Heartbeat of the Heartland: Sonic Engagement with Hip-Hop in the American Midwest

Authors

Lauren R. Millhorn, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Kwakiutl Dreher

Second Advisor

Jeannette Jones

Committee Members

Mavis Boatemaa Beckson, Kwame Dawes, Dawne Curry

Date of this Version

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

Major: English

Under the supervision of Professors Kwakiutl Dreher and Jeannette Eileen Jones

Lincoln, Nebraska, May 2025

Comments

Copyright 2025, Lauren R. Millhorn. Used by permission

Abstract

This project analyzes Hip-Hop artists from the American Midwest through the context of the Midwest’s construction as a nostalgic, peaceful area where conflict seems nonexistent. This study applies Adam Ochonicky’s concept of nostalgic spatiality, or “instances in which nostalgia is projected onto a physical environment, thereby altering the perception, understanding, and/or experience of that space and its accompanying cultural sphere” (Ochonicky 29) to close readings on Midwest Hip-Hop texts. In the case of the Midwest, projected nostalgia is rooted in whiteness and propels the narrative that the Midwest is predominantly occupied by white people who maintain its peace and serenity (Ochonicky 9).The image of the Midwest as the ‘Heartland’ alludes to assertions of harmony guiding relations across the region. The reality, however, is that communities of color have lived in and exercised a strong work ethic in the Midwest even as these myths were constructed. Indeed, in many cases Black communities and residents in the Midwest were targets of white supremacist violence.

Hip-Hop provides a phenomenal avenue to critique the enforced whiteness of the Midwest, as Black and brown communities created the genre of rap to critique the very social, economic, and political realities of white supremacy that circumscribed their lives. That these communities have been villainized and criminalized by white communities for centuries was not lost on Midwestern rap artists. Although now in the mainstream cultural lexicon, Hip-Hop provided—and continues to provide—a space for marginalized people of color to unite that is not completely dictated by whiteness. Thus, I use Hip-Hop as a means of troubling the enforced whiteness of the Midwest.

The Midwestern Hip-Hop scene has historically been overlooked perhaps due to the overwhelming exposure of the East and West coast scenes, particularly the rivalries fueled by two influential record labels, Bad Boy Records on the East Coast and Death Row Records on the West Coast. Therefore, Heartbeat of the Heartland: Sonic Engagement with Hip-Hop in the American Midwest draws attention to a sound that is largely neglected, and pays homage to Black Hip-Hop artists from the Midwest who are rapping about their own communities.

Advisors: Kwakiutl Dreher and Jeannette Eileen Jones