The Signifyin (g) Tradition of the Hip-hop Music Video Open Access

Abstract

This thesis attempts to interpret and contextualize Henry Louis Gates 1989 text, The Signifying Monkey, through the textual and formal analysis of hip-hop music videos spanning the last three decades. Through the exploration of Gates's theoretical frameworks, each chapter places prominent black cultural theorists in dialogue with one another in order to find space for new interpretations and understandings of black cultural traditions imbedded within hip-hop music video culture. Each chapter moves through different themes within The Signifying Monkey, drawing structural and theoretical comparisons between prominent African American modernist authors and hip-hop music video auteurs. Dissenting theorists from Stuart Hall's Birmingham School of Cultural Studies provide alternate perspectives and complicate notions of cultural continuity across mediums specific to African American cultural traditions. The final chapter focuses on a 2014 roundtable discussion involving Michael Eric Dyson and the rapper Nas. The discussion operates as an example of hip-hop scholars' tendency to focus solely on the lyrical and narrative importance of rap music. This thesis aims to prove that the formal and textual aspects of hip-hop music videos serve as important visual examples of Signification and contain decades of valuable contextual information.

Table of Contents

Introduction...1

Chapter 1: Rap Videos and Signifyin (g)...7

Chapter 2: "Knowledge Born, What's the Science Baby?"...25

Chapter 3: Signification in the Digital Age...41

Parting Thoughts...64

Bibliography...65

Work Cited...67

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Film and Media Studies
Degree	MA
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Cinema
Keyword	Michael Eric Dyson Music Videos Henry Louis Gates Nas Black Cultural Studies Hazel Carby Belly The Signifying Monkey Hype Williams
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Reynolds, Daniel , Emory University
Committee Members	Steffen, James M, Emory University Allison, Tanine L, Emory University

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