Where did rap and hip hop come from? What socioeconomic and historical conditions produced this “urban noise”? This course will trace the development of rap— as well as graffiti, breakdancing and style—out of the South Bronx of the late 1970s. We will explore the arts of hip hop in relation to deindustrialization, the Cross Bronx Expressway and rising gang violence. Urban youth of color sought an aesthetic outlet for their frustration and anger, finding means in their environment to recycle and create. Deejaying and rapping, creating loops of samples from other music with someone talking over the beats have roots in African American “toasting” and the “dozens” as well as in Jamaican Sound Systems.