View the Table of Contents. Read the Prologue.
aSharpley-Whiting's book does not suffer from the sort of
cowardice one too often hears from black academics who genuflect to
hip hop in order to stay current with the tastes of the students
who provide them with whatever power they have on college campuses.
Sharpley-Whiting calls them as she sees them and wisely quotes the
offensive material when necessary. Her book is high level in its
research and its thought, and those looking for adult ideas about
the subject should look it up.a
--Stanley Crouch, "New York Daily News"
aSharpley-Whiting gets at the heart of the paradox . . . and
puts the discussion on the turntable.a
--"Washington Post"
aSharpley-Whiting unmasks thought provoking socio-political
commentaries concerning sexual obsession in rap music and its
affects on the black female sense of self.a--"Allhiphop.com"
aOffers an insightful look into the strip clubs, groupie
culture, and other aspects of hip hop that have given a voice to
the disenfranchised while raising troubling questions about what
those voices are saying and doing.a--"Vanderbilt Magazine"
aOffers damning evidence about hip hopas underlying racial and
social prejudices, examining the politics of gender and providing a
feministas perspective and insights into black music;s underlying
message.a--"The Midwest Book Review"
aSharpley-Whittingas uncommon perspective is one that deserves
to be examined more often.a
--"Bitch"
aFor B-girls who embrace both the brashness of Lila Kim and the
pro-feminism of Lauryn Hill, Pimps Up, Hoas Down is an intellectual
look at the intricate, diverse attitudes of young black women
within the hip hop community.Sharpley-Whiting combines
thought-provoking text with interviews that range from the aricha
(see Trina) to the aregulara (everyday women), giving a voice to
todayas complex and contradictory females within hip hop.a
--"The Source Magazine"
aThrough provocatively titled chapters such as aSex, Power, and
Punannya and aStrip Tails: Booty Clappina, P-poppina, Shake
Dancing, a Sharpley-Whiting provides a sobering analysis of womenas
participation in the hyper-sexualized black American, urban youth
culture known as hip hop. . . . This book delivers a riveting
portrayal of hip hop, from the thumping rap music that serves as a
soundtrack for Americaas strip clubs to the predatory groupies who
relentlessly pursue rap stars.a
--"Ms. Magazine"
aProbing. . . . A canny study. . . . Sharpley-Whiting brings
both street smarts and sophisticated cultural analysis to her
subject.a
--"Philadelphia Inquirer"
aClear and well written. . . . It serves as a decent jumping-off
point to discussions of young black women in our current society. .
. . Sharpley-Whiting has opened up the dialog, offering a source
for research in a burgeoning area of study.a
--"Library Journal"
aSharpley-Whiting provides interesting anecdotes about the ways
in which women are portrayed (and often used) within hip hop. . . .
[Her] insightful analyses [include] a particularly interesting
discussion of the intersections of race, class, and capitalism in
strip clubs.a
--"Bust Magazine"
Pimps Up, Hoas Down is an in-depth look at hip hopas effect on
young black women. Sharpley-Whiting discusses topics such as
light-skinned black (or ethnically ambiguous) females getting more
love in hip hop videos, unreportedsexual abuse within black
communities -- even the fact that most hip hop groupies do not
consider themselves groupies. She successfully ties these trends
into the mainstream hip hop culture of today. Pimps Up, Hoas Down
provides an intellectual look at how hip hop views and affects the
young black women of this generation, most who are oblivious to
what is actually going on. Sharpley-Whitingas uncommon perspective
is one that deserves to be examined more often.a
--"URB"
aOffers a bracing, brilliant, and provocative take on how hip
hop has affected young black women. Sharpley-Whiting manages the
difficult task of being critical of destructive elements of hip hop
culture without being dismissive of its edifying dimensions. This
lucidly penned manifesto in defense of the intellectual spaces
between hip hop and feminism will undoubtedly inspire heated debate
and fruitful conversation about gender, black identity, and
conflict between the generations."
--Michael Eric Dyson, author of "Know What I Mean?"
aIn Pimps Up, Hoas Down, Sharpley-Whitingas razor-sharp analysis
turns an illuminating spotlight on the dark, complicated
intersection where feminism and hip hop meet.a
--Joan Morgan, author of "When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost"
"Pimps Up, Ho's Down provides a vital critical assessment of the
sexual exploitation of women and girls all too prevalent in hip hop
culture and in our larger society. This intelligent and sensitively
written study is mandatory reading for those of us who must stop
the violence."
--Darlene Clark Hine, co-author of "A Shining Thread of Hope: The
History of Black Women in America"
aIn this bold critique of popular cultureas
stereotypicalrepresentations of hip hop, Tracy Sharpley-Whiting
never wavers from her end goal of empowering the hip hop
generation. Pimps Up, Hoas Down takes this discussion beyond the
ivory tower and into the lives of everyday people.a
--Bakari Kitwana, author of "The Hip-Hop Generation"
"This compelling, well-researched-and alarming-account of how
hip hop culture has impacted the lives and shaped the identities of
young black women should be read by women and men of every
generation."
--Paula Giddings, author of "When and Where I Enter: The Impact of
Black Women on Race and Sex in America"
aTracy Sharpley-Whitingas groundbreaking book makes central the
harsh sexist and racist realities that hip hop generation Black
women face on a daily basis.a
--Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Producer/Director of "NO! (The Rape
Documentary)"
Pimps Up, Ho's Down pulls at the threads of the intricately
knotted issues surrounding young black women and hip hop culture.
What unravels for Tracy D. Sharpley-Whiting is a new, and
problematic, politics of gender. In this fascinating and forceful
book, Sharpley-Whiting, a feminist writer who is a member of the
hip hop generation, interrogates the complexities of young black
women's engagement with a culture that is masculinist,
misogynistic, and frequently mystifying.
Beyond their portrayal in rap lyrics, the display of black women
in music videos, television, film, fashion, and on the Internet is
indispensable to the mass media engineered appeal of hip hop
culture, the author argues. And the commercial trafficking in the
images and behaviors associated with hip hop has made them appear
normal, acceptable, and entertaining-both in the U.S. and around
the world.
Sharpley-Whiting questions the impacts of hip hop's increasing
alliance with the sex industry, the rise of groupie culture in the
hip hop world, the impact of hip hop's compulsory heterosexual
culture on young black women, and the permeation of the hip hop
ethos into young black women's conceptions of love and romance.
The author knows her subject from the inside. Coming of age in
the midst of hip hop's evolution in the late 1980s, she mixed her
graduate studies with work as a runway and print model in the
1990s. Her book features interviews with exotic dancers, black hip
hop groupies, and hip hop generation members Jacklyn "Diva" Bush,
rapper Trina, and filmmaker Aishah Simmons, along with the voices
of many "everyday" young women.
Pimps Up, Ho's Down turns down the volume and amplifies the
substance of discussions about hip hop culture and to provide a
space for young black women to be heard.
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