Rap's critique of police brutality in the 1980s. The Hip Hop Political Convention. The rise (and fall) of Kwame Kilpatrick, the "hip-hop mayor" of Detroit. Barack Obama echoing the body language of Jay-Z on the campaign trail.
A growing number of black activists and artists claim that rap and hip-hop are the basis of an influential new urban social movement. Simultaneously, black citizens evince concern with the effect that rap and hip-hop culture exerts on African American communities. According to a recent Pew survey conducted on the opinions of Black Americans, 71 percent of blacks think that rap is a bad influence. To what extent are African American hopes and fears about hip-hop's potential political power justified? In "Stare in the Darkness," Lester K. Spence answers this question using a blend of neoliberal analysis, survey data, experiments, and case studies.
Spence finds that rap does in fact influence black political attitudes. However, rap also reproduces rather than critiques neoliberal ideology. Furthermore, black activists seeking to create an innovative model of hip-hop politics are hamstrung by their reliance on outmoded forms of organizing. By considering the possibilities inherent in the most prolific and prominent activities of hip-hop politics, Stare in the Darkness reveals, in a clear and practical manner, the political consequences of rap culture for black publics.

"A thug is someone who stands on his own. He lives by the decisions he makes and accepts the consequences. A thug is comfortable in his own skin. I wear mine like a glove."
Trick Daddy was born a thug--just a stone's throw from downtown Miami, yet a world away from its dazzling beauty and sparkling wealth. Where grinding poverty, deadly crime, and devastating racial tension taught kids to live by the 'hood rules. Remarkably, Trick came from nothing and made it big just when his chances had run out.
Magic City is the extraordinary tale of a boy whose father was a pimp, who learned to hustle to survive, and whose only role model was his brother, the drug dealer he watched plying his trade on the block. It's the untold truth behind the cult movie "Scarface," of the drug money that transformed the city into a shining mecca for the rich and famous while turf wars between smalltime pushers claimed countless lives. It's also the incredible story of how that potent mixture of extremes--the electric pulse and glittering abundance of South Beach and the crime, corruption, and despair in its shadows--gave rise to the most dominant sound in hip-hop today. "Magic City "is an ode to Miami, a riveting tale of a paradise lost and a native son determined to infuse it with new life.

She's the spiciest ingredient in the legendary rap group Salt-N-Pepa, and the outspoken star of VH1's smash-hit reality show. She's Sandy "Pepa" Denton -- and she's never at a loss for words. Now, in her first tell-all book, Pepa talks about sex, music, life, love, fame, and so much more...."Most of you know me as Pep, or Pepa, the fun-loving half of Salt-N-Pepa. I am the party girl, the one who is down for whatever. But behind the laughs and the smiles is a whole lot of pain."

Funny, fearless, and full of life, Sandy "Pepa" Denton is a pop culture icon whose remarkable story is every bit as captivating and provocative as her Grammy Award-winning music. This is the real Pepa -- upfront, uncensored, unstoppable -- and these are the memoirs of a true pioneer, fighter, survivor, and inspiration to women everywhere.

For the first time, Pepa talks about:

- Her troubled childhood
- Surviving abuse
- Her first encounters with Cheryl "Salt" James
- Salt-N-Pepa's instant success
- Her failed marriages and her escape from domestic abuse
- Her "breakup" with Salt and their eventual "reunion"
- Her triumphant comeback on the VH1 reality shows "The Surreal Life," "Fame Games," and "The Salt-N-Pepa Show"

Filled with surprising insights, outrageous anecdotes, and celebrity cameos -- including Queen Latifah, Martin Lawrence, Janice Dickinson, Omarosa, Missy Elliott, L.L. Cool J, supermodel Caprice, Ron Jeremy, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez, "Spinderella," and many others -- "Let's Talk About Pep" offers a fascinating glimpse behind the fame, family, failures, and successes of celebrity...and into the faithful heart of a woman who will always value the good friends she found along the way. In the words of Sandy "Pepa" Denton, "there's no walking away from that."

