In Print

HIP HOP AMERICA
By Nelson George
Viking
226 pages; $24.95
A casual look through this book may suggest that it's a comprehensive history of hip-hop and rap music, from the Sugarhill Gang to Puffy and Master P. It's not. Rather, "Hip Hop America" is a thoughtful, opinionated meditation on the genre from Nelson George, a former Billboard editor and one of the nation's more respected popular music critics.
Beginning with the pre-history of Grandmaster Flash, breakdancing, and a host of long-forgotten New York-based MCs, George identifies the musical and sociological forces that influenced rap in its infancy. The friendly sparring among DJs that marked early hip-hop soon degenerates into something uglier by the book's third chapter, an insightful look at how the crack business contributed to the creation of gangsta rap. From there, "Hip Hop America" becomes essentially a series of essays on various artists and trends within the hip-hop community.
Particularly worthy of note are the sections on N.W.A and Public Enemy, as well as an interesting chapter comparing the history of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team to hip-hop culture. And George takes a stand on the East Coast/West Coast feud that culminated in the deaths of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.: It was nothing more than "a figment of the paranoid minds in the Death Row [Records] camp."
George is at his best when discussing the suppression and scapegoating of hip-hop. His musings on the 2 Live Crew controversies earlier this decade and his own encounters with censorship advocate C. DeLores Tucker express a not-always-flattering view of either side of the issue. In particular, George sees Tucker's alliance with William Bennett and the right wing in her fight against rap as the ultimate sellout, and he does not disguise his disgust that Tucker‹a black liberal with a history of progressive social activism‹would throw her lot in with those he calls the "enemies of black America."
George also examines the so-called "Five Percent Nation" theology that many early-'90s rappers subscribed to; the makings of Russell Simmons' media empire; and how a chance meeting between Brand Nubian's Grand Puba and designer Tommy Hilfiger resulted in Hilfiger becoming the unofficial clothier of a particular segment of young, black America.
Those familiar with hip-hop's colorful history will revel in pieces about stars from back in the day: Run-D.M.C., KRS-One, and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. Readers with little or no knowledge of hip-hop's past or present will find informative thumbnail sketches of many of the music's most important players.
Despite praises to George, a hearty "thumbs down" goes to whoever edited this book. Numerous misused words appear, rendering some sentences confusing at best, meaningless at worst. And certain factual errors (such as referring to basketball's "Dream Team" as playing in the 1988 rather than the '92 Olympics and misspelling the last name of high-profile Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt) may distract the astute reader's appreciation of George's insights. Still, his "Hip Hop America" offers a fascinating look into what may be the sound of young America circa 1999.