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VH1
And You Don't Stop - 30 Years of Hip-Hop
Episode 1
VH1 Music Studio
Cable in the Classroom
Lesson for Music Classes, Grades 9-12
Lesson 1
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NOTE TO TEACHERS: The programs viewed in conjunction with these lesson plans may include references, consistent with the eras portrayed, to substance abuse, violent acts, and topics of a sexual and/or political nature. Because this may be considered inappropriate for classroom use in some communities, you are encouraged to review the programs before presenting them to your students, and if necessary, choose those sections that enhance your lesson and are acceptable for use in your classroom.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Teachers should be selective when choosing hip-hop music to be played in the classroom in order to ensure, as with any performance material, that it is age appropriate for their students. Although students may be exposed to harsh lyrics in the music they hear outside of school, it is advisable to play songs with milder lyrics for the classroom. As with most other musical styles (country, spirituals, jazz, folk, etc.), hip-hop tells a story, so discussing the lyrics apart from the music to gain an understanding of the concept of hip-hop is also helpful
Objectives
- Students will define and identify the musical genre of Hip-Hop.
- Students will create a timeline of musical styles and discuss their characteristics.
- Students will be able to connect other styles of music to the hip-hop style.
- Students will define the concepts of fusion, musical styles, genres, old school and new school.
National Standards:
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
Materials
- VHS VCR Player
- Television
- VH1's And You Don't Stop - 30 Years of Hip-Hop
- Web-based lesson materials
- CD player/audio equipment
- Pencils/pens and paper (students)
- Teacher selected recordings of musical examples included in VH1 program
Prior Knowledge:
Students are familiar with the term Hip-Hop music.
Students are able to discuss different styles of music (gospel, jazz, pop, R&B, etc.), accurately using the musical terms genre, style, fusion, old school and new school.
Procedures
1. Ask students to define the term "Hip-Hop" based on their personal experiences. Have them list what they know about the genre, suggest when it began, name artists with which they are familiar, and define the terms genre, musical style, and fusion.
2. Have students share their lists with the class. Using an overhead projector or chalkboard, make a chart of their answers. Review the definitions to be sure that all students fully understand genre, style, and fusion. Use the vocabulary list provided at the end of the lesson as needed.
3. Play the teacher selected recordings of hip-hop music, beginning with early hip-hop from the late 1970s to more current recordings. Ask students to look at their lists while they are listening and add more information based on what they have heard in the recordings. How do the "old styles (school)" and the "new styles (school)" of hip-hop compare?
4. Lead students in discussing where they think hip-hop originated. What part of the country is typically considered its birthplace (New York City)? Is it a completely new and original musical style?
5. Guide students in creating a timeline of musical genres that dates as far back as tribal music. Begin by brainstorming the styles themselves and listing them on the chalkboard or overhead projector. Then assist the students with putting them roughly in chronological order. Use the following as needed:
- Tribal music
- Spirituals
- Hollers/call and response
- Church music/gospel
- Blues
- Jazz
- Harlem Renaissance
- Jamaican influence
- Hip-hop
- Rap
- Rhythm and Blues
- Pop style
6. Have students briefly discuss each genre to highlight its main characteristics and position on the timeline. Is it easy to pinpoint the "birth date" of each genre in order to place it on the timeline? Why or why not? Suggest to them that it is difficult to isolate the beginning of a particular musical genre because there is often overlap with other genres. Looking at the timeline, ask students if it appears that Hip-Hop music could have come from the influences of any of the other styles of music that come before it.
7. Show VH1's And You Don't Stop - 30 Years of Hip - Hop, Episode 1. Encourage students to take notes regarding the questions already discussed during the lesson to see if their initial perceptions are accurate.
8. Lead students in discussing the beginnings of hip-hop as depicted in the program. Ask them to redefine, or expand upon, their description if necessary. Who "started" hip-hop and who were the early artists? Where did it begin? Is it only a part of the African-American culture? Why is it an important part of American music? What role did it fulfill in society, and how did it relate to other urban art forms such as graffiti and breakdancing?
9. Create a new list of information with the details learned through watching the program, and have students compare their initial lists with the new information.
Supplemental Resources:
- "Rap and Hip Hop - The Voice of a Generation" by Sherry Ayazi-Hashjin, ©1999, The Rosen Publishing Group, New York, NY.
- Groves Dictionary of Music - Hip-Hop
National
Standards for Music Education
1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire
of music.
3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
5. Reading and notating music.
6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
7. Evaluating music and music performances.
8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines
outside the arts.
9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
These standards-based materials are provided through a partnership with MENC: The National Association for Music Education. This lesson plan was created by MENC member G. Leayn Losh, Director of Choral Activities, Wyandotte High School, Kansas City, KS
Vocabulary list
Afrika Bambaataa: His real name is Kevin Donovan, a former member of a Bronx street gang. He was one of the first DJs instrumental in starting to play the early style of hip-hop. He started the "organization," later called the "Zulu Nation," as a positive group to support and help inner city youth.
Hip-hop: African-American cultural movement which is focused mainly on the rap style of music. Hip-hop style includes the following: DJ'ing, break-dancing, graffiti art and rapping.
DJ: Disc jockey - one who plays music, mixes music and creates new styles.
Funk: Popular style of music in the 1970s with a repeating bass beat.
MC: The one who is in charge of the show. They chanted/rapped rhyming lines over the music mixes, which eventually developed into ³rap music.²
Mixing: Using song fragments to create new music.
Rapping: A form of musical style containing storytelling lyrics that sometimes rhyme, accompanied by a synthesized rhythmic backup beat.
Sampling: Layering tracks.
Scratching: The art of putting the needle against the record to create rhythmic sounds.
Breaking/break dancing: The style of street dancing that accompanied hip-hop music.
Graffiti art: Street art that is done on the walls, subway cars, etc. in the inner cities by youth to express themselves in a poetic way or to tell a story or deliver a message.
- Some definitions excerpted from "Rap and Hip Hop - The Voice of a Generation" by Sherry Ayazi-Hashjin, ©1999, The Rosen Publishing Group, New York, NY.
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