Hip Hop America

A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism, Hip Hop America is "an invaluable, entertaining and well-written account from one who has not only witnessed the evolution of hip-hop, but who. . . has had a hand in shaping it, as well."--The New York Times Book ReviewFrom the award-winning author of The Death of Rhythm and Blues comes Hip Hop America, the history of hip hop from its roots in the late 1970s to its emergence as the cultural force that today influences everything from movies to fashion, advertising to sports. It's the story of a society-altering collision between black youth culture and the mass media--and it's very big business.Called "the most insightful hip hop writer on the planet" by Rolling Stone, Nelson George offers an insider's tour through a multimedia phenomenon of which rap music is only the audible manifestation, and also includes drugs, fashion, incarceration, basketball, entrepreneurship, technology, and language. Examining hip hop as music, a style, a business, a myth, and a moral code, he turns hip hop over to look at the ways it has been treated by Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and Wall Street to reach not just young black consumers but all young people. Hip Hop America shows us why, against all odds, hip hop has held a steady grip on American popular culture for over twenty years."I love hip-hop more than I love my mother-- and Nelson George writes about hip-hop with heart, soul, and insight." --Chris Rock"An immensely readable survey of rap and its wide cultural impact."--The Philadelphia Inquirer