Detroit, MIchigan, has long been recognized as a center of musical innovation and social change. Rebekah Farrugia and Kellie D. Hay draw on seven years of fieldwork to illuminate the important role that women have played in mobilizing a grassroots response to political and social pressures at the heart of Detroit's ongoing renewal and development project. Focusing on the Foundation, a women-centered hip hop collective, Women Rapping Revolution argues that the hip hop underground is a crucial site where Black women shape subjectivity and claim self-care as a principle of community organizing. Through interviews and sustained critical engagement with artists and activists, this study also articulates the substantial role of cultural production in social, racial, and economic justice efforts.

Everyone wants to know the truth about their favorite celebrities' heart's desire. Within the masculine culture of Hip Hop and Hollywood, there is a well-known gay subculture that industry insiders are keenly aware of but choose to hide. Terrance Dean worked his way up for more than ten years in the entertainment industry from intern to executive, and has lived the life of glitz and bling along with Hollywood and Hip Hop's most glamorous. With a family full of secrets and working in an industry founded on maleness -- where one's job, friendships, and reputation all depend on remaining on the down low and in hiding -- Dean writes a revealing account of the journey of coming out from hiding.

Full of startling anecdotes and incredible true stories, "Hiding in Hip Hop" is not a traditional tell-all. A personal and poignant memoir, it is also one of the most provocative and honest looks at stardom and sexuality.

He has recorded with the biggest stars in the music business. He wrote many of the hits that made Sean 'Puffy' Combs one of the richest men alive. On the surface, the multi-million dollar empire that Puff built looks like the stuff of dreams. But after working with Puff for a decade, Curry discovered that Bad Boy Entertainment is not, as Puff promised, a place where dreams come true. No, rather it is a shell game comprised of contracts designed to rob artists of their time, dreams and publishing rights. "Dancing With the Devil" reveals startling new details about key events in the fast paced, controversial (and sometimes deadly) world of Hip-Hop. In revealing the dark side of the industry, Curry hopes to provide a road map for reforms necessary to prevent artists ending up in poverty, in prison or in the grave.

B-boying is a form of Afro-diasporic competitive dance that developed in the Bronx, NY in the early 1970s. Widely - though incorrectly - known as "breakdancing," it is often dismissed as a form of urban acrobatics set to music. In reality, however, b-boying is a deeply traditional and profoundly expressive art form that has been passed down from teacher to student for almost four decades. Foundation: B-boys, B-girls and Hip-Hop Culture in New York offers the first serious study of b-boying as both unique dance form and a manifestation of the most fundamental principles of hip-hop culture. Drawing on anthropological and historical research, interviews and personal experience as a student of the dance, Joseph Schloss presents a nuanced picture of b-boying and its social context. From the dance's distinctive musical repertoire and traditional educational approaches to its complex stylistic principles and secret battle strategies, Foundation illuminates a previously unexamined thread in the complex tapestry that is contemporary hip-hop.

Project Blowed is a legendary hiphop workshop based in Los Angeles. It began in 1994 when a group of youths moved their already renowned open-mic nights from the Good Life, a Crenshaw district health food store, to the KAOS Network, an arts center in Leimert Park. The local freestyle of articulate, rapid-fire, extemporaneous delivery, the juxtaposition of meaningful words and sounds, and the way that MCs followed one another without missing a beat, quickly became known throughout the LA underground. Leimert Park has long been a center of African American culture and arts in Los Angeles, and Project Blowed inspired youth throughout the city to consider the neighborhood the epicenter of their own cultural movement. "The Real Hiphop" is an in-depth account of the language and culture of Project Blowed, based on the seven years Marcyliena Morgan spent observing the workshop and the KAOS Network. Morgan is a leading scholar of hiphop, and throughout the volume her ethnographic analysis of the LA underground opens up into a broader examination of the artistic and cultural value of hiphop.

Morgan intersperses her observations with excerpts from interviews and transcripts of freestyle lyrics. Providing a thorough linguistic interpretation of the music, she teases out the cultural antecedents and ideologies embedded in the language, emphases, and wordplay. She discusses the artistic skills and cultural knowledge MCs must acquire to rock the mic, the socialization of hiphop culture's core and long-term members, and the persistent focus on skills, competition, and evaluation. She brings attention to adults who provided material and moral support to sustain underground hiphop, identifies the ways that women choose to participate in Project Blowed, and vividly renders the dynamics of the workshop's famous lyrical battles.

