Can't Stop Won't Stop (Young Adult Edition): A Hip-Hop History

LOOP 1

Reading Check

1. DJ Kool Herc (Chapter 2)

2. It was demolished for a highway. (Chapter 1)

3. Over 100 gangs (Chapter 1)

4. The Zulu Nation (Chapter 2)

5. Ronald Reagan (Chapter 6)

6. “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang (Chapter 6)

Short Answer

1. The four elements of hip-hop are DJing, MCing, graffiti, and b-boying/b-girling. Each of them comes together to form a unique music culture that sprung up out of the Bronx. DJs are the people who mix the records, create beats, and use samplers and drum machines. MCs rouse the crowd, announce acts, and show off their rap rhymes. Graffiti was the visual artform hip-hop artists used to spread their name and show their worth. Breakdancing, performed by b-boys and b-girls, became the dance style that was invented when youth heard this new music. (Chapter 4)

2. Pioneer DJs in the Bronx, such as DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa, sought to unite their community. The Bronx was torn apart by systemic neglect, which resulted in gang violence. Turf and gang wars pervaded youth culture. These DJs wanted to give the youth another way to spend their time, something new to compete over, and to unite rival gangs. (Chapters 2-3)

3. In the late 1970s and early 1980s hip-hop transformed from a small-time music scene in the Bronx to a worldwide phenomenon. Before this could go into full force, hip-hop had to break into radio, clubs, MTV, and records. Doing this meant the role MCs played changed from one involving crowds to just rhyming. Graffiti and hip-hop largely parted ways. As a result, many original hip-hop artists started saying hip-hop was dead. In reality, it was only changing form. Hip-hop also went from something people did for free to establish their reputations to something people did as a source of income. (Chapter 5)

LOOP 2

Reading Check

1. Run-DMC (Chapter 7)

2. “Roxanne” Shanté Gooden (Chapter 8)

3. The sampler (Chapter 8)

4. Graffiti artist (Chapter 9)

5. Apartheid (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. Between 1983 and 1990, hip-hop had to crossover into white media and culture. Many were unsure this was the right choice, but it was necessary at the time because white people largely owned mass media and record companies. Once hip-hop crossed over, it became much easier for hip-hop artists to establish their own labels and move away from needing white people to advance their careers. Hip-hop also expanded from the East Coast and became a huge focus of youth culture on the West Coast and in Miami, Florida. (Chapters 7-8)

2. Possible answers here may include Black people facing unemployment, the development of gang culture as a response to youth unemployment, housing segregation as white people made every effort to stay away from Black people, poverty, lack of access to social services, the War on Youth, increased incarceration, overt and covert racism, the deaths of many young Black people, police brutality, and political uprisings. (Various chapters)

3. From the beginning, hip-hop helped to unite disadvantaged communities and gangs in the Bronx. It continued this legacy and gave Black people a way to access their power and make their voices heard. Both Black people and young people, and especially young Black people, are largely ignored in America. Hip-hop gives them a way to be seen and heard and to tell the stories of where they come from. It also gives Black people a way to speak up against oppression. (Various chapters)

LOOP 3

Reading Check

1. Los Angeles (Chapter 11)

2. Ice Cube (Chapter 11)

3. East and West Coasts (Chapter 15)

4. Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie, Biggie Smalls, and Charles Wallace are also acceptable answers) (Chapter 15)

5. Salt-N-Pepa (Chapter 13)

Short Answer

1. After the police involved in beating Rodney King were acquitted of all charges, violent protests began in Los Angeles. These protests resulted in 53 deaths and many more injuries. There was over $1 billion in property damage, with almost half to Korean businesses. Many communities burned. Rodney King spoke out against the violence, asking for everyone to get along. (Chapter 11)

2. After Tupac’s and Biggie’s murders, Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Islam Nation, the only authority both the East Coast and West Coast hip-hop artists respected, held a summit that was attended by major hip-hop artists from the East, West, Midwest, and the South as well as Black Panther members and other icons of the Black community. Individual conflicts were talked out and resolved, and artists from all regions promised to keep the lines of communication open. Farrakhan pointed out that the divisions created within the hip-hop community were artificially created for the sake of album sales, and the artists agreed to change their approach to their music even if it meant reduced sales. (Chapter 15)

3. Female hip-hop artists face challenges of sexism and not being taken seriously by other hip-hop artists and people in general. In the early days of hip-hop, female artists had to be better their male counterparts to even be given a place on stage. By the 90s, they were establishing a place in the community but still faced criticism for being too sexual, not sexual enough, too honest, or too strange. Artists like Lauryn Hill and Salt-N-Pepa broke free of male managers and record producers and began producing their own records. They sang honestly about the challenges Black women in America face and were not afraid to be themselves. (Chapter 13)

LOOP 4

Reading Check

1. L’il Kim (Chapter 16)

2. Ready to Die (Chapter 16)

3. Eminem/Slim Shady/Marshall Mathers (Chapter 17)

4. White youth (Chapter 17)

5. The Worm (Chapter 19)

Short Answer

1. Eminem’s success was not instant, but he became the top-selling hip-hop artist of all time within a matter of years. Along the way, he was the target of many controversies and criticisms both from white and Black people alike. Black people criticized him for appropriating their music and culture, and white people criticized him for being a negative influence on white youth. Eminem’s initial responses to this criticism was to ignore it or deny it, but he began to realize that he owed a lot to Black people and the music they created. In fact, he owed his whole career to that. He became humbler and more started singing about how his whiteness made him inferior in the hip-hop world. (Chapters 16-17)

2. The Watts and LA riots, the Black Panther Party, and Black Lives Matter were all borne of Black people being fed up with being abused and neglected and decided to protest and/or organize to make themselves heard. All the protests and organizations were sparked by police brutality. (Various chapters)

3. Hip-hop became a worldwide youth culture as hip-hop crews from America toured around the world, sharing their music and messages. It inspired youth in a huge variety of countries to start their own hip-hop crews and create their own unique spins on the music. Afrika Bambaataa was the first hip-hop artist to tour around the world, and Run-DMC and Public Enemy made it a major part of their mission to tour as much as possible. (Chapter 18)