Read, Write, Rhyme Institute: Educators, Entertainers, and Entrepreneurs Engaging in Hip-Hop Discourse

Read, Write, Rhyme Institute describes how individuals participating in the Read, Write, Rhyme Institute examine today’s youth, hip-hop, and social responsibility. The institute provides a forum to engage in hip-hop Discourse (with a capital D) that includes a worldview and ways of doing, being, and knowing that are used in rap music, graffiti, spoken word poetry, and daily conversation. This book seeks to capitalize on the diversity within the hip-hop community by including successful individuals that grew up not only listening to hip-hop but also living it. Participants include educators, entertainers, and entrepreneurs.

Table of Contents:
Introduction – Defining Hip-Hop – Members of the Hip-Hop Community – Viewing Hip-Hop through a Social, Economic, and Political Lens – Technology’s Influence on Hip-Hop Music – Women in Hip-Hop – Hip-Hop and Education.

About the Author :
Crystal LaVoulle, Ph.D., earned her doctorate in teaching and learning from Georgia State University and is Executive Director of the LaVoulle Group, an international educational consulting group. Dr. LaVoulle provides teachers with tools to bridge the gap between students’ current performance and their academic potential.

Review :
“Crystal LaVoulle has produced an incredibly thoughtful, sophisticated, and well-crafted explo-ration of the intersection of hip-hop, education, and cultural studies. The scope and depth of this study will impress scholars of hip-hop, as well as aficionados of the art. It is a welcome addition to a robust body of hip-hop scholarship.” Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar, Professor of History and Director of the Center for the Study of Popular Music, University of Connecticut “Some of the most productive intellectual spaces are carved when two or more seeming disparate intellectual fields intersect. What happens when Discourse analysis, pedagogy, digital literacies, critical entrepreneurship, and critical youth studies meet by the grace of hip-hop? The answer is «Read, Write, Rhyme Institute». It is methodologically innovative, scholarly grounded, and poeti-cally hopeful. For those who are interested in language hip-hop pedagogy, this is a must-read, especially for those invested in that critical intersection of race, class, and public education. Hip-hop studies is a growing field, and «Read, Write, Rhyme Institute» is a beautiful addition to it.” Awad Ibrahim, Professor at the University of Ottawa “Crystal LaVoulle facilitates authentic conversation between hip-hop artists and hip-hop scholars. Multiple generations of hip-hop lovers can relate to the adversity, joy, pain, commercialism and authenticity that this book attempts to address. The Read, Write, Rhyme Institute addresses un-comfortable issues within hip-hop and the African American community as well as celebrating the value of hip-hop culture.” Joel Roper, a.k.a. Rapper Joe Ski Love “In «Read, Write, Rhyme Institute», diverse members of the hip-hop community share candid and reflective opinions about the public school system and treatment of children of the current hip-hop generation. Crystal LaVoulle offers educators practical suggestions for teaching critical thinking and educating for social justice.” Eleanor Renée Rodríguez, author of «What Is It About Me That You Can’t Teach?»