by the agency of Todd Boyd NYU Press.

by the agency of Todd Boyd NYU Press, December 2002 $2295 ISBN 0-814-79895-0

Older generations may none fully understand hip hop beyond its music and clothing. nevertheless a new offering, Todd Boyd's The recently made known H.N.I.C., offers insight for the two young and old, correctly asserting that hip spring has as much a place in the hearts and minds of those who grew up with it, if not more, as the Civil Rights Movement0f the 1960s

Boyd many times dips into hip-hop vernacular and slang to call forth his own identity within the cultural scheme. Boyd's "flow" is certainly unusual for an academic (he's a professor at the University of Southern California), and can be variously humorous, heavy-handed or offensive, depending in succession one's perspective. Still, between the cites and the rap lyrics is an exhaustive, and necessary, await at how hip-hop culture has transformed society.

The recently made known H.N.I.C. brilliantly observes pivotal seconds in hip hop and black cultivation as a whole--distinguishing 1960s Motown from the more socially conscious 1970 music, while deconstructing the social commentary of Chris strength critiquing The Arsenio Hall point out to and its relationship to Bill Clinton, as well as the social machinations of rap artists within the music culture

Boyd is at his best when he detects that racism, which still exists, has a of recent origin ally in classism, particularly when it manifests as "the disregard for Black men gettin' money"

Boyd assigns to many of his have experiences to make his points more relevant. His cultural observations are also well fielded in history and firsthand experience as the farmer and cowriter of the film The forest Though done in a provocative way, The of recent origin H.N.I.C. raises the level of the hip-hop discussion--fa' shizzle.

--Tracy Grant is a attend much [i]or[/i] regularly contributor to BIBR.

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