Hip-Hop Diplomacy

Why It Matters

Council on Foreign Relations

News

4.2 • 876 Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hip-hop is a phenomenon that has captured hearts around the world. Its musical form ranges from party anthems to critical social commentary. But the genre plays another role: it is an influential soft-power tool for the United States. Like its predecessors jazz and rock, hip-hop is utilized by the U.S. State Department to connect with young minds, and its unique ability to inspire goodwill toward the United States offers a significant advantage over adversaries such as China and Russia. How did hip-hop become a go-to diplomatic instrument? Toni Blackman (Alumni Outreach Director, Next Level) Mark Katz (John P. Barker Distinguished Professor of Music and Director of Graduate Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/hip-hop-diplomacy

Transcript

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0:00.0	It was all a dream.
0:03.0	Hip-hop. We all know it and we can't turn on the radio or go to a party without hearing it.
0:12.0	It's an American art form, born in the Bronx and audible
0:16.4	from coast to coast. But in recent decades, hip-hop has gone global and at this point almost every country on earth has developed its own style of the genre. When I'm in a building you come out, when I'm on stage it gets shut down.
0:35.0	When I walk in you best look down, cry of a lie.
0:38.0	It's from you guys.
0:39.0	No seat's men, it's not a sign, looklessen,
0:41.0	I'll zoom, be like a story,
0:42.5	who d'Oye, and a gentlel.
0:44.0	Yoke-saki-wagimmed, I don't care about it,
0:46.0	it says, kangir a shit,
0:48.0	you're food ken. Hip-hop is a global culture, but it's also a multi-billion dollar business,
0:56.5	fueled by artists all over the world.
0:58.8	Still, American artists dominate the genre and this presents a unique opportunity for
1:08.3	cultural diplomacy. Yeah it may be surprising. But for years, the US State Department has been
1:15.2	capitalizing on the power of hip-hop, sending musical ambassadors abroad to
1:20.1	forge connections. I'm Gabrielle Sierra and this is why it matters.
1:25.2	Today, hip-hop diplomacy and the enduring legacy of America's musical soft power. I think the
1:35.0	I think the concept behind soft power is that instead of being aggressive or right in
1:47.5	someone's face is that you are more subtle with the idea of relationship building.
1:52.1	This is Tony Blackman. with the idea of relationship building.
1:53.0	This is Tony Blackman.
	...

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