When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost : My Life as A Hip Hop Feminist

Amazon.com

For a smart young black woman from the South Bronx carving a niche for herself as a writer, the f-word was feminism. Joan Morgan's book debut, When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost, is a passionate, funny--and occasionally self-indulgent--look at the contradictions inherent in being both a strong woman and an African American sister attempting to process the machismo of the hip-hop world through the perceptions of her own strongly feminine soul. "As post-Civil Rights, post-feminist, post-soul children of hip-hop," Morgan writes, "we have a dire need for the truth." Her book chronicles the quest to fulfill that need through a series of essays ranging from social issues like the blatant misogyny of rap music ("From Fly-girls to Bitches and Hos"), the mythic stereotype of the strong black woman ("Strongblackwomen"), and the epidemic of single motherhood in the black community ("Babymother") to wickedly witty takes on her own life ("Lovenotes," "Chickenhead Envy").

Morgan is gifted with that rarest of all talents: her own voice. Her language is vivid and imagistic, its rhythms dipping effortlessly between the beat of the street and the meter of pure poetry. In this look at hood versus womanhood, Morgan serves up many of the same conclusions that sociologists have offered in drier, more academic form--but brings them to life with the freshness of her literary talent. --Patrizia DiLucchio

Book Description

In this fresh, funky, and irreverent book, a new voice of the post-Civil Rights, post-feminist, post-soul generation has emerged in Joan Morgan: a groundbreaking and unflinching author who probes the complex issues facing African-American women today.

When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost is a decidedly intimate look into the life of the modern black woman: a complex world where feminists often have not-so-clandestine affairs with the most sexist of men; where women who treasure their independence often prefer men who pick up the tab; where the deluge of babymothers and babyfathers reminds black women, who long for marriage, that traditional nuclear families are a reality for less than 40 percent of the African-American population; and where black women are forced to make sense of a world where "truth is no longer black and white but subtle, intriguing shades of gray."

Morgan ushers in a voice that, like hip-hop -- the cultural movement that defines her generation -- samples and layers many voices, and injects its sensibilities into the old and flips it into something new, provocative, and powerful.

Customer Reviews:

Is she serious?.......2002-11-04

As a strong black woman and proud of it I didn't understand Ms.Morgan's definition of a strong black woman so I didn't see eye to eye with her on that point. Overall I struggled to read through this book I wasn't feeling a lot of what Ms.Morgan had to say and plus I thought the book would be written in a more story telling type of fashion. The book is written as just Ms.Morgan rambling on about her opinions and ideals. I give a sista props for her opinions and being able to share them with an audience but I didn't understand her hatin' on "chickenheads" in one breath then wanna talk about her bond with sistahood in the next. She sound hypocritical to me. Ms.Morgan went on and on putting the "chickenheads" on blast for their sopposed wrongdoing but didn't say a word about the brothers that fall for these type of women I don't get that! I personally couldn't hate on a sista for doing her thing I don't want to hate on another woman period I feel that's the reason why us women can't and won't get far because we want to tear each other down before anybody else. I'm sure Ms.Morgan is an educated,opinioned,strong,classy woman but in her book she just comes off as hateful and bitter.

Ms. Morgan did fine job dissecting 'Chickenheads'!!!.......2001-07-08

I have say that I was pleasantly surprised by Ms. Morgan's discussion of issues that have been rolling through my mind for the past couple of years. I could identify IMMENSELY with the STRONGBLACKWOMAN ideology. I guess you could say that I'm a STRONGBBLACKWOMAN type myself. I would say that I'm recovering, but it's really hard to do so when you're in college, holding an excellent GPA, and being a part of so many different ogranizations. It's just SO hard to say no!!! LOL

As far as the rest of this masterpiece of feminine literature goes, I have to say that there were certain parts that I disagreed with. I was kinda hurt when she down talked African-American peeps from middle class backgrounds...I mean, why did she work so hard to have a good income to take care of her son if middle class peeps "don't wanna be reminded of their kinky roots"? Just something to think about...maybe I took it the wrong way, but that's just the way I see things.

Secondly, I have to say that I in NO WAY envy Chickenheads...in fact, I'm glad that they're around to take all the weak men who fall for them off the market. One thing I can't stand is a man that's weak enough to fall for anything that has a big behind and a C cup!!! I want a strong, intelligent man that can appreciate a woman with class, home training, a solid head on her shoulders, and plenty of goals with the ambition to follow through on them like myself!!!

I guess this book was a wake up call for me to write my own view on things. I come from a middle class home, unlike most African-American feminists that come from very poor backgrounds. I feel my voice needs to be heard and you can believe that I WILL put the work into writing a novel that speaks from the standpoint of sistas like myself!!! Good work Ms. Morgan!!! Thanks for encouraging me to keep perfecting my craft!!!

Amen!.......2001-01-18

I could not put this book down. The book articulated thechallenges I felt in my own relationships and experiences. I certainly enjoyed the chapter "Love Notes". The author by no means male bashes but frankly puts out there the real deal.

The book just had me saying AMEN!

So That's a Chickenhead.......2000-06-13

Being caught at the tail end of the Baby Boom, I'd say that this book is really written from the viewpoint of young women a few years younger than I am. Still, it is reminiscent of Michelle Wallace's "Black Macho and The Myth of The Superwoman" which debuted some 20 odd years or so ago. Being a strong willed, independent Black woman is still as hard today as it was 20 years ago and I am glad that there are still fierce sistah's out there willing to address the issues at hand.

Great view on a never vanishing topic from a new voice and new perspective !

When chickenheads come home to roost.......2000-02-18

This is a must read for the black feminist who doens't quite get the "N.O.W." viewpoint on feminism. Joan Morgan puts into words the conflicting feeling and emotions of being black, female, and a feminist from the generation X-ers viewpoint, using language that is easily related to. She doesn't sink down into dense theory that could be exclusionary in language and nature. Theory that can leave one feeling as if they should have taken a beginners course before attempting to delve into the mind bogling, high handed concepts. She maintains her focus and is concise as well as insightful. Most feminist theory tends to be a turn off since a lot of such material is geared towards a limited, elitist audience who leaves black feminist and other of an outside group feeling even more like an outsider because they don't address the differning issues and concerns that pertain especially to woman of color. Moreover, this is a book that should not only be read by black woman but by latina's as well. As a black female of latin descent I fould myself relating to almost every word. A must have. A must read.

Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Music/Culture)

Average customer rating:

Thorough
Essential! Rich!
powerful topic: execution?
Very interesting (but "brilliant"???)
"more brilliant than the sun"

Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Music/Culture)
Tricia Rose
Manufacturer: Wesleyan University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Linguistics | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture
Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop
That's the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader
Hip Hop America

ASIN: 0819562750

Book Description

From its beginnings in hip hop culture, the dense rhythms and aggressive lyrics of rap music have made it a provocative fixture on the American cultural landscape. In Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America, Tricia Rose, described by the New York Times as a "hip hop theorist," takes a comprehensive look at the lyrics, music, cultures, themes, and styles of this highly rhythmic, rhymed storytelling and grapples with the most salient issues and debates that surround it.

Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and History at New York University, Tricia Rose sorts through rap's multiple voices by exploring its underlying urban cultural politics, particularly the influential New York City rap scene, and discusses rap as a unique musical form in which traditional African-based oral traditions fuse with cutting-edge music technologies. Next she takes up rap's racial politics, its sharp criticisms of the police and the government, and the responses of those institutions. Finally, she explores the complex sexual politics of rap, including questions of misogyny, sexual domination, and female rappers' critiques of men.

But these debates do not overshadow rappers' own words and thoughts. Rose also closely examines the lyrics and videos for songs by artists such as Public Enemy, KRS-One, Salt N' Pepa, MC Lyte, and L. L. Cool J. and draws on candid interviews with Queen Latifah, music producer Eric "Vietnam" Sadler, dancer Crazy Legs, and others to paint the full range of rap's political and aesthetic spectrum. In the end, Rose observes, rap music remains a vibrant force with its own aesthetic, "a noisy and powerful element of contemporary American popular culture which continues to draw a great deal of attention to itself."

Customer Reviews:

Thorough.......2003-03-26

Hip Hop is founded on the valorization--rather than villification--of recontextualization, revision, and redaction. In a examplary work of musical and cultural studies scholarship, Rose traces the ways prior black musical/oral traditions, technological advances, and sexism undergird the discourse (just to mention a couple of the lens through which she takes on rap). The work highly accessible to hip hoppers non hip hoppers alike, furthermore. Finally, it is to Rose's benefit that she comes from an "insider's" vantage point, giving the text a genuine concern for where the music comes from, finds itself, and is indefatigably headed towards.

Essential! Rich!.......2000-07-25

Tricia Rose details the Hip-Hop Culture - and its beauty and depth - in this book I call "essential for Hip-Hoppers". For example: I'm writing 'bout Brazilian hip-hop and "Black Noise" cleared many doubts I had on hystoric, artistic, and politic aspects of the 'Culture of Streetz'. Another contribution that elevates this 'Bible of Hip-Hop' is the way Tricia Rose writes. The words flow natural, with many rich informations reduced in a very agradable text. If you don't like this book, you'll never understand the 'Black Noise' of this new millenium! Peace!

powerful topic: execution?.......2000-04-03

I read this book as a compulsory action for the 'Poetry of Rap' course in which I am currently enrolled at a major university. As a narrative and dialectic of black culture, or rather a single faction of black culture, this book is powerful and informative, providing analysis of many, many social thinkers of the Black Arts and later movements as well as Rose's perspective(s) on the developments of the culture. However, the execution of this text, ostensibly an academic account, is weakened by a diffuse structure, imprecise diction (beyond that necessitated by dealing with a topic heretofore untreated in academic circles with any rigor) and atrocious editing. I highly recommend the text, but by the same token recommend it with a disclaimer: hear why she says, and not what she says.

Very interesting (but "brilliant"???).......1999-06-03

This is an impressive interpretation of Black musical culture, with loads of interesting information and pertinent feminist content. I've read several books with somewhat similar subject matter, from Dick Hebdige's broad and helpful survey to the rather pretentious book by Russell Potter; but none of them captured my interest as much as this one.

"more brilliant than the sun".......1999-02-08

brilliant, exhausting and informative... provides a feminist point of view from the inside for all important aspects... read it and love it...

Average customer rating:

(RAW Rating: 4.5) - What is happening to black men?
Why Are So Many Black Men In Prison? A Comprehensive Account Of How And Why The Prison Industry Has Become A Predatory Entity In
A Must Read
Why are so many Black Men in Prison?
Why are so many blacks in prison?

Why Are So Many Black Men in Prison?
Demico Boothe
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Penology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

War on Drugs | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Kill Them Before They Grow: The Misdiagnosis of African American Boys in America's Classrooms
The State of Black America 2007: Portrait of the Black Male
Visions for Black Men
Motivating and Preparing Black Youth for Success
The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture

ASIN: 1425713971

Customer Reviews:

(RAW Rating: 4.5) - What is happening to black men?.......2007-08-04

Demico Boothe has explored the reasons so many black men are indeed in prison in, WHY ARE SO MANY BLACK MEN IN PRISON? He begins with his own story of a shaky upbringing and his subsequent dabbling in drug dealing. He was caught with a few grams of crack cocaine but because it was the dreaded crack, he was given 10 years in prison. When he left prison after serving his time, he was actually railroaded back into prison by a crooked justice system. He delves deeply into our justice system and the motives behind all the new prisons that are being built. He gives succinct and reasonable views of exactly what is happening now in the United States and how the past has played a role in the present. He uses persuasive statistics regarding the number of black men in prison as compared to the number of white men who are incarcerated.

Demico Boothe has done an excellent job of researching his subject and it is a plus, if unfortunate for him, that he has actually experienced first hand what he's talking about. I knew I was hearing the real story rather than just statistics from an intellectual who had no real idea of what the prison system is really like. I would have liked for Boothe to search a little deeper into the Haiti, Aristide and USA question, maybe even reading Randall Robinson's take on the situation, and then he might see it a bit differently. Otherwise, it is a good book and one every one in America should read. We indeed, have a crisis going on.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Why Are So Many Black Men In Prison? A Comprehensive Account Of How And Why The Prison Industry Has Become A Predatory Entity In.......2007-06-09

The book was very interesting. I learned soooo much about the government and the prison industry. I did some searching independantly to check on the things reported in the book and they are very true. Great Read!! Buy the book.

