What is Hip Hop Theater?

Rhymes Over Beats is a Hip Hop Theater Collective.

That means we do hip hop theater.

But just what is hip hop theater?

Hip Hop arose out of a specific set of social and cultural circumstances. Jamaica by way of the Bronx and Queens.

Any theater that acknowledges, celebrates, or represents those circumstances is hip hop theater. Even if no one raps in it.

But what if someone does? A play can be hip hop without any rap, but how much rap is needed for a work to be called a hip hop musical?

There are three recent works that can shed some light on the issues.

Are These Hip Hop Musicals?

• Holla If Ya Hear Me with lyrics by Tupac Shakur and book by Todd Kreidler is the first example. It’s “lyrics by,” because when I saw it the music was all Broadway show type music. Actors were singing Tupac’s lyrics to a very Broadway-sounding score, not rapping hip hop music.

• The second is Hamilton, book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. It is a combination of rap and other styles of music.

• The third is Freedom, with book by Patrick Blake (me) and raps by Chi-Ill. All the songs are rapped, not sung. Rhymes Over Beats workshopped this new musical a few years ago.

I would consider the last two hip hop musicals. Both have some rap in them.

So Hip Hop Musicals Can Only Have Rap Music?

I’ve actually come to feel that a hip hop musical needs to have a mix of music to be successful.

At the moment, the existing theater audience is not large enough to support an “all rap” hip hop musical. In the future, as more hip hop artists begin to write for the stage, I anticipate being proven wrong.

But that’s the way I see it now.

I don’t consider Holla to be a real hip hop musical. Why? Because the beats are just as important to hip hop music as the lyrics. Without the beats you have songs. And songs, even if the lyrics are by Tupac, are NOT hip hop.

This is arguably why Hamilton is still running and Holla is not…..

What Type of Hip Hop Musical Do You Want?

I love Hamilton. I would see it as many times as the bank will let me mortgage my house to pay for the tickets, even if it is only partially rapped.

What kind would YOU like to see most?

• All rap?
• Or partially rapped?

Let us know in the comments below, or on social media. We want to hear from you!