Welcome to The International Association for the Study of Popular Music UK and Ireland Branch

Droppin’ Science: Hip Hop Ciphering and Deciphering

Posted: November 1st, 2023 | Filed under: Calls for Papers | Comments Off on Droppin’ Science: Hip Hop Ciphering and Deciphering

European HipHop Studies Network 7.0 
23-26 May 2024 (*note new dates)
Cork, Ireland    

This call for participation is open to proposals for individual papers as well as themed ciphers of 3-4 presenters.  This call is also open to proposals for arts workshops, organizing sessions, film screenings, and other practice-led formats.  The programme committee will take an affirmative approach to such arts and activist projects in order to widen access and encourage engagement from under-represented groups and alternative approaches as we call this pluriversity into being.

We invite proposals including, but not limited to the following:

  • Street Knowledge and/as Hip Hop Science
  • The Fifth Element vs. the University
  • Hip Hop in the Cipher: working with/as hip hop communities
  • Graf Jam Ciphering, Freestyle Ciphers, Breaking Ciphers, and Beat Battles
  • Hip Hop and Postcoloniality/Decoloniality
  • Global Hip Hop and indigenous epistemologies
  • Hip Hop Gems: deciphering hip hop lyrics, beats, moves, images, and cultural frameworks
  • Hip Hop in/and/as the Global South
  • Hip Hop’s kin: reggaeton, grime, drill, dancehall, baile funk, and beyond
  • Hip Hop’s Black Atlantic gender dynamics
  • Within the Circle: Hip Hop’s Intertextualities
  • And much more…

To be considered for EHHSN 7.0: Droppin Science, please submit the following documents by email to [email protected] bymidnight Irish Standard Time, Friday, 15 December 2023:

  • A written 250-word (max) abstract/proposal for a paper, workshop, or alternative format presentation or performance as an attachment, including author name(s), email, institutional affiliation(s) (where applicable), and any special space or technical requirements (as word or pdf attachment).
  • Where appropriate, an audio/visual text of maximum 2 minutes (mp3, mp4, or link) can be included, with the 250-word (max) description (word or pdf attachment).
  • Multi-member panel proposals should include each individual proposal plus a 250-word panel overview proposal as a single document (word or pdf attachment).

All proposals and media, as far as possible, will be anonymized before being forwarded to the CIPHER program committee. We will inform all applicants about decisions by Friday 2 February 2024 along with information on travel and lodging in Cork.

We encourage master’s and doctoral students as well as early career researchers to present their work-in-progress. We especially welcome papers that engage with less academically-visible work from artists, practitioners, organizers, and activists from a wider variety of backgrounds. Further, we hope to offer a select number of small bursaries to offset costs for student, early career, and unsalaried presenters.  Further information about bursaries will come with the February decision emails.

For performance or workshop presentations be advised that we have on offer: high quality sound, video projection, and lighting with dedicated sound and lighting technicians on-site, configurable 4×4 meter staging spaces, and a two-turntable, multi-microphone, and mixer setup.

Check the conference page at globalcipher.org for more information in the coming months.