"A strong and timely book for the new day in hip-hop. Don't miss it!"--Cornel West

For many African Americans of a certain demographic the sixties and seventies were the golden age of political movements. The Civil Rights movement segued into the Black Power movement which begat the Black Arts movement. Fast forward to 1979 and the release of Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight." With the onset of the Reagan years, we begin to see the unraveling of many of the advances fought for in the previous decades. Much of this occurred in the absence of credible, long-term leadership in the black community. Young blacks disillusioned with politics and feeling society no longer cared or looked out for their concerns started rapping with each other about their plight, becoming their own leaders on the battlefield of culture and birthing Hip-Hop in the process. In "Som""e""body Scr""e""am," Marcus Reeves explores hip-hop music and its politics. Looking at ten artists that have impacted rap--from Run-DMC (Black Pop in a B-Boy Stance) to Eminem (Vanilla Nice)--and puts their music and celebrity in a larger socio-political context. In doing so, he tells the story of hip hop's rise from New York-based musical form to commercial music revolution to unifying expression for a post-black power generation.

The mother of rap superstar Kanye West shares her experiences on being a single mother raising a celebrity. As the mother of hip-hop superstar Kanye West, Donda West has watched her son grow from a brilliant baby boy with all the intimations of fame and fortune to one of the hottest rappers on the music scene. And she has every right to be proud: she raised her son with strong moral values, teaching him right from wrong and helping him become the man he is today. In Raising Kanye, Donda not only pays homage to her famous son but reflects on all the things she learned about being his mother along the way. Featuring never-before-seen photos and compelling personal anecdotes, Donda's powerful and inspiring memoir reveals everything from the difficulties she faced as a single mother in the African American community to her later experiences as Kanye's manager as he rose to superstardom. Speaking frankly about her son's reputation as a "Mama's Boy," and his memorable public outbursts about gay rights and President George W. Bush, Donda supports her son without exception, and here she shares the invaluable wisdom she has taken away from each experience-passion, tolerance, patience, and above all, always telling the truth. Ultimately, she not only expresses what her famously talented son has meant to her but what he has meant to music and an entire generation.

Ice Cube is one of the most influential figures in the history of rap and hip-hop. Best known for the vitriol of his "angry black man" recordings of the late 1980s and mid 1990s, Ice Cube epitomizes the genre often referred to as gangsta rap. Much of his music from these years is focused on the disturbing realities of life in black urban ghettos, and as a result it chronicles such complex and controversial issues as racial stereotypes, street gangs, racial profiling, "black on black" crime, teen pregnancy, absentee fathers, and male-female relationships. His recordings with NWA are noteworthy for their sardonic humor in discussing dire issues. The group's landmark CD Straight Outta Compton (1988) is a palette of urban woes recounted in aggressive and hostile street vernacular, while Ice Cube's recordings of the 1990s now represent paradigms of the gangsta style. The first three chapters of The Words and Music of Ice Cube explore Ice Cube's recordings between 1988 and 1996 and situate Ice Cube in the context of other rappers of this period-most notably Public Enemy, Ice-T, Tupac, Biggie, and Snoop Dogg-whose music also chronicled explosive issues in urban ghettos. The fourth chapter considers Ice Cube's career in film, beginning with a discussion of his performance in Boyz n the Hood and ending with a look at his most recent films, Barber Shop, Barber Shop II, Are We There Yet? And Are We Done Yet? The fifth and final chapter looks back over all of Ice Cube's work to date and considers his impact and his legacy in music and popular culture at large. A discography, filmography, and bibliography supplement the work.

