I'm not normally one to suggest books, especially cuz I'm so sloth-like that I don't take the time to sit down and finish books. But I was searching through my books as I was unpacking earlier and came across the books we used for this hip hop course last semester. Needless to say... I didn't do all of the reading for the class. But c'mon, who really does. It's college! There's no way you can read everything. But I can honestly say that I at least read part of all of these books, and the majority are worth spending some time with. [Thanks, Professor Rose!]
*Angry Black White Boy (Adam Mansbach, 2005)
"Peopled with all manner of race pimps and players, Angry Black White Boy is a stunning breakout book from a critically acclaimed young writer and should be required reading for anyone who wants to get under the skin of the complexities of identity in America. "
*Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Tricia Rose, 1994)
- Chapter 1 Voices from the Margins: Rap Music and Contemporary Black Cultural Production
- Chapter 2 “All Aboard the Night Train”: Flow, Layering, and Rupture in Postindustrial New York
- Chapter 3 Soul Sonic Forces: Technology, Orality, and Black Cultural Practice in Rap Music
* Chapter 4 Prophets of Rage: Rap Music and the Politics of Black Cultural Expression
- Chapter 5 Bad Sistas: Black Women Rappers and Sexual Politics in Rap Music
*Black Sexual Politics: African-Americans, Gender and the New Racism (Patricia Hill-Collins, 2005)
Wiki summary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sexual_Politics:_African_Americans,_Gender,_and_the_New_Racism
Key chapters:
- Chapter 3 Prisons for Our Bodies, Closets for Our Minds: Racism, Heterosexism and Black Sexuality
- Chapter 4 Get your Freak on: Sex, Babies, and Images of Black Femininity
- Chapter 5 Booty Call: Sex, Violence, and Images of Black Masculinity
The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African-American Culture (Bakara Kitwana, 2003)
Wiki summary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hip_Hop_Generation
The Hip Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip Hop and Why It Matters (Tricia Rose, 2008)
* That’s the Joint: The Hip Hop Studies Reader (Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal, 2004)
