Questions for Discussion

1. What do you consider James McBride’s primary purpose in “Hip Hop Planet”? Do you think this is a personal essay or a cultural study? Explain your response.

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 11 - Hip Hop Planet - Questions for Discussion: What do you consider James McBride’s primary purpose in “Hip Hop Planet”? Do you think this is a personal essay or a cultural study? Explain your response.
2. “Hip Hop Planet” was included in the inaugural edition of Best African-American Essays (2009). In her review of the collection on the Kenyon Review’s Web site, Samantha Simpson notes that the collection “strains against the oversimplification of the African-American community’s concerns. The collection does not only cull the voices concerned with the politics of race, but it also includes essays that deal with matters of the heart. That is, the collection is a far cry from the obligatory Black History Month lessons on important Black People.” Do you consider McBride’s essay to be about matters of the heart, or is it about the politics of race? Explain your answer.

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 11 - Hip Hop Planet - Questions for Discussion: “Hip Hop Planet” was included in the inaugural edition of Best African-American Essays (2009). In her review of the collection on the Kenyon Review’s Web site, Samantha Simpson notes that the collection “strains against the oversimplification of the African-American community’s concerns. The collection does not only cull the voices concerned with the politics of race, but it also includes essays that deal with matters of the heart. That is, the collection is a far cry from the obligatory Black History Month lessons on important Black People.” Do you consider McBride’s essay to be about matters of the heart, or is it about the politics of race? Explain your answer.
3. McBride’s lede (the opening paragraph of his essay) could be considered provocative, if not confrontational. Having read the whole essay, go back and reread the lead. Is it an effective introduction to the essay, or could it be considered misleading? Explain.

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 11 - Hip Hop Planet - Questions for Discussion: McBride’s lede (the opening paragraph of his essay) could be considered provocative, if not confrontational. Having read the whole essay, go back and reread the lead. Is it an effective introduction to the essay, or could it be considered misleading? Explain.
4. David Brooks, writing in the New York Times in 2005 about riots in French housing projects, says, “In a globalized age it’s perhaps inevitable that the culture of resistance gets globalized, too. What we are seeing is what Mark Lilla of the University of Chicago calls a universal culture of the wretched of the earth. The images, modes and attitudes of hip hop and gangsta rap are so powerful they are having a hegemonic effect across the globe.” How does that view of hip hop compare to McBride’s? Do you think McBride would agree with Brooks? Explain why or why not.

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 11 - Hip Hop Planet - Questions for Discussion: David Brooks, writing in the New York Times in 2005 about riots in French housing projects, says, “In a globalized age it’s perhaps inevitable that the culture of resistance gets globalized, too. What we are seeing is what Mark Lilla of the University of Chicago calls a universal culture of the wretched of the earth. The images, modes and attitudes of hip hop and gangsta rap are so powerful they are having a hegemonic effect across the globe.” How does that view of hip hop compare to McBride’s? Do you think McBride would agree with Brooks? Explain why or why not.
5. In paragraph 23 McBride quotes Chuck D of Public Enemy. What is your view of Chuck D’s assertion? Are there ways in which rap music does pay “homage to the music that came before”? If so, what are they?

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 11 - Hip Hop Planet - Questions for Discussion: In paragraph 23 McBride quotes Chuck D of Public Enemy. What is your view of Chuck D’s assertion? Are there ways in which rap music does pay “homage to the music that came before”? If so, what are they?
6. Read the description of the music composed by the would-be Senegalese rapper Assane N’Diaye (para. 34). Do you consider this to be a lesser form of rap or a truer form? Explain your answer.

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 11 - Hip Hop Planet - Questions for Discussion: Read the description of the music composed by the would-be Senegalese rapper Assane N’Diaye (para. 34). Do you consider this to be a lesser form of rap or a truer form? Explain your answer.
7. In the next-to-last paragraph of McBride’s essay, he justifies his acceptance of the violence that hip hop music embraces by saying that our national anthem is also about violence. What do you think of that comparison? In what ways does it help his argument? In what ways might it hinder it?

   Question

   uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7

   Chapter 11 - Hip Hop Planet - Questions for Discussion: In the next-to-last paragraph of McBride’s essay, he justifies his acceptance of the violence that hip hop music embraces by saying that our national anthem is also about violence. What do you think of that comparison? In what ways does it help his argument? In what ways might it hinder it?