Funk and the Academy | “Protest Music” at SFSU | The “HIP HOP WORKSHOP” | “Funk to Hip Hop” at CCSF | “Bebop to Hip Hop” at Cal | "Professor Vincent" | The "Hip Hop Social Hour" | Back to The Funky Index
The author of "Funk" the Music the People and the Rhythm of The One" is now TEACHING COURSES on the "History of Funk" at San Francisco City College and UC Berkeley! Each Semester you can learn about James Brown, Sly Stone, George Clinton, Jimi Hendrix, and the great funk bands of the 70's, as well as the funk sounds of the 80's and Hip Hop phenomenon of the milennium! There are always, surprises, guests, and plenty of The Funk! The course is developed around the Social Changes since the 1960's, and has many important readings, including the book "Funk." If you are interested in the whole story, read on!
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Funk and the Academy
It’s about time for The Funk to be getting the scholarly attention it deserves.
A generation ago, it was still ‘radical’ for black and race-conscious
educators to fight to insert jazz into the curriculum in public schools. Now
the radical move is to link jazz to hip hop in the Academy, and the natural
link for that is of course The Funk.
Since 1997 I have been trying to not only introduce students to the topics covered
in my book, but to establish in the curriculum the basic courses that bridge
jazz and hip hop sensibilities, through a study of modern African American life
and culture.
In 1997, after the publication of “Funk”, the late dean Philip McGee
offered me the opportunity to teach a course based on the book at San Francisco
State University in the Black Studies dept. It was originally titled Black "Protest
Music Since the 1960’s: Funk, Rap and the Black Revolution"; The course
was equal parts scholarly analysis and funked out jam session, where I would
play tight videos and tracks and have the class analyze them rigorously, giving
The Funk the deep introspection it deserves.
After four years and 8 successful semesters of that class, including an unforgettable
visit to the class by GEORGE CLINTON in 1998, the popularity of the course led
to some veteran students urging me to start a serious hip hop class.
+click here to check out the George Clinton visit to SF State
The Black Studies dept at SF State also suggested that I “upgrade”
the class to make it more broadly accessible to students, and to satisfy certain
graduation requirements. Thus, the course evolved into “The History of
Funk,” Black Studies 456.
While I thought a class about ‘funk’ was cool, the students at SF
State were far more involved and knowledgeable in Hip Hop than I expected. (Many
deep hip hoppers know that The Asian American hip hop community in San Francisco
is one of the most knowledgeable, talented and innovative movements in the world,
and I found myself at ground zero). The students at SF State were on a mission,
and convinced me to create the Hip Hop Workshop This class
was by far the most involved, interactive and engaging educational experience
I have ever participated in.
The “Hip Hop Workshop” was also the most time consuming and resource
draining project I had ever worked on. That was one reason I returned to Cal
for a Phd, with the hopes of returning to SF State or recreating the “Hip
Hop Workshop” elsewhere with the resources it deserves.
Since then I have been able to teach courses based on “Funk” at SF
City College and at UC Berkeley’ while finishing up my Phd at Cal. (Some
of these classes are open to the general public. You can check the links to
the schools above). Here is an overview of some of those adventures in education.
“Protest Music” at SFSU
Originally begun as a strictly political analysis of the social movements of
the 1960’s and 1970’s through the music, the course evolved into something
with its own funky identity, in part from my experience with it, and largely
because of the students’ own innovative approaches to the information.
Here is a shot of THE DOCTOR at school, taken by the SF State paper, the Gator.
RICKEY VINCENT'S FUNK CLASS GOES INTERACTIVE
THIS CREW PLUGGED IN AND TURNED OUT BURK HALL ONE DAY IN MAY 2002!
They burned up "Dance to the Music" and "Up for the Down Stroke" like pros!
Yea they got an "A" that year!
"Oh Yeah!"
'STUPID HAT DAY' WAS A WINNER TOO
The “HIP HOP WORKSHOP”
While "The History of Funk" is cool in its own right, the students
today come from the Hip Hop generation, and "Funk" is indeed "History"
to them. Furthermore, students at SF State are very serious about their hip
hop. So in the spring of 2000 some of my former"Protest Music" students
stayed on my case to develop a total Hip Hop class. At the time I was not sure
if students would come, or if I had the background to get DEEP into hip hop.
