Stare in the darkness
Subtitle: the limits of hip-hop and Black politics
By: Lester K. Spence
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press; Univ Of Minnesota Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Minneapolis
Language: eng
Number of pages: 245
ISBN-13: 9780816669875; 9780816669882
Subjects: Politics and government; Social life and customs; Social aspects; Political aspects; African Americans; Rap (Music); Hip-hop
Other titles: Limits of hip-hop and Black politics
Description: Spence (political science, Johns Hopkins U.) asks how hip-hop and black politics interface with and shape each other. He examines hip-hop's power and its limitations in helping effect positive political changes for the black community. He argues that rap and hip-hop's politics both mirror and reproduce the neoliberal narrative and the most dominant aspects of black politics. He looks at the history of black politics, analyzes rap lyrics for thematic content, examines the consumption of rap and how it relates to, and affects attitudes of black youth, and looks at how hip-hop interfaces directly with current political issues.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-231), discography (p. 233-234), and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: follow me into a solo; title: In this journey, you're the journalist: rap lyrics, neoliberalism, and the Black parallel public; title: A little knowledge is dangerous: consuming rap and political attitudes; title: Follow the leader: hip-hop activism and the circulation of black politics; title: Put here to be much more than that: the rise and fall of Kwame Kilpatrick; title: Conclusion: Obama and the future of hip-hop politics.