A Must Read.......2007-05-25

Mr. Demico's book is a must-read for anyone concerned about young African American men. Although I did not agree with every conclusion he reached, Demico's main premises are convincing. As a white woman who teaches mainly students of color, I am always impressed, and often in awe, of those young men who reach college with so much going against them. Demico's books lays bare not only the horrible inequalities of our society, but also the racist attitudes of our political system - - Democrats, Republicans, and most everyone in between.

Why are so many Black Men in Prison?.......2007-05-13

I is a well put together book. He really goes into a lot of detail of how our society is really set up.

Why are so many blacks in prison?.......2007-05-12

I found this book very interesting. As a white devil myself, I had no idea that I was responsible for forcing blacks into committing crimes and then subsequently clogging up the whole "Prison Industrial Complex"(tm). I will try to stop causing this, as I am sure it is creating a LOT of trouble for everyone! Sorry!

It is probably also my fault that young black men dressed in XXXXL clothes overtly threaten me and my family members routinely. Can anyone tell me what I should do to make this not happen?

I imagine it's also my fault that black on white violent crime is WAY higher than white on black violent crime, even though blacks constitute about 12.5% of the population, and whites are about 70%. But since it is impossible for a black to commit a hate crime according to our criminal justice system (since blacks are not under any circumstances racist), statistically, there are more white on black hate crimes. Boothe notes a statistic regarding hate crimes, but he skips the one about interracial violence in general.

In sum, Boothe notes that just about everything blacks do is actually MY fault, because my skin is white. Boothe, I've got a word for you.

Introspection.

Other People's Property: A Shadow History of Hip-Hop in White America

Average customer rating:

OPP: A journey through rap, race and the making of a cultural moment
A hard-hitting analysis
Very impressed!

Other People's Property: A Shadow History of Hip-Hop in White America
Jason Tanz
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

Total Chaos: The Art And Aesthetics of Hip-hop
To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip-Hop Aesthetic
Home Girls Make Some Noise!: Hip-hop Feminism Anthology
Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, And the New Reality of Race in America
Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip Hop's Hold on Young Black Women

ASIN: 1596912731
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Book Description

Over the last quarter-century hip-hop has grown from an esoteric form of African-American expression to become the dominant form of American popular culture. Today, Snoop Dogg shills for Chrysler and white kids wear Fubu, the black-owned label whose name stands for “For Us, By Us.” This is not the first time that black music has been appreciated, adopted, and adapted by white audiences—think jazz, blues, and rock—but Jason Tanz, a white boy who grew up in the suburban Northwest, says that hip-hop’s journey through white America provides a unique window to examine the racial dissonance that has become a fact of our national life. In such culture-sharing Tanz sees white Americans struggling with their identity, and wrestling (often unsuccessfully) with the legacy of race.

To support his anecdotally driven history of hip-hop’s cross-over to white America, Tanz conducts dozens of interviews with fans, artists, producers, and promoters, including some of hip-hop’s most legendary figures—such as Public Enemy’s Chuck D; white rapper MC Serch; and former Yo! MTV Raps host Fab 5 Freddy. He travels across the country, visiting “nerdcore” rappers in Seattle, who rhyme about Star Wars conventions; a group of would-be gangstas in a suburb so insulated it’s called “the bubble”; a break-dancing class at the upper-crusty New Canaan Tap Academy; and many more. Drawing on the author’s personal experience as a white fan as well as his in-depth knowledge of hip-hop’s history, Other People’s Property provides a hard-edged, thought-provoking, and humorous snapshot of the particularly American intersection of race, commerce, culture, and identity.

Customer Reviews:

OPP: A journey through rap, race and the making of a cultural moment.......2007-07-16

Hip-hop music, what some of us still think of as "rap," isn't easy to sort out these days. It seems to have invaded all aspects of life, even in the seemely far-removed and lilly-white suburbs.

So what counts today as "authentic" hip-hop? Is it necessarily black? If it's commercialized to identify with a product, say Sprite, does that make the rapper a "sellout?"

And if you're white, suburban and, say, over 35, what is hip-hop culture all about?

These, it turns out, are exceedingly complicated questions.

They cut deeply to the root of what was once a raw expression of black realism to a place where, even within hip-hop, debates rage. But Jason Tanz, a rap-loving white kids from suburban Tacoma, Wash., has some surprising and fascinating answers for you in this thoughtful book with a perfect title -- Other People's Property.

Tanz takes us on an illuminating journey from rap's emergence among graffiti artists and break dancers on the streets of the Bronx, through his own experience as a sometimes guilt-ridden rap music lover cocooned in safe, white suburia, to today's wildy diverse and commercially bankable hip-hop scene.

Tanz personal story will, in turns, make you cringe, laugh and cheer. But his look at rap's varied charecters is what will keep you turning the pages.

There's Grandmaster Flash's Rahiem, an icon of rap's roots on New York City's rough streets, now a "Legends of Hip-Hop" tour guide busing white fans through the Bronx for $75 a pop. There's Papa Rich, an authentic NYC street performer who teaches break dancing to the wealthy suburban children of Connecticut's soccer moms. There's Tha Pumpsta, an earnest white rap lover who misses entirely the irony when he DJ's "kill whitie" parties in the Virginia suburbs. And there's MC Frontalot, a comical hip hop anti-hero who excites nerdy white fans with his brand of "Geeksta" rap.

Tanz travels to Green Bay to explore a rap radio experiment in one of America's whitest cities and to a garage studio in suburban L.A. where a group of goofy white losers play act the part of black gangsters.

More than anything, this is a smart book. The anecdotes carry the story, but Tanz peppers in sharp analysis and displays a deep understanding of the delicate balances -- and sometimes blatant contradictions -- of race, culture, commerce and sincerity (or a lack of it) in hip-hop.

And if you ever wondered how we got here, to an America where hip-hop music and style dominate the mainstream, Tanz's book takes you through it all with both unblinking criticism and fond affection.

In a brilliant chapter on the marketing of hip-hop, Tanz concludes rap has has the potential, perhaps untapped, to be a cultural bridge between white and black America:

"Inner city black kids, seeking a modicum of respect and financial security, create a point of entry into the commerical world that has ignored them for so long. We white kids, drawn to the implicit escape that their music and lifestyles represented, bought it. Hip-hop is where we meet, we on our way out of the system, they on their way in. Is hip-hop a door that swings open between our two cultures, letting us mix freely with each other, or is it a revolving door, endlessly spinning, allowing us to pass in opposite directions without ever actually touching?"

