What is Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop Therapy®?
What is Hip-Hop?
You cannot discuss Hip-Hop Therapy without first getting a grasp on what is Hip-Hop. Russell
Simmons best described Hip-Hop in his book "Life and Def: Sex, Drugs, Money + GOD. He states:
"Hip-Hop is a modern mainstream young urban American
culture. I know there are a lot of ideas there, but Hip-
Hop's impact is as broad as that description suggests.
Like rock and roll, blues, and jazz, Hip-Hop is primarily
a musical form. But unlike those forms of Black music,
Hip-Hop is more expansive in the ways it manifests
itself, [and] as a result its impact is wider…. Hip-Hop
communicates aspiration and frustration, community and
aggression, creativity and street reality, style and
substance. It is not rigid, nor is it easy to sum up in a
sentence or even a book. Simply put, when you are in a
Hip-Hop environment, you know it. It has a feel that is
tangible and cannot be mistaken for anything else."
With great respect for Russell Simmons definition of Hip-Hop, the history of Hip-Hop, its foundation,
the four tiers, and its evolution, I must expound off of that to include that Hip-Hop is an expression of
one's viewpoint, lifestyle, creativity, spirituality, joy, pain, struggle, and their own life story while
moving to the beat of the drum of life and living the urban experience.
Hip-Hop adds a face and a voice to those who might not have otherwise been seen or heard from in
any other medium. Whether right or wrong; ethical or unethical; moral or amoral; approving or
disapproving; Hip-Hop gives credence to those who have been historically shunned, disregarded, left
out, oppressed, marginalized, disenfranchised, and invalidated. Hip-Hop is a way of life, relative
movement, and culture that only a few can relate to and partake in because in the backdrop is "hood
reality" and the ideal "keeping it real". Hip-Hop is an evolving life force within the person that lives
it, breathes it, and moves around in it. Hip-Hop is more than what you hear on the radio, read in the
magazines, or what you watch on TV. Hip-Hop is you. Hip-Hop is ME!"
The Hip-Hop Therapist ™
What is Hip-Hop Therapy®?
Taking into context the definition of Hip-Hip, along with the founder's, Nakeyshaey M. Tillie Allen,
personal and professional experiences, knowledge, skill, practice, and research in both Hip-Hop and
therapeutic concepts, she defines Hip-Hop Therapy as the following:
Hip-Hop Therapy (HHT)® is a innovative and culturally sensitive approach that incorporates
traditional therapies, such as music therapy, cognitive and behavioral therapy, relational therapy,
solution focused therapy, and narrative therapy fostered around the inclusion of Hip-Hop music and
culture.
The approach can be used in an individual or group therapy environment, as well as in community
development work. While utilizing the formats of the traditional approaches, Hip-Hop Therapy
introduces and analyzes Hip-Hop music, its lyrics, and culture as it relates to the person in therapy or
community development. Analyzing Hip-Hop music, lyrics, and culture engages participants, creates
discussion, and critically analyzes life issues and struggles, while exploring and testing their own
reality, self concept, decision making skills, attitude and behavior, and emotional states before the
onset of a crisis or problematic situation.
For more information about this approach, please call us at 1-866-501-HIPP.
Why Hip-Hop Therapy®?
Industry Ears, a new generation think tank that promotes justice in the
media, reports the following:
The Violence Prevention Institute, a organization designed to reduce the incidence of youth
violence, reports the following stats:
Why are the statistics important?
The stats are important because they reflect some of the value of Hip-Hop and its
connection to youth and young adults. The stats only reflect one side of the story of Hip-
Hop. The media representation of Hip-Hop is only one aspect of the culture. By using the
mediarized Hip-Hop to connect with the youth and young adult population, one could gain a
better understanding of what Hip-Hop is to the person who embraces, embodies it, enjoys it, and is
most affected by it.
It is an opportunity for helping professionals to see and connect with the youth and young adults in way
that they might not be able to at any other time. Particularly in the case of youth and young adults who
come to them by way of the Child Welfare, Foster Care, or Criminal Justice Systems. Often these
individuals are described as high-risk and referred to therapy or a social program involuntarily - by
way of a court mandate, probation officer, case manager, etc. And since they do not initiate the
therapy process, they may be apprehensive participating in a therapeutic relationship or social
program.
