Ian Condry

Who is Ian Condry?

Ian Condry is a cultural anthropologist and author. He graduated from Harvard University in 1987 with a B.A. in Government and received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Yale University in 1999. He is currently an Associate Professor of Japanese Cultural Studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In his first ethnographic book entitled Hip-Hop Japan: Rap and the Paths of Cultural Globalization, Condry explores issues of race, gender, language, musical history, and contemporary cultural politics, all as they relate to the Japanese rap music scene. He argues that performance sites, such as recording studios and nightclubs, are the specific paths that lead to cultural globalization. Condry believes that by viewing such locations more closely, we can then understand the specific dialogue that occurs between global/local, producer/consumer, and artist/industry.