Step Your Game Up

Personal Reflexive Statements

As an educator, it is my goal to create an atmosphere that engages, excites, and inspires students. Through my teaching style, I aim to create an environment where knowledge is coproduced. I am not the giver of knowledge, but instead I serve as a facilitator of student learning and my goal is to find ways for students to become motivated about understanding the complexities of the social world. All students have lived experiences and social locations that impact their worldview. In my courses, we verbally agree that we do not need to apologize for who we are or where we come from, but promise to open our minds to new knowledge and the social realities of others in our classroom community. Creating a safe space allows students to speak freely and be challenged by fellow students in a supportive environment. I want students to grow as critically engaged thinkers who understand there is no one “truth” and what they have to say and offer is valuable. Hip-hop has grown beyond its initial existence in urban spaces and has made its way into the college classroom. With its increased visibility and enormous multicultural following, hip-hop cultural practices can prove valuable when engaging in critical educational practices.

Introduction

They entered the classroom wearing black shirts, black denim pants, and dark shades. They walked across the room and placed travel-sized bottles of Listerine in front of each member of the group they were scheduled to battle. On this day, we would see Team Tupac and Team Jay Z battle for sociological dominance. After Team Tupac finished placing the Listerine in front of Team Jay Z, they returned to their side of the stage and stood there with their arms folded waiting for the battle to begin. ¹ Some students in the class did not understand the reason for the mouthwash theatrics and asked for clarification. A member from Team Tupac gladly explained that the mouthwash was purchased to help Jay Z “wash” the Notorious BIG’s lyrics out of his mouth. ² After witnessing Team Notorious BIG wearing black T-shirts, Team Nicki Minaj wearing pink T-shirts, and Team Tupac wearing dark shades and bringing Listerine to class, I knew the students bought into the idea of the Sociological Hip-Hop Rap Battle.

This article describes my attempt to help students develop critical thinking and public speaking skills in a Sociology of Hip-Hop course. Grand Master Caz, one of the founding members of the legendary rap group, The Cold Crush Brothers, stated, “Hip-Hop didn’t invent anything. Hip-Hop reinvented everything.” I had a desire to use hip-hop to reinvent the “traditional” classroom space. Teaching a course on sociology and hip-hop was already seen as a revolutionary concept for the department, but I wanted to move beyond a focus on the content of hip-hop and create a space where students could understand the context and essence of hip-hop culture. I was born and raised in Harlem, New York City, and hip-hop was very influential to the development of my voice, critical thinking, and community activism. I saw a natural connection between the essence of hip-hop culture and critical sociological analysis. Bringing hip-hop into the classroom allowed youth culture to be seen as valid and worthy of existence in an institution of higher education.

Hip-hop History and the Classroom Space

The crumbling Bronx in the 1970s provided the environment for the creation of hip-hop culture (Clay 2003; Rose 1994). The Bronx stood as an example of urban plight caused by failed urban policy, structural racism, and faulty economic programs. Life for the young black and Latino Bronx residents was filled with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. They suffered in a city with staggering youth unemployment rates, poor educational structures, and over-policed communities (Chang 2005). Youth developed the culture of hip-hop to provide a sense of self-empowerment and to oppose the institutions and individuals responsible for the destruction in their communities. Participation in hip-hop culture provided social support for these marginalized youth. Hip-hop has grown from mainly serving as a voice for the marginalized and underserved black and Latino residents of New York City to a worldwide culture being practiced across the globe. By bringing hip-hop culture into the college classroom, I hoped to deconstruct the professor–student power structure and create a more democratic space conducive to active learning and engagement. However, finding ways to educate students in a manner that will keep them engaged and one that is current with new trends is a difficult task for educators (Morrell and Duncan-Andrade 2002). An engagement with popular culture texts and practices has the possibility of providing students with the tools to reframe, retell, or deconstruct dominant narratives as well as provide the opportunity for students to engage in critical thinking. Even with this possibility, it was important for me to guard against using hip-hop as a tool to get students to understand the more “traditional” sociological texts. “Rap can be a powerful tool for helping students to develop skills in critical analysis, but that power is diluted when the goal of its use is solely for reading and discussing canonical texts” (Kelly 2013:51-52). Hip-Hop was not just a tool; it was the focus of the exercise. The battle allowed the students to use creative tactics to win the competition while developing transferrable critical thinking skills. In what follows, I describe the sociological battles that led to increased student engagement, intense friendly competition, and a desire to learn without the pressure of performing for a grade. Hip-hop was used to reinvent the classroom debate.