Furthermore, Hip-Hop Therapy is the response to those traditional approaches to therapy that are
often utilized with high-risk populations and/or persons of color, but are often not effective because
they were not designed to address the unique issues that the aforementioned populations encounter in
their everyday environments, as well as in their assimilated social and cultural development.
Hip-Hop Therapy is unique because it takes on a Person in Environment (PIE) approach, meeting
people where they are at cognitively and socially, while exploring their social, cultural, ecological and
environmental context and orientation. Moreover, it is an ideal and practical tool to help build " youth
centered" capacity in communities that have been traditionally disenfranchised and left out of the
mainstream social, political, and economic systems.
Hip-Hop Therapy is best utilized as an engagement tool in a therapeutic or educational
setting that services populations who are most affected by, enjoy, or embody Hip-Hop
music and culture. The intervention is also diverse enough to be utilized with any racial or
ethnic group.
The intervention is best described as:
For more information about Hip-Hop Therapy, please call us at 1-866-501-HIPP (4477).
You cannot discuss Hip-Hop Therapy without first getting a grasp on what is Hip-Hop. Russell
Simmons best described Hip-Hop in his book "Life and Def: Sex, Drugs, Money + GOD. He states:
"Hip-Hop is a modern mainstream young urban American
culture. I know there are a lot of ideas there, but Hip-
Hop's impact is as broad as that description suggests.
Like rock and roll, blues, and jazz, Hip-Hop is primarily
a musical form. But unlike those forms of Black music,
Hip-Hop is more expansive in the ways it manifests
itself, [and] as a result its impact is wider…. Hip-Hop
communicates aspiration and frustration, community and
aggression, creativity and street reality, style and
substance. It is not rigid, nor is it easy to sum up in a
sentence or even a book. Simply put, when you are in a
Hip-Hop environment, you know it. It has a feel that is
tangible and cannot be mistaken for anything else."
With great respect for Russell Simmons definition of Hip-Hop, the history of Hip-Hop, its foundation,
the four tiers, and its evolution, I must expound off of that to include that Hip-Hop is an expression of
one's viewpoint, lifestyle, creativity, spirituality, joy, pain, struggle, and their own life story while
moving to the beat of the drum of life and living the urban experience.
Hip-Hop adds a face and a voice to those who might not have otherwise been seen or heard from in
any other medium. Whether right or wrong; ethical or unethical; moral or amoral; approving or
disapproving; Hip-Hop gives credence to those who have been historically shunned, disregarded, left
out, oppressed, marginalized, disenfranchised, and invalidated. Hip-Hop is a way of life, relative
movement, and culture that only a few can relate to and partake in because in the backdrop is "hood
reality" and the ideal "keeping it real". Hip-Hop is an evolving life force within the person that lives
it, breathes it, and moves around in it. Hip-Hop is more than what you hear on the radio, read in the
magazines, or what you watch on TV. Hip-Hop is you. Hip-Hop is ME!"
The Hip-Hop Therapist ™
What is Hip-Hop Therapy®?
Taking into context the definition of Hip-Hip, along with the founder's, Nakeyshaey M. Tillie Allen,
personal and professional experiences, knowledge, skill, practice, and research in both Hip-Hop and
therapeutic concepts, she defines Hip-Hop Therapy as the following:
Hip-Hop Therapy (HHT)® is a innovative and culturally sensitive approach that incorporates
traditional therapies, such as music therapy, cognitive and behavioral therapy, relational therapy,
solution focused therapy, and narrative therapy fostered around the inclusion of Hip-Hop music and
culture.
The approach can be used in an individual or group therapy environment, as well as in community
development work. While utilizing the formats of the traditional approaches, Hip-Hop Therapy
introduces and analyzes Hip-Hop music, its lyrics, and culture as it relates to the person in therapy or
community development. Analyzing Hip-Hop music, lyrics, and culture engages participants, creates
discussion, and critically analyzes life issues and struggles, while exploring and testing their own
reality, self concept, decision making skills, attitude and behavior, and emotional states before the
onset of a crisis or problematic situation.
