Despite the vast popularity and cultural influence of hip-hop, efforts to archive its history are still in fairly early stages. Hip-Hop Archives: The Politics and Poetics of Knowledge Production (Intellect, 2023), edited by Mark V. Campbell and Murray Forman, focuses on the cultural and political aspects of those undertakings. It addresses practical aspects, including methods of collection, curation, preservation, and digitization, and critically analyzes institutional power, community engagement, urban economics, public access, and the ideological implications of hip-hop culture’s enduring tensions with dominant social values. A wide swath of hip-hop culture is covered by the contributors, including dance, graffiti, clothing, and battle rap.

Links Mentioned in the Episode

83 'til Infinity: 40 Years of Hip-Hop in the Ottawa–Gatineau Region exhibit at Ottawa Art Gallery
Institute of Popular Music, University of Liverpool
Sarah Baker (Google Scholar profile)
Marion Leonard (university profile)
Les Roberts (university profile)
Sara Cohen (university profile)

Hallel Yadin is an archivist and special projects manager at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

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Murray Forman and Mark V. Campbell, "Hip Hop Archives: The Politics and Poetics of Knowledge Production" (Intellect, 2023)