Know what I mean?: reflections on hip hop

Abstract

America's foremost 'hip-hop intellectual' and acclaimed biographer of Marvin Gaye and Tupac Shakur weighs in on past, present and future of hip-hop music. Whether along race, class or generational lines, hip-hop music has been a source of controversy since beats got too big and voices too loud for block parties that spawned them. America has condemned and commended this music and culture that inspires it. Dubbed the Hip-Hop Intellectual by critics and fans for his pioneering explorations of rap music in academy and beyond, Michael Eric Dyson is uniquely situated to probe most compelling and controversial dimensions of hip-hop culture. Know What I Mean addresses salient issues within hip hop: creative expression of degraded youth that has garnered them global exposure; vexed gender relation that have made rap music a lightning rod for pundits; commercial explosion that has made an art form a victim of its success; political elements that have been submerged in most popular form of hip hop; and intellectual engagement with some of hip hop's most influential figures. In spite of changing trends, both in music industry and among intelligentsia, Dyson has always supported and interpreted this art that bloomed unwatered, and in many cases, unwanted from our inner cities. For those who wondered what all fuss is about in hip hop, Dyson's bracing and brilliant book breaks it all down.