But I learned a few tricks that may help other educators starting on their own
'hip hop' pedagogy:
The Black Studies Dept at SF State was already interested in the Hip Hop idea, and smoothed my course proposal through the necessary channels. It was set for the fall 2000, whether I was ready or not.
The first serious breakthrough was to convince the new Dean of Ethnic Studies, Thomas Almaguer, that the department needed a SET OF TURNTABLES. (!). So I wrote up a budget and the Dean approved the purchase (!). This I knew would draw students once we got rolling. There were over 130 students in the class, by far the largest course in the history of the Ethnic Studies program at SF State.
Then at the first class session, we passed out a "Skilz Survey" and had students RATE THEMSELVESin terms of hip hop mastery of: rapping, breaking, deejaying and graffitti art. Those audacious enough to claim 'mastery' of an element, were recruited as 'student teachers' and 'workshop leaders' later in the course.
The course was then designed with a first unit that discussed an overview of hip hop, and its historical elements, such as Reggae/Jamaican Sound Systems, and of course The Funk. The unpublished work of Davey D, his history of the birth of Hip Hop was invaluable. Hopefully one day he will release "The Hip Hop Chronicles" and get his due as the writer and historian that he is.
The second unit of the course was a whirlwind of presentations, from local and legendary breakers (break-dancers), deejays, rappers and graf artists, as well as community organizers, music producers and educators that were down with us. The most important visitor that first semester was of course AFRIKA BAMBAATAA, discussed below.,
The final unit of the class involved the student teachers breaking down the class into 'lessons' on the four elements, with students rotating through every "Workshop" over a span of a few weeks. Then of course was the time for 'presentations' as EVERY STUDENT had to perform or present some creative production of their own. While there were some well established students, some of the most entertaining stuff was from students new to hip hop, who tried their first 'scratch mix' or their first rap in front of the whole class. This experience also motivated me to try and get all of my music oriented classes to have a 'student performance' element, even if it is just optional.
The Workshops in action
And of course there were awesome guests, such as rapper Mystic, and the legendary Invisible Scratch Picklz, featuring Q-Bert!!
that's right! 
and Q-bert gets 'em acting crazy 
THE HIP HOP WORKSHOP CREW
I would have been completely useless without the help and knowledge of serious students who knew the deal about Hip Hop, and were ready to coordinate this monstrous class project. The first Workshop Crew consisted of Michelle Brito, whose contacts legitimized the whole enterprise. Nishat Kurwa, who is a radio producer with Youth Radio, and at news station KCBS in San Francisco, among many other things, and Karma B. Sweet, who is part of local hip hop act "Kemetic Suns" and whose experience helped us design and legitimize the 'rap' and 'Reggae' units of the course. Many other students helped out, and became part of the 'crew' the following semesters.
The First Workshop Crew + Guest (L-R): RV, BAM, Nishat Kurwa, Michelle Brito, Karma B. Sweet
The second semester crew was large and diverse, which allowed for more possibilites for presentations, guests and performances. The highlight of that semester was the visit of the legendary Q-BERT,
Another important guest lecturer was Oba T'Shaka, one of the key architects of the Black Studies' 'discipline shift' toward African Centered Thought. His dynamic and relevant lecture style was an inspiration to all of us.
The 2nd Workshop Crew + guest (L-R): Mike Gadd, Andrea Lamadora, Michael Baker, RV, Oba T'Shaka, Nichole Lamadora, Cheryl Parrocha, Gerald "Whiz" Ward
The third semester was just as rowdy, as it occurred during the September 11 attacks, and our discussions of political issues got quite serious. But we still managed to have fun.
The third Workshop Crew (l-r): Big Sam, Brooke Wilson, Gerald "Whiz" Ward, RV, Charles Mays
(not pictured, Michael "Magatron" Virdure, our ready and steady deejay that semester)
Still to come:
the AFRIKA BAMBAATAA VIDEO link
+ view the original Hip Hop Workshop flyer
+ SF BAY GUARDIAN story
+ SF CHRONICLE story
+ view the awesome Graffitti art examples
“Funk to Hip Hop” at CCSF
In 2001 I was asked by Glenn Nance, chair of African American Studies at San
Francisco City College (CCSF) to lecture for him on “Funk.” Prof.
