Profiles hip-hop artists and groups who made significant contributions to the music and culture of the genre, including Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Jay-Z, and Kanye West; and contains discographies and resources for each selection as well as interviews with DJ Premier and DJ Scratch.

Hip-hop culture is experiencing a sea change today that has implications for evangelism, worship, and spiritual practices. Yet Christians have often failed to interpret this culture with sensitivity. Sociologist, preacher, pop-culture expert, and DJ Ralph Watkins understands that while there is room for a critique of mainstream hip-hop and culture, by listening more intently to the music's story listeners can hear a prophet crying out, sharing the pain of a generation that feels as though it hasn't been heard. His accessible, balanced engagement reveals what is inherently good and redeeming in hip-hop and rap music and uses that culture as a lens to open up the power of the Bible for ministry to a generation.

This biography highlights the life and accomplishments of Nicki Minaj, covering her early life, inspiration to pursue music, and successes. With striking photographs and thought-provoking sidebars, the book discusses Nicki Minaj's energetic flow, colorful characters, and crossover hits. Features include a timeline, glossary, online resources, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

The global icon is an omnipresent but poorly understood element of mass culture. This book asks why audiences around the world have embraced particular iconic figures, how perceptions of these figures have changed, and what this tells us about transnational relations since the Cold War era. Prestholdt addresses these questions by examining one type of icon: the anti-establishment figure. As symbols that represent sentiments, ideals, or something else recognizable to a wide audience, icons of dissent have been integrated into diverse political and consumer cultures, and global audiences have reinterpreted them over time. To illustrate these points the book examines four of the most evocative and controversial figures of the past fifty years: Che Guevara, Bob Marley, Tupac Shakur, and Osama bin Laden. Each has embodied a convergence of dissent, cultural politics, and consumerism, yet popular perceptions of each reveal the dissonance between shared, global references and locally contingent interpretations. By examining four very different figures, Icons of Dissent offers new insights into global symbolic idioms, the mutability of common references, and the commodification of political sentiment in the contemporary world.

Over the last 50 years, hip hop has evolved from an underground subculture to a global mass media phenomenon that is today considered one of the most dominant music genres. While the origins of hip hop are commonly associated with iconic male pioneers like DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and the like, female rappers have been trailblazing right alongside them since the beginning. From the first all-female rap groups like The Sequence breaking new ground in the 1970s to today’s chart-topping, genre-bending superstars like Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, women have proved themselves to be a formidable force of lyricism and flow within hip hop for the last five decades. In Leading Ladies of Lyrics: Female Rappers Over 50 Years of Hip Hop, we will embark on a chronological journey through hip hop’s history from the eyes of the commanding women who have shaped it. We’ll discover how these pioneering queens of rhyme fought for representation in a male-dominated field, overcame limitations to prove their skill and versatility on the mic, and evolved into raw, authentic voices of power for generations of listeners. From Roxanne Shanté’s battle rhymes to Queen Latifah’s socially conscious messages to Nicki Minaj’s pop culture dominance, Leading Ladies of Lyrics puts a spotlight on the legendary achievements of rap’s greatest female MCs who changed the game and brought a dynamic woman’s voice to the leading edge of lyricism.

Accompanies Betsky's first exhibition as curator of architecture and design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, April to August 1997. Positing that icons are objects of everyday use that contain a universe of associations in their simple but dense abstraction, he presents modernist artifacts of the designed environment, mostly commercial products. Full-page, high quality color photographs comprise about half of the book. No index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

In "50 Years of Hip-Hop Business: Reclaiming the Beat; The Journey from Exploitation to Empowerment," we embark on a captivating journey through the heart and soul of hip-hop, where rhythm, rhyme, and business acumen have converged to shape a multi-billion-dollar industry. This book delves into the history of hip-hop business, chronicling both its successes and the pitfalls of deals that have shaped its trajectory. Yet, "50 Years of Hip-Hop Business" doesn't just dwell on the past; it looks to the future. It candidly addresses the exploitation that has plagued hip-hop artists, past and present, and navigates the intricacies of 360 deals. It is a call to action, urging artists to take back ownership of their craft and embrace financial freedom, all while ensuring generational wealth for themselves and their families. As we journey through the highs and lows of hip-hop's business landscape, this book invites readers to reflect on the lessons learned, the resilience displayed, and the potential for empowerment. It's a roadmap for a brighter future, where exploitation is replaced by ownership, and where hip-hop's enduring legacy is not just in its beats but in the wealth it can create for those who crafted its rhythm."50 Years of Hip-Hop Business: Reclaiming the Beat; The Journey from Exploitation to Empowerment" is a must-read for anyone who loves hip-hop, desires to understand its business intricacies, and envisions a future where artistry and financial empowerment unite.

In Media Res is a manifold collection that reflects the intersectional qualities of university programming in the twenty-first century. Taking race, gender, and popular culture as its central thematic subjects, the volume collects academic essays, speeches, poems, and creative works that critically engage a wide range of issues, including American imperialism, racial and gender discrimination, the globalization of culture, and the limitations of our new multimedia world. This diverse assortment of works by scholars, activists, and artists models the complex ways that we must engage university students, faculty, staff, and administration in a moment where so many of us are confounded by the “in medias res” nature of our interface with the world in the current moment. Featuring contributions from Imani Perry, Michael Eric Dyson, Suheir Hammad, John Jennings, and Adam Mansbach, In Media Res is a primer for academic inquiry into popular culture; American studies; critical media literacy; women, gender, and sexuality studies; and Africana studies.

This is a story about Brooklyn—about a young man who grew up in a neighborhood called Crown Heights. It is a story of an ordinary kid who fell in love with music; first the music he heard at home, then with the music of the streets. This street music had been bubbling up around the city for nearly 10 years before the kid discovered it at a block party one summer evening. It was loud, infectious, and alive. The crazy thing was this music was really familiar but different at the same time. This crazy new kind of music grabbed the boy’s attention and lit a fire in him that would never be put out. This music didn’t have a name but later became known as Hip Hop.

An insightful new resource that looks at the rise of American hip hop as a series of distinct regional events, with essays covering the growth of hip hop culture in specific cities across the nation. Thoroughly researched, thoroughly in tune with the culture, Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide profiles two dozen specific hip hop scenes across the United States, showing how each place shaped a singular identity. Through its unique geographic perspective, it captures the astonishing diversity of a genre that has captivated the nation and the world. In two volumes organized by broad regions (East Coast, West Coast and Midwest and the Dirty South), Hip Hop in America spans the complete history of rap—from its 1970s origins to the rap battles between Queens and the Bronx in the 1980s, from the well-publicized East Coast vs. West Coast conflicts in the 1990s to the rise of the Midwest and South over the past ten years. Each essay showcases the history of the local scene, including the MCs, DJs, b-boys and b-girls, label owners, hip hop clubs, and radio shows that have created distinct styles of hip hop culture.