AFRA373 / SOCI373 : Gangster Rap Music and Culture

These resources should help you start researching your assignment for Dr. Payne's AFRA373  class.  Books and journal articles will be useful for finding information regarding the artists you are studying, as well as providing you with sociological and historical information on their  hometown communities.  Newspapers will provide more detailed information that may have been obscured by history.  Consider these as starting points only.  You'll find additional resources in the Related Research Guides listed here. If you need help, please don't hesitate to send me an email and we can set up a research consultation via Zoom. 

Source: Leo Gonzales, "P9189199 Montreal 2013."  Flickr.com​ 

RESEARCH TIPS: To limit your results to journal articles and books you can immediately view online, follow these steps:

1. Enter your search terms in the search box below, (e.g., Tupac Shakur) and press enter.
2. From your results list,  refine your search by selecting two filters from the left-side of screen:

• Set HELD BY LIBRARY to University of Delaware Library
• Set CONTENT TYPE to Full Text

RESEARCH TIPS: 

• These newspaper packages are the best sources for news from the 1980s to present.  The titles within the packages vary, so it's best to search each one.
• When searching newspapers, be as specific as you can.  Unique names such as "Tupac Shakur" will be easier to find than names that consist of common words such "Game."  If your artist has a common name, try adding into your search other words that are likely to show up when discussing your artist.  Those words might pertain to their recording label, studio, or their birth name.  Sample searches include: 
  • game AND "aftermath entertainment"
  • game AND geffen
  • "Jayceon Terrell Taylor"
• Think like a journalist, not a scholar.  Be sure to search using language and terms from the time period studied. As you find useful articles, take note of the language and try searching those new terms.
• If you get too many articles, try looking for your words in the article's title or try searching a shorter, more specific time period.
• Sometimes Black newspapers will provide more detailed information on young artists at the beginning of their career.  Ethnic NewsWatch and ProQuest Historical: Black Newspapers have good coverage of Black newspapers.
• Ask for help using the Ask the Library chat service, or send me an email.

RESEARCH TIPS: 

These databases will tell you which journals have articles on your topic.  If you can't immediately view the full article, look for links that say GET IT! or VIEW FULL TEXT.

Each of these will give you slightly different results, depending upon their subject focus.

The Internet has many useful web sites that can provide biographical information, discographies and general information regarding hip-hop artists. The following are a few that will assist you in beginning your Internet search: