115 pages • 3 hours read
Jeff ChangCan't Stop Won't Stop (Young Adult Edition): A Hip-Hop History
Nonfiction | Book | YA | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Introduction
Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (Young Adult Edition)
- Genre: Nonfiction; social and cultural history
- Originally Published: 2020
- Reading Level/Interest: Young Adult/College
- Structure/Length: 4 parts; 19 chapters; approx. 330 pages; approx. 12.5 hours on audio
- Central Concern: Writer and journalist Chang presents a comprehensive history of the musical genre hip-hop and discusses its social and cultural impact as a global movement.
- Potential Sensitivity Issues: Profanity; racism and racial conflict; dialogue that includes use of the redacted n-word
Jeff Chang, Author
- Bio: Born in Honolulu; journalist and music historian who writes on cultural, social, and political topics; co-founded the May 19th Project and the daily news site Colorlines
- Other Works: Who We Be: The Colorization of America (2014), which was republished as Who We Be: A Cultural History of Race in Post-Civil Rights America (2016); We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation (2016)
- Awards: American Book Award (original adult edition; 2005); Asian American Literary Award (original adult edition; 2006)
CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:
- Hip-Hop as a Source of Unity
- The Voice of the Youth
- The Evolution of Hip-Hop Culture
STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:
- Develop an understanding of the social, historical, and political contexts regarding hip-hop culture and examine personal views related to hip-hop culture and art
- Analyze short paired texts and other resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Hip-Hop as a Source of Unity, The Evolution of Hip-Hop Culture, and The Voice of the Youth
- Create and present a slideshow based on text details and research that accurately conveys one hip-hop artist’s objectives, messaging, and political activism
- Examine and appraise the author’s purpose to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding misconceptions about hip-hop, the genre’s historical evolution, the establishment of voice in hip-hop, and other topics.