Born Shawn Carter in New York City in 1970, Jay-Z enjoys the kind of rags-to-riches success that few can only dream of. Driven by raw ambition and tremendous talent, Jay-Z started his own record company, Roc-A-Fella Records, in 1995, when, as a struggling artist, he couldn't convince any music labels to give him a recording contract. On the strength of seven consecutive best-selling albums, Jay-Z quickly established himself and Roc-A-Fella as powerful forces in the music industry. Today he is a Grammy Award winner, the president and CEO of Def Jam Records, and a multimillionaire with ventures in film, apparel, and even professional sports. Providing a wealth of features such as full-color photographs, sidebars, a discography, chronology, glossary, and an index, this captivating new biography traces the meteoric rise of Jay-Z, exploring in full detail why he remains one of the most popular and successful rappers around.

As head of the first special force unit devoted exclusively to the investigation of hip-hop crime, first-grade detective Derrick Parker worked on some of the biggest criminal cases in rap history. From the shooting at Club New York to the murder of Tupac Shakur, Derrick was on the inside of hip-hop's most notorious crimes.
Always straddling the fence between "po-po" and NYPD outsider, Derrick threatened police tradition to try and get the cases solved. He was the first New York detective on the Biggie Smalls' murder and discovered shocking and never-before-revealed information from an unlikely informant. He protected one of the only surviving eyewitnesses to the Jam Master Jay murder and knows the identity of the killers as well as the motivation behind the shooting.
"Notorious C.O.P. "reveals hip-hop crimes that never made the paper--like the robbing of Foxy Brown and the first Hot 97 shooting--and answers some lingering questions about murders that have remained unsolved.
The book that both the NYPD and the hip-hop community don't want you to read, "Notorious C.O.P. "is the first insider look at the real links between crime and hip-hop and the inefficiencies that have left some of the most widely publicized murders in entertainment history unsolved.

Our generation made hip-hop. But hip-hop also made us. Why are suburban kids referring to their subdivision as "block"? Why has the pimp become a figure of male power? Why has dodging the feds become an act of honor long after one has made millions as a legitimate artist? What happens when fantasy does more harm than reality?--"From the Introduction"
Hip-hop culture has been in the mainstream for years. Suburban teens take their fashion cues from Diddy and expect to have Three 6 Mafia play their sweet-sixteen parties. From the "Boogie Down Bronx" to the heartland, hip-hop's influence is major. But has the movement taken a wrong turn? In "Beats Rhymes and Life," hot journalists Kenji Jasper and Ytasha Womack have focused on what they consider to be the most prominent symbols of the genre: the fan, the turntable, the ice, the dance floor, the shell casing, the buzz, the tag, the whip, the ass, the stiletto, the (pimp's) cane, the coffin, the cross, and the corner. Each is the focus of an essay by a journalist who skillfully dissects what their chosen symbol means to them and to the hip-hop community.The collection also features many original interviews with some of rap's biggest stars talking candidly about how they connect to the culture and their fans. With a foreword by the renowned scholar Michael Eric Dyson, "Beats Rhymes and Life" is an innovative and daring look at the state of the hip-hop nation.

Dr. Dre: 'In The Studio' details Dr. Dre s life, times and history, in a way no other book has. Dr. Dre: 'In the Studio' describes how he was molded into one of the world s greatest Hip Hop Producers beginning when he was three years old absorbing the music during his mother s house parties. As a deejay, Dre mixed and spun his way to the top, using Grandmaster Flash as his catalyst; and then embarked on his destiny as the most in demand and greatest record producer of rap music in the world. Author Jake Brown brilliantly captures the history of this music legend. The excitement and notoriety of Dr. Dre never lingers as the reader learns all about Dr. Dre s relationships; from Death Row Records to Aftermmath Entertainment, with the World Class Wrecking Crew, N.W.A., D.O.C., Suge Knight, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, The Game and much more. Dr. Dre: 'In the Studio' focuses on the hip hop production godfather's studio craft. Exploring in great detail the writing and production of Dr. Dre's catalog of smash hit, multi-platinum, albums and singles.

The Def Jam legend shares his secrets. Under the leadership of Kevin Liles - the highest ranking and youngest African-American executive in the record industry - Def Jam Music grew from a fledgling million-dollar boutique label into a multi-million-dollar brand that transcends demographics and is recognized around the glove. Liles has worked with the biggest names in hip-hop, including Jay-Z, Diddy, Method Man, and Ja Rule. And now he's sharing the wealth, the wealth of knowledge and expertise he's gleaned from fifteen years in business. Full of eye-opening real-world anecdotes from Lile's life, the "Ten Rules" plan advises readers on: how to find something that you want badly enough to make you work harder than you ever imagined possible; how to strategize and look ahead; how to embrace the hard-knock life and learn from failure, and more.

