URC-HASS RAP Lab Fellowship

The RAP Lab x The Grammy Museum

From fall 2023 to fall 2024, the Lab is co-curating the Grammy Museum’s exhibit “Hip Hop America: The Mixtape Exhibit,” in honor of the 50th anniversary of hip hop. This ambitious project includes multiple interactive experiences as well as a deep historical engagement with hip hop culture. Among the collaborating artists are: Latto, the Migos, Cordae, Roddy Rich, Chuck D, the estate of the Notorious B.I.G., and the estate of Tupac Shakur. In addition, the Lab is responsible for designing and implementing a number of events and educational programs related to the exhibition.

The RAP Lab x Gang Awareness Program

One of the Lab’s founding collaborations has been working with a group of incarcerated people at a Colorado correctional facility, in support of a program designed by two men serving life without the possibility of parole.

The RAP Lab x United States National Park Service

Starting in 2021, the Lab has launched an ongoing partnership with the National Park Service to deliver a series of programs leading up to the 250th anniversary of American Independence, in 2026. The first of these programs, “Remixing the Revolution,” featured the Lab’s director in conversation with a group of hip-hop performers. The second program will feature the voices of incarcerated people, with more public programs to follow.

The RAP Lab x UCLA Hip-Hop Initiative

Along with partners from across the campus and coordinated by the Bunche Center for African American Studies, the Lab is working to position UCLA as a world leader in hip hop studies. Though the academic study of hip hop is now well established, it is disproportionately centered in and focused on the East Coast. The Hip Hop Initiative looks to rebalance that attention, giving the West Coast, Los Angeles, and the UCLA campus proper attention as sites of hip-hop history, performance, and knowledge building.

Meiko Kaji (梶芽衣子).Who is Meiko Kaji? Meiko Kaji stands as a paramount figure in the Japanese cinema  consciousness. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that, along with the likes of Pam Grier in the ‘70s, she was part of a generation of women that both empowered their gender through a renewed control of their sexualities as well as a vigorous display of power and fearlessness towards patriarchal hierarchies that existed, and certainly still do, in society. Hopefully these materials are a good introduction to that idea. My vision for a project on her is to (1) plan a film festival on campus and (2) write a feature article on her, ideally with an interview from her. For the former, I love the idea of partnering with one of the film clubs on campus, possibly Bruin Film Society, who know how to secure screening rights, etc. to get a campus screening of one or more of her films. I’m sure the Japanese, Asian Studies, Film, and Anthropology departments would dig the idea. For the latter, I would hope to work with Professor Bradley to identify a magazine, newspaper, or website that would be interested in a feature on her. I could definitely craft a list of interview questions for Ms. Kaji that would tailor the project to the Lab with ideas of racial stereotypes and pop culture creation.

Mapping Arts Project. The Mapping Arts Project tells a public history of a particular city through the people, places, and individual acts of creation that define an artistic community. By marshaling the interactive power of the digital humanities, it brings a broad public audience in closer connection with our collective culture. These histories are mapped through places where artists – including visual artists, writers, musicians, and performers – have lived and worked. By mapping these places, the project traces not only the groundbreaking moments in art production, but also artists’ day-to-day process. I propose to develop a Mapping Arts site covering the city of Denver, Colorado. Mapping Arts-Denver focuses on the 1950s through the 1980s. Locating the research in place and on a digital map provides both spatial analysis and an interactive environment to engage the research. Through this research, Mapping Arts Denver highlights social dynamics of race, class, gender, and other markers of social location that have often determined whether an artist gains recognition or remains in archival anonymity. During the academic year, we will conduct archival and ethnographic research, write narratives, upload documents, and add geographic data to the website. The goal is to launch a beta version by the end of the academic year.