Authenticity within hip-hop and other cultures threatened with assimilation

This essay examines claims of authenticity within hip-hop, African American culture. In the mid- to late 1990s, authenticity claims have been pervasiv e within hip-hop music communities, which had previously, existed on the ma rgins of mainstream U.S. culture. By mapping the range of meanings associat ed with authenticity as they are invoked discursively, we can gain a better understanding of how a culture in danger of assimilation seeks to preserve its identity. The use of the con ceptual apparatus of semantic dimensions highlights hotel that culture's most central and powerful symbols are organ ized and given meaning vis-a-vis authenticity within a discursive system.