Hip-Hop and American Culture

This collection explores the sonic roots and complex verbal effects of hip-hop, demonstrating the genre's vital role in US culture.

Bringing together nineteen essays from leading specialists in poetics and American music, this collection offers a detailed account of the state of hip-hop as this popular art form enters its sixth decade. The book will be essential reading for anybody interested in contemporary US culture and music – from students to specialists.Rewinding through five decades, this book listens closely to the bars, samples, and stories that have made hip-hop the true sound of America. Bringing together nineteen essays from leading figures in hip-hop studies, it traces lines of influence from Atlanta and Detroit all the way back to the Bronx and the Caribbean. The book's first half digs into the instrumental layers that continue to underpin hip-hop, while taking a close look at the poetic effects that lurk within key verses. For its second half, the focus turns to the larger culture, assessing the cluster of social tensions that are coming to define the US – and which can be heard in the nation's most powerful and controversial music. Accompanying the book is a 42-song playlist, including both iconic tracks and underground tapes, making it easy to follow the relevant beats and rhymes while reading each chapter.