Who was the intended audience for "Hip Hop Planet" by James McBride, and what was his purpose for writing it?

James McBride's "Hip Hop Planet" was published in National Geographic magazine in 2007, so his initial intended audience would have been its readership. The essay has been widely anthologized since then and read by a diverse audience of people interested in popular culture, music history, and rap and hip hop's global influence. McBride's research included his own history with a style of music that he took great pains to avoid even as it emerged around him when he was a young man in New York. His research took him from New York to West Africa to Dayton, Ohio as he sought to understand what informs hip hop and why it is so appealing to such a diverse audience all over the world. Ultimately, he developed an appreciation for rap and hip hop, and the essay makes a case for why it should not be dismissed as an art form.