NASSS 2018 Conference - Vancouver

In 2017, hip-hop music became the most prominent genre in the music industry (Caulfield, 2018). Seemingly to honor this achievement, twelve-time Grammy-award winning rapper Kendrick Lamar was the half-time headliner of the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship Game. While this is a recent example, the links between hip-hop and sport are not new. Numerous connections can be made such as the 1980s partnership between Run-DMC/Adidas or more recently Jordan brand’s endorsement deals with hip hop artists such as Drake and DJ Khaled.  However, minimal scholarly attention has addressed the compelling questions of race, gender, sexuality, social class, and age that such intersections between hip hop culture, entertainment, and sport provoke. Thus, this session seeks contributions that will critically examine the intersection of hip-hop culture and sport, especially as contemporary forms of entertainment and cultural expression that are closely linked with issues of race, gender, sexuality, social class, and age.