For more information about this approach, please call us at 1-866-501-HIPP.
Why Hip-Hop Therapy®?
Industry Ears, a new generation think tank that promotes justice in the
media, reports the following:
- A $10 billion dollar a year Hip-Hop industry that claims to reflect black life and culture; but 80%
of it is consumed by whites. - Over 90% of radio stations, record labels, magazines, TV stations, and retailers that
disseminate hip-hop and associated products including music, clothes, movies, and games -- are
white-owned. - African-American teens ages 12-17 listen to more than 18 hours of radio per week on average,
compared to 13.5 hours for all teens (Radio Advertising Bureau, 2002) . - Thirty percent of African-American teens are among the most frequent TV viewers (the top TV-
viewing quintile) versus 21.1% of non-African-American teens (Simmons Market Research
Bureau Adult Fall 2002 and Teen 2002 National Consumer Surveys).
The Violence Prevention Institute, a organization designed to reduce the incidence of youth
violence, reports the following stats:
- Most Americans have already witnessed 200,000 acts of violence on television by the age of 16.
(Source: Time Magazine) - Most perpetrators and victims know each other, is unplanned, and starts as an argument over
something “small.” (Source: Prevention Institute) - For women, the chances of going to prison were 6 times greater in 2001 (1.8%) than in 1974
(0.3%). (Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics) - The leading cause of death in African Americans between the ages of 10 and 24 is homicide.
(Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - The average cost of emergency treatment and inpatient hospitalization for critically injured
gunshot victims is $322,000.(Source: The Brady Campaign) - About 1 in 3 black males, 1 in 6 Hispanic males, and 1 in 17 white males are expected to go to
prison during their lifetime, if current incarceration rates remain unchanged. (Source: Bureau of
Justice Statistics)
Why are the statistics important?
The stats are important because they reflect some of the value of Hip-Hop and its
connection to youth and young adults. The stats only reflect one side of the story of Hip-
Hop. The media representation of Hip-Hop is only one aspect of the culture. By using the
mediarized Hip-Hop to connect with the youth and young adult population, one could gain a
better understanding of what Hip-Hop is to the person who embraces, embodies it, enjoys it, and is
most affected by it.
It is an opportunity for helping professionals to see and connect with the youth and young adults in way
that they might not be able to at any other time. Particularly in the case of youth and young adults who
come to them by way of the Child Welfare, Foster Care, or Criminal Justice Systems. Often these
individuals are described as high-risk and referred to therapy or a social program involuntarily - by
way of a court mandate, probation officer, case manager, etc. And since they do not initiate the
therapy process, they may be apprehensive participating in a therapeutic relationship or social
program.
Furthermore, Hip-Hop Therapy is the response to those traditional approaches to therapy that are
often utilized with high-risk populations and/or persons of color, but are often not effective because
they were not designed to address the unique issues that the aforementioned populations encounter in
their everyday environments, as well as in their assimilated social and cultural development.
Hip-Hop Therapy is unique because it takes on a Person in Environment (PIE) approach, meeting
people where they are at cognitively and socially, while exploring their social, cultural, ecological and
environmental context and orientation. Moreover, it is an ideal and practical tool to help build " youth
centered" capacity in communities that have been traditionally disenfranchised and left out of the
mainstream social, political, and economic systems.
Hip-Hop Therapy is best utilized as an engagement tool in a therapeutic or educational
setting that services populations who are most affected by, enjoy, or embody Hip-Hop
music and culture. The intervention is also diverse enough to be utilized with any racial or
ethnic group.
The intervention is best described as:
- Creative
- Fun
- Culturally Sensitive
- Client-Centered
- Engaging
- Empowering
For more information about Hip-Hop Therapy, please call us at 1-866-501-HIPP (4477).
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The Hip-Hop Therapy Project, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The terms Hip-Hop Therapy® and Hip-Hop Therapist™, along with all of their likeness, products,a and services are registered trademarks and copyrights. Please RESPECT our work and obtain our permission to duplicate information from this site.
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