Stare in the darkness

Spence (political science, Johns Hopkins U.) asks how hip-hop and black politics interface with and shape each other. He examines hip-hop's power and its limitations in helping effect positive political changes for the black community. He argues that rap and hip-hop's politics both mirror and reproduce the neoliberal narrative and the most dominant aspects of black politics. He looks at the history of black politics, analyzes rap lyrics for thematic content, examines the consumption of rap and how it relates to, and affects attitudes of black youth, and looks at how hip-hop interfaces directly with current political issues.