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We Still Here maps the edges of hip-hop culture and makes sense of the rich and diverse ways people create and engage with hip-hop music within Canadian borders.
Contributors to the collection explore the power of institutions, mainstream hegemonies, and the processes of historical formation in the evolution of hip-hop culture. Throughout, the volume foregrounds the generative issues of gender, identity, and power, in particular in relation to the Black diaspora and Indigenous cultures. The contributions of artists in the scene are front and centre in this collection, exposing the distinct inner mechanics of Canadian hip hop from a variety of perspectives.
By amplifying rarely heard voices within hip-hop culture, We Still Here argues for its power to disrupt national formations and highlights the people and communities who make hip hop happen.
"As the editors and essay contributors of We Still Here: Hip Hop North of the 49th Parallel well understand, identity in terms of hip hop in Canada has everything to do with the diaspora of cultures across the nation's provinces and cities … Indigenous voices, immigrant stories, linguistic diversity, gender, and generational divides are at the forefront of this exploration of hip hop's evolution as a medium both of expression and entertainment in Canada since the mid-1980s, a period in hip hop history dominated largely by what was happening in New York and LA. If you're the type of hip hop fan who views knowledge as the fifth element, this book is absolutely for you." Montreal Review of Books
“This is a rich collection compiled for a broad readership – academic and non-academic – and it invites all into awareness and contemplation of the rooted hip hop legacies and practices framing and shaping the Canadian context.” University of Toronto Quarterly