BOOM boom boom! BOOM boom boom!

Every Thursday night around 4 p.m. the atmosphere in room 28 of Burk Hall becomes quite different from that of most classrooms. Moderately loud beats are coming from the built-in stereo that the teacher’s assistants have turned on before the teachers’ arrival.

And it only takes one look inside the room to realize when the popular three-hour class is about to start, as the room becomes packed to its capacity. While some students chat and laugh like in any other class, others can be found bobbing their heads in rhythm with the music playing. All of them, however, have one thing in common: an acute interest in hip-hop.

Commonly known as the “hip-hop workshop,” it was launched eight years ago, as a sort of “Hip-hop 101.” But don’t expect break dancing and graffiti lessons. And don’t let the cool and relaxed vibe mislead you, either.

However fun and enlightening hip-hop may be, this class is no joke, man.

According to Africana studies assistant professor Antwi Akom, the class, officially titled “Hip-Hop, Globalization, and the Politics of Identity,” was modeled after “Inside the Actors Studio,” a TV show in which James Lipton interviews actors before an audience of students.

The goal was to create a public forum where scholars, students, artists, activists, community members and members of the media would come together and engage in discussions and intellectual debates about issues relating to the production and consumption of hip-hop culture, Akom said.

“Our class is designed to be a cogent and intellectually engaging analysis of hip-hop […] delivered and performed in a language that resonates with contemporary urban and suburban youth,” Akom said.

Authors, poets, journalists, historians, activists, actors, filmmakers and hip-hop artists are among the guests who will stop by the class this semester to discuss with students social justice issues such as sexism, racism, misogyny, incarceration or police brutality, all of which constitute the very core of hip-hop music.

Every week up to two speakers come and talk to the class about some of these issues in connection to their personal experiences and involvement in the hip-hop culture, whether it be through art, activism or the media.

“They have a lot of content. I love it!” said 19-year-old BECA major Joseph Estrada, speaking of the many guests and diversified course material that the class offers.

Offered by the Africana Studies department, the course is the brainchild of former SF State Ethnic Studies professor Rickey Vincent, who, in the fall of 2000 convinced the dean of the College of Ethnic Studies to allow him to teach this course.

According to Vincent, it rapidly became one of the largest and most popular classes ever in the college, counting among its first guests hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa.

Revived two years ago by Akom and fellow professor Shawn Ginwright, the concept of the class remains the same but the curriculum was updated to reflect contemporary trends in hip-hop culture, activism and scholarship, Akom explained.

The political resonance of the class is all the more significant in the light of SF State’s Black History Month celebrations, notably as hip-hop is directly connected to black history.

“The meaning, purpose and function of socio-political, conscious hip-hop as a field of academic inquiry, and a weapon in the fight for racial justice, is directly rooted to the long history of the black freedom struggle and the quest for self-determination for oppressed communities,” Akom said.

Dawn Fischer, co-founder of the National Hip-Hop Political Convention and researcher with the Harvard founded Hip-Hop Archive, joined SF State’s Africana Studies faculty this semester and co-teaches the class with Akom.

“[Hip-hop] could be utilized as an agent for social change, or it could be co-opted into another form of dominant cultural propaganda. We are at a crossroads, and the people who identify with this culture are the ones who will decide what the future holds,” she said.

Macha Harpar, a microbiology major and one of the class’s teaching assistants, praises Akom’s effectiveness as a teacher because, she argues, he understands that hip-hop is not just music, it’s a culture.

“It’s one of the best classes I’ve ever had,” she said, adding that it had allowed her to understand the struggles encountered by the black community.

The class, which runs every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in room 28 of Burk Hall, doesn’t require students to be Africana Studies majors. Inquiring minds, as well as people interested in the guest speakers, are also welcome to attend the class once in a while.

“We are open to students and community members, as such is the founding philosophy of ethnic studies,” Fischer said.

This Thursday’s guest is Minister Christopher Muhammad, who will be discussing environmental racism, community activism and civic engagement in the Bay View Hunters Point neighborhood. The meeting will take place at the Seven Hills Conference Center, located within walking distance, north, of SF State’s main campus.