Build, Mark Katz
Build, Mark Katz
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Build
The Power of Hip Hop Diplomacy in a Divided World

Author: Mark Katz

Narrator: Michael Butler Murray

Unabridged: 6 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/24/2019


Synopsis

Since 2001, the US Department of State has been sending hip hop artists abroad to perform and teach as goodwill ambassadors. There are good reasons for this: hip hop is known and loved across the globe, acknowledged and appreciated as a product of American culture. Hip hop has from its beginning been a means of creating community through artistic collaboration, fostering what hip hop artists call building.

A timely study of US diplomacy, Build: The Power of Hip Hop Diplomacy in a Divided World reveals the power of art to bridge cultural divides, facilitate understanding, and express and heal trauma. Yet power is never single-edged, and the story of hip hop diplomacy is deeply fraught. Drawing from nearly 150 interviews with hip hop artists, diplomats, and others in more than thirty countries, Build explores the inescapable tensions and ambiguities in the relationship between art and the state, revealing the ethical complexities that lurk behind what might seem mere goodwill tours. Author Mark Katz makes the case that hip hop, at its best, can promote positive, productive international relations between people and nations. A US-born art form that has become a voice of struggle and celebration worldwide, hip hop has the power to build global community when it is so desperately needed.

About Mark Katz

Mark Katz is John P. Barker Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and founding director of the hip-hop cultural diplomacy program, Next Level. His books include Capturing Sound: How Technology Has Changed Music, Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip-Hop DJ, and Build: The Power of Hip Hop Diplomacy in a Divided World.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Deidre on December 20, 2019

"Build: The Power of Hip Hop Diplomacy in a Divided World", is a true testament of how cultural diplomacy through hip hop, can transform the minds and lives of those who are open to experiencing its power for themselves. Dr. Katz has definitely captured the true essence of what it means to give the......more

Goodreads review by Bill on September 20, 2020

Fascinating look into a world that I did not even know existed.......more

Goodreads review by DanTresOmi on April 15, 2023

I have a personal connection to this book so my review is clearly biased. Katz provides a brief overview of the State Dept's cultural exchange program. He goes over the pros and cons.......more

Goodreads review by Amanda on March 30, 2020

An interesting look at the US program of sending hip hop artists to other countries as cultural ambassadors. I think the author did a great job of showing both sides of the coin (the positive impacts and the challenges). It also touched on some interesting cultural, historical, racial, religious, an......more