A hard-hitting analysis.......2007-04-07

OTHER PEOPLE'S PROPERTY; A SHADOW HISTORY OF HIP HOP IN WHITE AMERICA could also have appeared in our 'Social Issues' section but is reviewed here for its focus on the obstacles that stand between producers and consumers of rap music: a very different approach than your usual music book covering the history of rap and the evolution of rapsters. It blends a personal story of growing up in a racially divided America with cultural analysis and music insights: while this approach might defy easy categorization, it does make for a hard-hitting analysis which will reach not only college-level collections strong in social issues and music, but the general-interest public and libraries with holdings strong in ethnic issues debates.

Very impressed!.......2007-02-07

I picked up this book because I like hip hop, but didn't really understand the incredibly interesting larger cultural and social context in which it arose and operates. Having read my fair share of books on jazz, I was concerned because I know authors can take great art forms and turn them into boring academic treastises. Thankfully, Jason Tanz has richly and engagingly captured an inner city art form and its often uncomfortable, yet strangely symbiotic, relationship with white middle America. Norman Mailer, Thoreau and Eminem all make an appearance as Tanz entertainingly traces the origins of hip-hop and the way it has influenced, but also been subverted by, the white audience and market.

Hip Hop America: Hip Hop and the Molding of Black Generation X

Average customer rating:

Music For the Masses in America Hit It Big.
Excellent Overview
excellent overview & inclusion of broader culteral impact but don't expect exhaustive material on all the big players
STILL USEFUL
Especially good on the early days of hip hop

Hip Hop America: Hip Hop and the Molding of Black Generation X
Nelson George
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture
Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Pop Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement
Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Music/Culture)
That's the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader

ASIN: 0670871532

Amazon.com

Although it's been part of the cultural soundscape for over 25 years, hip-hop has been the focus of very few books. And when those books do pop up, they tend to be either overtly scholarly, as if the writer in question has just landed on some alien planet, or a bit too much like a fanzine. If there's anyone qualified to write a solid, informative, and entertaining tome on the culture, politics, and business of hip-hop, it's Nelson George. A veteran journalist, George is one of the smartest and most observant chroniclers of African American pop culture. Much as he broke down and illuminated R&B with his acclaimed book The Death of Rhythm and Blues, George now tackles hip-hop with the clarity of a reporter and the enthusiasm of a fan--which is fitting, because George is both. A Brooklyn native, he began writing about rap back in the late 1970s, when the beats and the lifestyle were not only foreign to most white folks, they were still underground in the black communities. Hip Hop America is filled with George's memories of the scene's nascent years, and it tells the story of rap both as an art form and a cultural and economic force--from the old Bronx nightclub the Fever to the age of Puffy. Highlighting both the major players and some of the forces behind the scenes, George gives rap a historical perspective without coming off as too intellectual. All of which makes Hip Hop America a worthwhile addition to any fan's collection. --Amy Linden

Book Description

Now with a new introduction by the author, Hip Hop America is the definitive account of the society-altering collision between black youth culture and the mass media.

Customer Reviews:

Music For the Masses in America Hit It Big........2006-11-27

The musical scene in the Sixties and the Eighties was hip-hop for all races and religions in the USA. The Seventies was devoted mostly to folk music. In the Ninties it was more rap and contemporary and also country music hit it big in the whole country and not just Nashville, Tennessee.
Who Takes The Blame?, August 13, 2006
Reviewer: Betty Burks (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

In February, 1969, a study titled "Black-White Contact in Schools: Its Social and Academic Effects" was published by Purdue University sociologist Martin Patchen. In it, he concludes "Available evidence indicates that interracial contact in schools does not have consistent positive effects on students' racial attitudes and behavior or on the academic prformance of minority students." In March, it was declared that the AIDS virus started in Africa and on the Caribbean island, Haita and spread to the United States via tourists. Get this! Susan Sontag decided in 1988 that "the virus was sent to Africa from the U.S. as an act of bacteriological warfare" as a conspiracy.

July, 1985, a survey conducted in New York City using the HIV antibody test finds that of frequent drug users, 87 percent carried the infection. The majority of the addicts were black and Hispanic. In August 1988, on Zachary's birthday, Jean-Michael Basquiat died in New York village of a heroin overdose at the age of 27 (Zach was 26 then). He was a graffiti artist whose pieces sold for $50,000 at the time of his death. There was a lot of debate about his artistic worth.

This book traverses the years 1979 to 1989 in America and is mostly about the singers and groups in the entertainment area but also writers which proliferated during that time. It is the time of affirmative action and Clarence Thomas who was married to a Causcasian woman but courted the office girls and almost lost his nomination. I watched it all on t.v. The girl took all the blame, and she was honest and above-board, blameless. The results of overcompensation has caused much turmoil for us all in America and some are deceitful by trying to pull the wool ober the eyes of political figures to the detriment of everybody.

Excellent Overview.......2006-09-29

Nelson George has written several books on Hip Hop and African-American popular culture, all of which are worth reading. This book is particularly good for the clarity of thought evident in the writing. It is an assessment of the overall position of Hip Hop as an American cultural phenomenon branching out to the rest of the world.
It provides a neat and insightful stock take of what Hip Hop was about in the late nineties for academic purposes, but is written in an easy to digest style that suits readers of a non academic background too. It is a good book to read to get a good idea of how Hip Hop evolved from a localised phenomena to a wider cultural movement. It is enlivened by the author explaining his viewpoint, and not just presenting a dry account of facts.

excellent overview & inclusion of broader culteral impact but don't expect exhaustive material on all the big players.......2006-08-30

