This course, taught by Togo-born journalist and media entrepreneur Claude Grunitzky, explores how hip hop, now the most consumed music genre in the United States and other countries, as well as other forms of popular contemporary music are rooted in centuries-old African sounds. In the way that jazz was created in New Orleans at the end of the 19th century after finding its roots in African rhythms, many musical genres that emerged in the 20th and 21st centuries relied on similar rhythm, improvisation, call and response, and storytelling traditions that can be traced back to West African musicians and griots. Afro-descendants in the African diaspora continue to play a major role in shaping diasporic sounds, and new genres have emerged, including dancehall, soca, funk, techno, house music, and grime. Hip hop, which is celebrating its 50th year, and Afrobeats rely on traditional African drum beats, whether instrumental or electronic. Understanding instrumentation via the evolution of the driving drum beat rhythm is key to understanding these musical movements, and students will be invited to dissect the sounds of Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Missy Elliott, Kelis, Drake, Wizkid, Burna Boy and others. Students will play instruments, create beats and rhyme over them.