5 comments about Holler If You Hear Me (2006).

1. Here is an overview of some of the issues and ideas expressed by the Reverend Professor Dyson in this book about Tupac Shakur.
   
   Tupac's mother was a Black Panther, who had served as her own lawyer to acquit herself out of a COINTELPRO frameup. For the most part, it seems from the mid-70's onward, her involvement with the Panthers, had blacklisted her from the mainstream. By the early 80's, she had developed a severe addiction to crack cocaine. But she nonetheless managed to cultivate in Tupac a precocious intellect. He became a very literate young fellow, interested in political issues, art, literature and the theater. Tupac's family moved to Baltimore in 1986 and there he entered a School of Arts where he excelled. According to Dyson, he organized Stop the Violence and AIDS awareness campaigns as a student. However his mother was getting more crazy and kicked Tupac out on the street. He ended up in Marin City CA outside of Oakland in the home of the wife of the then wrongfully imprisoned Geronimo Pratt. The Pratt home was apparently very broken. According to Dyson, Tupac had a great difficult fitting in upon arriving in Marin City. He didn't know how to play basketball, wrote poetry, dressed like a hippy, and was a target of gangs. According to the taped interview of Tupac at age 17, that Dyson quotes extensively from, Tupac complained that he was rejected by a girl on the ground that he was "too nice." Tupac in the tape declares that he will keep treating the girls right and maybe they won't fall for the bad boys anymore and turn to sensitive, decent fellows like him. Tupac fled the Pratt house, and ended up in an abandoned apartment with some of his friends. He got a job at a pizza parlor. He started selling drugs but apparently some street people dissuaded him from it. He had just turned seventeen, when he met Leila Steinberg, a lovely young white woman with an admixture of Jewish and Chicano ancestry. Steinberg conducted workshops in the inner city high schools in the area that allowed youth to engage in various artistic forms. Tupac moved in with her and her then husband, a black rap promoter and children. He became her assistant.
   
   By the early 90's Tupac with Steinberg as reading partner, was consuming religious tracts of all the religions, such novelists as Alice Walker, Herman Meliville and William Styron, the poetry of Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni and Maya Angelou, books of investigative journalism, Nietzsche,W.E.B. Dubois. He read Eurocentric works and tried to discredit them. He also read Sigmund Freud to discredit him, according to Steinberg; he held the opinion that Freud was "a frustrated homosexual who never fully formulated his opinions."
   
   Beyond the great intellect, Dyson writes, Tupac struggled with some mighty demons. His relationship with his mother had really wrecked havoc with him psychologically. Like a lot of ghetto youth, he had identity problems. He came of age in an era of the "white blacklash" and "white flight",of the deregulation that allowed the fleeing of working class manufacturing jobs to poor countries, of declining government subsidies. Meanwhile, more and more blacks were hoarded into prison on such principles of justice that places harsh justice on the consumer of crack but relatively light sentences on the predominantly wealthy white users of powder cocaine.
   
   According to Dyson, Tupac defined thuggery in terms of someone who is trying to survive and be a man in a society that shuns and oppress them. Tupac made an acronym of thug life-"the hate you give little infants f-ks everyone." Dyson quotes Vijay Prashad on the interesting roots of the word "thug." It apparently is rooted in the Indian subcontinent and referred to brigands who robbed bullion cargos being looted by the British imperialists.
   
   The thug life gives ghetto youth self-esteem and fellowship with other males. Tupac had similar motivations according to Dyson for entering the gangsta rap world with his second album. He tried to live that life to the fullest, getting drunk and high a lot. He lived life very recklessly, challenging god to bring death on him. In this flirting with death, Tupac expressed the psychological state of all too many ghetto residents, including chiliastic impulses, a deep down severe pain with life on this earth.
   
   Dyson writes that most folks don't really consider Tupac really guilty of the offense for which he spent eleven months in prison. The woman claimed that Tupac had participated in a gang rape of her. He was only convicted of "forcibly" touching her buttocks. The prison experience damaged him. He might have been raped there. Dyson discusses sexism in the black community. He writes that the Million Man March sponsored by Farrakhan was an example of black men getting together to affirm that they going to live constructive lives.
   
   Tupac's embrace of thuggery seems pretty silly to say the least. No doubt he was trying to make some money by cultivating the image, as the Notorious B.I.G. later claimed Tupac told him.
   
