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my hs english teacher who Saw Something In Me gave this to me as a graduation present, and I only just now got around to reading it. thank you, ms halsey, for everything and, now, this book.this is an incredibly generous work, one that draws from the right sources and methods at the right time — some critical theory here, lived experience there, lyrics here, light historical materialism there. it all coalesces into a work at once nuanced and clear. this book is something that lots of academic wo...
I really wanted to love Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop. While I can't say that I dislike it, this book isn't quite a classic for me. It's weird to read a book on hip-hop that is presented in an academic framework, not because it's not worthy of discussion more so because it seems antithetical to what hip-hop represents. This work really digs deep into evaluating different aspects of hip-hop beginning with its origins and identity, and as an art form. The first four chapter...
Imani Perry gives true academic treatment to a subject that many readers would not consider worthy, and she does so admirably with careful and thoughtful analysis. I do think there are moments when she gives a little too much credit to the deeper intentions of the creators of Rap and Hip Hop songs, and she tries just a bit too hard to convince us that there is some justifiable explanation for the prevailing misogyny and objectification of women in the lyrics of these genres. Her final chapter on...
I heard the author speak at a conference at U Penn. She has a real pulse on the history and current state of hip hop.
In Prophets of the Hood, Imani Perry discusses critiques of hip hop--the music, the artists, the culture. The project of the book is similar to Tricia Rose's The Hip Hop Wars, but I felt Imani Perry took a more nuanced approach by closely examining hip hop's history and composition. Both eventually reach the same conclusions: hip hop is not inherently problematic, but the current conditions of media consumption drive its violence/misogyny/racism.A few things make this book particularly excellent...
The second half of the book was much better than the first, with interesting analysis of mainstream and underground hip-hop songs. I did enjoy the writing that focused on the ideological framework of hip-hop music and culture and its connection to race, class and gender. My issue with this book is that some of the lyrics were misquoted! If you are a hip-hop head, you will see what I'm talking about. Lastly, it really annoyed me that Perry spends 35 pages explaining why hip-hop is a "black Americ...
This book is an excellent primer for anyone who wants to learn about hip hop and is looking for a place to start. A colleague invited me to teach a (100 level, one credit) class with her on hip hop. She supplied the playlist and a life-long love of hip hop. I am contributing my knowledge of feminist, critical race, and queer politics to the conversation of the course. This book was exactly what I needed to be able to consider hip hop seriously as a genre. Reading the book set me up to learn alon...
Perry's work here is fascinating. Although this book was published in 2004, Perry's work feels incredibly fresh. Her interrogation of hip hop is largely oriented towards rhetoric and how that rhetoric relates to understandings of gender, metaphor, and the larger tradition of African American Vernacular, as well as how hip hop functions similarly to Bakhtin's concept of carnival (although Perry herself does not explicitly cite Bakhtin). This book is worthwhile for anyone interested in popular cul...
Great piece of writing on the politics of Hip Hop. Dr. Perry has put together extraordinary insights on Hip Hop as it relates to originality, identity, narrative within the music. She covers song structure & composition, the nuances therein. She touches on feminism's place in Hip Hop, as well as the effects of co-optation and globalization of the muscial form. In the final chapter she states that many of her friends urged her to finish & publish this piece quickly, since they thought "Hip Hop wa...
Imani Perry powerfully unpacks the particulars of hip-hop music in a well-researched, yet accessible manner. She discusses issues such as capitalism, culture, gender, colonialism, and race as they relate to the emergence and evolution of hip-hop. While her work celebrates the achievements of hip-hop as a protest genre, she offers critical assessments of hypocritical aspects of the genre, including the hypersexualized images of women that frequently dominate contemporary music videos. Perhaps the...
This was an okay book. It didn't really grab my attention and to be honest, I just skimmed the last pages (never a good sign).
One of the best books on hip-hop I've read: tells you everything you need to know in order to understand the cipher. (music/urban studies; 250 pages)