Overview
This provocative set of essays explores how hip hop music has been demonized not merely as "black noise" but as a root cause of urban crime and violence. The book demystifies the politics in which the gulf between the inner city and suburbia have come to signify not only a socio-economic dividing line, but a new socio-cultural divide as well. It includes a chronological account of development of rap music going back to the era of slavery; a multicultural bibliography and glossary; and drawings and editorial cartoons.
