As a cultural movement, hip-hop manages to get billed as both a positive and negative influence on young people, especially on Black and Latino youth. On one hand, there are African American activists, artists and entrepreneurs, such as Russell Simmons, who seek to build a progressive political movement among young hip-hop fans and who have had modest success with voter registration efforts. On the other hand, there's no shortage of critics who denounce the negative portrayals of Black people, especially women, in hip-hop lyrics and videos. After more than two decades of hip-hop's growth, an emerging cohort of young scholars may very well provide clear answers to questions of hip-hop's influence. This document briefly describes the research attempts of scholars.