratcliff has gotten positive feedback and support from fellow faculty and the MHC administration in advance of the class. “I love teaching. Teaching is my passion,” he said. "I’ve taught everything from fifth grade to G.E.D. classes to college courses.”

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