But if we ask that question aren't we involved in the academic pursuit of defining, quantifying, or at the very least studying hip hop, and if so, why not in schools as well?

I don't know. I don't see any difference between studying "The Passionate Shepherd" and the "Nymph's Reply," to studying the Takeover and the Ether. Each pair is incendiary poetry, it just so happens that the second pair is set to music.
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Now That's What's Up

For Peter Norman. He may not have raised a fist, but he damn sure lent a hand.

S.Y.L.S.B.