I am currently writing an entry about Grandmaster Flash for the forthcoming Icons of Hip-Hop (Greenwood Press). First of all, Nelson George is one of the most experienced, respected and eloquent hip-hop journalists alive, and he maintains his reputation in this book. He grew up in the middle of the birth of this artistic-come-cultural phenomenon, and tells the story as both insider and critic. Though there wasn't much specific material about Flash (which I didn't expect), George paints a genuine, if disarming or infuriating, portrait of the rise and continued influence of hip-hop through elegant and sometimes even poetic language and virtually unsurpassed insight. The latter observation comes, in part, from his willingness to explore the broader picture that this culture informs and is controlled by. He raises political and socioeconimic questions, takes on the task of discussing the record industry and how its desire for hit records over individual talent promotes a homogenous selection of 'rap artists', and is unafraid to question the roles society has played to transform hip-hop almost completely from what it was in its nascent form. Some people complain, with regard to hip-hop reference books, that the author obviously has no real authority. No one can make that claim about George. After all, he is respected enough to be able to interview GM Flash, Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa (considered the 'Holy Trinity'/founding fathers of hip-hop) in the same place at the same time. [For those of you who don't understand the significance here, no one has ever been able to get these three guys together, because of past rivalry among other things, and Kool Herc had not discussed hip-hop publicly for about thirty years prior to this interview.] So, George gives an authoritative, articulate, thoughtful and insightful account of the rise of hip-hop and the consequences of its appearance in mainstream society (which basically transformed it completely, so that the only true-to-its-roots subculture is underground hip-hop). Buy this book - but don't expect an in-depth discussion of the major players because that isn't what the book is supposed to be anyway.

STILL USEFUL.......2005-07-10

I read this book when it first came out, and from the onset I realized the book was flawed by Mr. George's ego. Mr. George has great thoughts and opinions, but unfortunately, he allows personal biases to mar how presents them to his readers. Like one of the other reviewers, I didn't agree with a lot of what he wrote, but it is still useful for information about the early days of hip hop.

Especially good on the early days of hip hop.......2003-11-18

I read this book for an African-American Studies class at UNC. At first I did not like it at all. I did not connect with George's choice of language, which seemed outdated and out of touch with current hip hop lingo.

But as I got into the book, I realized that this outdated language was not George's fault. After all, as George himself points out in a section about hip hop movies, trends and lingo in hip hop change too quickly for anyone to keep up without a very detailed scorecard. So if you can get past him using somewhat outdated language, this is a great book.

George manages to discuss a wide array of topics, from graffiti to break dancing to production and distribution of records to hip hop themed movies to hip hop lingo to the proliferation of hip hop around the world. Despite the very diverse topics, George manages to tie everything to a common theme, the impact of hip hop on American culture.

If I had to pick one aspect of the book that was especially good, I would have to choose his discussion of the roots of hip hop and its early days. As a native of New York during hip hop's formative years, George is very well informed on the topic and indeed was a witness to many key events in the early days of hip hop. He also has connections with many key figures, throughout the time period covered in the book, and he is able to recall these connections to tell unique stories you cannot find anywhere else.

Book Description

Celebrated novelist, poet, and MacArthur fellow Ishmael Reed pushes the boundaries once again in the publication of From Totems to Hip Hop—a truly all-inclusive multicultural anthology—a literary event which will finally even the playing field. This important collection synthesizes and presents broad swaths of work from poets of all races and backgrounds, as only Reed can, ranging from Gertrude Stein to Ai, from Bessie Smith to Askia Toure, from W. C. Handy to the little-known poetry of Ernest Hemingway. Through his unique position in American letters, as writer, teacher, and even publisher, Reed has an unparalleled working knowledge of many of the more marginalized voices in American poetry. This collection will reflect that unique access by including acknowledged masters as well as lesser known talents in greater variety than any previous anthology. From Totems to Hip Hop will cover American poetry from its pre-Columbian origins to the hip hop lyricists of today and, with the guidance of Reed’s thoughtful and provocative introduction and headnotes, trace the remarkably rich cross-pollination which has continually occurred across racial and cultural lines.

Customer Reviews:

A strong and diverse American anthology.......2006-09-23

Ishmael Reed's multicultural anthology is a great representative sampling of good poems by good writers, well-known and not-so-much, racially diverse, and culturally diverse. The book is broken up thematically, so it is very easy to use. I teach creative writing at a magnet school and I draw a lot of contemporary poems from this book.

An Excellent Teaching Text.......2004-01-12

I'm using this anthology for the poetry seminar I teach at a private high school in the Bay Area. I'm finding it to be the best anthology thus far for this generation (I'd use it for college students as well). The previous reviewer has offered a very comprehensive overview, so I'll just echo the sentiments expressed there. This text makes poetry accessible without dumbing it down. His introduction is also very provocative in terms of pointing out the potential racist, classist, and sexist implications of teaching only the "cannon". My students are thrilled to see a text that contains Frost AND Tupac. I'm using this anthology with Western Wind: An Introduction to Poetry (a more academic, but radically exciting approach to poetry), and I think that these two texts together make the ideal combination (with supplimentary handouts of other poet's poetry as well).

Indispensable.......2003-01-10

Along with Gioia and Kennedy's "An Introduction to Poetry," "From Totems to Hip Hop" is the best poetry anthology I have encountered. It features accessible yet beautiful work from a great range of poetic voices--from long canonized voices like TS Eliot and Robert Frost to gifted rappers like 2Pac or the members of Dead Prez--arranged in very useful categories, such as "Nature and Place," "Men & Women," "Family," "Politics," "Heroes ..." and "Manifestos." Editor Ishmael Reed, whose literary and extra-literary efforts have been devoted to rethinking things such as "the American literary canon" through a multiculturalist lens--the man who once wrote "I've published writers I've had fistfights with. As long as they can write"--has presented a truly democratic collection of twentieth and twenty-first century poetics. Reed does not practice hero worship here either. He places a poem by Joan Self (the rich and rhythmic "Quill Holler Waller"), a former student of his at UC Berkeley, right next to Anne Sexton's "The Truth the Dead Know." Reed also includes one of my favorite, neglected Langston Hughes poems, "Advertisement for the Waldorf-Astoria," as well as the lyrics for Leiber & Stoller's "Searchin'" and poems by underrepresented "black Beat" poets Ted Joans and Bob Kaufman (interestingly enough, no Allen Ginsberg poems are in this collection). If this book starts entering high school and college classrooms, as it should, perhaps poetry will leave its throne in the academy and return to the public discourse.

Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, And the New Reality of Race in America

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Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, And the New Reality of Race in America
Bakari Kitwana
Manufacturer: Perseus Books Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation
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ASIN: 046503747X

Book Description

"A well researched, thought provoking and ultimately convincing narrative that explores why hip-hop has had such a lasting impact on youth culture."(Time Out New York)

"Bakari Kitwana has provided a myth-busting, stereotype-shattering, paradigm-shifting examination of the complex relationship between white youth and black popular culture. Eschewing tired clichŽs, refusing racial pieties, and resisting old habits of thought, Kitwana clears a brilliant path to fresh insight." (Michael Eric Dyson, author of Is Bill Cosby Right?)

Our national conversation about race is ludicrously out of date. Hip hop is the key to understanding how things are changing. In a provocative book that will appeal to hip-hoppers both black and white and their parents, Bakari Kitwana deftly teases apart the culture of hip hop to illuminate how race is being lived by young Americans. Why White Kids Love Hip Hop addresses uncomfortable truths about America's level of comfort with black people, challenging preconceived notions of race. With this brave tour de force, Bakari Kitwana takes his place alongside the greatest African-American intellectuals of the past decades.

How Do You Know He's Real?: God Unplugged
Average customer rating:

People teens admire talk about God

Celebrities share their faith

god unplugged

After reading this, you certainly KNOW he is real!

Fantastic book!

How Do You Know He's Real?: God Unplugged
Amy Hammond Hagberg
Manufacturer: Destiny Image Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Faith | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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How Do You Know He's Real?: Celebrity Reflections on True Life Experiences with God

My Favorite Christmas: Heartwarming Stories from Ricky Skaggs, Steven Curtis Chapman, Kurt Warner, President Jimmy Carter And Many Others

ASIN: 0768423880

Book Description

"How Do You Know He's Real? God Unplugged," the second book in the successful "He's Real series," shares the profound real life journeys and dramatic encounters with the living God by young celebrities from the worlds of sports and music. The book addresses issues that young people deal with, like insecurity, anger, peer pressure, addiction and self-esteem. Always inspirational and often miraculous, "God Unplugged" is a must-read for those who desire to go deeper in their relationship with God.

Download Description

Between the covers of this book are testimonies from Christian role models from the worlds of film, sports, and music. The stories are real and powerful, and are presented in a way that believers and seekers alike will find compelling.

Customer Reviews:

People teens admire talk about God.......2007-04-13

Author Amy Hammond Hagberg wanted to help teens--her own and others--answer questions about God, including the big question: "How do you know he's real?"

Hagberg wrote to sports stars, recording artists and other celebrities, asking them to reflect on their life experiences and share how the reality of God was making a difference to them personally and professionally. The responses she received--from NBA players, Christian musicians, 'American Idol' contestants and others--are honest, revealing, and often compelling.

The resulting book is a collection of celebrity essays: mini-bios that focus on the reality of God in the midst of media attention, success and failure, and broken relationships. Contributors include Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic basketball team, quarterback David Carr of the Houston Texans, and popular Christian recording artist Clay Crosse.

Some of the interviews are especially helpful for Hagberg's original target readers: teens. Among these, Chrissy Conway of 'Zoe Girl' talks about her parents' divorce, the party scene, and the twists and turns along her personal career path in ways that connect with teens and with anyone who has ever considered attempting a career in music.

Hagberg is a gifted and skilled writer who keeps readers turning the pages as she unpacks celebrity affirmations of the presence of God in their lives. A great gift book for readers from teens through Gen X, but the stories here will interest readers of any age!

Note: Reviewer Dr. David Frisbie is an author and Executive Director of The Center for Marriage & Family Studies in Del Mar, California.

Armchair Interviews says: Anything that can help teens understand their role in living a good life is good.

Celebrities share their faith.......2007-03-11

This is an ideal book to give to people who have questions about becoming a Christian, and who love sports and music celebrities.

44 extreme sports and music celebrities tell their stories in this book, from Jonny Lang (recording artist), to Barlow Girl (rock group), Kimiko Soldati (Olympic diving), CJ Hobgood (surfer), Dwight Howard (NBA player, Orlando Magic), Mick Hannah (downhill mountain bike racer), Jimmie McGuire (professional motocross rider) and more.

They share hard times they faced, how they became Christians and how their paths are more joyful due to their faith. Being a Green Bay Packer fan I turned to Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila's story of growing up in South Central Los Angeles with a tough background, a Muslim dad and a Christian mom, and how his becoming a Christian led to his current happy family life and NFL career. Christian Hosoi, professional skateboarder, after serious drug problems, is now leading a skateboarding ministry.

The two page "God's Road Map" at the end of each celebrity's story contains perceptive questions and Scriptures. Sports and music lovers will enjoy this book, and it can even be a "past watchful dragons book" that will steer doubting people on a new clear path.

god unplugged.......2007-02-02

God Unplugged by Ammy Hagberg was very interesting. It is 403 pages long and was published in 2006 by Destiny Image. In the story top athletes, musicians, and also stars tell how god helped them get where they wanted to be and changed their lives.
In the story there were 44 celebrity reflections on true life experiences with god. Many of these celebrities have been extremely low in their lives and god has pulled them out of them. Also in some cases they have had no luck in there lives and finally achieved their goals after they gave there lives god. All of these people believe that god has either given them opportunities or even the strength to work through where they were to get to where they want to be.
I thought that this was a good book. I enjoyed reading it and seeing how god has changed all of these people's lives. The strengths of this book are that it has top named celebrities that people actually want to read about. The weakness of this book is that there is nothing to find out nest so you don't have a reason to keep reading. I did like how god actually gave them the strength to continue and succeed in life. The writing was very boring to me, but I liked the idea.
The book gave a lasting effect on me because I have a saint Christopher necklace that my grandma gave to me before she passed away and that keeps me safe when I race motorcross. So, I think that god has a great power on us. I would recommend this book, it will make you think.

After reading this, you certainly KNOW he is real!.......2007-01-25

Truly, this, and the book before this, are really awesome books!
** Why?
Because they give some very good insights into other peoples way to God. Not only that, if you don't know the Bible inside and out (and even if you do, actually!), there are quotations from the Bible explaining the why and hows, depending on the story of the person interviewed.
All this, with Amy Hagbergs very nice way of writing (down to earth serious mixed with a nice blend of humor) makes this book a pleasure to read!
Personally, I strongly recommend this book to everyone. It might be those who Seek, or those who have found, it doesn't matter, in my opinion! :)

Fantastic book!.......2007-01-24

What a great book! Amy Hagberg has gathered some of today's biggest sports and music celebs to talk about how they know God is real. This book is in stark contrast to so many of today's depressing, tragedy-focused headlines. And the list of celebrities is impressive! [...]

