Johan Söderman

The double feature of musical folkbildning : three Swedish examples

The purpose of this article is to analyse three case study examples of musical folkbildning in Sweden. The first case study is from the establishment of the state-funded Framnas Folk High Music Sch ...

The formation of ‘Hip-Hop Academicus’ – how American scholars talk about the academisation of hip-hop

Social activism and education have been associated with hip-hop since it emerged in New York City 38 years ago. Therefore, it might not be surprising that universities have become interested in hip-hop. This article aims to highlight this ‘hip-hop academisation’ and analyse the discursive mechanisms that manifest in these academisation processes. The guiding research question explores how hip-hop scholars talk about this academisation. The theoretical framework is informed by the scholarship of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. Hip-hop scholars were interviewed in New York City during 2010. The results demonstrate themes of hip-hop as an attractive label, a door opener, a form of ‘low-culture’, a trap and an educational tool. It can be fruitful for music education research to explore how a more recently developed musical genre like hip-hop enters the university. More specifically, considering how hiphop scholars perceive this academisation can yield insight into how academisation of a music genre occurs. The phenomenon of genre academisation is comparable to other areas of music education research, in particular to jazz music’s establishment as a field of study within music departments. The academisation of rock music at Swedish music departments has produced music educational discussions concerned with what scholars regard as an absence of authenticity in academic rock (Fornas, 1996; Gullberg, 1999). Olsson (1993) uses the concept musicians’ music when he describes how academic rock music is oriented more towards other musicians than towards a regular rock audience. Previous research that has primarily focused on informal learning within two hip-hop groups and formation of a professional hip-hop musician identity has shed light on the importance of authenticity in hip-hop culture (Soderman & Folkestad, 2004; Soderman, 2010). The results of both studies show how hip-hop musicians have to navigate between being commercial and artistic. Who is regarded as ‘authentic’ and who is a ‘sell out’ has been controversial ever since hip-hop emerged in the 1970s. In this respect, the crux of the issue lies in the fact that commercial success could ruin credibility, limit the options of hip-hop musicians and ultimately result in the loss of their authenticity. The main goal for the actors of the hip-hop scene seems to be to achieve or to construct a sense of ‘realness’ and to navigate seamlessly between authenticity and commercialism.

Hip-Hop - What's in it for the Academy? Self-Understanding, Pedagogy and Aesthetical Learning Processes in Everyday Cultural Praxis

Since hip-hop first appeared in New York over 35 years ago, it has been associated with social activism and education. Accordingly, it is not surprising that academic institutions in universities and K-12 schools are interested in hip-hop. In this article, we will highlight the ‘hip-hop academisation’ and map out a new direction in a dialog between hip-hop and the academic world. By investigating the relation between hip-hop and pedagogy through interviews with prominent members of the hip-hop community in New York City as well as an analysis of ‘universal’, collective, and aesthetic learning processes in a local, Swedish youth-based hip-hop collective, we intend to open up a theoretical discourse on hip-hop and emancipatory pedagogy. Our empirical data are collected through ethnographical methods.