Between 1985 and 1997 a hip hop culture emerged in Halifax, Nova Scotia through rap music artists' live performances at various venues, and by releasing original music on commercial and non-commercial cassette tapes and compact discs. This thesis examines the evolution of this grassroots musical culture through the lenses of Halifax's geography, innovative musical and technological trends, ever-present racial politics, and a strong "do-it-yourself" ethic. This thesis argues that hip hop in Halifax during these years can be divided into two eras distinguished by dynamic racial and stylistic changes. While the 1980s saw a predominantly Black hip hop community take root around Uniacke Square and Gottingen Street, the 1990s saw a geographic and demographic shift as the rap music scene expanded and competed with the mainstream music scene of the city. In doing so, the integrated downtown hip hop community produced a significant amount of work, overcoming institutional opposition

This thesis examines the ways in which a group of male youths from Montreal interpret the world and construct their identities through the lens of hip-hop. The theoretical framework draws mainly from discussions of youth subcultural theory as articulated by the Center for Cultural Studies in Birmingham, as well as current research on hip-hop culture and youth identities. Using narrative inquiry as a methodological framework, this study highlights how the participants' perceive their neighbourhoods through gangster rap culture, and construct their identities according to these perceptions. This study also reveals how the participants' create original rap lyrics as a self-reflexive tool, and how listening to rap music shapes their linguistic expression.

This thesis sets out to explore the extent to which health inequities experienced by Aboriginal youth living in Winnipeg are mediated by the urban environment. Between 2010 and 2011, Aboriginal youth associated with the GAPAYAC undertook a participatory action research process to create stories about the geography of health inequity, to share their ideas for positive change, and to support their social and political aspirations towards their right to a healthy city. The youth researchers (N=8) used participatory hip hop techniques involving visual art, photography, spoken word, music, and dance as tools to 'map' health inequities within and across the city. The results revealed several themes that speak to the youth researchers experiences of health inequity as they related to mobility, place, and exclusion. In turn, the youth researchers mobilized their knowledge through art and performances as vehicles for taking action against health inequity.

This thesis explores the relationship between musical tastes and dance practices in a popular dance style known as breaking or b-boying/b-girling. It is based on a multi-sited ethnography involving the participation in and observation of the practices of breaking, as well as interviews with individual b-boys and b-girls, who often travelled between cities as part of their practices. Although there were many interesting and contradictory observations and participant responses provided by this multigenerational, multicultural scene, one theme emerged as central. 'Vernacular' or street dancers make consistent claims that "it's all about the music." This is to challenge assumptions in current academic writing on the relationship of music and dance. On one hand, many contemporary dance writers argue that musical tastes have little to do with choreographic practices and the meanings of dance performances. On the other hand, sociological accounts of musical tastes rarely consider dance practice in their analyses. The result is that musical tastes are under-theorised in accounts of dance performance, and vice versa. Hennion's (2007) assertion that taste is an activity provides a foundation for a new argument. I propose that taste is an activity that, when theorised in terms of music and dance practices, suggests new epistemological avenues for studies of popular dance. Put simply, I argue that, in breaking practices, dance is a performance of musical taste. This performance of taste has a variety of avenues - from hip hop theatre performances, to international battles, master class workshops, club nights and local events – and in each new context, the relationship between music and dance transforms. These shifts in selection reveal that the dance is not just “about the music,” but also about how tastes are mediated, negotiated and competed over.

In this thesis I explore performances of empowerment in the work and artistic persona of Londonbased hip hop duo Poetic Pilgrimage. By using intersectionality, critical race and performance theories, I sketched a possible reading of their performance of religion in the complex context of their positionality as black, british, women, muslim converts and performing artists. I looked specifically at how performance shapes possibilities of cultural and religious interpretations of race, religion, nationality, gender and the arts. The question that guides me is: how do they shape their Empowerment with their Performance? After becoming familiar with the material, I realised that one way of answering this question is by looking into how they relate to an intersectional idea of Empowerment, namely how they relate to race and gender in their islamic art (religion/occupation/class) and how Empowerment is directly connected with Performance, it is the Performance that enables their Empowerment: artistic Performance that shapes their ethnographic Performance of muslimness, womanhood, black womanhood, muslim womanhood, women artistry, britishness, etc. So in this text, it is their Performance of categories and themes that constitute strategies and processes or Empowerment. My focus of Empowerment is on representation, which makes me define Empowerment as the act of learning to Love yourself and others in positive ways. This is inspired in the work of Audre Lorde. And it is reflected in Poetic Pilgrimage's own stance, as revealed by the opening statement of this thesis, We have no LOVE OF SELF. My focus on Performance means that I distance myself from constructs of identity markers that are not sensitive to construction and deconstruction. My underlying approach is to reflect on how Poetic Pilgrimage are and have been constructed by deconstructing them, question them. Taking into account that I cannot not think intersectionally, all themes under scrutiny here deal with ways in which Poetic Pilgrimage expose, explore and create islam and the arts of Performance to forge possibilities of Empowerment, in a way that I attempt to research all categories intersected. In the first thematic chapter (black european islam), emphasis is put on race and in the second thematic chapter (modesty is the new cool), focus turns to gender, though understood in relation to each other and to other categories, such as nationality, class, occupation, ethnicity. In terms of material, I focus on the final product (on stage/videoclips), having Poetic Pilgrimage's Performance on facebook as public artistic persona as a framework for the event of artistic Performance itself. Performing self, or everyday life Performance using artistic means is the trade mark of hip hop culture, which Poetic Pilgrimage are a part of.

