MUSI 3401 — Hip Hop in the Music Industry

4 semester hoursUndergraduateLecturetypical days: W/FBostonTraditional

Focuses on black popular music as art, activism, and commodity from the post–Civil Rights era to today. Studies the immediate musical, historical, cultural, and industry-based precedents for rap music, which emerged in opposition to the music industry—and many other institutions that perpetuated the inequalities against which early hip-hop artists were protesting. The contemporary moment provides a unique opportunity for refocusing on the origins of hip-hop and black protest music as they relate to the industry’s embrace and commodification of certain aspects of hip-hop culture. Explores the dynamic tensions between rap music as aesthetic object, countercultural expression, social commentary, and industry commodity, engaging with current expressions of all of these in the Boston area.

Prerequisites

Offering history

TermSectionsEnrolledCapacityFullOpen seats/section
Fall 20231151979%4.0
Spring 2025151926%14.0

Snapshots from scheduled scrapes — not live seat availability. "Full" can exceed 100% when sections over-enroll.

Meeting times

Share of recent sections by weekday: M 0% · T 0% · W 75% · Th 0% · F 100%

Common patterns: WF (75% of sections), F (25% of sections) — in patterns, R means Thursday

Professors

Fall

Spring

Percentages are each professor's average share of the season's enrolled students in recent terms.

Links

Official catalog (MUSI course descriptions) · Student reviews on RateMyHusky · All MUSI courses · Plan it at numap.app