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GeoJournal (2017) 82:259272 DOI 10.1007/s10708-015-9681-z
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Web End = Geography of American rap: rap diffusion and rap centers
Kenneth French
Published online: 14 October 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015
Abstract The goal of this paper was to contribute to the interdisciplinary research that linked place and music by conducting a brief geography of rap. Rap music grew from the isolated Bronx in the 1970s and became a mainstay in popular culture today. Hip hop music was noted for its strong sense of place, as rap credibility (what hood do you represented), identities (e.g. Flo Rida), and local slang (e.g. sippin sizzurp in Houston) were often geographically-based. This research described the various spatial meanings of rap, mapped the diffusion of hip hop music, and identied rap centers. Cartographic analysis was based on the hometowns of 1124 rappers and the release dates of their debut albums from 1979 to 2015. The diffusion of rap followed the hierarchical diffusion pattern by leapfrogging from one major urban area to another.
Keywords Rap Cultural geography Music
geography Sense of place Diffusion
Introduction
Rap music in America grew from isolated urban neighborhoods in the 1970s to become a mainstay in the landscape of popular music today. Behind the
catchy beats, lyrics offered glimpses into a world where poverty, police brutality, gang-related violence, and other urban social ills were commonplace. Rising from these ignored urban environments were prideful voices calling for social change to ght the powers that be, as Public Enemy put it. Prominent in rap music was a strong attachment to place, as rap credibility, identities, and local slang usages were often geographically linked. Given the popularity of this musical form, it was somewhat surprising that geographical research on rap music in America has received scant attention (Graves 2009; Carney 2003). Most gaps in the geographic research of rap were lled by scholars across various disciplines (Forman 2000, 2002; Mitchell 2001; Hess 2009; Westhoff 2011). More analysis could be done on the importance of place in rap music, mapping the spread of rap in America, and to describe local styles in major hip hop centers. The goal of this paper was to contribute to the existing interdisciplinary research on rap by providing a geography...