Introduction

Hi! I'm a BFA graphic design student at Indiana University in my graduating thesis semester, and I've begun to formulate my as-of-now untitled project. I'm still revising and changing the direction, but my main objective is to discover if hip-hop as we know it is dead. Heavy and dramatic, but the genre is so influential and socially important not to explore. This is going to be my space to express my research, thoughts, frustrations, and progress for the next 15 weeks.

I'm still in the process of revising my problem statement. My first statement was much too unclear and left me to question, what is the problem? What am I trying to say? And most importantly, why should anyone care? As I read my initial statement, I realized that no one but myself and select hip-hop fans probably would care. It's been a frustrating process. I see the glorious finished project in my mind, but the specifics still elude me. However, after getting a lot of outside feedback, I'm starting to piece together what I'm trying to say and revising the statement to make it more interesting to everyone.

I've begun my research by ordering "The Book of Hip Hop Cover Art" by Andrew Emery (MITCH, 2006). From what I've been able to gauge on Amazon, it should be the perfect jumping off point for my studies. I've been researching specific books on hip-hop culture as well, but since there's so many I'm still deciding which one I should order.

Of course, I've begun my audio research as well (the fun part). I would like to take the time to thank Spotify for being my best friend at the moment. It's pretty much the best resource for my broke college student's listening needs. Right now I'm starting with one of the classics, The Message by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (1982).

My initial thought: Research is going to become difficult if I can't stop dancing in my chair. I'm familiar with this record, so I may be bit biased, but this is my first time listening to it all the way through. But in all seriousness, I'm definitely seeing how initial old-school evolved out of disco/funk via sampling and live bands, and how that "party" atmosphere present in the raps carried over as well. Immortal Technique has a great quote concerning this: "Hip-hop was born in an era of social turmoil... in the same way that slaves used to sing songs on a plantation... that's the party songs that we used to have." ("How to Rap" by Paul Edwards, Chicago Review Press 2009). Of course, the album cover reflects this 70s style as well. The name of the group is showcased in a highly-decorative rounded display face that was characteristic of many disco albums in high contrast and separation from the photo below. Already we're seeing this movement of hip-hop born out of influence from a different genre...should be interesting as I delve further.