Straight Outta Chevy Chase

From boom bap to EDM, we look at the line between hip-hop and not, and meet a defender of the genre that makes you question… who’s in and who’s out.

NPR’s Microphone Check, hosted by Frannie Kelley and Ali Shaheed Muhammad
Over the past 40 years, hip-hop music has gone from underground phenomenon to global commodity. But as The New Yorker’s Andrew Marantz explains, massive commercial success is a tightrope walk for any genre of popular music, and especially one built on authenticity and “realness.” Hip-hop constantly runs the risk of becoming a watered-down imitation of its former self – just, you know, pop music.

Andrew introduces us to Peter Rosenberg, a guy who takes this doomsday scenario very seriously. Peter is a DJ at Hot 97, New York City’s iconic hip-hop station, and a vocal booster of what he calls “real” hip-hop. But as a Jewish fellow from suburban Maryland, he’s also the first to admit that he’s an unlikely arbiter for what is and what isn’t hip-hop.

With the help of Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest and NPR’s Frannie Kelley, we explore the strange ways that hip-hop deals with that age-old question: are you in or are you out? (Source: Radiolab)