The way that inner city learners and their educators experience life varies to a great extent. A music programme relevant to the needs of learners can create better understanding between these groups. The success of such a programme depends on an effective teaching-learning approach. The action learning approach, developed by Reginald Revans and adapted for music by Thomas A. Regelski, was implemented in a once-off rap programme at an inner city school in Gauteng. The aim of the programme was the acquisition of practical musical skills by learners through participation in a real-life musical event. The programme was offered on the basis of six specific action learning principles. The action learning approaches of Revans and Regelski were adapted to suit local goals and circumstances. / Thesis (MMus (Musicology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The way that inner city learners and their educators experience life varies to a great extent. A music programme relevant to the needs of learners can create better understanding between these groups. The success of such a programme depends on an effective teaching-learning approach. The action learning approach, developed by Reginald Revans and adapted for music by Thomas A. Regelski, was implemented in a once-off rap programme at an inner city school in Gauteng. The aim of the programme was the acquisition of practical musical skills by learners through participation in a real-life musical event. The programme was offered on the basis of six specific action learning principles. The action learning approaches of Revans and Regelski were adapted to suit local goals and circumstances. / Thesis (MMus (Musicology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att vidga synen på hiphop som text genom att sätta in hiphoppen i en lyrisk tolkningsram. I bakgrunden redogörs för hiphoppens framväxt ur ett globalt perspektiv, genrens förhållande till kommersialism samt den svenska hiphoppens tillkomst och utveckling. Konstruktionen av identitet är i centrum och postmodernismen utgör uppsatsens teoretiska förankring. Fem svenska samtida hiphoptexter har valts ut och dessa tolkas i analysen utifrån olika aspekter som tematik, rytmiska aspekter, bildspråk, stilnivå och idiolekt. I diskussionen sammanförs de postmoderna strömningarna med resultatet från analyserna där aspekter som upplösning av fasta kategorier, språkets begränsningar samt identitet lyfts fram. Uppsatsen visar att samtida svensk hiphop kan sägas utgöra ett uttryck för postmodern konst och att en fördjupad förståelse kan nås genom att placera hiphoppen i en poetisk tradition. / The purpose of this thesis is to broaden the conception of hip-hop by putting the genre within a lyric frame of interpretation. The thesis describes the development and growth of hip-hop from a global and a Swedish perspective, and the commercialization of the genre. The thesis focuses on the construction of identity, and therefore the main theories will be based through postmodernism. Five Swedish contemporary hip-hop texts have been interpreted from various aspects such as thematic and rhythmic elements, imagery, level of style, and idiolect. In the discussion section, the postmodern tendencies are brought together with the results from the analysis where aspects such as the dissolution of fixed categories, the limitations of language and construction of identity are highlighted. The thesis shows that contemporary Swedish hip-hop can be categorized as partly postmodern and that a deepened understanding can be reached by placing hip-hop within a poetic tradition.

South Korea is internationally well known for its ethnic and cultural homogeneity, economic and technical success, and strong sense of nationalism. The peoples of South Korea have flourished economically after a series of colonizations, industrialization and political chaos. Over the past few decades, Korea has gained interest internationally for its entertainment industry through the Korean Wave (or Hallyu in Korean). Korean Wave is a term that refers to the increase in the popularity of South Korean culture since the late 1990’s due to Korean music, television shows and fashion. The Korean Wave first swept and captivated the hearts of citizens in East and Southeast Asia and now has expanded its popularity beyond Asia and has captivated millions of people all over the world. After a steady increase in cultural exports as a result of the Korean Wave since 2005, the Korean Tourism Organization (KTO) has realized the value in the exportation of Korean culture and goods and has now created programs that capitalize on this popularity and increase tourists South Korea. Korean popular music or K-Pop is a large and profitable aspect of the Korean Wave. According to CNBC in Move Over Bieber — Korean Pop Music Goes Global “The [k-pop] industry’s revenues hit about $3.4 billion in 2011, according to the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), a government group that promotes the country’s cultural initiatives. K-pop’s exports also rose to $180 million last year — jumping 112 percent compared to 2010. Exports have been growing on an average annual rate of nearly 80 percent since 2007.” And that “for every $100 of K-Pop exports, there was an average increase of $395 worth of I.T. goods such as cell phones or electronics that were being exported” (Naidu-Ghelani). The exportation of K-pop music and cultural can be seen as an economic success story. But in fact, for the Black American community it is the exportation of cultural appropriation and the degradation of Black American culture. The Korean Wave is packaging, promoting and exporting a “window into Korean culture, society and language that can be as educational as a trip to Korea. South Korea is using the Korean wave to promote its traditional culture within Korea and abroad” (“Hallyu, the Korean Wave” 1). Despite South Korea’s strong sense of nationalism and cultural homogeneity, its pop music has a distinct Black American musical influence. Rap and hip-hop musical style/culture (which is distinctly affiliated with representative of Black Americans) is an integral, if not necessary, part of Korean popular music. The synchronized dance moves, attractive idols and “rap/hip hop” style draws in millions of fans from every walk of life all over the world. The “hip hop” dance moves, clothing and lyrics that dominate Korean popular music, however crosses the line of cultural appreciation and instead can be defined as cultural appropriation.

This thesis sets out to explore the extent to which health inequities experienced by Aboriginal youth living in Winnipeg are mediated by the urban environment. Between 2010 and 2011, Aboriginal youth associated with the GAPAYAC undertook a participatory action research process to create stories about the geography of health inequity, to share their ideas for positive change, and to support their social and political aspirations towards their right to a healthy city. The youth researchers (N=8) used participatory hip hop techniques involving visual art, photography, spoken word, music, and dance as tools to 'map' health inequities within and across the city. The results revealed several themes that speak to the youth researchers experiences of health inequity as they related to mobility, place, and exclusion. In turn, the youth researchers mobilized their knowledge through art and performances as vehicles for taking action against health inequity.