Method

Debates date back over 4,000 years to ancient Egyptians and yet usually students who are members of established debate teams are the only ones who get to participate in competitive debate (Healey 2012; Kennedy 2007). A number of scholars have written about the benefits of the in-class debate on student learning and have argued that students participating in debate improve critical thinking skills, writing skills, and show increased engagement with class materials (Crone 1997; Dundes 2001; Firmin, Vaughan, and Dye 2007; Green and Klug 1990; Healey 2012; Kennedy 2007; Omelicheva and Avdeyeva 2008). In addition, with increasing class sizes, and a lack of Teaching Assistantship/Graduate Assistantship support, assigning long critical research papers becomes impractical for many professors (Green and Klug 1990). The debate has become a viable option to increase opportunities for critical engagement in subject matter. Although I found the debate methods to be interesting, I wanted to restructure the traditional debate and allow the art of the hip-hop rap battle to be introduced to the course. In a traditional rap battle, rappers face off in a competition to see who has the best lyrical skills, content, creativity, and delivery. The winner is often decided by a panel of experts or determined by the response of the crowd. The rapper who gets the most crowd reaction and loudest cheers usually is determined the winner. Battles can be tense and pressures often run high. Winning a popular battle comes with a great amount of “cred” ³ in hip-hop circles, so rappers prepare long and hard to perform at their highest levels in competition. Similarly, the sociological rap battles in my class evolved into a very competitive event where students fought for sociological dominance that resulted in complex analysis of a host of sociological phenomena.

The battle schedule was modeled after a “March Madness” National Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Basketball bracket. The number of people enrolled in the coursed determined how many teams I would create. Each team consisted of no more than four students. Battles were scheduled using an online random name selector to determine the dates of the first rounds of battle. A list of battles was sent to students and updated as we moved on to later rounds. After each battle, the winner advanced to the next round with all battles culminating in the final Crew Battle Championship at the end of the semester (see Appendix for one of the prizes a winning team received in 2011).

Format

Once the groups were formed, we held a naming session during class. I allowed students to submit the names of rappers that would be entered into the pool of possible team names. Once we had at least 15 names, I used the random name selector tool to select team names. As a class we agreed that once a name was selected for a team it was final and people could not switch teams if they were not a fan of the selected rapper. Every battle team was named after a rapper (i.e., Team Tupac, Team Jay z, Team Nicki Minaj, etc.) and students had to do biographical research on their namesake.

A typical battle consisted of two teams. Each team was required to meet outside of class to select a verse from a song to analyze in the battle. Teams were required to do a sociological analysis of a song verse from their team’s namesake. ⁴ Each team selected a verse and played it for the class and then proceeded to do their analysis. Before the battle, I flipped a coin to see who would be the first to present. The first team introduced themselves to the crowd, ⁵ handed out lyrics for the students to follow, and then played the song. In an effort to save trees, most students had the lyrics displayed on the LCD screen while the song played. After the one verse played, the team began their sociological analysis of the verse. They were given 10 minutes for analysis and after it was done, the competing team was given the opportunity to levy one critique of the analysis. After the critique, the presenting team was allowed to respond to the critique. After the response, the teams switched places and repeated the process. After both teams presented, the remaining members in the class served as the crowd and selected the winner based on the loudest applause. The winner was chosen by whom the crowd deemed to have the best sociological analysis and delivery.

