This course will use the rivalry between rappers Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls) and Tupac Shakur as a jumping off point to introduce you to the disparate and shared histories of East and West coast Hip Hop music (and culture); the importance of representing one’s city and ‘hood in Hip Hop; Hip Hop as a mode of ‘resistance’; New York and LA as distinctive spaces of Black cultural production; the commodification of Black pain and suffering; the unique style and aesthetics of regional flows; Hip Hop’s enduring problem with misogyny and the glorification of violence; creativity and community; and many other relevant themes that pertain to Black cultural production.