Full Description
Composition and hip hop may seem unrelated, but the connection isn't hard to make: Hip hop and rap rely on a complex of narrative practices that have clear ties to some of the best American essay writing. A Hip Hop Reader brings together work by important writers about this cultural phenomenon and provides lively selections that represent a variety of styles and interests.
Contents
1. Back in the Day: Origins and Definitions of Hip Hop
Cheryl L. Keyes, "The Roots and Stylistic Foundations of the Rap Music Tradition"
Tricia Rose, "Rap Music"
Juan Flores, "Puerto Rican and Proud, Boyee!: Rap Roots and Amnesia"
Sasha Frere Jones, "Ghost's World: A Wu Tang Member's New Album"
Shana, Kent "Illmatic: A Journey Into Nas's State of Mind" (student essay)
2. Crossing the Color Line: Hip Hop Negotiates the Complexities of Race
N.R. Kleinfield, "Guarding the Borders of the Hip-Hop Nation"
Mark Anthony Neal, "Sold Out on Soul: The Corporate Annexation of Black Popular Music"
David R. Rodiger, "Elvis, Wiggers, and Crossing Over to Nonwhiteness"
Michel Marriott, "Rap's Embrace of 'Nigger' Fires Bitter Debate"
Touré, "The Hip-Hop Nation: Whose Is It? In the End Black Men Must Lead."
3. Your Momma's a Mack Daddy: Gender Construction in Hip Hop
Marcyliena Morgan, "Hip-Hop Women Shredding the Veil: Race and Class in Popular Feminist Identity"
Kimberle Crenshaw, "Beyond Racism and Misogyny: Black Feminism and 2 Live Crew"
Michele Wallace, "When Black Feminism Faces the Music and the Music Is Rap"
Imani Perry, "The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto: Negotiating Spaces for Women"
bell hooks, "The Coolness of Being Real"
4. Growing Up Gangsta: Gangsta Rap and the Politics of Identity
Elizabeth Grant, "Gangsta Rap, the War on Drugs, and the Location of African-American Identity in Los Angeles 1988-92"
Michael Eric Dyson, "Gangsta Rap and American Culture"
John Pareles, "Should Ice Cube's Voice Be Chilled?"
bell hooks, "Gangsta Culture"
5. Mapping Rap: East Coast, West Coast, Third Coast, and Beyond
Murray Forman, "'Represent': Race, Space and Place in Rap Music"
Ayanna Parris, "Reaching Toward Hip-Hop's Homeland: Hip Hop in Tanzania" (student essay)
Kelefa Sanneh, "New Orleans Hip Hop is the Home of Gangsta Gumbo"
Kiese Laymon, "Hip Hop Stole My Black Boy"
