Legal Writing, the Remix: Plagiarism and Hip Hop Ethics

I begin this Article with a necessary caveat. Although I place hip hop music and culture at the center of my discussion about plagiarism and legal writing pedagogy, and my aim here is to uncover ways in which hip hop can be used as a teaching tool, I cannot claim to be a hip hop head. A hip hop "head" is a devotee of the music, an acolyte of its discourse, and, oftentimes, an evangelist spreading the messages contained therein. One head, the MC (or emcee) KRS-One, uses religious discourse to describe hip hop culture, naming his community organization, The Temple of Hip Hop.

In this sense, I count myself as one of the faithful, but if hip hop is a temple, I confess that I am not a regular attendee. As a result, the cases that I cite below are drawn from a well of limited knowledge. I encourage readers who are dissatisfied with these limits to "dig in the crates" to summon their own favorite examples.