Researching young people's popular culture requires very little effort. However, you must become 'conscious researchers', looking for various influences, styles and characteristics that could be used when exploring issues/subjects with young people.
I normally begin a class/workshop by casually asking the young people about their favourite music artists, why these are favoured and the particular websites, radio/TV stations they enjoy. Then I analyse young people's particular music styles with a view to finding what is appropriate for use in my lesson/workshop planning. My filtering technique looks at the various age groups and the context of the school or youth organisation. I'm more cautious about the selection of music for use with very young groups, say from 10-15 years of age. In addition, I look at various references to censorship labels and lyrical content. Before using this kind of material in the class, I will usually advise those in charge that I may be dealing with 'real world' issues.
I consider the preparation stage very enlightening, good fun, and a constantly challenging process of trial and error which can result in great learning.
Below, I recommend internet websites that could be helpful in preparing a lesson/workshop which utilises popular music:
www.bbc.co.uk/music/genres/hiphoprnbanddancehall/ and video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/music/genre-wm/hip-hop/ which look at Hip Hop from a 'world music' perspective.
www.youtube.com for a huge array of materials by most artists.