HIP-HOP FOR HEALTH PROMOTION AN EXPLORATORY DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF HIP-HOP-BASED HIV/AIDS
in partial fulfilmentoflhe
requirements for Ihe degreeof
ABSTRACT
TABLEOFCO TE TS
1.4 Music-based HIVeducaiion in Nonn A,mene'
LULIST OF TABLES
I
..
LIST OF AeRO YMS
LISTOFApPE DICES
INTRODUCTION
tocommunicateinrormationaboulHIV/AIDS.
1Shonly arter this. Ban"sbook Singjng
infonnedbyworking with the panicipantsofa music-based health inter\,ention) using
Based on my experiences and previous academic studies
4•I sec an intricatefit
nalionalislic folksongs. or the use of music forlonure purposes (Moreno 2OCI6).~This
been developed for commercial purposes (Dorson 1971).6 Barbara Kirshenblau·Gimblett
community and lay people.
7Henken and Whatley (2000) argue that these legendsare
builds upon Ihisdescriptive research"throughdecpercomprchension oflhe significance
communicationslrategy.'However.Merriamalsoargueslhl:umusic·sroleas an agem of
Elltertaillment-EducationandParticipatoryCommunication
gives is thai ofa women's group in BugweVillngewhoscsongimploresthemembcrsof
Evaluationsofhip-hop-basedHIVeducalion
many people very quickly and quite cheaply. Music is also repeatable in that a recording
song is played. reinrorcesmemoryrormation. In the age or new technology. digital
program
lO•the other studies focus on the uscofhip-hop-bascd HIV/AIDS education
song were dislributed on CD along wilh olherswag(e.g. l-shir1s 11 ) and promOlionaland
students ingrndes4 106 in Harlem to increase knowledge and action around slrokes.l!
gcnrcsimply based on ils popularity with Iheirlargcl dcmogmphic notbccauseofany
enlitled H2P("Hip-hop2 Prevent SubslaJlCe Abuse and HIV..).I)H2P"uses a conlextual
hop" (Tumcr.Mus.'letal. 2008. 359),14
Tumcr·Musael a1. (2008) foundlhat the hip-hop inlcrvcntion group did have an increase
messages"(1998,130).lSAlthoughSlephenselal.(I998)soughttoslandardizea prOlocol
ar1isl. DougE. Fresh. to composed and deliver educalional rnps 10 children
.16Turner-
Why is music used?
prevention messages can compete with these to reach African Arnerican adolescent girls
They believe that hip-hop canbe usedtochal1cngc the gendercd (and potentially risky)
Gaps in the Literature
genesis the roles ror men and women were much more equitable. commercial hip- hop has
rocus by health proressionals up to now has been on rearrirrning "youth cu lture as a risk
Hip-hop and Aboriginal cultures
and raplll (Rose 1994). Breaking isa form of dance that was often acompelitionbetween
rhymc IhciropponcllIs in freestyle rap (Alim Cl a1. 2009).19
partofthelocalcommunity.Hequotesamemberofthegroopwhostates.···Weprefer
appropriale for HIV education than others. This appropriateness may depend on factors
Aboriginal hip-hop
globc. Hence, thetcrm "Aboriginal" is not dcscriplivc ofa particular cullure or group of
Amcrican Aboriginal hip-hop.w
Cruewon"besthip-hoplrap"a1bumattheCanadianAboriginaIMusicAwardsYlitefoot
The fit: hip-hop and Aboriginal culture
indigenouslanguages,symbolsorinstrumenlS(andreferences).22UkewiseJamesLuIl
Australian and Canadian Aboriginalcommunilies.2) An Australian Abori ginalman
Analysis of the role of music in Taking AClion
Taking Action'
Dr. Samh Flicker, the principal invesligatorofTakingAction?jThese five key
workshops conducted in Toronlo and Kettle and Siony Poinl. 26 1conlocled myinfonnants
:~:':.::-=inTorunloloolr;PlaccinoclOber2008.TheWOrk.shopinKetlleandSU)flYPoimIOOkPIace
The Workshop
expression that was chosenbythe youth communilies in both Keuleand SlOnyPoinl
27and Toronto2l. Ontario (as well as in IwO Olhcr of Taking AClion"s six communilies). Hip-
Jessica Yee argues thai Tupac's song "Keep Ya Head Up..29 isaboot stopping
And since a mancan'l make one He has no right 10 tell a woman when and where to create one (Tupac Shakur 1993)
consciousnesslO• which is one oflhe goals Oflhe program. J1
empowering the yooth. In DaniersJ2 eyes. thefocilitators approachedlhe youlh as they
participants focused mainly on rap writing. some were morcinlcrested in the perfonnance
thispaper.