   Dyson at times writes clearly and simply, even musically; much of the rest of the time, he writes in a rambling, gnarled, bookish style. There are times particularly in the last chapter, when he is almost unreadable. Nonetheless, he paints of moving picture of Tupac, who, in the true style of the poet, could evoke profound emotion with simple words and his vocal skills in his songs.



2. and so it may be unfair for me to give an opinion but sense i am a book worm, the kind that prides myself on reading a book in one day, I feel that I am experienced enough to pick up a certain sense of the author by the first chapter.
   Now, in saying that, so far, from what I've read, I feel the authoer (Mr. Dyson) is trying to appeal to people outside of hip hop because it is as if he's saying that Tupac was more than a thug, or there was something very dynamic about his thug formula at the same time tragic (to say the least).
   There's no doubt in my man that Tupac (r.i.p.) was an intelligent person to some level because of how he articulated his words and I knew he had some grass root flavor because the brother was straight up real in what he was saying (interviews, appearences) outside of his music. But I feel that Mr. Dyson is trying to tell the world (white world?) that Tupac was a very soulful and artistic person who was gotten trapped inside of his art that lead to a very tragic ending; that he (tupac had more to offer the world) before his early death.
   I feel that who ever Mr. Dyson was trying to reach with his semi-autobiography of the slain star is very least insulting towards the average person's intelligence because history dictates that once a person is stuck with interest by a person, place or thing, that person will go out on their own to find out more information about the object of their attention (be it elderly white rock n' roll types, blues people, whoever) and in saying that, perhaps, this type of mindset is who Mr. Dyson was aiming at.
   Another thing that bothers me about hip hop journalism in general is that in general, I don't know who were the true ideal reader that these books are meant for: are they for the true hip hopper or is it the true hippor and a more broader reading base (with high literary skills?) because whenever I read this types of books (3 so far) I need a thesaurus next to me. And I figure hip hop isn't about using big words, and so if one wants to write about the art form, they have to also think like the fan and not like themselves to make a core impact. Not that I'm saying this book hasn't made a good impact (look at the other reviews) but when one makes a comparison (and you should), I like Chuck D's book, "Fight the Power" because it's simple, down to earth, and honest. Infact, I was surprised how Chuck D honest approach throughout the whole book because he was humble and not egotistical or biased.
   Anyway, read the book, like I'm continuing to do so and judge for yourself.



3. Tupac Amaru Shakur may not have been Hip Hop's "best" rapper of all time, but he is hands down, without question, the greatest and most compelling Hip Hop FIGURE, of all time. what amazes me so much about Tupac is how he seems to represent so many different things to so many different people.Some people see Tupac as nothing more then a foul mouthed Thug who got what he deserved when he was killed. Other people see him as a Hip Hop Martyr/revolutionary who was on the verge of becoming a great leader, when he was killed. Then their are those who who don't think of Tupac as anything more then a dead rapper. While others see 2pac as not only the voice for his genre, but rather the voice for his generation.To me, the truth is, Tupac was/is probably a combination of all those things to some degree. He is and probably will always remain the only true ICON in rap.Like I said earlier, he wasn't the best rapper, he wasn't the best lyricist, he didn't have the best metaphors, he wasn't the best battle rapper, but it was just somthing about him, something about his charisma, someting about his passion, something about his emotion, something about his words, something about his voice, that just somehow seemed to separate him from everyone else.If their was one M.C. who deserved a book written about them and their life, Pac was clearly that person.
   
   I gave this book 4 stars, but it really deserves about a 3.5 star rating. The book is supposed to be about Tupac, but Tupac only seems to be a vehicle for Michael Dyson to discuss Young Black Males as a whole. That's all fine and dandy, but I didn't buy this book for that.I bought this book to get insight on Tuapc, and in terms of that, this book dissapointed to a certain degree.But what really grabed me in this book was when they were talking about his experiance in prison. They talked about how he may or may not have been raped. To me, that was nothing more then what it was, a rumer. A lot of people don't know this, and something they should have added in the book, right before he went to prison and after he was shot 5 times, he was suicidal.In fact, at his house one day, his family caught him sitting in a living room with F**k the world written across his forehead and a 45 pistal he was pointing at his head. Now imagine, on top of everything else, how he would have reacted, if the most degrading, humiliating thing that could possibly happen to a man(or women for that matter), happened to him, on top of everything else.Ive digressed.
   
