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Film, Video Street Folk: Hip-Hop, Car Culture & Black Life in Houston, Texas

Transcript: TEXT

About this Item

Title

  • Street Folk: Hip-Hop, Car Culture & Black Life in Houston, Texas

Summary

  • Folklorist and ethnomusicologist Langston Wilkins discusses "screw," Houston's distinctly local form of hip-hop music that emerged within the city's African American community almost 30 years ago. It is inextricably tied to "slab," a vernacular car culture in which mostly young African American men spend countless hours and money transforming outmoded American sedans into spectacular automotive art pieces. In his talk, Wilkins discussed how "screw" and "slab" combined to form a unique local tradition that affirmed and empowered working class black Houstonians across several generations.

Event Date

  • April 24, 2019

Notes

  • -  Langston Collin Wilkins is a traditional arts specialist at the Tennessee Arts Commission. He earned his doctorate in ethnomusicology from Indiana University. In addition, he served as a fellow for the folklife and traditional arts program of the Houston Arts Alliance and the Houston Museum of African American Culture, where he conducted field work and produced public programs that centered on the traditional arts of Houston's African diasporic communities.

Running Time

  • 58 minutes 59 seconds

Online Format

  • video
  • image
  • online text

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Credit Line: Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Street Folk: Hip-Hop, Car Culture & Black Life in Houston, Texas. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-8726/.

APA citation style:

Street Folk: Hip-Hop, Car Culture & Black Life in Houston, Texas. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-8726/.

MLA citation style:

Street Folk: Hip-Hop, Car Culture & Black Life in Houston, Texas. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/webcast-8726/>.