Who's Gonna Take the Weight: Manhood, Race, and Power in America

Average customer rating:

Just okay
Well articulated, but....
a joke
The truth
and in other tupac news...kevin powell wrote another book

Who's Gonna Take the Weight: Manhood, Race, and Power in America
Kevin Powell
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Someday We'll All Be Free
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ASIN: 0609810448
Release Date: 2003-08-19

Book Description

“A mighty wind of fresh air. His pitiless self-examination—and his equally honest exploration of the racial, sexual, cultural, and class fault lines that thread our psychic and social landscape—is not only brave but necessary if our nation is to survive.”
—Michael Eric Dyson

“Kevin Powell is pushing to bring, as he has so brilliantly done before, the voices of his generation: the concerns, the cares, the fears, and the fearlessness.”
—Nikki Giovanni

In three mind-jolting essays by one of the most passionate and eloquent voices of his generation, Who’s Gonna Take the Weight? by Kevin Powell leads us to the heart of the searing issues facing us today, from manhood, violence, and gender oppression to celebrity culture and hip-hop. Using compelling personal stories as the connecting thread, he examines what this nation has become since the monumental upheavals of the 1960s and where it might be headed if we’re not careful.

Written one hundred years after W.E.B. DuBois’s The Souls of Black Folk and forty years after James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, Who’s Gonna Take the Weight? is an impassioned witness to the burning problems that have accompanied us on our journey through the twenty-first century.

Customer Reviews:

Just okay.......2005-10-17

This was a fairly easy read, but lacked an instructional model for follow through. This was more of an autobiographical depiction of what race and manhood means to Kevin.

Well articulated, but...........2005-10-13

He's not saying anything that hasn't been said before, and better. Basically this is a well-written, seemingly powerful but ultimately shallow and heavy-handed piece of work by a writer with the sensibilities of a pimp. What I strangely find the most galling is his hypocritical attitude towards women, firstly, and the way he repeats phony white liberal feminist cant about "black patriarchy," which even he knows is just some crap that the media Establishment made up to make us look bad. Kevin Powell mistakenly believes that his account is some sort of official version of the Black American Experience. It isn't. Kevin Powell is Kevin Powell, a basically immature, confused young black kid(though he's older than me)who is incapable of telling his own story and glibly accepts the white liberal version(s) of it. Furthermore, he is obviously scared to dig a little deeper, beneath that phony New York crap, and really look at how this country operates--I guess it's because he isn't as disturbed about how this country operates as he lets on. He didn't have a damn thing to say about either Katrina or the Iraq War, which just goes to show. Had he truly been in James Baldwin's caliber, rest assured he would have gone on television kicking everybody's ass.

I gave it two stars for the quality of writing, NOT the content, which is basically just trash.

a joke.......2004-10-30

In the principal reviews of this book comparisons are made to W.E.B. DuBois, which are of course silly as DuBois was a serious thinker and writer (one greatly overshadowed by Frederick Douglass, but that's another subject altogether). You'll also see comparisons to such a luminary as Dyson, which, on the other hand, are appropriate as Dyson is an idiot with nothing to say. However, the least known fact about this book is that it was written by Powell's dog.

Admittedly, I exaggerate. I suspect that Powell himself actually did sit down and tap this out on his very own computer, or some such. But you do have to take it on faith, because there is no evidence whatsoever of a thinking person behind what amounts to a glut of words arranged to create the appearance of sentences, paragraphs, and thoughts. Indeed, the whole enterprise brings to mind the bit about the infinite monkeys, with infinite time, and War and Peace - oh, wait a minute - in that version, a real book comes out in the end. Here, well, let's just say that 2 or 3 monkeys with their respective typewriters for an hour or two will suffice.

It is not inconceivable that people exist who think this book has some redeeming value. After all, there are people who pay good money for scribblings drawn by elephants with paintbrushes in their trunks. Of course, now that I think about it, even those elephants are assisted by their trainers, so there's a human intelligence at work as well ... ok, well, the analogy's not perfect. The point is, if you're one of the 10 or 12 people who will get something from the book, whether appreciation of the pretty colors, or recollections of the author's time on MTV, well, have at it. Everybody else, hopefully, started investigating other reading material long before reaching the end of this review.

The truth .......2004-07-29

I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Powell at the Essence Music Festival this year, and made sure to let him know his book is the truth. It's not for everyone, meaning you have to be able to expand your mind and be willing to be objective. It's obvious he speaks and writes what he writes, because these are very important issues, and also uses himself in many instances to show he isn't merely just running his mouth and criticizing others. His concerns about where black men are and where we are headed are right on point and should be taken seriously.

and in other tupac news...kevin powell wrote another book.......2004-05-26

he loves tupac....he has serious issues with Black Women....its a hard knock life....he was on the real world.....vibe magaizine...? Who is Kevin Powell?

Book Description

In this bold bombshell of a book, Bakari Kitwana argues that hip hop has broken down more racial barriers than any other social development of the past three decades.

Our national conversation about race is ludicrously out of date. Hip hop is the key to understanding how things are changing. In a provocative book that will appeal to hip hoppers both black and white and their parents, Bakari Kitwana deftly teases apart the culture of hip hop to illuminate how race is being lived by young Americans. This topic is ripe, but untried, and there is a plethora of questions that he is the first to articulate.
* Does hip hop belong to black kids?
* What in hip hop appeals to white youth?
* Is hip hop different from rhythm, blues, jazz, and even rock 'n' roll for previous generations?
* How have mass media and consumer culture made hip hop a unique phenomenon?
* What does class have to do with it?
* Can a culture belong to a race in the first place?
How do young Americans think about race, and how has hip hop influenced their perspective?
* Are young Americans achieving Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream through hip hop?

Kitwana addresses uncomfortable truths about America's level of comfort with black people, challenging preconceived notions of race. With this brave tour de force, Bakari Kitwana takes his place alongside the greatest African American intellectuals of the past decades.

Customer Reviews:

response to lack of culture.......2006-08-13

You're an idiot. It would literally take me 3 days to write about how wrong you are. So instead I'll paraphrase for your simple, narrow mind.