   The bottom line is, this would have been a very enjoyible book, sans all of the big words as well as all the interviews with people who not only didn't know Tupac but in all likelihood, never even so much as seen or came in contact with the brother before(Stanly crouch,Kephra Burns,Mos def Talib Kweli, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Ray Jay, Sonia Sanchez,ect.).In fact, I really don't even know what buisiness they had even being put in this book(W/ all do respect to all of them).The book Title is called; "Searching For Tupac Shakur" not, "What people who never even knew Tupac Shakur think about him". If you want a real book on Tupac Shakur, and only Tupac Shakur, Then you should pick up Darrin Bastfields book on Tupac.This, buy no means,is a bad book however.



4. I must give props to Micheal Eric Dyson. He did a good job on this autobiography of this rebel of the underground. Michael Eric Dyson writes pretty good detailed accounts on Tupac's life without the being bias or partial(something a lot of these trash ragazines couldnt do to save their puny lives!). This son of a Black Panther was a lot deeper than these egocentric clowns you compare him to in the rap game. Tupac was giving you gems since his first magnum opus 2pacalypse Now. A lot of the rappers you compare him to still talk abou absolutely nothing. Its sad that there are still some childish jackals out there trying to desecrate the memory of this conscious poet. Even though he was a flawed character(like everybody else!) he was still giving you treasures like Part Time Mutha, Trapped, Violent, Keep Your Head Up, Point Tha Finga, Dear Mother etc and Micheal Eric Dyson notes this. I strongly recommend Holla If You Hear Me. REST IN PEACE TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR AND PEACE TO MICHAEL ERIC DYSON



5. Micheal Dyson's book "Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur" was a pleasant and refreshing surprise. I purchased the book thinking it would be another biography of my favorite artist and I got so much more. It spoke to me intellectually as well as making me culturally aware of the issues and concerns of the black community yesterday, today, and tommorrow. I felt like this is the best book about Tupac out there today, not because it follows every step of his life, but because I got to take a look at him as a protagonist and an antagonist in urban socieity. I found out what books he read, what people thought of him outside of his culture, the influence he had on society outside of rap, and most importantly I figured out about his thought process and honesty. Michael even gives us an interesting perspective of Tupac as a child of a Black Panther, the last of the Shakurs'. This book is for anyone who is a real fan of Tupac and wants to see him from every angle possible.

5 comments about The Dead Emcee Scrolls: The Lost Teachings of Hip-Hop.

1. I first heard about this book on a message board (I think it was the one from DaveyD.com) and I really enjoyed reading the publisher's excerpt, and it was just the introduction. With it, I didn't know how to take it. Whether it was truth or just a very well worded story from Saul Williams. Either way, I could feel the vibe of Hiphop Kulture coming from it. So of course, I went out and bought it.
   
   I was blown away.
   
   I first heard of Saul from the book ", said the Shotgun to the Head." So I already thought I knew what to expect. But I was completly blown away by the deepness of these poems. Whether really taken from a strange manuscript in an old spray can or just a way to publish his own poems about Hiphop's preservation of love, peace, and unity, this was great. I recommend it for anyone who like poetry, spoken word, rap music, or just books. Very good.



2. i've written tons of academic papers (including my current thesis) on williams; his work is unbelievable and should be taught everywhere. his attempt to uplift hip-hop is honorable and appreciated.



3. This is Saul Williams but it is not a book of poetry. It is well written and I would recomend it to anyone who likes Saul Williams, poetry, hip hop or both.



4. Saul Williams, hip-hop's so-called "poet laureate," can comfortably add "hip-hop mystic" to his résumé with this collection of excellent poetry. His rhymes drip with the religious symbolism of ancient Mystery cults (most notably, Isis) as he journeys with the reader on a path to self-discovery, spiritual fulfillment, and ethical reasoning. In hip-hop Williams sees ancient drums and chants, camp-fire storytellers whose power has been hijacked by capitalist greed, materialism, defeatism, and chauvinism. He teaches through twistable and irresistible verse that the power of history's lessons and thought can change worlds by changing words.
   
   I admit that I am not a hip-hop fan, per say. I do enjoy a select few artists (Williams included), and have studied African American history/culture, so I was not entirely unfamiliar with the themes/issues of this book. I am, however, a lover of poetry, truth, and vulnerable strength, which Saul Williams encapsulates perfectly. Truly, one need not know much about hip-hop to appreciate this book. No matter one's musical preference or cultural background, Williams speaks truth, and therefore can be embraced by all. "Word is bond."



5. great book, great read. perfect for the coffee table, or the bathroom for your guests to go "wtf kinda stuff do you read?"