Battles did not begin until the fourth week of the semester. This allowed time for me to assist students with being reacclimated to major sociological theories and perspectives in addition to focusing on our analysis of hip-hop culture through a sociological lens. It was important for me to ensure students had a basic understanding of sociological theory in order for them to have the tools to do well in the analysis battle. I also wanted the students to have a more nuanced understanding of hip-hop culture. Popular media tends to portray hip-hop as a culture that seems at odds with intellectual development. However, Tricia Rose (1994) argued that hip-hop deals with many complex social and cultural issues and at times can seem contradictory. She adds that what seems contradictory are not necessarily signs of a lack of intellectual clarity. Rap music and rappers offer more than a single viewpoint and trying to understand the conversations that take place in music and videos out of context makes things seem irrational. Students had to be aware of the complexity of hip-hop culture in order to be properly prepared to offer sophisticated analyses in their battle presentations. Again, students were not judged on the likability of the beat/music of their selected song, nor the complexity of the lyrics. The students were judged on their ability to deconstruct the meaning of the lyrics while making connections to larger sociological theories and perspectives.

Grading and Group Dynamics

Although the battles were a major part of the class, they were not graded. I went back and forth when deciding whether or not to grade the battles. In the end, I thought that if I did not grade the battles, students would be willing to take more chances with creativity in their analyses. I felt they would stifle their creativity and focus more on getting a “good grade” on the assignment if I decided to grade the battle. On the other hand, I was also worried that students would not take the assignment seriously if they were not graded on their efforts. In the end, I elected to move forward without grading and the students performed well. Students took the battles seriously and wearing costumes was just one example of the thought and effort put into their preparation. I have done this assignment for approximately four years and I have only been asked once, this past semester, about the possibility of receiving a grade for the battle. Students get so enveloped in competition with their classmates that the win seems more important than a grade. In the future, I plan to add a question about student opinions related to not receiving grades for the battles to my end of the semester course evaluation.

Battle Stories

It was import for me to create a classroom environment where students felt empowered to take academic risks and stretch their intellectual boundaries. From an outsider’s perspective, it could seem as if these students were excited about the sociological battles because they were able to do something they enjoyed while having fun. Actually, this observation would be true. The students were at times loud, laughing, clapping, and making noises in response to a person’s pointed critique of an argument. The students were having fun, but they were learning at the same time. They could not be victorious with a simplistic analysis of their selected lyrics. Students far exceeded my expectations with their creativity and sociological analysis of hip-hop texts. It is important to note that the students participating in the battles were predominately white. Kelly (2013) argues that students of color spend a large amount of time learning about white cultural experiences, but white students are rarely introduced to the experiences of people of color. I am not arguing that rap lyrics give a complete experience of people of color. I understand that many rap lyrics are not truthful and are artful representations of stories, both real and imagined. However, being exposed to the stories told by their artists in addition to conducting sociological research on a variety of related topics, these students were exposed to different cultures, history, language, and experiences. The following are selections from winning battle presentations.

In Table 1, I highlighted a few examples of student analysis from teams that won their battles. Some analyses were more complicated than others, but I felt it was important to show how students approached the texts in their battle presentations. In addition to the sample information presented in the table, students presented research gathered from academic sources that helped to frame their arguments. They became familiar with past and contemporary sociologists who focused on topics related to the themes of their battle presentations. Students showed that they were able to explicate the artists’ argument in the text before they went into analysis and making connections to broader sociological theories. Team Notorious BIG made connections to the lyrics and rational choice theory. Rather than view urban residents simply as deviant, students were able to draw upon sociological theory to situate the urban experience in a larger context of destruction, fear, and a lack of options. This nuanced view allowed students to see how individual experiences are impacted by larger social structures. Team Jay Z also delivered a complicated argument in response to Jay Z’s experience with getting pulled over by police. Students highlighted the realities of racial profiling and were able to connect profiling to hyperpolicing in urban neighborhoods, the war on drugs, and the rise of the prison industrial complex. Team Nicki Minaj was able to situate the “Monster” verse in the realm of feminism. They highlighted the connections between Minaj’s verse and the reality of patriarchy and sexism and showed how she upset and subverted traditional notions of feminism while attacking sexism and patriarchy on her own terms. Finally, Team Lupe Fiasco was able to make connections with labeling theory, controlling images, self-fulfilling prophecy, and the lyrics of their artist. When challenged by the opposing team they were able to make the connections between government involvement in the suffering of people in “the ‘hood” and prisoners in Abu Ghraib. Again, students were able to situate the lyrics in the broader context of complex social issues.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Table 1.

Examples of Students’ Lyrical Analysis for the Battle.

