The International Council for Hip Hop Studies
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Updates from the CIPHER
Free Toomaj Salehi: Iranian musicians at risk
Toomaj Salehi, is a 32-year-old Iranian underground hip hop singer mostly known for his protest songs concerning Iran's societal issues and the policies of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Toomaj was arrested (for a second time)on October...
THE Awards 2022 – Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
The CACSSS-based ERC project CIPHER: Hip-Hop Interpellation (PI: Prof J Griffith Rollefson) has been shortlisted for a 2022 Times Higher Education (THE) Award for Research Project of the Year in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. CIPHER is a five-year ERC funded...
CFP Extended: 4th Meeting of the European Hiphop Studies Network (Paris, January 2022)
PANTHEON: Hip-Hop's Global Pathways to Cultural “Legitimacy” Paris, France, 26–27 January 2022 Dates 26 January: La Place 27 January: Philharmonie de Paris 28 – 29 January: Philharmonie de Paris (French language conference): CULTURES HIP-HOP Création, légitimation,...
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Gems from the CIPHER
‘Mo Salah’ lyrics
In early January 2018, the first well-known hip hop reference to footballer Mo Salah appeared. It quickly spread across the globe, with artist in other countries using the footballer as a reference point for excellence – most of them comparing themselves to Mo Salah...
Alienness (MZK) – The Bronxstyle
Bboy Alienness refocused a generation through this seminal dance text of the 2000s. Inspiring a new old school, Alienness pushed the emphasis from power moves back to movement with feeling and groove: "I can teach a chihuahua to stand on one hand but I can't teach...
Little Simz – ‘Boss’
In 'Boss', Simz describes her rise to the top and asserts herself as a formidable artist in a predominantly male sphere. Inverting the masculinist language of the song title, she issues a warning shot: "I'm a boss in a fucking dress"...
Spekulativ Fiktion – ‘Google’
Spek details the Local Geological Record that tracks the first animal to walk on land (and it's in Ireland, where CIPHER is based!). Dropping some intensely local knowledge, he highlights the importance of heritage: "its feckin’ timeless, like the Tetrapod Footprints...