Nance was so enthusiastic about the possibilities that he coaxed me into developing
a course for him at CCSF. During 2002, as I was preparing to enter UC Berkeley
again as a graduate student, the CCSF class was approved, and I could not say
no to such a rich opportunity. The class began fall 2002 and has been growing
ever since, with a regular meeting time Wednesday nights.
As with most courses at CCSF, the class is open to all California residents,
and is offered again this spring 2005! For more information, check the link:
+go to SF City College Link
“Bebop to Hip Hop” at Cal
In October of 2002 Percy Hintzen, chair of African American Studies at Cal,
asked me if I was interested in teaching a ‘special topics’ course
the following summer, 2003. The honor was a great opportunity, and I’m
grateful to Prof. Hintzen, and to Prof. Charles Henry for looking out for a
mug. The previous course was taught by Cecil Brown, which he titled “Black
Popular Music and Culture; From Ragtime to Hip Hop.” Since my focus was
more on The Funk, and specifically, on African American life and culture since
the urbanization of WWII, I retitled the course “AfricAm 159 : Black Popular
Music and Culture; from Bebop to Hip Hop and stuck to the bulk of my usual game,
The Funk.
At a major university, I chose to upgrade the reading lists, and required four
books for a six week session, and as usual, got even more out of the class as
a result of the rigorous workload. Also, in what has become a pattern in my
classes, toward the end of the course, I allowed students to perform their final
reports ‘live’ if they wished. Some of these take the form of oral
reports, some become pantomimes of classic performances, and the ones this term
became involved historical skits and solid musical expositions.
+see photos of "Bebop to Hip Hop" Summer 2003
Yeah somebody had to try to breakdance!
There is always a lot of talent shown by these students
The class as been offered during Summer Sessions 2003, 2004 and 2005. And it will be offered
again this spring 2006. You do not have to be a Cal student to take the class during
the summer. If you are interested in taking the class one of these summers,
check the UC Berkeley
Summer Session page.
"Professor Vincent"
In 2002 I returned to UC Berkeley, the site of my undergraduate exploits, to complete an Ethnic Studies Phd. It took the inspiration of my homeboy Scot Brown, local journalist Sylvia Chan (who entered a year ahead of me), and my wife Tess for me to see the opportunity to get some "papers" to do my thing.
So I entered in the fall of 2002 with a large and diverse cohort that turned out to be a contentious lot as well. However, we finished the courses and are all on our own now. My research will appear on this site soon.
My research focus was crystallized while working under the legendary Ron Takaki, the father of Ethnic Studies as the world knows it. He was an inspiration for me as an undergraduate, and shaped my career as an educator. I had the honor of working with Prof. Takaki during the fall 2003. Unfortunately, his battle with M.S. forced him to take a leave midway through the semester, and he asked his group of Graduate Student Instructors to finish the course for him. We worked hard, but ultimately honored him and the 200+ students with a rich, informative course taught in his image. It stands as one of my proudest achievements as an educator, to do work worthy of him.
Here are my colleagues, Victor Rios, Nyere Da Silva, Jordan Gonzales, RON TAKAKI, Jose Palafox, Maristella Huerta, and RV
After a couple years at UC Berkeley it was becoming clear that there were plenty of folks that had a hip hop orientation to their own world, but it was not to be seen in their academic environment. So I decided to work with my fall 2004 'Bebop to Hip Hop' students and organize a 'social hour' that was also educational and entertaining. We brought in guest speakers (Davey D, Boots Riley and Dawn Elissa Fischer) had some great talent (host Erin Ransom, raps from Taj Massey and others), and brought some great food from local merchants. It was also cool that we utilized the space in the Ethnic Studies program to bring together faculty, staff, graduate students, undergrads and community activists/artists into a positive space to acknowledge and encourage each other's work. We plan to do more of these, and to use the networks to build a hip hop community at Cal and the larger community.
Click here to email Rickey Vincent: rickeyvincent77@yahoo.com
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