4 comments about Straight from the Source: An Expose from the Former Editor in Chief of the Hip-Hop Bible.

1. This is a great read for anyone who loves hip hop, thrives off drama and wants to know what really goes on behind the scenes in the music industry. But more importantly, it is an Erin Brokovich type story of a woman who fought against the injustices of a corrupt organization and won.



2. I think the book is good for anyone to read but it's mostly geared to women and not just any woman- a woman on the come up of her career. Men will see the background bashment it takes to run a magazine and the minuet beefs that can get started in the entertainment industry in a New York minute if you're not paying close attention. Women, on the other hand, will get lots more from it if they really sit down and read it. They will understand what it's like to be a woman in a male dominating industry and how lots of times if something went wrong, it would be automatically be blamed on your emotions. It will also show you how petty the entertainment industry is and why you shouldn't deal with these cornballs in the industry because one moment you're enjoying nice love sessions in your favorite telly, the next you know your dessert of choice is blowing you up on the radio. Sad but true, there is a double standards when it comes down to men, women, and sexuality.
   
   Ms. Osorio works hard to show you her personal journey during the maniacal days at the Source and under the rule of Dave Mays (wanna-be-black behind) and Benzino. I think it's a good read if you're interested in getting in the industry or was a avid reader of the Source during her tenure, 2000-2005. I give this book 8 out of 10 stars respectively because everyone knows that Kim Osorio is a legend in modern-day Hip Hop in her own right.



3. It's was an excellent book....It just amazes me how Kim had to fight so hard to stay on top and how a dedicated mother fought for a great life for her daughter. As an ex- single mom I have put up with some crazy things at my job so I could put food on my table...I give Kim a lot of credit and look up to her....I would recommend this book to Oprah....



4. Well I must say from the minute I started reading Ms. O's book, she had me. I could not put this book down. It was well written, actually her writing skills are excellent. It was captivating, clever, witty, and just down right "REAL"! Ms. O's story inspired me. I too work in the entertainment industry and know all too well how it's a "man's world". I'm glad Ms O. rose to the top and didn't let anyone shut her down when it was time to fight for what was "right"!!! I recommend this book to EVERYONE. You don't have to be into Hip Hop to enjoy this book. I look forward to the next book by Ms. O.!!! This is one talented young lady.

5 comments about It's No Secret: From Nas to Jay-Z, from Seduction to Scandal--a Hip-Hop Helen of Troy Tells All.

1. The book was good enough to read and pretty much get an insight of how her relationships with Nas and Jay Z really went . I enjoyed the book not the best book i have ever read but it will do if you are a die hard Jay Z or hip hop fan like me. It was a look inside their personal lives that you very rarely get to seeas far as african american celebrities lives go.



2. Waste of time. It's like re-reading a book by Karin Steffans B.K.A "superhead". This isn't no hip-hop Helen of Troy as the title states. She got her 15 minutes of fame. Now it's time to get a real life and move on.



3. I bought this book because I was tired & bored of reading "serious" literature. It took 6 months for me to finally pick it up and read it and all I can tell you is that it's a waste of time. If you have graduated from high school or have even obtained a GED - don't read it. Its an insult even to a mentally challenged persons intelligence. This chick is nothing but a bird. Three quarters of the book made me angry at her. One that she is a woman and two she is black. She is no Helen of Troy - she's not even a Flavor of Love chick.



4. I did not get a good impression of this young woman and wondered what those two high profile hip hop stars saw in her. She thinks nothing of her promiscuity, and seems to enjoy describing her sexcapades with all these different men. And anybody who allows her apartment to be turned into a crack lab can't be too bright, especially the glib, matter-of-fact way she describes this in her book. She makes the same mistakes over and over again, which becomes really annoying, but then again, this woman is not the sharpest pencil in the box.
   
   The only reason she was able to get published is because of her affiliation with two high-profile hip hop stars. I feel sorry for her daughter Destiny, because this woman is not a good role model for her little girl.



5. If I could this book would have recieved 1/2 a star that is only because there were some interesting photos in the middle of the book, otherwise this was a poor excuse for a tell all. First of all, I don't believe much of what was written should have been written, is Carmen completely unaware of the fact that her daughter will have to live with this for the rest of her life. What child do you know wants their mother's sexual escapades splashed in a book for the world to read. Secondly so many of her words toward the end of the book tended to be cheap shots at the women who won the hearts of the men who just used her. It seemed like alot of sour grapes. I mean does anyone really believe that she kept Jay Z at arms length? All in all, this was a pathetic attempt.

