Rapper’s Deluxe Exceptionally Chronicles the Connection between Hip Hop and Sports

By: Zachary Draves

If anyone is suited to document the fifty year plus history of hip hop and its societal and cultural impact, it is none other than Dr. Todd Boyd, otherwise known fittingly as The Notorious PHD.

(Courtesy: USC Cinematic Arts)

For nearly more than three decades, the USC Professor and Katherine and Frank Price Endowed Chair for Study of Race and Popular Culture, has pioneered the field of cultural studies since arriving in Southern California in 1992. His groundbreaking work looks at the intersections of sports, race, music, movies, fashion, class, gender, and politics with hip hop being a central focus. 

He is a frequent guest in documentaries dealing with everything from the blaxploitation films of the 1970s to the life and times of Richard Pryor to the world’s most dangerous group N.W.A. to the last dance of the Chicago Bulls dynasty. He was also the writer, producer, and guest star of the 1999 cult classic The Wood featuring Omar Epps, Taye Diggs, and Richard T. Jones.

He has written numerous books on these subjects including The New HNIC and Young, Black, Rich, and Famous: The Rise of the NBA, the Hip Hop Invasion, and the Transformation of American Culture.

His latest is Rapper’s Deluxe: How Hip Hop Made the World published by Phaidon, which is a compilation of cultural analysis and imagery that speaks to hip hop’s transcendence in every area but not limited to fashion, film, politics, and sports.

(Courtesy: Amazon.com)

When it comes to sports, the synergy between hip hop and sports is longstanding and is featured prominently in the book. 

The dazzling dynamism of Julius “Dr. J.” Erving in the 1970s at Rucker Park, Georgetown, UNLV, and the Michigan Fab Five on the hardwood, the defiant emergence of Mike Tyson and Allen Iverson, the swagger of Deion Sanders matched with MC Hammer, the pertinent rhymes of Shaq and his friendship with Biggie Smalls, Ken Griffey Jr.s hat to the back, Jay Z sitting courtside at LeBron James’s high school games, and so much more exemplify a confluence of athleticism and aesthetics that was true to the culture and later mainstreamed. 

But what some people may not realize is that the origins of hip hop and how it found a place in sports came long before there was hip hop. 

In the beginning of the book, Dr. Boyd features Muhammad Ali as a cultural figure who later on influenced hip hop. His charisma, braggadocious nature, and ability to rhyme when predicting when he was going to win a fight touched a nerve particularly in the 1960s and 1970s when the politics black identity was shifting. 

(Courtesy: Getty Images)

“He was rhyming long before there was hip hop,” he said. “It wasn’t common for a boxer or an athlete to predict when they would win a fight. As a cultural figure, he always had rhymes and he would deliver on those rhymes.”

Much like his mentor Malcolm X, the Black Panther Party, Angela Davis, and the rise of black political and cultural influence in that era, Ali was intentional about using his platform to articulate his and many others sensibilities of being unapologetically black and being so profound in his way of expressing himself. 

In other words, he was an MC before there was such an element, but with a caveat. 

“To call Ali a rapper would be wrong because he was on the scene before hip hop,” said Dr. Boyd. “Hip hop inherited a lot of influence. To think about Ali to me he was one of the influences on the culture before the culture had fully formed. Ali is the perfect inspirational figure for hip hop.”

Fast forward to the 1980s, just as hip hop was starting to make inroads into the mainstream with the emergence of television programs such as Yo MTV Raps!, groups such as Run DMC, Salt N Pepa, and Public Enemy, and duos such as Eric B. and Rakim, came from a young dynamic baller from North Carolina who landed in Chicago named Michael Jordan. 

(Courtesy: SCOTT CUNNINGHAM/NBAE/GETTY)

In his rookie season, Jordan came out with his own shoe the Air Jordan, which was subsequently banned from the NBA, because it was a black and red shoe that had no white features, as was required by the rules at the time. 

Eventually the league came around and thanks in large part to the groundbreaking Nike commercials directed by Spike Lee and him playing his Jordan loving character Mars Blackman from She’s Gotta Have It, the Air Jordans became forever synonymous with the culture. 

(Courtesy: Jordan Brand)

But even as his shoes and overall brand found a home, Jordan has always had a tempestuous relationship with hip hop. He was not a listener of the music and opted instead for the soulful sounds of Anita Baker and Kenny Lattimore. 

Yet with all that, he is still very much ingrained into the fabric of hip hop. 

“He became an example of excellence and dominance and rappers referred to him over and over again,” said Dr. Boyd. “I think he is integral to the story even if he is not a hip hop fan or aficionado.

In the years since, hip hip and sports have been on quite a trajectory together. 

(Courtesy: Zach Beeker/NBAE/Getty Images)

Hip hop would go on to find a place in sports that most wouldn’t fathom for it to be present including tennis, golf, and NASCAR.

Beyond sports, it also helped to elect the first black president in 2008, reached the hallowed halls of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Nas performed with the sympathy orchestra, and Kendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize. 

As hip hop comes off its 50th anniversary, the question begs where does it go from here? 

It is a question that Dr. Boyd has been asked before. While he along with the rest of us can’t predict the future, he recognizes that hip hop has a future. 

“Let’s look at this 50 year history and how many places hip hop had an impact, “he said. “When you look at it is pervasive. When you think about 50 years, think about a person who is 50 years old. When you get to be 50, there is a future, but hopefully at that point you have some substance you are standing on. Hip hop is standing on a solid foundation and appreciates what that means. How that plays out going forward we will see.”

We shall see and sports will be along for the ride because game recognize game.