Editorial: History of Hip Hop Course should be provided

It is time we pay respect to the voice of the streets. Citrus College should have a cultural history of hip hop course.

Hip-hop is not just music. It’s a lifestyle, the truth, honesty and a way of life. Most rappers are able to connect to an audience by being the voice for the voiceless.

The lyrical rhyming is innovative and is also listened too worldwide.

There are some popular universities that offer hip-hop courses such as; Yale University, Stanford University, and University of California, Berkley is some of the schools that offer hip-hop courses.

At the University of Arizona you can even minor in the cultural history of hip-hop.

Citrus will always want to be one of the top schools around and adding this course will help with the diversity and teach students that this music genre has affected many lives.

Here at Citrus students learn about poetry in English 103 and it is a requirement for all students. Students should have the option to learn about the type of poetry they are interested in.

Rappers are poets that reflect on life as an inner city resident and/or other controversial issues in America.

Some issues like police brutality, racism and the unfair advantages of growing up in rough cities.

These topics have had a huge impact on American history and are frequently talked about by the people who experience it.

Some may say that the music is misogynistic, but there are several female artists that are well respected in the rap game. Also many artist talk about how their mothers and thank them for raising them, one of the most famous being Dear Momma.

However, it is important to learn about Emily Dickinson and William Shakespeare and other legendary poets, but it’s about time we update the poetic curriculum.

Citrus has a History of Rock n Roll course but not a history course for hip-hop, although both have earned the right to have a class here at Citrus. This would also help with the diversity at our school by teaching others about hip-hop’s importance in urban neighborhoods.

Hip-Hop surrounds college students. If they don’t listen to the music, then some people appreciate things influenced by the music such as film, fashion and pop culture. In today’s society hip-hop is arguably the most popular genre.

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