As the global musical phenomenon turns 50, a hip-hop professor explains what the word 'dope' means to him

Hip-hop culture brought graffiti art, breakdancing, emceeing and DJing to prominence. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

After I finished my Ph.D. in 2017, several newspaper reporters wrote about the job I’d accepted at the University of Virginia as an assistant professor of hip-hop.

“A.D. Carson just scored, arguably, the dopest job ever,” one journalist wrote.