PROJECT COLLABORATORS

Adam is a spatio-cultural theorist, educator and researcher. As an interdisciplinary scholar, his practice research and research practice is positioned at the intersections of architecture, urban design, planning, music culture and spatio-cultural theory. He leads the independent research laboratory Rhythm Obscura, which explores the hidden histories, practices and theories of music, spatial and material culture in respect of rural and urban space, identity and senses of societal and community belonging. He has authored the books Hip Hop in The Sticks: A Deepening Context (2023), Scratching The Surface: Hip Hop, Remoteness and Everyday Life (2020) and Provincial Headz: British Hip Hop and Critical Regionalism (2020), and contributed many book chapters and journal articles within the fields of musicology and spatial practice. 

Stim is a Lecturer and Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Digital Humanities at the University of Southampton. He is the author of How Music Empowers: Listening to Modern Rap and Metal (2021) and Digital Flows: Online Hip Hop Music and Culture (2024). He worked at the University of Bristol 2022–2024 on an associated research project, including collaborative research with Dr Jason Ng. Jason and Stim published two articles on hip hop producers and online cultural production practices in leading internet studies journals New Media & Society and First Monday.

Julia Hofsendermann is currently a student assistant and pursuing a master’s degree at RWTH Aachen University. For the duration of the project she was employed as a student research assistant at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund with a focus on the topics of open education and innovative teaching.

Monique M. Ingalls is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Research and Graduate Programs at the Dunn Center for Christian Music Studies at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, USA. Her research examines issues within late 20th and early 21st century Christian congregational and choral music-making, addressing themes such as worship music in global Pentecostalism, online religious music practices, musical localization within Christian communities, and Black British gospel music. Her books include the monograph Singing the Congregation: How Contemporary Worship Music Forms Evangelical Community (Oxford, 2018) and six edited volumes, including Black British Gospel Music: From the Windrush Generation to Black Lives Matter (Routledge, 2024), and Studying Congregational Music: Key Issues, Methods, and Theoretical Perspectives (Routledge, 2021). She is one of the architects of the emerging field of Congregational Music Studies, having co-founded the biennial international “Christian Congregational Music: Local and Global Perspectives” conference and serving as co-founder and senior editor for the Congregational Music Studies Book Series (Routledge). At Baylor University, she teaches courses on the social and cultural aspects of congregational music-making and has served as principal supervisor for ten doctoral dissertations on religious music topics. In addition to her classical training as a pianist and choral singer, she has also enjoyed stints as a cover band keyboardist, a Javanese gamelan player, a singer of Georgian polyphony, and a folk/pop/gospel choir director. Her newest musical challenge is learning to play accordion. 

James Kennaby has long been part of the UK music scene. Whether as a producer (as Vice beats), an event promoter, a podcast host or branding specialist, James has worked across the country as a music and media educator.

Having created a number of long lasting opportunities for aspiring musicians, including the XLR music offer at Knowle West Media Centre, which saw him recognised for his work at the Houses Of Parliament by Youth Music. James has long been at the helm of dynamic, inclusive and forward thinking music and media projects. In addition, he is part of the Hip Hop Coffee Shop team, in charge of branding and artist development alongside hosting. James is the former Managing Editor of Wordplay Magazine, a leading UK based Hip Hop publication. 

As a producer, Vice beats (James) created the only official UK tribute to J Dilla to date “Dilla: The Timeless Tribute” in collaboration with the James Dewitt Yancey Foundation and Miguel Atwood Ferguson. In addition he creates music for TV and has been featured in 80+ countries alongside BBC, ITV and Channel 4 and more. His podcast “Diggin’ The Crates” explores Hip Hop culture and has featured a wide variety of guests including Romesh Ranganathan, Chali 2na, Blu & Exile, Marley Marl and many more. The podcast featured in the top 20% of Hip Hop podcasts worldwide from 2020 – 2023.

James has a clear passion and constant drive for supporting musicians to reach their true potential through actualising their ambitions, creating pathways within the industry and incorporating music and media skills to better define their artistry.

Dr David Kerr is currently the Head of Programmes at the Africa-Oxford initiative and a Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg.  With over fifteen years of experience in fieldwork in Dar es Salaam, he has published on Tanzanian hip-hop in the fields of cultural and social anthropology, cultural studies, and media studies. 

James G. McNally is a cultural historian, rap critic, and co-ideator of Spotify’s UK rap podcast Decode, which won two gold medals each at the 2022 British Podcast Awards and the Radio Academy’s 2022 ARIAs. He is currently a two-time Nasir Jones Fellow at the Hutchins Center at Harvard University. As a fellow Dr. McNally’s book-length project is Long Island Rap Renaissance, a history exploring the interconnections of race, class and geography in the era-defining explosion of rap music from New York’s Black suburbia in the late 1980s. 

Dr. Jason Ng is an Irish Research Council postdoctoral fellow at University College Cork, researching hip hop with a focus on cultural entrepreneurship through beat-making, dance and other forms of cultural production in the Asia-Pacific region. His work explores the intersections between contemporary music cultures, media, creative industries, urban geographies and globalisation and has been published in the journals City Culture and Society, Ethnomusicology and First Monday.

is an activist, poet, entrepreneur, writer, and retired rapper. His career started in the studios of Dar es Salaam some 30 years ago when he began recording songs to address the social challenges following the country’s neo-liberal economic changes. He has been working with artists in Dar es Salaam over the last 20 years to develop their visions and has worked with all the major studios in the city. 

Dr Dave Hook is an Associate Professor in Music at Edinburgh Napier University. A rapper, poet, songwriter and music producer, his research focuses on hip-hop, rap lyricism, identity, culture and performance, through creative practice. Winner of Best Hip-Hop at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards, he has toured extensively throughout the UK and around the globe both as the lyricist and principal songwriter with alternative hip-hop group Stanley Odd, and as solo artist, Solareye. Stanley Odd’s most recent album, ‘STAY ODD’ – released as a 56-page book – was shortlisted for Scottish Album of the Year.

https://www.solareye.co.uk
http://stanleyodd.com

O-Key started his career as a rapper, releasing a number of songs and working with influential producers Messen Selekta and Sallii Teknik. Following his initial success in the rap game, O-Key began producing music videos and has worked with many of the major artists in Tanzania and Kenya. O-Key’s distinctive style as a music video director has brought him accolated from the music industry across East Africa. He is currently working as a filmmaker and director.