This book will entertain, inform and challenge the realest hip hop fan from the old to the new. Peep This Hip Hop Trivia Vol. 1 features over 400 questions on the artists you know and love. You can test yourself or your friends on anything from your favorite artists to your favorite songs.

In Jay Z and the Roc-A-Fella Dynasty, author Jake Brown has chronicled the Hip Hop icon's legacy. As Hip Hop's prodigal son, Jay Z is truly the pinnacle of where Hip Hop has come in its short but extraordinary life time. Among the detailed and explicit chapters, the story includes: "The Hustlin Years," "Shawn Carter Becomes Jay Z," "The Birth of Roc-A-Fella Records and Brooklyn's Finest-Jay Z and Biggie Smalls."

"The Psychology of Hip Hop" is a provocative examination of the world of Hip Hop, and how this music genre has shaped the American landscape. Going where no one else dares, "The Psychology of Hip Hop" effectively explains behaviors of some of the best known Hip Hop stars, like 50Cent, Eminem, Jay-Z, T.I., Lil' Kim and Snoop Dogg. Think you know? Guess again

McPhaul, a Mental Health Therapist and Personal Advisor to some of the world's biggest entertainers, explains what the media only speculates about. "The Psychology of Hip Hop" outlines the complex maze of R. Kelly's sexual indiscretions and the heinous exploitation of Hip Hop phenomenon B2K. In addition, "The Psychology of Hip Hop" answers questions such as, is Sean "P.Diddy" Combs really a Psychopath? And, studies if Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace and Tupac Shakur died as a result of an East Coast versus West Coast rivalry, or if greed of record company executives was the cause of their untimely deaths.

"The Psychology of Hip Hop" surveys the impact of racism and the influence of legal professionals on the music genre, and in the chapter "Pop Diva Takes A Dive" finally answers the question, did Bobby Brown really ruin Whitney Houston?

Selwyn Seyfu Hinds -- award-winning former editor-in-chief of "The Source" -- presents an extraordinary memoir/history of hip-hop as seen through the eyes of one fan-turned-luminary. The moment nine-year-old Hinds heard "Rapper's Delight" in Guyana, he embarked upon an amazing, if sometimes contentious, relationship with hip-hop -- one that would continue through his migration to Brooklyn as a teenager and on through adult life. Here, he takes readers to a murky nightclub in the violent streets of late-eighties Brooklyn; to an Ivy League campus caught up in political rap during the early nineties; to a curbside in Los Angeles where Notorious B.I.G. has just been shot; to the achingly poor streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, as a sea of black humanity surges to touch a hip-hop native son....

Interspersing recollections of life in the hip-hop trenches with profiles of figures like Lauryn Hill, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Dr. Dre, Wyclef Jean, and more, Hinds traces the heights and depths of his hip-hop love affair. Like the Guyanese rice dish "cook-up," "Gunshots in My Cook-Up" ingeniously pulls wide-ranging elements into an irresistibly cohesive dish.

A legend after a bullet killed him at the age of twenty-five, Tupac Shakur was the most riveting rap musician of his day. Far from being the insolent "gangsta" the press put forth, Shakur was fiercely intelligent, fearless, and determined to make a mark. Darrin Bastfield grew up with him in a rough Baltimore neighbourhood. In this vivid memoir, Bastfield reveals Tupac Shakur as the teenager he really was: bound for greatness.In tight, edgy prose, Bastfield recalls seven years of friendship. Shakur, new in town, a skinny thirteen-year-old in shabby clothes, may have looked uncool, but he blew the school away at a talent show, an electrifying performance. It was at the Baltimore School for the Arts, however, where things really started to happen-an encounter with Salt-N-Pepa, the wild night of the 1988 senior prom. Shakur and Bastfield lived through it together, and in this memoir, it all comes alive again.