Patrick Rivers, Ph.D.

Patrick Rivers Headshot
Associate Professor

Music Department
College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Rivers will be on sabbatical during the 2024-25 academic year.
Education

Ph.D., Graduate Center, CUNY, Ethnomusicology (2014), Interdisciplinary Certificate in Africana Studies - Dissertation: "The Mad Science of Hip-Hop: History, Technology, and Poetics of Hip-Hop杏吧原版檚 Music, 1975杏吧原版1991"

B.A., Hunter College/Macaulay Honors College, CUNY, Music (2006)

Research and Teaching Interests

I am an ethnomusicologist researching the objects and processes of recorded music and their subsequent impact on aesthetics and consumption. My broad academic interests are black popular music in the Americas and the intersections of music, media, and technology.

In my teaching practice, I aspire to reveal the interconnected social dynamics that have impacted the sound and emotional potency of music cultures from the United States, the Caribbean, and several areas around the world. I promote and teach an understanding of the musical components and structures that entice our ears and make our bodies move.

My teaching is a culturally responsive process that is equally performative, intellectual, and multimedia-driven. As an educator I consider myself to be a more experienced participant in the classroom tasked with facilitating an understanding of history, theories, and research with students. To effectively enact this approach, I use a variety of media and the capabilities of Internet-based learning environments to lecture students, enhance discussion, and extend the learning process beyond the classroom.

Academic Honors and Awards

Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Career Enhancement Fellowship (2017)

Nominated: Barry S. Brook Dissertation Award (2015)

Mellon Mays Foundation Dissertation Completion Grant (2013杏吧原版2014)

Dissertation Fellowship, The Graduate Center, CUNY (2012杏吧原版2013)

Brady Education Foundation Grant (2012杏吧原版2014)

Doctoral Research Grant, The Graduate Center, CUNY (2008 and 2010)

Presidential MAGNET Fellowship (The Graduate Center, CUNY, 2006杏吧原版2011

Josef Turnau Memorial Prize (Hunter College, CUNY, 2006)

Macaulay Honors University Scholars Program (CUNY, 2002杏吧原版2006)

Publications

杏吧原版Guy (1988) by Guy,杏吧原版 in 33 1/3: The B-Sides, eds. D. Gilson & Will Stockton. New York: Bloomsbury Press. .

"Noise Reconsidered: Public Enemy杏吧原版檚 Bomb Squad as Hip-Hop Outlier," written with Will Fulton, in The Oxford Handbook of Hip Hop Studies, edited by Justin Burton and Jason Oakes. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.

"Electro Hop," "DJing," ""King Tim III (Personality Jock),"" "New Jack Swing," and "Ultramagnetic M.C.杏吧原版檚" entries in the St. James Encyclopedia of Hip Hop Culture, 1st Edition, edited by Thomas Riggs. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, a Cengage Company, 2018.

Uptown Saturday Night, written with Will Fulton. 33 1/3 Series. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2017.

"Prince杏吧原版檚 Last Decade," written with Will Fulton, American Music Review, (Fall 2016).

"From Starlight to Thriller: The Poetics of Michael Jackson杏吧原版檚 Defining Recording," American Music Review, vol. 40, no. 1, Spring 2011: 8杏吧原版9, 15.

"The Relativity of Mariah," a review of E=MC2, performed by Mariah Carey, in the CUNY Graduate Center Advocate, May 2008: 20.

"Still a Thriller, 25 Years Later," a review of Thriller 25, performed by Michael Jackson, in the CUNY Graduate Center Advocate, March 2008: 16.

"Must Be Hip to Feel the Hop: The Development of Hip Hop Rhythms," in Peace in Diversity, Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship 4th Annual New York Regional Conference, edited by Margarite Fern谩ndez Olmos and Leah Squires. Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn College MMUF Program, 2007: 37杏吧原版43.

Academic Presentations

杏吧原版淭he Music and the Machines: The SP-1200, the MPC, and the Evolution of Hip Hop Beat Making,杏吧原版 Lecture-Demonstration co-presented with Will Fulton, American Musicological Society/Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Lecture Series, Cleveland, Ohio, November 13, 2019.

