Emily Dahowski- Rap Music and its Roots

One Nation Under a Groove: Rap Music and Its Roots written by James Haskins is a chapter book that talks about the creation of Rap music.  When teaching this in a middle school classroom I would only teach one chapter.  The chapter I would focus on would be Soul to hip-hop which centers in on the transitional phase of soul music to rap music.  From 1950-1970 there was a huge change within different music genres.  During this time, the Civil Rights Movement was starting to unfold and the music began to change with the times.  This chapter would be nicely paired with the student's social studies class during their unit on the Civil Rights Movement.  This would demonstrate that music can be used to help a cause and music allows many people to have their voices heard on a different platform.  The chapter focuses on the shift and how that the culture behind hip-hop changed as well.  The way that people experienced music changed from jazz clubs to dance clubs.  The message within the music changed as well to a more political stand point because of the difficult times felt by all during the Civil Rights Movement.  This book expands on much more than just music and would serve well as interdisciplinary book for middle school students.