Lyrical Excerpts and Examples of Students’ Analysis From Field Notes
Team Notorious BIG “Things Done Changed”	“If I wasn’t in the rap game I’d probably have a key knee deep in the crack game Because the streets is a short stop Either you’re slingin crack rock or you got a wicked jumpshot Shit, it's hard being young from the slums eatin five cent gums not knowin where your meals comin from … ”—Notorious BIG (Notorious 1994)
	Here BIG discusses life in his ‘hood and the options facing youth in his Brooklyn neighborhood. Some may feel people in these settings are just criminals, but what are their options? In sociology, rational choice theory states that choices that seem irrational can actually be rational. Humans weigh their options and make the best choice based on what they are being faced with. In his verse, he is faced with a messed up neighborhood with limited options so many people see basketball and selling drugs as a way to make it out. This may seem irrational to people who are not in his situation, but he has to survive and will use whatever means to do it.
Team Jay Z “99 Problems”	“So I … pull over to the side of the road And I heard “Son do you know why I’m stopping you for?” Cause I’m young and I’m black and my hat's real low Do I look like a mind reader sir, I don’t know Am I under arrest or should I guess some mo? “Well you was doing fifty five in a fifty four” “License and registration and step out of the car” “Are you carrying a weapon on you I know a lot of you are” I ain’t stepping out of shit all my papers legit “Do you mind if I look round the car a little bit?” Well my glove compartment is locked so is the trunk and the back And I know my rights so you gon’ need a warrant for that”—Jay Z (Jay Z 2004)
	Jay Z is faced with being stopped by a police officer on the highway. It is important that he showed that the officer said he was pulled over for doing “55 in a 54” to show that he was only doing one mile over the speed limit and still got pulled over. In addition, the officer makes a judgment of Jay Z and assumes he has a gun. He also thought Jay Z didn’t know his rights and tried to search his car. This story is a highlight of racial profiling and the hyper-policing in urban neighborhoods. In class, we discussed that where police are, is where you will get caught. Since police flood urban neighborhoods, they arrest people for crime there, but crime is happening in suburban areas as well. People assume that drugs are only in urban spaces because that’s what we hear from the media, but drugs are in suburban areas as well. People just don’t get caught because police are not hanging around in the neighborhood. The police presence in urban neighborhoods and the war on drugs has helped to increase the population of blacks and Latinos in jail. If they policed white communities in the same way, do you think the numbers would be different?
Team Nicki Minaj Verse from “Monster”	“Pull up in the monster automobile gangster with a bad bitch that came from Sri Lanka yeah I’m in that Tonka, color of Willy Wonka You could be the King but watch the Queen conquer Ok first things first I’ll eat your brains then I’mma start rocking gold teeth and fangs cause that’s what a motherfucking monster do hairdresser from Milan, that's the monster do monster Giuseppe heel that’s the monster shoe Young Money is the roster and the monster crew and I’m all up all up all up in the bank with the funny face and if I’m fake I ain’t notice cause my money ain’t … ”—Nicki Minaj (West 2010)
	This is a verse that does not easily make sense without hearing the music and understanding what she is trying to do. Nicki Minaj doesn’t care what people think or what people have to say. She does not plan to take the back seat to anyone. She messes with the definition of what it means to be a rapper because most people think of males as rappers. She shows that she can hold her own and turn into a monster if needed. When she turns into the monster, she takes over and conquers. She puts on fangs to suck the blood from sexism and patriarchy. When she is “eating brains” she is challenging what we think of as a woman’s role. She can be seen as a feminist who is ok with her sexuality and feels she should be on an equal playing field with men. She goes against the stereotypical look of the feminist and shows she can fight for her rights and be stylish when she does it. That is why she is a monster
	Example of a Critique and Rebuttal
Team Lupe Fiasco “Daydreamin”	And hold this MAC-10 that's all covered in jewels And can you please put your titties closer to the 22s? And where's the champagne? We need champagne Now look as hard as you can with this blunt in your hand And now hold up your chain slow motion through the flames Now cue the smoke machines and the simulated rain But not too loud ‘cause the baby's sleepin I wonder if it knows what the world is keepin Up both sleeves while he lay there dreamin Me and my robot tip-toe ‘round creepin I had to turn my back on what got you paid I couldn’t see half the hood on me like Abu Ghraib But I’d like to thank the streets that drove me crazy And all the televisions out there that raised me, I was … ” —Lupe Fiasco (Fiasco 2006)
	In this verse, he talks about the problem of fake images in hip-hop. They are not being real and are dreaming. It can also tie into the idea of controlling images. We see these images played over and over again and they become reality for the viewers. People view black males as if all are like the people in the video. The other thing that happens is that youth see these videos and think this is who they are supposed to be. It’s like labeling theory. He also talks about how he had to change. He was dealing with the pressures of his neighborhood and couldn’t see. He had to realize that he had power to do more for his community so he would help them end the cycle of believing the labels
	Team Kendrick Lamar’s Critique: We feel you could have talked more about the ‘hood and how he was blinded to everything. Talk more about how his neighborhood blocked his vision
	We did mention his ‘hood. When he says it was on his head like Abu Ghraib he did talk about it as a blindfold, but it was not just that his ‘hood blocked his vision. He thanked the streets that drove him crazy, so he didn’t think they fully blocked his vision. He could be talking about his ‘hood being the victims. The Abu Ghraib people had hoods over their heads and were blindfolded. They were blindfolded by the government, so he could be saying that same thing about his ‘hood. He turned his back on his old ways to do more positive, but he still represents his hood because that’s part of him. He is stopping the cycle

