I have continued my research on both hip hop culture in Africa and on African migration. I have written two book chapters, co-edited one book, and written one book. I am also currently completing an article for a peer reviewed journal, working on a co-edited book and guest editing a journal issue.
The publication that I have been most excited about is my upcoming book Hip Hop and Representation in Africa: Prophets of the City and Dustyfoot Philosophers. The book will be the first solo-authored book that looks at hip hop music and culture across the continent. The book is a result of several years of research and hours of reviewing music and videos. The book ties together my academic research on both hip hop and migration, with images I have taken, to present a discussion on hip hop as a form of cultural representation in Africa.
I co-edited, Hip Hop and Social Change in Africa: Ni Wakati, which was originally published in 2014 and released in paperback in 2016. The book focuses hip hop’s commentary on social and political change in Africa. The book contains chapters on diverse hip hop cultures in eight different African countries, and includes five original essays written by hip hop artists from different African countries.
I was also invited to submit a chapter in the edited volume The Ghana Reader: History, Culture, Politics. This was a short chapter that focused on the works of five diverse Ghanaian hip hop artists. I was also invited to contribute to the upcoming edition of the edited volume, Africana Studies: A Survey of Africa and the African Diaspora. The book is a popular textbook in courses in African, Africana, and African American Studies courses. This will be the book’s third edition.
My upcoming research includes the article Representations of African Feminism in Hip Hop that I was invited to submit for a special edition of the journal Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism. This article is being submitted September 2017.
I have two additional projects in progress. I am co-editing a book on being Black and bicultural with a colleague from the African Studies Department, Phiwokuhle Mnyandu, and one of our PhD candidates, Loy Azalia. We sent out a call for papers, and received enough strong submissions to submit the manuscript for review. Our manuscript proposal is currently under review.
I have been asked to guest edit a special issue of the journal Words Beats & Life: The Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture. The special issue will be titled The Politics of Language in African Hip Hop. I have drafted the call for papers and I am working with the journal’s editor on establishing a timeline for submissions, revisions, and publication.
My scholarship on hip hop culture in Africa has made original contributions to the field, and has been recognized in several ways. This includes being elected to editorial boards, invitations to present my research and work at national and international conferences and symposia, and service on peer review committees.
Other indicators of scholarly impact include:
- The use of my text (Hip Hop and Social Change in Africa) in courses taught at various universities. The diversity of courses adopting the text show the interdisciplinary nature of the research. Some of those courses include:
- “Applying Music, Art & Practice”, a graduate level course in the Department of Music at the University of Virginia
- “Global Hip Hop Cultures”, an undergraduate course in the Department of History and International Relations” at Trinity College
- “HipHop, Youth Culture, and Politics in Senegal”, an undergraduate course in the Department of African Cultural Studies at the University of Wisconsin – Madison
- Citation of my work in scholarly publications. According to Google Scholar, my research on hip hop has been cited in more than 25 scholarly publications, while my work on African migration has been cited in more than 65 scholarly publications.
Please click on the links for more information on the publication
Clark, M.K. In Progress. Representations of African Feminism in Hip Hop. Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism.
Clark, M. K. (2018) Hip Hop and Representation in Africa: Prophets of the City and Dustyfoot Philosophers. Ohio University Press.
- Appendix 3A Overview of manuscript Hip Hop and Representation in Africa: Prophets of the City and Dustyfoot Philosophers
- Appendix 4A Evidence of contract with Ohio University Press
Clark, M.K. (2018). The Contemporary Diaspora. In M. Azevedo (Ed), Africana Studies: A Survey of Africa and the African Diaspora. Durham: Carolina Academic Press.
Clark, M. K. (2016). A Profile of Five Ghana Emcees. In K. Konadu and C. Campbell (Eds), The Ghana Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
- Appendix 6A Chapter “A Profile of Five Ghana Emcees” in The Ghana Reader: History, Culture, Politics
Clark, M. K. and Koster, M. M. (Eds). (2014). Hip Hop and Social Change in Africa: Ni Wakati. Lanham, MD: Lexington Press.