Hip-Hop Archives: The Politics and Poetics of Knowledge Production

by Murray Forman, Mark V. Campbell, Mark V. Campbell (Editor), Murray Forman (Editor)

Overview

A collection of essays on archiving the history of hip-hop, featuring a range of official, unofficial, DIY, and community archives.

Despite the vast popularity and cultural influence of hip-hop, efforts to archive its history are still in fairly early stages. This book focuses on the cultural and political aspects of those undertakings. It addresses practical aspects, including methods of collection, curation, preservation, and digitization, and critically analyzes institutional power, community engagement, urban economics, public access, and the ideological implications of hip-hop culture’s enduring tensions with dominant social values. A wide swath of hip-hop culture is covered by the contributors, including dance, graffiti, clothing, and battle rap.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781835951064
Publisher:	Intellect, Limited
Publication date:	06/06/2025
Pages:	354
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.61(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Murray Forman is professor of media and screen studies at Northeastern University.


Mark V. Campbell is a DJ, curator, and assistant professor of music and culture at the University of Toronto Scarborough. 


Mark V. Campbell is a DJ, curator, and assistant professor of music and culture at the University of Toronto Scarborough. 


Murray Forman is professor of media and screen studies at Northeastern University.

Table of Contents

List of Figures vii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: “An Archival State of Mind” xiii

Mark V. Campbell

 

SECTION 1: DOING THE KNOWLEDGE 1

1. The Hip Hop Archive and the High School Student: Symbiotic Knowledge Disruption 3

Kulsoom Anwer Shaikh

2. Hip Hop as a Practical and Methodological Issue: Libraries in Russia 19

Sergey Ivanov

3. Hip Hop Dance and the Circulation of Breaking Footage 41

Mary Fogarty and Jason “J-Sun” Noer

4. The Black History 101 Mobile Museum and the Michigan Hip-Hop Archive 57

Khalid El-Hakim

 

SECTION 2: CHALLENGING ARCHIVAL FORMS 77

5. As We Walk through the Archived Files of All Styles: Archival Practices and Cultural Memory on Battle Rap Forums 79

Sean Robertson-Palmer

6. The Responsibilities and Challenges of Community-Engaged Archives: Lessons from Building the Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive 96

Pacey Foster

7. The Ballad of “Grandmaster PH”: Contesting Narratives and Lost Archives in Philippine Hip-Hop 114

James Gabrillo

8. Painting, Image, and Cultural Heritage: The Graffiti Mural Fascinate as Visual Ecology 129

Jacob Kimvall

9. Oral History and the Accidental Archive 154

Giuseppe “u.net” Pipitone

 

SECTION 3: BEYOND THE NATION 167

10. Traces of Solidarity and Breakdown: Domestic Collection in Post-Yugoslav Hip Hop Fanzines and Mixtapes 169

Owen Kohl and Dragana Cvetanovic

11. Living Archives: Producing Knowledge about Hip-Hop Culture in East Germany 196

Leonard Schmieding

12. Rap Cubano in the Archive: The Immaterial Paradox 221

Pablo D. Herrera Veitia

 

SECTION 4: INSTITUTIONAL ALIGNMENTS: INTERVIEWS AND REFLECTIONS 249

13. Nwaka Onwusa (Vice President and Chief Curator, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) 251

14. Ben Ortiz (Assistant Curator, Cornell Hip Hop Collection) 268

15. Martha Diaz (Chief Curator/Archivist, Hip Hop Education Center and Associate Curator/Archivist, Universal Hip Hop Museum) 281

 

Afterword 297

Murray Forman

Notes on Contributors 309

Index 317