They Reminisce Over You I

Day and time: Thursday (March 19) · 10:30–12:00
Location: Info Center
Format: Talks

”A specific era ended, but Hip Hop always stayed with me” – Memories of an emerging culture from the 1980s and 1990s

Presented by: Elina Westinen

In this paper, we explore the meaning and roles of rap music and Hip Hop culture in people’s memories from the 1980s and 1990s. Drawing on oral history studies and Hip Hop studies, we are particularly interested in the memories of ordinary Finnish people, typically young, fascinated by one or more elements of the culture.

Oral history (Thompson 1978) foregrounds the voice of the grassroots and the subjective experiences of ordinary people. In a sense, oral history resonates with the hiphopographical approach (Spady 1991; Williams & Singh 2023). While previous research has mainly focused on the practitioners’ experiences in the early Finnish Hip Hop scene (Paleface 2011; Sykäri et al. 2019), little is known about those of the audience, of aficionados, of those ‘looking in’. Indeed, also most global Hip Hop research has thus far focused on practitioners.

Our data consist of 111 writings, short and long, from people of diverse ages, genders and regions. Respondents were invited to recall, for instance, how Hip Hop entered their lives, the people and events associated with it – how it felt, looked like and sounded.

The purpose of this paper is to delve into themes such as identity and community, anti-racism and roots of the culture from the perspective of contemporary youth – and prioritize the voices of ordinary people themselves.

There's No Book: Master Practitioner Publishing as Breaking's Knowledge Infrastructure

Presented by: Paul Vincent Ruma

When Olympic gold medalist B-boy Phil Wizard admits he can't access reliable breaking history, and world champion B-Girl Logistx laughs "there's no book," they expose Hip Hop's documentation crisis: master practitioners lack publishing access while academics lack cultural immersion. Meanwhile, pioneers age without documenting complete foundation systems.

Scholars of Style addresses this emergency through master practitioner-led publishing. Don't Stop the Rock!, authored by Wary—trained under New York legends, preserving Rock Dance across Europe since 2003—documents a foundational style largely erased from institutional narratives. These Are the Breaks! presents Boston legend Lino "Lean Rock" Delgado's journey as world-renowned DJ, international breaking champion, and music producer, co-authored by Paul Vincent Ruma as cultural historian. The book captures resilience, perfectionism, and mental health as embodied Hip Hop knowledge.

These bilingual books demonstrate what happens when master practitioners create their own publishing infrastructure rather than waiting for institutional access. They capture integrated foundation knowledge—technique, history, musical mastery, cultural responsibility—that YouTube tutorials and academic observation miss.

The question facing Hip Hop studies isn't whether the culture gets documented—it's whether practitioners or institutions control that process.

Hip-Hop and Basketball: The Everlasting Tale

Presented by: Edgar Ndazi

As a junior basketball coach I am always fascinated by the constant requests by my players to have a speaker, so that they can play music, either as they train or before a match begins, in the means of creating atmosphere. Without fail the music of choice is rap music, with a particular affinity for artists such as Playboi Carti and Lil Uzi Vert, i.e - the genre that has been labelled in some quarters as "mumble rap".

As a musicologist I am fully aware that the relationship between rap music and basketball has been there since the genre's inception: Indeed "Hercules" was the nickname that would be given to Clive Campbell, on account of him being 6’9” and prominent on the basketball courts of New York City, with that nickname eventually evolving into his DJ name Kool Herc.

In my paper I will discuss the close relationship that rap music and hip-hop culture has had since the beginning. I will discuss elements across the breadth of the culture, from the shared spaces all the way to the many forays of current and former NBA players into the recording studio.