5 comments about The Vibe History of Hip Hop.

1. I think you would have to have been brain dead or asleep for the past decade or so to not have noticed that hip-hop has become the single most important form of art or even communication in the world. Surpassing even the internet, I think history will remember hip-hop as the most important development made by civilization in the last half of the twentieth century. There is little doubt in my mind at least that figures like Dr Dre, 2 Pac, and Snoop Doggy Dogg will, in due course, blot out such lesser figures as (in politics) JFK, (in music) Bernstein, and (in philosophy) Derrida and Foucault who some backward-thinking people still regard as more important than the fathers of hip-hop in our culture. This book does not make my claims, which is why I give it three stars rather than five, but it is certainly an emotional and compelling history of a movement more important than civil rights, the space program, social security, and the first amendment all rolled into one.



2. Fine and well-informed history of hip-hop, the music and the culture arranged chronologically and by topic/theme. Comes with a CD (fairly inconsequential).



3. A large glossy book that outstands for its pictures. Written in a cronological manner, covers from the beginnings of the rap scene until nowadays. Very attractive to look at, but composed from a media point of view.



4. This is the first book that tells the complete history of Hip-hop. From its South Bronx roots to today's status. Recommended for everyone who want to know more about hip-hop.



5. This book tells the complete story of hip hop the photos are cool of the true pioneers in the industry Pac, Big, and it shows where hip hop first orginated to where it is today. I rate this book #1 in all hip hop literature.

1 comments about Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop.

1. Most books on hip hop fall into the music category: not so TOTAL CHAOS: THE ART AND AESTHETICS OF HIP-HOP, compiled and edited by Jeff Chang whose contributors informatively and thoughtful consider the evolution, presence, and impact of hip-hop as a cultural expression and social commentary. From its commercial world to its cultural and artistic roots, TOTAL CHAOS offers students of sociology an excellent survey that runs the gamut from gender issues to artistic conflicts within the hiphop environment. The anthology includes interviews, first-person experience and analysis yet is lively enough for the general-interest library, as well.

5 comments about The Pirate's Dilemma: How Youth Culture Is Reinventing Capitalism.

1. I have spent the last two years reading on pirates and piracy, from the pirates of the Caribbean to the p2p pirates of "The Pirates of the Caribbean", and any and everything in between. It is an extraordinarily rich subject that is deeply embedded in local and global social, economic, political, legal histories.
   So with great expectations I have started to read this book.
   
   And what a disappointment! I am devastated! Matt Mason tells stories about various innovators, renegades, avant-garde artists, oddballs, and labels all of these people as "pirates", though they share little more than the fact that they are being labeled by the author as pirates. The background he offers to accompany these stories is shallow and reflect the attitude of what Mr. Mason really is: a music magazine journalist, who needs not be neither deep nor very sophisticated in his studies.
   
   It is insult to injury that Mr. Mason as he wrote for VICE should be, but is not funny or even entertaining. He tries though, but with dreadful results.
   
   I would recommend this book for transcontinental flights if it wasn't a too long and unfunny thing to spend 8 hours accompanied by.



2. This book is slightly maddening. The intention is valid: to steer people towards thinking about piracy in a new light. The "pirate's dilemma" is whether to persecute and shut down piracy, or to recognize it as a kind of creative competition. If you can't beat them, join them. The thrust of Mason's argument can be summarized by the two models of music industry approaches to P2P file sharing: either go the route of Apple and create a cheap, viable option for consumers, or the RIAA route and sue its customers.
   
   As a former DJ, Mason cuts and pastes his way through the book with anecdotes. At first I found the approach a little obnoxious-- a kind of overly cheerful airline-style of magazine writing. As a former punk, I found the whole chapter on punk capitalism a little superficial, which lacked a discussion of a really important DIY capitalist, Discord Records. The section of the "Tao of Pirates" was also missing an important discussion of pirate culture, i.e. the black beard types that are so discussed so interestingly in Wilson's Pirate Utopias. I think the word pirate is used too general. Basically, anyone under 50 is a pirate these days, and I don't thing that's true. Also, the remix section failed to credit Dada.
   
   But as I read on, I warmed up to the book and found the discussion of guerrilla marketing and hip hop pretty good. There was some history and anecdotes that I wasn't aware of, so I was pleasantly surprised here and there. Still, if you want a more in-depth analysis of the economic situation of open source, read Benkler's The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom.
   
