Unveiling the Truth of Hip Hop

African American literature began as a forum to create a common voice for former slaves who used the slave narrative genre to speak of their suffering within the so-called peculiar institution and their long journey to freedom. Hip Hop culture is following in this tradition by collecting and recording voices of today s generation in an oral tradition. It speaks out against the social conditions that today s urban youth experience by capturing and explaining their struggles caused by the aftermath of slavery. This thesis compares the major issues echoed in the lyrics of the emerging genre of Hip Hop to issues raised in literary works of authors like Iceberg Slim, Donald Goines, Sister Souljah and Bertice Berry in an effort to uncover a definite connection between the literary and musical media in providing a common voice of African American consciousness.

Autorentext

Tristin Salter is currently teaching a writing course at Buffalo State College in Buffalo, New York and is the Academic Coordinator of the Student Support Services Program there as well.