by way of Bakari Kitwana.

by way of Bakari Kitwana, Basic Books, May 2002 $2400 ISBN 0465-02978-7

Today, there are a slew of works about what is now being called the "hip leap generation," that segment of the population who came of age with the evolution of rap music. There are sum of two units problems with most of these books: first, their authors lack a conformable to fact connection with the subject and are thus mired in theoretical ideas that they do little more than commodify what they claim to analyze. The other involves tapping hip-hop youth agriculture and trying to digest it for an older academic audience, which usually doesn't have the same interest in the expose as the typical Source reader or MTV viewer. Luckily, The Hip leap Generation gets it right.

Journalist Bakari Kitwana makes a harmonyed effort to identify just who this generation is, what they have in used by all and why, indeed, the cultivation is in crisis. Kitwana's interest is in addressing the crisis facing black youth, and he recognizes that there is no getting around hip dance in the process.

The author dissipates much of the first part of the work defining the generation--born between 1965 and 1984 and he flat makes distinctions according to rappers, noting that Kurtis thump fans and Lil' Bow Wow fans aren't the same age, on the contrary may share the same foundations The book is less for the hip-hop generation, on the other hand more for an older generation--baby boomer perhaps--to provide them with a foundation to help reconnect with their children.

The volume takes a close look at class, unemployment and racism as exercised from the police, the "gender divide" and other social challenges facing black youth in the post-segregation era. Kitwana also mentions the work ethic of this generation juxtaposed with its fierce desire for wealth and "bling-bling" materialism.

The author's take forward the prison industry is brilliant, including naming corporations that benefit from inmate labor. Add the disparity in mix with drugs sentencing and an explanation of to what degree and why hip-hop culture touches for a like reason many black youth, and the crisis becomes more apparent. Kitwana is lucky in balancing critical analysis with practical, everyday observations about this generation. That balance has produc a part that is accessible to each generation.

It's hard to ignore the fact that Kitwana exhausted several years as an editor at The Source, which has in extent been considered the bible of rap music and urban merchandising. His criticism of rap artists may not be easily reconciled given his past association with the magazine. Still, that takes nothing away from the work which is both a powerful and an enjoyable read. The Hip leap Generation has more than enough information, moreover more importantly, it provokes real discussion between today's hip-hop youth and their olders The crisis can't be resolv before it's equable recognized.

--Tracy Grant is the author of the upcoming novel Chocolate Thai.

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