Compared to students’ written essays, the battle presentations showed more complex sociological thought and connections to outside sources. For instance, students who participated in the battle exercise searched for additional sources in order to have a competitive edge in battle. Their familiarity with the discussions found in their research helped them form more sophisticated arguments supported by scholarly evidence. Furthermore, based on my grading of written assignments, the students in my hip-hop class exhibited more critical analysis than students in my classes where battles were not a part of the course requirements. For example, as a result of preparing to be critiqued by their peers, students were able to ask questions they thought their competitors would raise, and use this to strengthen their arguments. Student drew from more sources and were able to make connections between multiple themes. The spirit of competition drove students to go above and beyond the requirements in order to craft the most competitive arguments for battle. In my other courses, students were able to understand definitions of theories but often struggled when relating the theories to social phenomena. I found that students who participated in the rap battles performed better at theoretical application than students in my other courses who responded to questions asking them to apply theories to social phenomena. All rap battle participants did not do well. Some resorted to a basic lyrical analysis with little theoretical connection and complexity, as a result, they did not win their battles. Students who gave weaker performances lacked external sources and had difficulty placing lyrics in a social and historical context. They resorted to a surface level analysis attempting to explain what the artist said without making broader connections. However, winning students were able to offer theoretical explanations for topics discussed in the rap lyrics that went beyond a surface level analysis. The successful battle presentations contained sociohistorical examples and made connections to larger sociological themes such as the school-to-prison pipeline, hyperincarceration of black males, hyperpolicing in urban communities, misogyny, white privilege, and exploitation as a result of capitalism.

Conclusion

This activity was not designed to solve every problem with students’ ability, or lack thereof, to engage in critical thought and analysis. However, critical thinking assignments, such as debates, have the potential to serve as a method of teaching that leads to social transformations (Healey 2012). The aim of this article was to show how a remixed form of debate could be used in a way to get students to take intellectual risks while developing transferrable critical thinking and presentation skills. By participating in the debates, students were able to grow in the areas of critical thinking which include appraisal, evaluation, reflection, analysis, awareness, and understanding (Healey 2012). These skills are important if institutions desire to produce graduates who are globally minded and ready to participate in society as informed citizens. Students benefit when professors use instructional strategies that promote critical thinking, information assimilation, and application of course content (Kennedy 2007). In addition to the development of these important skills, students had fun. As previously stated, students were at times loud, energetic, and expressive during the debates. Students were excited for battle and wanted to win. These battles show the potential of similar exercises in keeping students engaged in the sociology classroom. Participation in these activities can help students transform their thought processes and understand the importance of complex thinking to other areas of their lives. I witnessed students engaging in serious preparation for the sociological rap battles, and I am hopeful that they will also be prepared to battle for a positive transformation of their social worlds.