McLeod (1999), "Authenticity Within Hip-Hop and Other Cultures Threatened with Assimilation"

McLeod (1999) traces authenticity discourses that surround hip hop performers by using a method similar to content analysis. The center of his argument is the phrase “keeping it real,” which he traces to a variety of sources including interviews, magazine coverage, and recordings. 

1. For McLeod (1999), the increasing market for hip hop in white suburban America threatens to colonize the form’s black cultural roots. Using an anthropological framework, he argues that the historical response to the threat of assimilation has been a vocal reaffirmation of the community, in this case, translating to the spatial politics of “the street,” “the underground,” and the pre-commercial “Old-School” style. 

2. The strength of McLeod’s (1999) piece lies in its thorough analysis of discourses; where many a rock essay references authenticity as though it were above explanation, McLeod (1999) neatly maps the forms and uses of the concept, leaving a methodological trail behind him.