Originally released in 2018, this archival episode revisits the 2018 conversation about the role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in shaping the field of Hip Hop Studies.

Recorded at Howard University, the panel brought together scholars from 3 HBCUs in the Washington, DC area to discuss the significance of teaching hip hop in Black academic spaces, the relationship between hip hop and activism, and the responsibility of HBCUs to preserve, interrogate, and advance Black cultural knowledge.

In addition to the host, Dr. Msia Kibona Clark are:

• Dr. Greg Carr (Howard University)
• Professor Theodoros Williams (Bowie State University)
• Professor Jared Ball (Morgan State University)

Listening back nearly a decade later, many of the questions raised during this discussion remain just as relevant. Since this conversation was recorded, Hip Hop Studies has continued to grow as an academic field. Since 2018, Howard University launched a Hip Hop Studies minor and now hosts an annual Hip Hop Studies Conference.

If you have not, remember to go to hiphop.howard.edu for information on the Hip Hop Studies minor and upcoming conference (November 13-15, 2026.

In this solo episode of The Hip Hop African Podcast, Msia explores the question: What is Hip Hop Studies?

The episode approaches Hip Hop Studies from an African Studies and cultural studies perspective. Msia explains that Hip Hop Studies is not simply the study of rap music. It is an interdisciplinary field that examines hip-hop culture as performance, politics, language, identity, pedagogy, social critique, and global knowledge production.

The episode traces the growth of Hip Hop Studies in the academy, including Howard University’s historic role in hosting one of the first university hip-hop courses and conferences in 1991. It also discusses the rise of Hip Hop Studies programs at institutions such as the University of Arizona, Bowie State University, North Carolina Central University, and Howard University.

Msia highlights the field’s foundational texts and scholars, including James Spady, Tricia Rose, Joan Morgan, Bakari Kitwana, Imani Perry, Gwendolyn Pough, Jeff Chang, Samy Alim, Murray Forman, and Mark Anthony Neal.

A major focus of the episode is the place of Africa and the African diaspora within Hip Hop Studies. Msia argues that Africa should not be treated as peripheral to the field or only as a source of influence. Instead, African hip-hop scenes and scholarship must be understood as central to how Hip Hop Studies is being redefined globally.

• Nation Conscious Rap — James Spady
• Black Noise — Tricia Rose
• When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost — Joan Morgan
• The Hip Hop Generation — Bakari Kitwana
• Prophets of the Hood — Imani Perry
• Check It While I Wreck It — Gwendolyn Pough
• Can’t Stop Won’t Stop — Jeff Chang
• Roc the Mic Right — H. Samy Alim
• That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader — Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal

Link to our list of Hip Hop journals

Hip Hop Studies is not only about where hip-hop began. It is also about where hip-hop travels, how communities use it to narrate their realities, and how Africa and the Global South are reshaping the field itself.

Description: The stories told through Hip Hop's musical artists are unique when looked at through an African lens. This episode of Continental Cadences explores why African Hip Hop "hits different" by examining aspects of the genre's complex versions of identity and how they are portrayed through the musical artists' performances. The goal of this podcast episode is to break down three main points that are used as mediums to interpret African Identity: the use of indigenous languages, aesthetics, and political framing, which all contribute to African artists' self-expression and cultural understanding. We explore how language is used as a compass, where indigenous African languages speak to an artist's origins as they use their rap medium to tell their audience something. Artists' aesthetics move beyond the "poor and sickness-ridden" misconceptions placed upon Africa, giving artists an opportunity to represent their livelihoods through visual narratives of African life. Lastly, artistic political framing responds to African artists' relationships with their home countries' political systems and how that affects them. Through this conversation, Diandra, Abiba, and Aardashini stimulate conversation around how audience members are brought into the world of African artists through these points, which bring their identities to the forefront. With the art created by African Hip Hop artists being outstanding in the field of music, their work leaves viewers astonished and inspired to learn more.