Dr. Kjell
drkjell.bsky.social
Dr. Kjell
@drkjell.bsky.social
Rap academic. Musicologist/Music theorist/emcee. Postdoc at University of Oslo.
I think there are some interesting takes, but don't recall the exact language/identity discussion being put front and center. Mickey Hess' "A guest in the house of hip-hop" is cool, for example. I feel comfortable writing (about) Norway's hip-hop history and drawing connections. But the US's? 🪹🐝
January 7, 2026 at 8:35 AM
There is clearly some truth to this "pervasive belief", but anyone still holding those beliefs were outdated decades ago (really more, but I suppose there were more dinosaurs around then). There is an enormous amount of scholarship on rhythm - some might not care, but that's them falling behind.
December 8, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Would like to note that there are huge differences between European conservatories and many European University Musicology (including "Theory") institutions. The term "conservatory" is etymologically descriptive. There's always some discussions about goals, but I can teach theory of G-funk freely.
November 27, 2025 at 8:01 PM
There might be some differences between countries here, because in Norwegian kids' shows there's a significant amount of openness and educational content about where food comes from. It's generally not there in all the imported and dubbed shows, though. Some subtext in Peppa pig (for parents?).
November 17, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Is it really a presentation if it has not been made in transit or at a transit facility? A foundational ontological question if there ever was one.
November 13, 2025 at 8:23 AM
20+ parallell sessions, so there's bound to be conflicts! No worries for that. I can send the script and powerpoint if you DM me an e-mail. :)
November 8, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Agree! really inspiring conference
November 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Because I couldn't name an international "indie" band, and feel meaningfully certain that they are representative of a broader category. Like, is Radiohead "indie"? They are quite different from Bloc Party, for example, which I dug a lot and seemed "indie". And who's indie now? I'm too old and hipho
October 19, 2025 at 3:28 PM
I have never really "gotten" that term, and thinking about it I think it's because it meant something somewhat specific in/to Norway when I was in my late teens/early twenties. There were these groups that were just more about groove than the punk and metal groups. And those were "indie".
October 19, 2025 at 3:25 PM
About my turf, but relevant: global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com
September 18, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Quite happy with my choice of starting one of the first lessons of the first semester with a blues melody and have the students discuss tonality and key centre and similar concepts. Only good reading available is your blues primer, but I have no qualms assigning it.
September 6, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Dr. Kjell
most people make music not to create monetizable content, but to share and be in community with other people. true creativity requires the sometimes frustrating but often rewarding process of interacting with other people & their ideas. that community bleeds out to other areas of life.
September 1, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I agree with both your take on the book and on the specific gripes you point out. It's far and away the best theory textbook per now (if we acknowledge that it's hard to teach _just_ from Everyday Tonality II :P). I feel like it's book I can responsibly recommend students to read on their own too.
September 1, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Triassic 4
August 13, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Like, it is great that we have standardized terminology known to both amateur and professional transcribers, but lyric and tab sites demanding standard section names can also be problematic. Nuances dissappear, and sometimes a "pre-chorus" is a second hook. An instrumental intro a rhythm section etc
August 7, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Recalling my learning-shred-guitar-from-tabs-in-the-internet's-infancy experience, the song section labeling was not standardized to the degree it is now. Labels of "Riff" 1,2 or A,B etc. was common. Also sections dubbed "Rhythm section X,Y" was a thing. Those tabs had a point, I think.
August 7, 2025 at 6:19 AM
That would be really dope, Mike! Appreciate that. 🙏
June 6, 2025 at 6:26 PM
If I qualify as academia it does! Would've loved to be there with you (I couldn't justify travelling over for a two-day conference, so had to pull out :( ). Say hi to all the great hip-hop scholars there!
June 6, 2025 at 4:37 PM