Electro-Rap - Afrofuturism and Science Fiction in Early Hip-Hop

The culture of hip-hop shifted dramatically soon after the first wave of studio-recorded vinyl releases at the turn of the 1980s. Drawing upon science fiction, electro, and Afrofuturism, this book presents a sociocultural study of their impact and influence on the formative years of recorded hip-hop. de Paor-Evans reveals a parallel and occasionally dialectical evolution of hip-hop music spawned from transatlantic, transdisciplinary, and transcultural engagements and unearths linkages between innovations in music technology, fantasy, folklore, arcade and video gaming, non-white diasporas, and transglobal politics of the time. Historically located between 1982 and 1987, the book takes exemplary well-known and equally obscure records from both sides of the Atlantic. It makes visible the greater significance of formative and future hip-hop culture in other musics and broader society.

List of contents

1. Introduction: Locating the Narrative within Hip-Hop Culture
2. From Arthur Baker to Newcleus: The Pioneers of Electro Rap
3. Arcades and Video Games: The Protagonist's Journey
4. Abstractions of Space: Fantasy, Reality and Social Context
5. Afrofuturist Directions: Past, Present and Future in Hip-Hop and Broader Society
6. Conclusion: A New Hip-Hop Futurism

About the author

Adam de Paor-Evans

Product details

• Authors: Adam de Paor-Evans
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 08.01.2026
• EAN: 9781501354472
• ISBN: 978-1-5013-5447-2
• No. of pages: 240
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Music > General, dictionaries; Rap and Hip Hop, LITERARY CRITICISM / Science Fiction & Fantasy, MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Rap & Hip Hop, MUSIC / Philosophy & Social Aspects, MUSIC / Ethnomusicology, Rap & Hip-Hop, Popular Music, C 1980 To C 1990, Electronic Music