Detroit, Michigan, has long been recognized as a center of musical innovation and social change. Rebekah Farrugia and Kellie D. Hay draw on seven years of fieldwork to illuminate the important role that women have played in mobilizing a grassroots response to political and social pressures at the heart of Detroit’s ongoing renewal and development project. Focusing on the Foundation, a women-centered hip hop collective, Women Rapping Revolution argues that the hip hop underground is a crucial site where Black women shape subjectivity and claim self-care as a principle of community organizing. Through interviews and sustained critical engagement with artists and activists, this study also articulates the substantial role of cultural production in social, racial, and economic justice efforts.
Foreword By Piper Carter Foreword By Mahogany Jones Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Intersections of Detroit, Women, and Hip Hop 1 Detroit Hip Hop and the Rise of the Foundation 2 Hip Hop Sounds and Sensibilities in Post-Bankruptcy Detroit 3 Negotiating Genderqueer Identity Formation 4 Vulnerable Mavericks Wreck Rap’s Conventions 5 “Legendary,” Environmental Justice, and Collaborative Cultural Production 6 Hip Hop Activism in Action Conclusion: Women, Hip Hop, and Cultural Organizing Notes Bibliography Index
Rebekah Farrugia is Professor of Media Studies in the Department of Communication, Journalism, and Public Relations at Oakland University. She is the author of Beyond the Dance Floor: Female DJs, Technology, and Electronic Dance Music Culture. Kellie D. Hay is Professor of Cultural Studies in the Department of Communication, Journalism, and Public Relations at Oakland University. She has authored many articles about music, politics, and cultural identity, and specializes in critical qualitative methodologies.
Reviews for Women Rapping Revolution: Hip Hop and Community Building in Detroit
Women Rapping Revolution covers a lot of ground in a relatively condensed space, but it doesn't lack for information or thoughtful analysis. On top of all this, they also manage to make it a very accessible book. Farrugia and Hay do an excellent job of not only getting you to understand all of the different factors in play within the hip hop scene in Detroit, but they'll get the wheels spinning in your head as you consider all of the factors in play in your own city. * Scratched Vinyl *