To say that hip hop is all about blaming whitey over a congo beat might be the most ignorant thing I have ever heard. HIP HOP is a culture, RAP is a genre of music. You are referring to RAP, not hip hop. But even then, not all RAP is what you are describing. Also, if it was, what is wrong with blaming Whitey? You mean to tell me that artists shouldn't use music as a medium to spread a message? Was N.W.A wrong for telling the world about the aubsive LAPD in the late 80's/early 90's? Any way, I doubt you actually read the book, and if you did, your mind obviously is incapable of accepting black people outside of some bubble you have put them in. Grow up, wise up and get a clue.

You're an idiot.

Lack of Culture.......2006-07-05

Why do some white kids like hip hop? probably the same reasons why children have tried to shock their parents for ages. Hip hop (what a name)is the product of cultural nihilism, a direct result of the black underclass which seeks to return to the "good old days" of blaming whitey. After all it's whitey who told us are BAD-so Bad we will act.
So there you have it, instead of Black Americans working hard to become successful, many prefer to follow a congo beat while fondling their fake bling-bling while watching underclothed women gyrate their rotund bodies.
Those writers who claim that hip-hop is another culture whites want to steal are delusional at best. When I'm stopped at a stoplight and the car next to me is shaking with a loud bass, all I can think of is: "thank God I lack their culture"!
But let's think about this! Remember the days when the world "culture" actually meant something. If one studies the culture of the Greeks or Romans we see a the long history of a particular society. A history built on art, language, law, philosophy, religion,music, architecture and myth. Hilarious enough, the so-called hiphop culture began with a myth:"the myth that poor latinos and blacks created hiphop out of nothing: (this was a direct quote from a misguided latina at an education conference at UNC.
And the myth continues, according to another site, the author claims that hiphop is instrumental in making social/cultural changes in the larger society.
A recent hiphop conference (pretending to be a political entity) presented the (world),or at least their "hood" with a list of demands, including full reparations for blacks, free education, free health care, all in a beligerant and hostile "gimme" tone.
The angry person who referred to me as an idiot may need to remember the words of the rapper Tony Yayo who raps:" I'm in that brand new range:when I pull up, kid, I turn your brains into red concrete stains." I ask you-and others-is this a culture-or is it verbal poison?

An Original Look at Hip-Hop and Whiteness.......2005-10-13

Why White Kids Love Hip Hop by Bakari Kitwana is a very well-written book which discusses why white kids, even upper-middle class and upper-class ones, love hip hop, specifically its musical component. I believe Bakari Kitwana puts a completely new spin on this question due to his clear enjoyment and understanding of hip-hop. He is able to look at hip-hop with less prejudice than many authors who have attempted to tackle this question. Kitwana uses convincing reasoning, such as whites' decreasing sense of racial privilege, and strong opinions to advance his arguments on why white kids love hip-hop.
I recommend this eloquent book to any hip-hop enthusiasts especially those interested in the question "why do white kids love hip-hop?" Not to say that this book is by any means perfect, Kitwana has his own unique set of prejudices like anyone and he has a tendency to belittle the work of some less hardcore hip-hop fans. Overall it is a wonderful book, a true must-read in my opinion. This is an adult book but it is not terribly long or difficult to read and while it does feature some necessary racial epithets it doesn't uselessly throw around foul language. A great book for the avid hip-hop listener or anyone who has ever wondered just why white kids love hip-hop.

Why Authors Need Copyeditors.......2005-09-30

I think that the issue Kitwana attempts to explore in Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop is interesting. But his approach to taking on this topic was both sloppy and simplistic. It starts in the preface, where he says that the hip-hop generation (which in reality covers two generations) is the first one to grow up without experiencing de facto segregation. I'm sure that White suburbanites in Scarsdale and Orange County would be interested in knowing that there are phantom people of color floating around their communities.

Kitwana also overemphasizes the impact of hip-hop on the emergence of African Americans in popular culture and their impact on young Whites during the 1980s and 1990s. He concentrates so much on Michael Jordan and his first Nike ads with Spike Lee that he forgets about Dr. J, Mean Joe Green, and a host of others that paved the road for Jordan in the first place.

But Kitwana's biggest error is in glossing over the distance between Whites embracing hip-hop culture and Whites living anti-racist, social justice oriented lives. Like John Tuturro's character in Do the Right Thing, there are at least as many Whites who are hip-hop lovers but have as stereotypical an opinion of Blacks and other people of color as Whites who listen to honky-tonk. I don't that everything Kitwana says in Why White Kids Love Hip Hop is incorrect -- his book is just selectively incomplete.

No substance, No evidence, Not much fun.......2005-09-24

*sigh*... I'm always on the lookout for books about hip-hop (as a music form, culture, and generation) as it relates to American culture. More specifically, I'm interested in the social ramifications of the culture as a whole. Thus, when I was given this book by a friend, I was hoping for a good social science read. Unfortunately, I was highly dismayed, finding this particular selection to be a sloppily written manuscript with virtually no empirical evidence anywhere.

For much of this book, the author makes vague statements which are supposed to be evidence (I.E. - "First and foremost among the reasons white kids love hip-hop is the growing sense of alienation from mainstream American life they experienced in the 1980s") but then makes little or no effort to show proof of such theories. This is discouraging.

What makes matters worse is that the author later goes on to dismiss the limited evidence that does exist showing whites are the dominant purchasers of hip-hop albums, and instead of inserting evidence which shows otherwise, he launches into page upon page of bizarre hypothesis' for potential ways blacks might still be the majority purchasers (ironically mentioning bootleg CDs). Ultimately I grew tired of reading his writing which became increasingly less academic.

His "expert" sources are also questionable - while at times he does move towards legitmate figures in the hip-hop community - I felt he vastly stretched for some of the opinions gathered for this book. For instance, I seriously wonder whether it was wise to include a very long section on a 19 year-old white female for who "hip-hop has been mainstream culture" for her entire life. Her priciple credits for being mentioned appear to be that she once dated a black guy, doesn't mind the b-word, and got hooked on hip-hop when she heard "Hypnotize" while developing film. I was not impressed.

If you are looking for an actual intelligent and informed book on hip-hop, please look elsewhere. Reading this, you'll mainly come away with disjointed personal theories of the author, as well as numerous plugs for THE SOURCE magazine.

1/5 Stars

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