Many perceive all of hip-hop as a negative and even violent music genre because of artists’ word choices, vivid descriptions regarding women, gang violence and other topics.
But a professor at SJSU is trying to change that narrative.
David Ma, a music professor at San Jose State, was a graduate student at SJSU when he thought the university was behind on its recognition for hip-hop and its culture.
Today, he teaches an introduction to hip-hop class at SJSU.
Ma said he wants his students to examine all aspects of the music genre, including its history and the impact it has worldwide.
“I point out that it started as a peace movement that became a multicultural unifier,” Ma said. “There’s lots of misconceptions and we don’t gloss over them nor do we ignore that some of hip-hop’s most important historical and musical figures have committed horrible things. It’s all a springboard hopefully for meaningful discussion.”
Aerospace engineering junior Riannon Regan, who took Ma’s class in the past, said the listening exercises were some of her favorite parts of the course.
Regan said the class listened to songs together while Ma and other students would express their feelings on them.
She said having Ma as a professor taught her a lesson for her personal life too.
“He was very clear during our class that you needed to take the historical elements of hip hop and place them into the time frame that they happened in,” Regan said. “With this, you’re able to understand how hip hop evolved. Everyday interactions with people need to be thought of in this way as well. You need to understand where a person has been and what they’ve been through in order to understand who they are as a whole.”
Music professor Fred Cohen, who has been the Director of the School of Music and Dance at SJSU since 2014, said Ma’s Masters of Arts in Music project years ago was the initial version of the course he now teaches.
“David's course traces the history of hip hop from its birth in the Bronx to its embrace of today's conscious artists such as Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill,” Cohen said. “He engages the social atmosphere of the genre, and as importantly, teaches students to understand and appreciate the music itself as a holistic medium. Given the School's mission to social justice and music education, a course on hip hop is a must.”
Outside of the classroom, Ma is a music journalist, co-host on a podcast and co-owner of a record label.
The record label, Needle to the Groove, is named after a record shop with the same name on Santa Clara Street.
“We highlight local artists, as well as put out international stuff, weird bedroom projects, as well as stuff by legendary music veterans,” Ma said. “In addition to tapes and 45s, we recently just put out our 10th LP, and have an immensely satisfying roster of releases readied for this year.”
An LP is a regular size record and smaller looking records are called “45s.”
Ma said Needle to the Groove features local artists throughout the Bay Area for all kinds of music.
“It kind of started off kind of slow, but now we're selling out everything we put out, so we're kind of stoked on it,” Ma said.
Ma said the label has worked with some legendary figures in the music industry such as Prince Paul, who produced for groups like De La Soul, Handsome Boy Modeling School and Gravediggaz.
“He was just at the shop last week. We DJ with him and we put out one of his records maybe about a year and a half ago,” he said.
Ma was born in Malaysia to Vietnamese refugees and relocated to Santa Clara at two
months old, according to an article by Metro Silicon Valley.
“I think being Asian, we have the luxury of talking about this culture, from a participants’ point of view … when I write about Black culture, I treat it with a lot of respect, you know, and to be accepted as a participant,” Ma said.
He said it’s a pleasure to teach one of the most popular courses offered at SJSU.
“Sometimes I can tell students are bored listening to some older material I play. Some of it sounded old to me when I was younger, so it must sound prehistoric to some,” Ma said. “But I also get to sometimes see minds being blown when a song is played and for them to understand specific art within its own unique cultural context is sometimes the best part of my day.”
Ma said he went from teaching 50 students to 150 students after the first semester.
“Managing so many can be challenging, but I think it’s a good problem to have,” Ma said.
