Welcome to my new blog, hiphopocracy. I hope to use this space to reflect on my experience teaching and learning hiphop studies, and ideally to publish excerpts of work students are writing for other courses in hiphop studies.

The word “hiphopocracy”  was invented by one of my students in the first First Year Writing course I teach at the University of Michigan. We were discussing a possible paper extension when I explained, “This isn’t a democracy, but I’m interested in your opinion.” “It’s a hiphopocracy!” one of my students yelled. What a resonant word. Its connotations swing from hip-hip-hooray to hypocrisy, from the four pillars of hiphop to the gangster mentality 50 Cent and W. have in common. I’m excited to begin chronicling and am looking forward to sharing this space with others committed, as I am, to the production of knowledge in this field.