Rap and Hip Hop
Rap and Hip Hop
Rap and Hip Hop
Rap and Hip Hop
Rap and Hip Hop
Rap and Hip Hop
Rap and Hip Hop
Rap and Hip Hop
Rapolitics' workshops, projects, and other activities share a common approach: using Rap and Hip Hop as a didactic method. We do this to appeal to our young target audience.
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RAP AND HIP-HOP
Rap has longdominated the Danish top-10 charts on streaming services. In 2024, the four most-streamed songs on Spotify belonged to the Hip Hop genre. Rap has taken a dominant position in our popular culture, a trend that has been growing throughout the 2010s and 2020s. Particularly among the younger demographic, which drives streaming numbers, Rap is incredibly popular, and many teenagers consider themselves dedicated fans of artists and part of the culture. Here, Hip Hop is associated with something cool and admirable. Often, Hip Hop is compared to a team sport, and the sense of community is frequently cultivated in crews, online communities, and podcasts that highlight the culture—something many young people can relate to and feel represented by.
However, the historical and social context of Hip Hop must not be ignored. Since its early days in the 1970s South Bronx, Hip Hop has been a tool for raising awareness about injustice and mobilizing youth engagement in movements fighting for freer and more equal societies. This DNA still manifests itself generations later. The Black Lives Matter movement would not have had the same impact without the many rappers who used their voices in the uprising. During the Arab Spring, Hip Hop artists in Egypt, Tunisia, and later Syria helped mobilize public resistance against dictatorial regimes. In Gaza and the West Bank, young Palestinians use Rap to remind the world that their freedom of movement and expression is being violated. In countries like Myanmar, India, and Cuba—where free press is restricted or non-existent—young rappers share their struggles for rights and messages of freedom and equality via Bluetooth and on social media that are not monitored by authorities. In 2024, we also saw some of Denmark's biggest rappers take a stand regarding the conflict in Gaza, including Tessa, L.O.C., Artigeardit and Gilli.
RAP AS A TEACHING METHOD
When we use Rap to engage young people in an unconventional way, it often brings forward the students who typically sit at the back of the classroom and do not always feel represented or heard. Rapolitics' method has proven particularly effective in reaching these students. We know this for two reasons: Firstly, Hip Hop often resonates with students who can mirror themselves in established rappers—artists who have also felt overlooked or unheard by the traditional school system.
Secondly, when the most vulnerable students—those repeatedly told they are not good enough in school—experience success using their voices in the classroom, they develop stronger self-confidence and an understanding that their voices are both valid and important. Using Rap and Hip Hop as tools, we can also activate young people in the classroom through exercises involving music, movement, and language in a natural way. This enhances students’ ability to concentrate, ultimately improving both academic understanding and personal success.
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OUR EXPERIENCE
Through years of experience hosting rap workshops, Rapolitics has found that creative collaboration between experienced rappers and young participants almost always yields valuable results. We see that many participants’ perspectives are challenged, allowing them to view themselves in a new light and articulate opinions and visions for their own lives and society—thoughts they may not have previously explored. By using Rap as a method to address political and social issues, we aim not only to educate about current realities but also to create a safe space where young people feel encouraged to form their own opinions and express their ideas for a better society—ultimately transforming these thoughts into rap lyrics.
We believe that young people learn best when they are engaged and having fun. That’s why Rap and Hip Hop are effective tools—they leverage something familiar to most young people to explore complex topics.
After many years of structured and targeted work with Hip Hop as a didactic tool, Rap has finally gained broad recognition as a legitimate method of teaching. With over 15 years of experience at Rapolitics and as one of the leading cultural advocates in this field, we can confidently affirm this to be true.
