Hip-Hop Goes to College

Abstract

North Carolina has always had a solid hip-hop scene, even if the state’s “Cackalacka” nickname has been synonymous with “rural rube” ever since the Queens trio A Tribe Called Quest’s 1991 song “Scenario” (“New York, North Cackalacka and Compton…”). Rap hit-makers to emerge from North Carolina in the 1990s include Sanford’s Black Sheep, of “The Choice Is Yours” fame; and Lords of the Underground, a trio that formed at Raleigh’s Shaw University. In 2001, the year that Petey Pablo hit it big with the North Carolina hit anthem “Raise Up,” Little Brother formed at Durham’s NC Central University. Little Brother was proudly old-school in sound as well as outlook, a throwback to the Tar Heel state’s soul-era glory days, and the group had a good run before winding down around 2010. Little Brother producer/deejay 9th Wonder (Patrick Douthit) has emerged as a major figure in college classrooms.