33And then they won', even know whut they did"(participant lit workshop)4),Another
Assessing lhe youth's connection to hip-hop
cmpowermellt.AlibelievesthallhisisOllcreasonwhyhip-hopisapopularchoice for
organizations working wilh thisdemographic:l~He states. ,,' think there is a big lrend at
marginalized popul:lIions is that hip-hop is an empowering medium. Empowermentis··a
hip-hopprcsclllanopportullitytospeaklhesclmthsbullhereisalsoanaudienee of
appropriategenrechoicerorHIVeducalioninlhissettingduelothecrealiveprocessor
hop because selt andseltual behaviours are a common theme in many hip-hop songsand part of the image of many hip-hop S13rs. Therefore. by adopting a hip-hop identity.oneis
hip-hop identity was possibly more effective than identities adoptcd in othergcnrcs of
son of thing inside himo Ihis kind of alter ego. Because you are pcrfonningsomething else. You are pcrforming as a diITerenl pcrson. (pcrsonal communicalion2010)
rnay bc taboo (Panford 2001).Gary Friedman(l992)claimsbccallse oo AIDSlOllChesupon
puppclsisnotpcrceivedasthrealeningasinterpersonalilUeraclion."Other examples of usinganistic media
10engage in potentiallysensilive lopicscanbe found in roleplaying
genre choice for Ihis kind of health education progrnm due to the availabilityofthe
rclativelycheap,"!tlakes fairly Iiule aClUal inveslrnclll,likcmonClaryinvestmelllalldit
takes very liule lime" (personal communication 2010) for him to produce a track from
The only thing required to make a rap are words.:J6 As onc interviewee notes. hip-
BeiongingtotheCommunity
Lakhani writes about howit was imponant 10 him 10 gain··insidef J7 Sialus with
Altruism and ethical responsibility
hiringaprofessiooal musician who isaclive in the industry anda"musician"whohasthe
fororganizmionsbeforeandwillcontinuetodoso.cvcnthoughitishard to lTlakea living
asahip-hopartist.
llIengage youth on thCIOpicofHIV, it is imjX)nam for these anists. theyouth and the health
CONCLUSION
populations?Linkcdtothis,futurerescarchmayinvcstigatewhctherthesexofthe
uoderstanding of how they work. Health organizalions should alsobeaware thatdifferenl genres of music may have differenl potcntials for use in aneducalional seuing.Aswell.
healthorganizationsrecognizingthepotcntialofmusicasacornrnunicationstnuegyand
ApPENDIX A
"hejule<
clown a 101 'up
Iicvch;m cavch;,n
"sec·cm
mo'hc,',beu"h;'ppy
·romawoma"
,?
,Two' 1me .be
nough
"hcmlc, ,onwo
dgh,seree"
luhh
ebew,,,'·,,;
mo·
:me
le~ld
ApPE DIXB
My life feels like 1
0m on a train. Never ending I goua use mybraino Igolla find an
escapement 10 get out of this place. So I can live my life
AppendixC
AppendixD:Banletl.Steu::.2010.Messager.lheMusic.TheTelegram,July14,2010
Message in the music
(,irl/lnl/"lld("I//"l/Inil/{,"niqll/'II//'flIIS/J/iJmllf(~alingJlllbii/'/wa/thlll/imnnllllll
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