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Jeff Chang | |
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| Born | Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (BA) University of California, Los Angeles (MA) |
| Awards | American Book Award |
| Website | jeffchang |
Jeff Chang is an American historian, journalist, and music critic onhip hop music and culture. His 2005 book,Can't Stop Won't Stop, which won theAmerican Book Award, chronicles the early hip hop scene.[1] His writing has appeared inURB,BOMB,San Francisco Chronicle,The Village Voice,San Francisco Bay Guardian,Vibe,Spin,The Nation, andMother Jones. He has also been featured onNPR.[2]
Chang was the executive director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts + Committee on Black Performing Arts atStanford University. He also served as the executive director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts atStanford.[3] In June 2018, the Institute announced that Chang would leave to become the first vice president of Narrative, Arts, and Culture atRace Forward.[4] Chang resides in theSan Francisco Bay Area.[5]
Born of Chinese and Native Hawaiian ancestry, Chang was born and raised inHawaiʻi where he attendedʻIolani School. He then earned his bachelor's degree atUniversity of California, Berkeley, and went on to get his master's degree in Asian American Studies fromUniversity of California, Los Angeles.
In 1993, Chang co-founded and ran the indie hip hop label SoleSides, which is now known as Quannum Projects. He helped launch the careers ofDJ Shadow,Blackalicious,Lyrics Born, andLateef the Truthspeaker.
As a student, Chang was influenced by the anti-apartheid and the anti-racist movements atUniversity of California, Berkeley, where he worked as a community laborer and student organizer. He also worked as a lobbyist for the students of theCalifornia State University. Chang has lectured at colleges, universities, festivals, and institutions in the U.S. and around the world. Chang was an organizer of the inaugural National Hip-Hop Political Convention.[6]
Chang is aUnited States Artists Fellow in Literature, and has won awards such as the North Star News Prize award, the UTNE Reader award, the St. Clair Drake Teaching Award at Stanford University in 2014 and the 50 Visionaries Changing Your Word award. He cofounded CultureStrike andColorLines movements. In 2005 he participated in a conversation withTom Hayden, the social and political activist and director of the Peace and Justice Resource Center inCulver City, California, in the Mario Savio Memorial Lecture.
In 2007, Chang interviewed then-candidateBarack Obama, for the cover ofVibe magazine.[7] He has also written forThe Nation,The New York Times, theSan Francisco Chronicle,The Believer,Foreign Policy,n+1,Mother Jones,Salon,Slate, andBuzzFeed, among others.
In 2005, Picador published his first book,Can't Stop Won't Stop, which won theAmerican Book Award and theAsian American Literary Award. In 2007, he edited the bookTotal Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop, a compilation of different artists' interviews and discussions.
In 2020, Chang was involved in a documentary calledAsian Americans onPBS. Chang served as a featured commentator, bringing his expertise in cultural history and social issues to the forefront. His contributions primarily revolved around providing historical context and cultural analysis, particularly focusing on the intersection of race, identity, and the Asian American experience. With his background in exploring similar themes through the lens of hip-hop culture, Chang offered unique insights into the narrative of Asian Americans.[8]