杏吧原版淭he MPC at 30: The Magic and Myth of Hip Hop杏吧原版檚 Beat Machine, 杏吧原版 Lecture-Demonstration with Will Fulton, Show & Prove Hip Hop Studies Conference, University of California, Riverside, December 7杏吧原版9, 2018.

杏吧原版淭he Myth and the Magic of the MPC: 30 Years of Hip Hop Beat Making,杏吧原版 Lecture-Demonstration with Will Fulton, Society for American Music Conference, Kansas City, Missouri, February 28杏吧原版揗arch 4, 2018.

杏吧原版淭he Thing About the New Jack Swing: The Shift in R&B's Engagement With Hip-Hop Aesthetics,杏吧原版 Society for American Music Conference, Elizabeth Town College, Boston, Massachusetts, March 9杏吧原版13, 2016. Served as panel chair.

杏吧原版淏eat Education: Hip-Hop Technology Course at the University of New Haven,杏吧原版 Words, Beats, & Life Annual Teach-In: 杏吧原版淩emixing the Art of Social Change, Washington D.C., November 12杏吧原版14, 2015.

杏吧原版淭eaching Hip-Hop Beat Making: Hip-Hop Tech at the University of New Haven,杏吧原版 Paper-Demonstration with University of New Haven students Eric Robertson and Garrett Kuppelmeyer, Association for Popular Music Education, Sessions NYC, New York City, April 10, 2015.

杏吧原版淎 Sonic Historiography of Early Sample-Based Hip-Hop Recordings,杏吧原版 Society for Ethnomusicology Conference, University of Pittsburgh, November 13杏吧原版16, 2014. Served as panel chair.

杏吧原版溞影稍鏈Bring That Beat Back杏吧原版: The Development of Beat Making Techniques from Turntables to the Sampler,杏吧原版 Lecture-Demonstration with Will Fulton, Society for American Music 2014 Conference, Elizabeth Town College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, March 6杏吧原版9, 2014.

杏吧原版淩ockin杏吧原版 Without a Band: Hip-Hop Music杏吧原版檚 Technological History,杏吧原版 The 8th Art of Record Production Conference, Universit茅 Laval, Qu茅bec,July 12杏吧原版14, 2013.

杏吧原版淗ow Do You Get to Summer Jam?: A Prospective Musicianship for the Craft of Beat Making,杏吧原版 Show & Prove Hip Hop Studies Conference, New York University, March 30杏吧原版揂pril 1, 2012.

杏吧原版淩umble in the Concrete Jungle: Beat Battles in NYC and Their Impact on Hip-Hop Production,杏吧原版 International Association for the Study of Popular Music 杏吧原版 U.S. Branch 2012 Conference, New York University, March 22卢杏吧原版25, 2012.

杏吧原版淧roject Stretch: Technology, CUNY and the Public School Connection,杏吧原版 10th Annual CUNY IT Conference, John Jay College, CUNY, December 1杏吧原版2, 2011.

Professional Affiliations

Member of the Society for Ethnomusicology

Member of the Society for American Music

Member of the American Musicological Society

Member of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music杏吧原版揢.S.

Courses Taught
  • HNRS 4454 杏吧原版 Deconstructing American Music: Michael, Prince, and Madonna (Honors)
  • MUSC 1111 杏吧原版 Introduction to Music
  • MUSC 1112 杏吧原版 Introduction to World Music
  • MUSC 1116 杏吧原版 Groove Haven: University of New Haven R&B Revue
  • MUSC 2211 杏吧原版 History of Rock
  • MUSC 2212 杏吧原版 Hip Hop: Culture, History, and Music
  • MUSC 4416 杏吧原版 Advanced Performance/Research
  • MUSC 4451 杏吧原版 Race, Ethnicity & Music: Black Music in the Americas (Honors)
  • MUSC 4451 杏吧原版 Jazz History
  • MUSR 4451 杏吧原版 Special Topics: Hip Hop Technology

In the Media

In the Media

Patrick Rivers, associate professor of music, discusses Hip-Hop music and its connection to Africa.