- Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Title:
- The rap of black folk: A theory on pre-colonial West African trickster deities expressions in new millennial rap music, 2021
- Creator:
- Terry, Courtney T.
- Date of Original:
- 2021-05
- Subject:
- Degrees, Academic
Dissertations, Academic - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- born digital
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- In order to reify rap music as a product of the African and African American imagination, this dissertation recovers the lineage of the ancient Kemetic trickster-deity, West African trickster deities, and reestablishes the sanguine and cultural kinship between African American animal tricksters, and African American human tricksters to the African American trickster-rapper. In so doing reveals that rappers are contemporary tricksters in African American culture. This research contends that the contemporary African American rapper stands as the modern trickster figure. This work reveals and analyzes the relation in order to assert the traditional African influence and expression in contemporary rap music. The data set includes the number one hip-hop singles from the number one hip-hop albums in the year 2000 according to Billboard charts. More popular than any other African American cultural production, rap music deserves critical theoretical Africana centered inquiry and analysis. This dissertation is a contribution to the new wave of literature in the critical rap and hip-hop studies canon that situates rap music in the lineage of West African trickster-deities. Indeed, there are several texts which explicate socio-political and historical nuances of rap music and hip-hop culture in the United States and throughout the world. However, there is a small niche of Africana scholars doing the work to fill in the conceptual and theoretical fissures for readers and students. Many have missed the relation between American rap artists and their cultural predecessors like ancient tricksters and Brer Rabbit, Anansi the Spider, Signifying Monkey, Uncle Julius, Aunt Nancy, Papa Legba, and Annie Christmas. This work reveals and analyzes the relation in order to assert the traditional African influence and expression in contemporary rap music. A trickster is a tester, and uses wit, violence, sex, and guile to maintain both central and marginal position within their culture. Further, a trickster is sometimes human, sometimes animal who perceives danger and boundaries as farce and folly.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:2021_terry_courtney_t
- Rights Holder:
- Clark Atlanta University
- Original Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Rights:
-
