The Wider Uses of Hip Hop:an interview with Dr Hicks Harper of Howard University
The Wider Uses of Hip Hop: An interview with Dr Hicks Harper of Howard University In 2019, I was researching a paper for my Master of Arts in songwriting entitled: "The Wider Uses of Hip-Hop Education: Hip-Hop Culture and Consciousness to Provide Positive Frameworks for Inclusion and Social Justice.” Whilst looking at a Hip-Hop timeline, I discovered that Dr. P. Thandi Hicks Harper was the first academic worldwide to carry out a study on the effect of rap music on cognition in the classroom. It was a quantitative study. After further research, I found that she was still carrying out amazing research and work relating to her “Hip-Hop Development (#HipHopDev)” theory and a “Hip-Hop 2 Prevent (H2P)” evidence-based program which educates and empowers youth to make better choices regarding drugs, alcohol and sexual relationships. I was encouraged by my essay supervisor to contact her and to my delight she replied. We set up a phone call from the United Kingdom to the United States.
