(An Ode to Quarantine and Lyn Hejinian)

…I relisten to this album with a greater depth of understanding and appreciation for the rhetorical ability of Winehouse to convey and connect these particular situations of romance and pain to a vast audience she could have never anticipated.

Woodstock sowed its roots in intentional festival fashion as a force of individuality against corporatism; but as music festivals have expanded into and engaged with the material cultures of both music and fashion on a more capitalist level, the three components of Woodstock’s fashion and the three festivals focused upon in this essay have lent […]

Referring to police brutality, gender and racial inequity, and most decidedly, the shortcomings of capitalism, The Coup aims to stir up an unforgettable, political earworm for listeners to act out against these intersecting societal injustices.

As Southern hip hop rose to popularity nationwide, it refused to simply concede to the overbearing assumptions of non-Southern listeners who attempted to consider all Southern rap as a single genre.

From the perspective of those who call Compton home, however, references to the city’s politics and folklore begin to blur the lines of ‘realness’ and myth.

Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” is a momentous display of rhetoric as art form and critique on the nation’s troubled condition.

Through this “double-consciousness,” hip hop artists have learned to place a foot in both doors of white capitalism and black realism, so they can continue to profit and become successful in America against all racial odds.

N.W.A. and A Tribe Called Quest display the comparative method prominently through their multidimensional influences on one another, guiding their opposite coasts in development of the genre.

Missy Elliott’s “Work It” serves as an anthem in lyricism and imagery for Morgan’s perception of ‘hip hop feminism.’ The song galvanizes women to take charge of and vocalize their desires, just as male rappers have capitalized upon in the past.