   Ultimately I think Mason's intentions are good. I'm not sure celebrating the cooptation of underground culture by capitalism is something that is to be happy about, but I suppose as the pirates become more mainstream, maybe our society will be better for it, and that to me, is the ultimate Pirate's Dilemma.



3. One the whole, this book offers an excellent snapshot into some of the issues currently driving the online world. While I thought it was an overall good read, this book is not without its flaws. Sometimes the author's opinion is concise and his criticism is well-aimed, such as when he addresses the music industry's decisions to punish its suppliers and its customers for its own mistakes. Especially noteworthy is how he takes what might be run of the mill criticism and offers alternative course of actions, elevating some of the book from the standard armchair quarterbacking into something that could be (gasp!) useful to the reader.
   
   Unfortunately, this book also includes some filler. I am especially disappointed that he spent so much time extolling the virtues of hip-hop as both the original youth oriented remix-friendly music and `voice of the streets' (apostrophes for emphasis, not a quote) while totally ignoring, for example, Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie (and others)deciding to remix their pop music at warp speeds, ignoring the dictum that music should be the background for swing dancers.
   
   On the whole, the book is worthwhile and is significantly better when paired with the companion website (and maybe that's the point).



4. I found this book to be poorly researched, and clumsily written. The opening chapter on punk rock misspells Johnny Rotten's name throughout as "Jonny." The New York Dolls are lumped in with the Velvets as "another band that hung out at (Andy Warhol's) Factory." They had, in fact, no association with the Factory or Warhol. The author describes the reaction in England to the Pistols' appearance on the Bill Grundy show as mass hysteria, which is rather over the top - yes, the headlines expressed shock, no, it did not cause a national strike. The author also manages to use every cliche he could think of, from "too fast to live, too young to die" to describing Sid Vicious (at least he spelled it right!) as a punk martyr. I'll bet he thinks the Ramones were actually brothers.



5. I think, if it had stuck to the brief it claimed to have on the front cover, I would have loved this book. But it didn't at all. This book has it's interesting moments, but it is effectively a chance for a former pirate DJ to try to convince you of three things. (I) Pirate radio is awesome. (II) DJ's are gods of the modern era. (III) Any and all significant cultural advances accomplished since the 60s are solely the result of music's influence.
   Now, your mileage may vary on how useful any of those statements are, but I can't stand radio in any form, and DJ's typically make me want to punch someone, which means that the 3rd statement is the only one that could have any truck with me. Sadly, the book very much puts the cart before the horse. It is probable there's interchange, but for the author's purposes we're to consider EVERYTHING in terms of music. Then there's the way he uses Pirate in the book, it becomes a generalist term that applies to almost all innovators, which kind of misses the point of WHY piracy is an issue.
   The books real gift is in teaching music trivia, and providing some form of introduction to Hip-hop as big business, but here he hardly does anything new, and he mostly hides behind pretentious words to make out that everything has meaning. Fashion is even glorified as emblematic of what our culture should be like. For someone who is on the surface offering a counter-culture account of the changes going on in the world and what the future will be, he doesn't actually attack much of the mainstream.
   His only other really interesting assertion is that new youth-cultures can't form presently due to the instant spotlight effect that corporates give to anything with any promise in the constant quest for marketing. I'd just like to say, this is one of the weakest arguments I've ever heard. It seems fairly evident to me that the reason we aren't getting new large scale youth movements is that the Internet has made most movements small and decentralized, and because WOW is just so awesomesauce that most people don't bother anymore.

No comments about That's the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader.

3 comments about Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop.

1. Imani Perry is a wonderful writer and analyst. Her book is remarkable in its approach to the subject of Hip Hop's role in the black community.



2. Imani breaks down the hermeneutics of hip hop with the same detail to nuance and complexity and rigor that a Greek Scholar devotes to Paul's Epistles or Plato's Republic. I agree with Cornel West: there isn't a better book on hip hop out there. She is both critical of Hip Hop's excesses as well as appreciative of its raw Dionysian energy. After reading it, I'm convinced that Imani will always be the smartest person in the room. I will use this for my Hip Hop and Urban America course.



3. To write a book about rap and hip hop, and to not once mention homophobia, is an extremely glaring oversight.

5 comments about Hip Hop America.

1. 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.

   I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of hip hop. It is a quick, enjoyable, and informative read.




2. 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.



3. 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.



4. 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.



5. 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.