If you don’t know Skipp Coon, you’re not a real hip-hop fan.

A person once described him as the black Immortal Technique. I quickly corrected the individual, informing him to learn about the Black Diaspora in Latin America. The individual then suggested that Skipp Coon was like the Immortal Technique of the South. I’ll take that.

I don’t really like comparing artists because no two are alike, although nowadays it’s hard to tell. But I appreciated the comparison for two reasons: 1) If you consume both artists you are exhausted at the culmination of your experience; and 2) You have to keep a Google search browser open because you won’t know half of the knowledge they’re relaying. This was my experience in checking out Skipp Coon’s most recent video to the song “Blacker” on the Miles Garvey LP.

As an educator, I seek music that can help supplement the course material in a way that today’s student can enthusiastically absorb. While listening to the song and watching the video, one could easily build an entire semester’s curriculum from its content. From politics to theorizing crime and justice, race, class AND the intersection of race and class, homelessness, government neglect, etc. — the list of topics discussed in this brilliant commentary is endless.

What’s even more fascinating is that he’s from the South — southern drawl and all! If you know hip-hop history, there is a contentious reality that southern rappers exist. From not being accepted to having to carve out their own piece of rap culture, southern rappers have proven that hip-hop doesn’t belong to any region. It is our culture. It is black culture.

I will never criticize any rapper as there is space for them all. I have long expanded my definition of what being a rapper can be. But I will say, hip-hop has been defined. From narrative storytelling to lyrical punchlines, conscious raising has always been at its core. And Skipp Coon embodies that.

Kishonna Gray (PhD Arizona State University) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Justice at Eastern Kentucky University and affiliate faculty in Women & Gender Studies and African/African-American Studies. She is also the Director of the Critical Gaming Lab. She researches and blogs about identity, intersectionality and new media. Follow her on Twitter @KishonnaGray and visit her blog and website at www.kishonnagray.com.

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Kishonna Gray

Writing since December 2015 · 2 stories contributed