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Volume 6, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2632-6825
  • E-ISSN: 2632-6833
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Abstract

This article argues that high-effort coping with environmental stressors, i.e. John Henryism, lies at the heart of hip hop’s hustle culture. Adapted from social epidemiology literature, John Henryism is defined as high-effort coping related to overcoming environmental psychosocial stressors. I argue that the link between John Henryism and hip hop can be traced to the musical genre’s inception and is embedded in the lyrics and the names of rappers. This article traces the history of John Henryism and hip hop, connects John Henryism to hip hop’s hustle culture, maps Big K.R.I.T.’s lyrics from ‘Boobie Miles’ to the John Henryism Active Coping Scale (JHAC12) and suggests future directions. Implications suggest that by recognizing the connection between John Henryism and hip hop, music historians, epidemiologists, artists and creators and appreciators and fans can develop a wider, more nuanced understanding of the genre.

© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Intellect Ltd.
This article is Open Access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The CC BY licence permits commercial and noncommercial reuse. To view a copy of the licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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2025-07-15
2026-04-12

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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): grind; hip hop; hustle; JHAC12; John Henryism (JH); resilience; ‘Boobie Miles’

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