Black Women in the Control Room: Exploring the Sonic Literacies Development of a Hip Hop Audio Engineer

This article focuses on the seldom-discussed literacies of the Hip Hop audio engineer through the experiences of Lyrix, a Black woman audio engineer from the Midwest. Grounded in the literature of literacy scholars invested in the sonic dimensions of Hip Hop culture, two research questions guide this article: How does one develop their expertise as an audio engineer, and what insights can be gathered about literacy learning by focusing on marginalized Hip Hop figures, such as women audio engineers? This article ultimately argues that Lyrix’s experience underscores a nonlinear approach to sonic literacy education, highlighting a transitory approach that ruptures and flows through barriers of access. The article concludes with suggested starting points for future research on Hip Hop literacy studies in particular and literacy studies more broadly.